Eating a 15-Course Meal in the Heights of the Himalayas

Destination dining of this sort is uncommon in India, but if there’s anyone who’s up for the challenge of creating a culinary movement far from the twinkling lights of the country’s pulsing metros and under the twinkling stars of the mile-high peaks, it would be Sadhu. He left Masque in 2022, just as it earned India’s top spot in the “Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants.” Ever since, keen epicures had been ardently awaiting his next move. His road back to the mountains was as meandering as mine was to see him: He was born in Kashmir, lived all over India, and followed his training at the Culinary Institute of America with stints at French Laundry, Le Bernardin, and Noma. Now, he’s home, at last. Nearly a decade after he first galvanized Mumbai diners withMasque, Sadhu is luring them in droves to the terrain he knows best.

India’s vast Himalayan belt spans 13 states, from Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir in the north to Sikkim, Assam, and Nagaland in the east. It’s a fertile arc, brimming with a bounty of fresh fruits and herbs that would make any chef’s heart—and menu—sing. “India is so complex and so diverse, and every region needs to tell its own stories,” he says. “That is the future of Indian food.”

While I’ve traveled extensively across the country, this is my first foray into the Indian Himalayas. Sadhu’s 15 courses are the perfect introduction, and my palate crisscrosses the region with every bite. The arbi I’d seen on the farm appears in a pre-dinner nibble with corn and chilli, modeled after makai Madra, a modest street food snack that is basically corn and chili yogurt. I don’t like lamb and I don’t typically eat offal, but Sadhu’s persuasive powers are such that I try—and adore—a luscious hunk of lamb brain, milk-brined for 24 hours and cooked in a brown butter and black pepper masala. It goes down like velvet.