Trèsind Studio: Himanshu Saini proves that Indian cuisine does not exist

Despite the launch of the first edition of the Michelin Guide and the second instalment of Mena's 50 Best which is showcasing local cuisine, a thought always occurs to us when we hear 'The Restaurants of Dubai' being mentioned. The Emirates megalopolis is the city of glitz, brands, superstardom, races to the top, be it the height of the buildings or the money that needs to be pulled out for *that* Beyonce concert. A city of gold leaves on the plate and imported caviar and truffles. A place where people spend a lot of money to dine at one of the big name branches; Massimo, Mauro, Niko, Frantzen, you name it, they're all here.

Then you arrive at Himanshu Saini’s (35) Trèsind Studio. Progressive Indian cuisine. Very signature cuisine, with the entire kitchen and dining room team made up of Indians, together with an exceptional bar team supervised by top Italian mixologist Dom Carella (the same from Carico, Milan, and more), and maitre VIP-in Panwar who leads the service in a way that is rare to find even in the restaurants of the above-mentioned big names.

]Fine dining, at its best, is not just about beautiful, well-lit dining rooms, perfectly executed dishes and time-smashing service. Fine dining at its best showcases a destination, a country, sometimes highlighting them - as was the case with Hisa Franko and Slovenia, for example -, other times shattering stereotypes about a certain type of cuisine as with Tresind Studio and India.

Himanshu is not a chef from Dubai, he is first and foremost a young man from India trying to introduce guests to the beauty and diversity of his homeland, to make them realise that there is no such thing as 'Indian cuisine', not in a country that is as vast as a continent, with so many different traditions, from the Himalayas in the north to the Mughal influences of the tropical and spicy south - and everything in between, from tea plantations to the dairy heartland, from the Bay of Bengal, a kingdom of seafood, to the vegetarian paradise of the West.

Himanshu’s courses are beautifully plated - almost too beautiful with a strawberry paan placed on top of a bouquet of roses or crab roasted in ghee (clarified butter) and served in cinnamon peel or a duck cafreal on a nasturtium leaf or a smoky show of pani-puri to open your palate. All flowers, petals and garlands.

Usually, when presentations are this beautiful, the flavours can disappoint. Not here. Tresind Studio's menu, playful without being deceptive, is a veritable explosion of different aromas, layers upon layers of Indian flavours balanced with spicy and tangy notes in the background, a rollercoaster of deep broths, mischievous chutneys that are both elegant and wild, flower chaats and curry jellies, charcoal lobster tails in corn curry and giant oyster noodles in a pungent XO broth. An unparalleled range and spectrum and, judging by all the four-handed dinners Saini has done over the past year, all with unique dishes because the creative well from which he draws is far from being drained.

Trèsind Studio
East Wing Rooftop - Nakheel Mall
The Palm Jumeirah
Dubai (UAE)
+97142421666
Open only in the evenings, closed on Mondays 

Translated into English by Slawka G. Scarso