Restaurant India News: Kalpaney Opens its door in Bengaluru

Kalpaney, a vegetarian dining restaurant opens its door in JP Nagar, Bengaluru. Conceptualised by hospitality professional Avinash Kapoli and chef Sombir Chaudary, it’s a restaurant built around a single word, imagination, or kalpana, from which it gets its name.
Kalpaney presents a personal, intuitive expression of global vegetarian cuisine—where nostalgia meets nuance. 

Rooted yet playful, each plate draws from something known: a childhood favorite, a festive spread, a humble roadside snack. Through refined technique and thoughtful balance, these memories are reimagined with fresh clarity. Kalpaney isn’t about reinventing the wheel—it’s about giving memory a new vocabulary.

“There’s a kind of wonder we wanted to bring back to the act of eating,” said Avinash, who previously co-founded Jamming Goat and SOKA. “What if vegetarian food could feel comforting and yet completely new? What if every bite reminded you of something but also made you pause?”

Kalpaney’s non-alcoholic drinks menu carries the same thoughtfulness and originality as its food—eschewing imitations in favor of authenticity. Rather than mimicking spirits, it draws on India’s rich beverage traditions and everyday rituals to create a distinctive language of its own.

Expect summer staples like Shikanji, playful tributes to street-side icons like Mohobbat ka Sharbat, and drinks inspired by indigenous ingredients and practices. Preeti Prema, for instance, is a delicate, floral rendition of Mohobbat ka Sharbat, made with watermelon, rose cordial, saffron threads, and effervescence. Imli ka Khajur takes the comforting tang of Shikanji and layers it with tamarind-ginger extract, date molasses, green chilli, vegan foam, and smoked Himalayan salt.

These are not substitutes for wine or cocktails—they are fully formed experiences, confident in their own identity. Designed to feel like a home that’s evolved gently over time, the 90-cover restaurant is bathed in warm wooden textures and soft light. Kalamkari-inspired tones—deep red, moss green, muted mustard—add depth and familiarity. The art on the walls, with names like Brinjal Baba and The Perpetual Supper, turns humble vegetables into playful cultural allegories, inviting guests to see the everyday through a different lens.

Chef Sombir, who has quietly carved a name for his thoughtful interpretations of regional cuisine, added, “Food for me is memory. It’s birthdays and festivals, train rides and weekday lunches. What we’re doing here is holding onto that but shifting the lens. It’s still rooted, just reimagined.”