A-La-Chaat is redefining the traditional chaat counter as a luxury wedding experience, blending nostalgia with curated gourmet menus. Rooted in Cherish Hospitality’s legacy, it elevates pani puri and other favourites through premium ingredients, live preparation and elegant counters. From the Ambani wedding to complex destination events, the brand shows how one street-food category can anchor an unforgettable, high-end celebration.
At an Indian wedding, the chaat counter has always been more than a place to pick up a quick plate between ceremonies. It is where guests gather, compare their preferred pani puri fillings and return for another helping of something familiar requesting an extra dash of teekha or khatta meetha. Now, as couples look beyond extensive buffets and towards food experiences their guests will actually remember, chaat is stepping into a more prominent role.
A-La-Chaat, the experiential catering concept from Cherish Hospitality, is built around this shift. Drawing on Cherish's hospitality legacy, which dates back to 2004, the brand brings together traditional flavours, live preparation, personalised menus and thoughtfully designed counters. The intention is not to disguise street food as something else, but to give familiar favourites a setting suited to a contemporary luxury celebration.
That approach has taken the team from the wedding celebrations of Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant to destination events that demanded an entire culinary operation be rebuilt at short notice. In conversation with Manifest, Kratika Gupta, co-founder of Cherish Exclusive and A-La-Chaat, and Naveen Sachdeva, co-founder of A-La-Chaat and managing director of Cherish Hospitality, discuss the move towards curated wedding menus, the regional chaats guests are rediscovering and the logistics behind serving consistently across destinations.
Manifest (M). How did A-La-Chaat begin, and how has the brand grown?
Kratika Gupta (KG): A-La-Chaat is the brainchild of Cherish, carrying forward a legacy of culinary excellence and hospitality since 2004. It was born from our passion for creating rich dining experiences with piquant flavours and memorable bites, and is an ode to India's vibrant spices, aromas and timeless tradition of chaat.
Chaat offers a limitless culinary canvas. Sev, chickpeas, fried gram, brown sugar, exotic fruits, olives, berries, baby potatoes and even edible flowers can come together to create something entirely new. We use that versatility to build personalised gourmet experiences through thoughtfully crafted and beautifully presented creations.
The concept has evolved from serving chaat as a traditional snack to creating an immersive experience for weddings and celebrations, where flavour, presentation and personalisation come together. Our aim remains simple: to celebrate the soul of Indian chaat while giving guests something unexpected, memorable and distinctly their own.
M. How did chaat become an experience at luxury weddings?
Naveen Sachdeva (NS): Chaat has always had an emotional connection with Indians. It reminds us of streets, markets, childhood and shared moments. Its evolution has been about changing the setting and experience without changing the soul of the food. At luxury weddings, we focus on premium ingredients, thoughtful presentation, live preparation, beautifully designed counters and personalised service. The result is still recognisably chaat, but in a more immersive and celebratory form.
M. Which wedding-menu trends are you seeing right now?
KG: There is a definite movement towards curation over sheer quantity. Couples are more conscious about what they serve and why it belongs on the menu. Instead of an enormous spread where dishes compete for attention, they are looking for distinctive experiences, regional specialities, live stations and food with a story behind it. Guests increasingly remember the dishes that surprised them or created an emotional connection, rather than the number of options available.
M. How do you elevate chaat without losing its authenticity?
KG: For us, presentation should enhance the food, not disguise it. We retain the fundamental flavours, textures and techniques that make a chaat recognisable, while rethinking how it is served. That could mean elegant plating, interactive live counters, contemporary serving formats or thematic presentation. The first bite should still take you back to the chaat you know and love. That nostalgia is extremely important to us.
M. Which chaats are currently most popular at weddings?
NS: The classics continue to lead: pani puri, dahi bhalla, papdi chaat, aloo tikki and raj kachori remain favourites. At the same time, there is growing curiosity around regional Indian chaats and lesser-known preparations. Guests enjoy finding something familiar in a new form and discovering flavours from different parts of India.
M. Which weddings have been milestones for A-La-Chaat?
KG: Two experiences stand out: the Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant wedding, and what we internally call the 'Palace to Hill' wedding. Being part of the Ambani wedding celebrations gave us the opportunity to serve our chaat creations at one of the most high-profile and elaborate weddings, where every element, from ingredients and presentation to service and execution, had to meet exceptionally high standards. It reinforced the importance of consistency, attention to detail and delivering at scale without losing the character of the food.
The 'Palace to Hill' wedding tested us differently. A luxury destination wedding planned for Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi had to be relocated at very short notice to The Westin Resort & Spa in Rishikesh because of unforeseen geopolitical developments. The destination and infrastructure changed almost overnight, but the client's expectations did not. We rebuilt the culinary and operational plan, covering sourcing, procurement, transport, manpower, kitchens, production, menu execution and on-ground coordination for a completely different location.
Delivering the celebration under those circumstances showed us that scale is not simply about numbers. It relies on preparation, systems, teamwork and adaptability. Luxury hospitality is as much about seamless execution and the ability to respond as it is about presentation.
M. What do you offer beyond gourmet chaat?
NS: Through Cherish Hospitality, our work extends beyond a single cuisine or format. We create complete culinary experiences for weddings and celebrations, including curated menus, live food stations, regional and contemporary Indian cuisine, international selections and personalised dining experiences. A-La-Chaat shows how even one food category can become an experience, while our larger hospitality offering allows us to create a cohesive culinary journey across the entire celebration.
M. What does catering a destination wedding involve?
KG: Destination celebrations demand a different level of planning. We have to build the same standards of sourcing, preparation, training and execution, irrespective of location. We plan the menu around the destination, study local logistics and ingredient availability, and align our teams and processes well before the event.
For us, consistency does not mean making every wedding identical. It means keeping the quality, flavour, presentation and hospitality consistently high while allowing each celebration to feel unique.