2015. This was my first ever independent restaurant menu shoot, something that I'd never done before, yet an experience I enjoyed tremendously. The very sweet then PR Manager at Hyatt Delhi, Arpana, asked me if I could shoot the new menu launch of TK's Oriental Grill. It’s a restaurant widely recognised as one of the first Teppanyaki kitchen-style dining venues in the city, also one the city’s oldest restaurants to serve Japanese cuisine. Opened in 1995, the emphasis is on fresh food, delicate spices and flavourful, succulent meat dishes. The shoot had everything I liked about shooting food, not least the creative freedom handed to me. Given that this shoot was from 10 years ago, I still love the images and the memories from that day, hauling my equipment across the lobby of the hotel! Arpana reserved me a HUGE room for me flooded with natural light, loads of fresh ingredients, sous chefs to help and even though I shot single handed for over 10 hours, I still returned happy! It's small joys in memories like this that make me love what I do!

Styling & shooting : Deeba Rajpal