At 24, this hospitality icon in Chennai is still chasing firsts

Here is a question nobody asks about a hotel anniversary: why do you care? It’s not your birthday. You didn’t build it. And yet, if you’ve ever had your first thin-crust pizza there, or watched the sun come up from The Leather Bar, or eaten sushi somewhere that didn’t feel like a dare — you probably already know the answer. Some places become part of the city’s autobiography. The Park Chennai, which opened in 2002 on the grounds of the old Gemini Film Studios, is one of them. This week, it turns 24. And it is celebrating in the only way it knows how: by making you wish you had a reservation for every single night.

Nostalgia is on the menu at this 24th anniversary celebration

The anchor event of the anniversary is The Provenance Table at Six O One, a six-course tasting menu built entirely around GI-tagged ingredients from across India. Chef Ashutosh Nerlekar, director of Food Production says, “We have always tried to get these novel ingredients to celebrate their origins and use it in ways that celebrate these special ingredients like cheese from Auroville, Mathania chilli from Rajasthan, Ratan jot from Kashmir for the Roganjosh incorporated in our a la carte menus. Hence the idea of using GI-tagged ingredient to curate the food event blended in seamlessly.”

Some ingredients, however, carried a more personal resonance while shaping the anniversary menu. “Being from Pune, Maharashtra, I believe there is a special, very nostalgic connect to the Devgad Happus or Alphonso,” he says. “It brings back fond memories of our summer breaks in school when we’d devour them endlessly.” That emotional connection eventually translated into one of the desserts on the menu, while ingredients like Gondhoraj lemon also became a way to explore regional culinary histories through flavour.

For Ashutosh, anniversary menus are never just about spectacle, but about balancing familiarity with surprise. “Nostalgia and comfort often come through familiar flavours, stories, or cultural references, while innovation lies in how we reinterpret and present them in a fresh, creative way,” he explains. “The vision to constantly push creative boundaries without losing the emotional connection to food is something that remains deeply rooted in our DNA.”

Saturday belongs to The Leather Bar. First comes THE Takeover, a bar collaboration with Delhi’s acclaimed Hoots’, led by bartender Tripur Jamatia, followed by Subculture Saturday with DJs Elektra, Asetro, and Habby taking over the decks.

As the celebrations move from the dining table to the dance floor, DJ Elektra believes nightlife today is as much about emotional connection as entertainment. “The best live sets are the ones where the audience feels comfortable enough to trust you when you take them somewhere unexpected musically,” she says. For the anniversary weekend, she hopes to create “an immersive, high-energy, and emotionally connected” experience that feels elevated and unforgettable.

Elektra also sees Chennai’s nightlife culture evolving into something far more musically aware and experience-driven. “There’s a certain sophistication in the crowd, and people genuinely connect with the music rather than just treating nightlife as background entertainment,” she says, adding that audiences outside traditional metro nightlife circuits are also becoming “more experimental and receptive to diverse sounds”.

For Chef Ashutosh, the anniversary menus are ultimately about creating experiences that stay with a city long after the plates are cleared. Reflecting on the hotel’s legacy, he says, “Whether it was the first thin-crust pizza, the first brunch, sushi, and many more firsts that the hotel introduced the city to, this legacy lives on with every guest who still walks through our doors talking about these firsts.”

The celebrations close with the 24th Anniversary Special Brunch at Six O One, a global street food spread inspired by Asian night markets, Indian classics, and European boulevards, alongside live music, caricature artists, face painting, and activities for children.

Experiences start at Rs 1,999. Events go on till 22. At The Park, Nungambakkam.

Email: shivani@newindianexpress.com
X: @ShivaniIllakiya

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