I had the pleasure of shooting the Mother’s Day and Holi menus at Benares Mayfair. It’s good to treat mom all year round, and great to do something extra special for Mother’s Day. A six-course tasting menu at a Michelin-starred restaurant is just the thing!
It’s always a pleasure to work with the team at Benares and Executive Chef Sameer Taneja, who also included his favourite ingredient in the shoot.
Mother’s Day and Holi at Benares Mayfair
Benares is a Michelin-starred Indian restaurant in the heart of Mayfair. Headed by Chef Sameer Taneja, the restaurant offers a tasting, set and à la carte menu for diners to enjoy.
For special occasions, the team prepares exclusive tasting menus with off the menu dishes. I had the pleasure of shooting their Holi and Mother’s Day offering.
The brief
As these special menus are only available for a limited time, we only included a few of the dishes in the photoshoot. As such, the focus was on:
- Three dishes from the Mother’s Day menu
- The lassi and petit fours from the Holi menu
- Chef Sameer’s favourite ingredient: truffles
The Mother’s Day menu
As diners had the option to choose between a regular and vegetarian option for Mother’s Day, we chose to shoot the vegetarian dishes as they overlapped both options. The star of the show was the bottomless thali, which included vibrant curries, rice and house-made breads.
The Holi Menu
Holi, the Indian Festival of Colours, Love and Spring, is celebrated in early spring. For Holi, the chefs added a sweet saffron lassi and gold-topped petit fours to the menu.
Shooting ingredients
Lastly, we shot Executive Chef Sameer Taneja’s favourite ingredient: truffles. While the menu at Benares is seasonal and changes regularly, there are always dished that include truffles.
The nitty-gritty
The shoot lasted three hours, split between a private dining room and the kitchen. I used a Sony a7iii, with a 50-mm lens and a 24-70mm lens, a Godox softbox strobe light and a Manfrotto tripod. I also shot short videos to create Instagram Reels.
Benares is located at 12a Berkeley Square, London W1J 6BS. The shoot was organised by Roche Communications.
Get in touch
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If you’re interested in restaurant photography, check our my previous shoots at Bonfire, Sabine Rooftop Bar, SlowBurn, Chuku’s, The Haberdashery, and Pastore – or get tips on how to pick the right restaurant photographer for your business. You can also see some of my food styling gigs!
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