Feeding Mumbai’s Biggest Music Fest: Chefs Reveal Kitchen Secrets

As the sun beats down on Mumbai’s bustling festival grounds at Mahalaxmi racecourse and the air fills with the familiar blend of music, excitement, and the irresistible aroma of food being prepared at lightning speed. Behind the scenes chefs are engaged in an intricate dance unfolds to transform makeshift stalls into culinary powerhouses, feeding thousands of hungry festival-goers without missing a beat.

The Outdoor Challenge, Cooking Without a Kitchen

For the team at Jimi’s Burger, who have handled over 100 events in recent years, outdoor festivals create a dependency on organisers that can introduce unpredictable variables. “Any issue in power, production or payments can handicap performance,” they share.

For established restaurants and bakeries, the transition from a controlled kitchen environment to an outdoor festival setting presents formidable challenges. Heena Punwani, Owner of Maska Bakery, identifies temperature control as her primary concern. “For us, as a bakery, the biggest challenge is the heat. We are used to keeping all our desserts at a very controlled temperature. So, we have to take multiple fridges, and if we are doing ice cream, we need a freezer,” she explains. “Today, for instance, we were at the venue, and it was 39 degrees Celsius. Sometimes, with that level of heat, the fridge or freezer just won’t work.”

This sentiment is echoed by Nirvaan Thacker, Co-founder and Chef at Za’atar, who highlights the drastic difference between commercial kitchen setups and festival infrastructure, “Chefs perform optimally because of muscle memory, their speed and efficiency is at peak but events generally provide you a handful of 4*2 tables, a canopy and some sockets, and we need the chefs to deliver the same products in this make shift setup. Basically pulling them out of an environment that has taken weeks to optimise and throwing them into possibly the most basic setup possible, with restrictions on cooking methods, shelves, racks etc.”

Rustom Mistri, Head of F&B at BookMyShow, elaborates on the challenges of operating in an open environment, “Unlike a restaurant, where food can be prepared, stored and served in a controlled setting, a festival like Lollapalooza India operates in an open, fast-paced and ever-changing space.”

These challenges of space and time are a core part of the issue and Meher Kohli, founder of Tokyo Matcha Bar, credits having the right team for the job to make the process flow, “Multitasking is definitely the greatest challenge at events & festivals, where a limited team is responsible for multiple tasks – prepping drinks, taking orders, making payments, interacting with customers and keeping stations clean,” she says. “Our biggest strength is our incredibly talented team that efficiently dishes out a quality product, no matter the circumstances! With big smiles- which is always greatly appreciated by our customers in a chaotic festival environment.”

Designing the Perfect Festival Menu

Creating a festival menu requires strategic thinking that balances practicality with culinary ambition. Each vendor must consider factors like preparation time, service speed, and food stability in outdoor conditions while maintaining their brand identity.

BookMyShow’s Rustom Mistri takes a holistic view of menu curation, seeing it as an extension of the festival experience itself, “Curating the food and beverage experience for a festival of this scale goes beyond just assembling great flavours – it’s about crafting a culinary journey that complements the music, the energy and the culture of the festival itself.” He adds, “It starts with understanding our diverse audience cohorts – the global festival-goer looking for familiar yet elevated bites, the local fan eager to see their city’s vibrant food culture represented and the experimental foodie keen to explore flavours from across the world.”

Nirvaan Thacker approaches menu design with practical considerations, “The ideal menu generally consists of dishes made with many overlapping components so the prep list is reduced and portions can be managed. Along with this, cooking from scratch is reduced to a minimum in order to maintain speed and consistency. Customers are also seeing you prepare everything in front of their eyes so it has to be clean and efficient.”

For Maska Bakery, this means making tough choices about freshness versus convenience. “Ideally, we would like to make things easier for ourselves by preparing pre-assembled cakes or desserts that can be stored in the fridge and simply transported to the venue. However, we always choose to push ourselves and ensure we provide the best possible experience, even at an outdoor event,” Punwani shares.

This commitment to quality means early mornings and complex logistics, “For example, with doughnuts, we could pre-fill them and store them overnight in the fridge. That would be the easier option. But instead, we insist on making them fresh in the morning, which means someone has to be in the kitchen at 4 AM.”

For Jimi’s Burger, success lies in their systematic approach to planning, “Like the rest of our business, events are planned systematically based on the number of days, audience and size of event. All menu planning and procurement is done well in advance.”

Festival Exclusives, Creating Special Moments Through Food

A festival provides a unique opportunity for chefs to create signature dishes that capture the event’s energy. This creative expression has become a highlight for vendors and festival-goers alike.

Maska Bakery has embraced this tradition with their festival-exclusive doughnut. “Since it’s technically spring but already feels like summer, we opted for a light lime mascarpone cream filling. We also make our own berry jam in-house, so the doughnut is filled with lime mascarpone and berry compote,” Punwani describes. They’ve also created a special tiramisu croissant cake for the event, “It has layers of chocolate cake, filter coffee diplomat cream, tiramisu mascarpone, and caramel.”

This concept of festival exclusives has become part of Lollapalooza’s identity, as Mistri explains, “We make it a point to craft one exclusive Lolla-special dish each year – something that embodies the festival’s spirit while giving chefs the freedom to go all out with innovation. Whether it’s a reinvented street snack or a global delicacy with an Indian soul, it’s about delivering an experience you can’t get outside the festival grounds.” The impact of these creations extends beyond the festival itself, “What’s even more exciting is that some of these creations have been so successful that they’ve found a permanent place on restaurant menus post-Lollapalooza India, proving that the festival isn’t just a moment – it’s a movement that inspires long-term culinary trends.”

Jimi’s Burger has found their special festival offerings becoming crowd favourites, “Our Lolla Special Chicken is to die for, closely followed by our BBQ Paneer. There’s something for everyone including Buff lovers and everyone who tries it loves our best kept secret – the Chicken Popcorn!”

Meanwhile over at Tokyo Matcha Bar, they’re taking the opportunity to showcase an exclusive seasonal, summery special which will be hitting stores later next week. “We love experimenting at festivals, especially by creating a festival-exclusive beverage. For Lolla, we brought back our signature (& much loved of the season) – Strawberry Matcha Latte,” says Meher Kohli, “In addition, we’re serving a Mango Matcha Latte – an early preview exclusively for the audience at Lolla which will be in stores next week!”

Logistics at Scale, Feeding Thousands

The sheer volume of meals served at Lollapalooza presents a logistical puzzle unlike anything most restaurants typically handle. Jimi’s Burger reports serving “700-1000 people each day” at the festival, requiring precise coordination and experienced staff. Their success formula lies in their team composition, “We pull top rockstars from our outlets for our events crew. So everyone from the griller to assembly to the cashier and our outlet manager are seasoned veterans of the events world. This allows us to quickly take orders and turn them around in under 3minutes without any compromise in quality.”

For BookMyShow’s F&B team, the planning begins months in advance, “We work months in advance with our F&B partners, mapping out everything from vendor selection to the movement of food and perishables to ensure seamless operations. Robust coordination with venue authorities, police, municipal bodies, and brand partners is key to making sure there are no hiccups in service.”

Thacker highlights the challenge of portion planning, “We have to preplan our mise en place as per forecasts of past events and information given by the organisers but unfortunately there is no real way to accurately determine what you will end up selling so you run the risk of either being over prepared and having wasted food or underprepared and losing valuable sales. Restocking is very difficult for such events.”

Maska Bakery has developed innovative approaches to manage crowds and timing, “By listening to the music, we can predict when a concert is ending and start heating the puffs in advance. By the time the crowd reaches us, warm puffs are ready. We continue cycling fresh batches, ensuring they are served at the perfect temperature.”

When Things Go Wrong

Even with meticulous planning, festivals present unpredictable challenges that require quick thinking and teamwork. The team at Jimi’s Burger recalls a particularly memorable crisis,

“We were at a major international show last year, right at the front. The outlet was going non-stop. Suddenly all at once the payment machine froze & the power tripped, and this is where the leadership swung into action. Our Area Manager manned the counter himself while our Chef held the trip switch in place to keep the power going. It was only 10min but 10min for hungry customers feels like a lifetime. As we always say – teamwork makes the dreamwork!”

For Maska Bakery, the strength of their team proves crucial in handling emergencies, “When operational challenges arise, I often leave the decision to them. I ask, ‘Should we put this on the menu, even though it requires fresh preparation?’ Their response is always, ‘No, Chef, we’ll do it, we’ll figure it out.’ It’s great to have a team that takes pride in their work and wants to present their best.”

Sustainability, The New Festival Standard

As environmental consciousness grows, sustainability has become a central focus for Lollapalooza India’s food operations. BookMyShow’s Mistri outlines their comprehensive approach. “One of our biggest moves has been eliminating single-use plastic bottles from the festival. Instead, we’ve partnered with Bisleri to introduce refillable plastic jars, ensuring hydration stations are readily available throughout the venue. Beyond this, we’ve also removed single-use paper waste from our landfill footprint. We use rice husk cups, which can be collected, repurposed and reused at future events, along with reusable plates and cutlery to further reduce waste.”

Food waste management is another critical component. “At the end of each festival day, we ensure that any surplus cooked or prepped food doesn’t go to waste. Through our food donation programme, we collaborate with NGOs to distribute meals to our working crew, staff on the ground and communities in need, ensuring that no food ends up in the bin.”

The Invisible Army

Behind every burger flipped, every pastry served, and every meal enjoyed at Lollapalooza India lies an invisible orchestra of planning, adaptation, and passion. From the 4 AM bakery preparations to the lightning-quick service during peak crowd movements, these food creators have transformed festival dining from an afterthought into an integral part of the experience. For Jimi’s Burger, their extensive experience with outdoor events has created confidence in their systems, “There is no challenge too big for Jimis Burger! Well, maybe except Mumbai traffic jams.”

As Punwani aptly notes about her team’s spirit, “We want to put our best foot forward, even if it makes things more difficult.” This dedication to excellence despite challenging conditions defines the culinary experience at India’s premier music festival.

When the music fades and the lights dim at this year’s Lollapalooza India, thousands of satisfied festival-goers will carry home not just memories of incredible performances but also the flavours of a culinary experience crafted through equal parts innovation, determination, and heart.