Odette Mascarenhas is a food historian and critic, author and television host. Her stint as the food & beverage manager at the Taj Group of Hotels has helped her define a keen palate towards the nuances of different ingredients used in food preparations.
Her passion for the written word is the reason she has nine books to her credit. Odette’s first book, Masci: The Man Behind the Legend, which she wrote on her father-in-law, Miguel Arcanjo Mascarenhas, who was the executive chef at Taj Mahal Mumbai in 1939, won a Special Jury Award at the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards 2008. Her ninth book, The Culinary Heritage of Goa won the Best in the World for Historical Recipes and Best Self Published Book in India at the Gourmand World Cookbooks 2015 awards. Her latest book The Culinary Odyssey of Goa has generated immense interest with those who are interested in this region’s diverse cuisine. 
She is also the co-founder of the Goan Culinary Club, a non-profit venture which strives to preserve the authenticity of Goan cuisine and researches lost recipes of the past with local chefs and restaurateurs.
Chef Thomas Zacharias, known as ChefTZac, is one of India’s most influential culinary voices, known for championing regional Indian ingredients, forgotten food traditions, and sustainable food systems. Trained at the Welcomgroup Graduate School of Hotel Administration and the Culinary Institute of America (CIA), he began his career in New York at the Michelin three-starred Le Bernardin under Chef Eric Ripert.
In 2014, he set out on a solo food journey across 18 Indian states, documenting local culinary traditions, indigenous ingredients, and home-cooked meals. This experience shaped his food philosophy and led to his role as Chef Partner at Hunger Inc. where he helped build award-winning restaurants like The Bombay Canteen, O Pedro, and Bombay Sweet Shop. Under his leadership, The Bombay Canteen was named India’s No.1 restaurant by Condé Nast Traveller, and he was recognised as Chef of the Year. In 2022, he launched The Locavore—a platform dedicated to transforming India’s food systems through storytelling, community, and impact-led projects. 
Through initiatives like the Wild Food Project, the Millet Revival Project, and the Local Food Club—a growing grassroots movement of food communities across India—he continues to spotlight indigenous knowledge, food diversity, and ecological resilience.
Manu Chandra is the Founder Partner at Manu Chandra Ventures Pvt Ltd, a Bengaluru–based hospitality company in partnership with long-time colleague and hospitality professional Chetan Rampal. Manu Chandra Ventures includes Single Thread Catering, a bespoke and experiential catering solutions company and their restaurant arm, Savaa Ser among other companies.
Prior to this, Chandra was Chef Partner of the Olive Group of Restaurants and the brainchild behind award-winning restaurant brands such as Toast & Tonic, Monkey Bar, The Fatty Bao, Olive Beach and Cantan. He exited the partnership with the Olive group after a 17-year stint in Sept 2021, to start afresh.

Edible Issues is a food systems collective building experiences, archives, and interventions at the intersection of food, climate, culture, and society. We explore how food connects with ecology, design, technology, and community to imagine better, more sustainable futures.

Prahlad Sukhtankar is a restaurateur, sommelier, and culinary curator deeply rooted in Goa’s evolving food landscape. An alumnus of Les Roches and César Ritz, and a certified sommelier from the International Sommelier Guild, Prahlad is the founder of The Black Sheep Bistro Panjim and Aguada and co-founder of Melt Pizzabar. His work blends sustainability, storytelling, and regional pride. As a returning curator at the Serendipity Arts Festival, he brings a fresh, mindful lens to India’s diverse culinary traditions, focusing this year on The Salt Routes of India—a journey through the heritage, history, and cultural importance of salt.