new delhi a picnic at nehru park this weekend doesnt mean packing juices and sandwiches from home new delhi palate fest that kicked off on friday afternoon has over 60 delhi restaurants set up stalls with some offering seating too besides regular fare from popular ncr restaurants like khan chacha golden dragon the toddy shop town hall fat lulus and punjab grill the festival also has gourmet food from five star eateries like the oberoi and taj mansingh this is in addition to sushi from new standalone joints and a little wine to go with it at a few stalls these will be accompanied by musical performances and a masterclass with the chefs the festival area covers about 20 of nehru park in the heart of the city divided into zones for picniceating popup restaurants kids playing area and a market zone with smaller stalls where you can shop for gourmet jams organic juices and baked goods eateries from farflung areas of the capital and famed joints from gurgaons cyber hub come together under one well sky at the festival tarini ahuja who runs the quaint victorianstyled rose caf in south delhis saidulajaib has set up a stall in the market zone weve got things from our bakery like vegan banana cake mini tarts espresso caramel cake and lemon cakethese are good for takeaway says ahuja a few paces down from her stall is taranis low calorie kitchen from okhla phase ii dishing out diabeticfriendly and lowcalorie fare like brown rice vegetarian biryaniwith surprisingly sticky brown rice and light bitesized wholewheat pita pocket with quesadilla filling and pesto for those in the mood for gluttony theres turkish embassys alaturka with meat being slow grilled over large rotating skewers or farzi cafs outlandish fare roohafza crme brulee anyone visitors who plan to go restauranthopping be warned not all stalls are equipped with creditdebit card machines it would be wiser to carry some oldfashioned cash organizers aditi kapoor and ruchi sibal say it took over a year to conceive plan and execute the programmethe first of its kind in the capital kapoor and sibal who have worked with the food industry earlier collaborated with the new delhi municipal council to organize the festival delhi has enough street food festivals we need to get one for gourmet food as wellfor the exposed welltravelled delhiite says sibal who recently travelled to sydney to attend crave the citys international food festival kapoor says the capital too needs a festival that can attract visitors from across the country we call it a slice of fun under the november sun chuckles kapoor jalaj srivastava chairperson ndmc adds this year we are celebrating our centenary year and we wish to reach out to the people with a string of fests there are things to do between bites as well bands like men who pause astitva and indian saber band will be performing live each dayfrom noon to night those visiting with families might want to visit the kids