If you've been waiting for a dining experience that genuinely feels like a once-in-a-while moment, Le Cirque Signature at The Leela Palace Bengaluru has one lined up for the last week of March.

Acclaimed chef Jason McKinney is bringing the Bengaluru chapter of his Elizabeth World Supper Club Tour to the Franco-Italian restaurant on 26th and 27th March 2026. Hosted in collaboration with The Hedonist, this two-night chef's table experience is part of an ambitious 18-month global residency that has already seen sold-out showcases in Pune and Hyderabad before arriving in Bengaluru.

The backstory makes the dinner even more interesting. Chef McKinney is building towards the opening of Restaurant Elizabeth in the United States in 2027, and this world supper club series is how he's refining the culinary ideas, storytelling, and hospitality approach that will eventually define that restaurant. Every city he visits teaches him something. Bengaluru is the latest chapter in that education.

McKinney's credentials are serious. He's a classically trained chef with experience across some of the world's most respected kitchens including The French Laundry in the USA, where he spent five years training under three-Michelin-starred chef Thomas Keller, Gaggan in Bangkok, Maison Pic in France, and Frenchie in Paris. This is someone who has spent a significant portion of his career in rooms where precision is the baseline, not the goal.

For the Bengaluru edition, he has created a seven-course Modern American tasting menu that reflects his travels and international kitchen experience. Seasonal produce sourced from Bengaluru and the surrounding region runs through the menu, interpreted through techniques and flavours absorbed across global kitchens. The meal opens with refined small bites that establish the narrative, moves through seafood and vegetable courses built around precision and balance, arrives at a signature protein-led main, and closes with desserts that carry notes of nostalgia and comfort. Subtle Indian accents sit alongside Japanese precision, Southeast Asian techniques, and South American flavour influences across the seven courses.

Chef McKinney reflected on what drives the project. "I spent five years at The French Laundry learning precision. Now I'm spending 18 months learning story. Every residency teaches me how to orchestrate an experience. When I open Restaurant Elizabeth, both will be distilled into one menu. Bengaluru is a city that deserves that level of intention."

Here are the details:

• Event: Elizabeth India Tour, Bangalore Edition
• Dates: Thursday 26th and Friday 27th March 2026
• Timings: 7:00 PM to 11:00 PM
• Venue: Le Cirque Signature, The Leela Palace, Bengaluru
• Bookings: thehedonist.in