Trèsind Studio Dubai - the first Indian restaurant to be awarded three Michelin stars

In a quiet corner of The Palm Jumeirah, in Dubai, a 20-seater restaurant has done what no Indian restaurant in the world has managed before. Trèsind Studio, led by Chef Himanshu Saini and restaurateur Bhupender Nath, has become the first Indian restaurant to earn three Michelin stars — the highest honour in the culinary world. For a cuisine, often misrepresented, this is more than an award. It’s a recalibration of how Indian food is perceived on the global stage.
The Michelin Guide describes its top accolade as a recognition of “exceptional cuisine, worth a special journey.” Trèsind Studio is now in the company of only a few restaurants worldwide to hold this distinction — and the only one that tells its story through Indian flavours.
The journey, however, wasn’t linear. Trèsind was founded in 2014 with the goal of presenting Indian cuisine in a more modern, expressive format. Around 2018, Nath and Saini wondered why can’t Indian dining experience be as elevated an experience as many fabled restaurants around the world. They conceived a chef’s table-style studio within the restaurant — a space where Indian food could be experienced as a performance.
Initially priced at AED 250 per person, it was met with scepticism and empty dining rooms. “We were called mad. There were days when we didn’t have a single diner while on other days we had a mere table or two,” recalls Nath. “But I knew Himanshu’s prowess. I knew what he was serving was truly out of this world.” Their company Passion F&B stayed the course, driven by conviction, even as they burned through funds.

But they stayed the course. Just as the concept had started gaining popularity and becoming the chosen spot for a celebratory meal, the Covid pandemic brought operations to a halt. When they reopened, Nath recalls walking through an empty restaurant with Saini. “Himanshu asked me how much time we had,” Nath recalls. “I asked him how much time do you need? He said one year. I said done.” Faith and patience finally paid. When the Michelin Guide arrived in Dubai, Trèsind Studio received its first star. The second followed. And now, the third — a moment that has reverberated across culinary circles worldwide.
The reason of this success, Nath says, is Chef Himanshu Saini’s cooking that defies categories. Born in Delhi and trained under modern Indian culinary pioneer Manish Mehrotra, Nath explained Saini creates dishes that are both deeply rooted and unafraid of reinvention. His take on the Sadhya, a traditional South Indian feast reimagined into a single plate of 20 elements, is now one of Trèsind Studio’s signatures.
Saini, a Delhi boy who’s now a poster boy of Dubai dining scene, explains “Our goal has always been to present Indian cuisine not just as nostalgic but as progressive and worthy of the world’s highest culinary accolades,” Saini says. While humbly accepting congratulatory messages from all over the world, he explains, “To be awarded three Michelin Stars is a testament to our team’s unrelenting passion and belief in the power of storytelling through food.”

More than an Award - A landmark for Indian Cuisine

The announcement sent ripples across the culinary world. Social media was flooded with congratulations — a rare moment of collective celebration for Indian gastronomy. Chef Vikas Khanna posted it is “a landmark for Indian cuisine on the global stage.” Chef Sanjeev Kapoor noted, “The exposure of Indian cuisine and restaurants will increase. The overall respect will be there. The expectation from Indian restaurants will go up. Many restaurants will be motivated to do better.”
From within the Dubai dining community, there was heartfelt pride. Panchali Mahendra of Atelier Hospitality said, “As an Indian and someone from Dubai’s dining scene, it is indeed a great achievement and honour to see Himanshu and the Passion team receive this recognition. Congratulations to India and Dubai. The doors are now open for Indian cuisine to soar.”
Chef Manish Mehrotra, who mentored Saini in his early years, offered a powerful reflection: “Three-star Michelin for Himanshu and Trèsind will prove Indian cuisine is not what people think in the West. It is refined — so good that it can win top accolades that the West sees as the ultimate achievement in food. This is the ultimate stamp. It changes everything.”

The recognition is deeply tied to Dubai

The recognition is also deeply tied to Dubai, a city that gave Trèsind Studio its audience. “Dubai is the place to take Indian concepts global,” Nath says. “Our restaurants in India do really well. But cosmopolitan Dubai made us a global name.”
For now, Trèsind Studio is fully booked months in advance, with tasting menus that now cost over AED 1,100 per person. Nath jokes he can’t get a table himself. The achievement is not just theirs alone — it is a shared moment for Indian cuisine, for chefs who dream beyond clichés, and for diners ready to experience something more expansive, more layered.
“Trèsind Studio can only be Trèsind Studio in Dubai,” says Saini. “It cannot be the same in any other city in the world.”
And maybe that’s what makes it special — where it is, and like Dubai, what it has dared to become.