Bright Ideas,
Insightful Angles,
Delicious Storytelling

Smitha Menon is a food and travel journalist and the creator and host of Big Food Energy, a podcast highlighting innovative food businesses across India and the world. Smitha is South-east Asia’s only 50 Best Taste hunter for the World's 50 Best Restaurants, bars & hotels and helps shine a light on food and hospitality culture from this part of the globe, to an international audience. 

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Smitha's work delves into food trends, businesses, and the fascinating connection between what we eat, culture, identity, and history. Her words and work have appeared in Condé Nast Traveler, Bon Appétit, Eater, Vogue, GQ, CNN Travel, National Geographic Traveller UK, Tatler Asia, Forbes, Mint Lounge, NDTV, Bloomberg TV and several other publications. 

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Previously, she served as Culinary Editor at Condé Nast Traveller India, where she established the F&B vertical and launched acclaimed properties like India's Top Restaurant Awards, the title’s biggest IP, and shaped the publication's food content across print, digital, and social platforms.

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Other previous lives? Smitha has anonymously reviewed more than 200 food establishments in Mumbai, and sampled thousands of sugary delights to curate a monthly dessert box during her time as the Mumbai Editor of the hyperlocal website, Brown Paper Bag. As a show producer and director at the lifestyle TV channel NDTV Good Times, she travelled across the globe to create lifestyle and fashion features. She began her career on the news desk at Bloomberg TV, where she learned to track market developments during a recession on live television. These experiences honed her journalistic skills and fuelled her curiosity about food, society and dining culture.