Best of Weekender – A tête-à-tête with a restaurateur, dealing with post-GoT blues and more...

If you are wondering where to get your Game of Thrones fix now that the series has come to an end, don’t mope too much. There are plenty of new TV shows in the pipeline that several networks will roll out soon, and you will discover many other enticing ways to fill the Westeros-sized hole in your heart.

From the second season of Sacred Games and Big Little Lies to Season 6 of Brooklyn Nine-Nine to Season 3 of The Crown, look out for narratives with high drama, comic police drills and royal intrigues. Check out the titles we have curated for you to help you get over your post-GoT blues this year.

How many youngsters do you know who start a business at the age of 19? And how many of them go on to launch innovative restaurants and bars with names like Plum by Bent Chair and Lord of the Drinks? Meet Priyank Sukhija, MD and CEO of First Fiddle F&B Pvt. Ltd who dropped out of college as a teenager to follow his passion for food. Today, he has successfully converted his passion into one of the most creative and flourishing businesses in the hospitality industry.

Don’t miss an exclusive interaction with the entrepreneur, as he talks about his restaurants, how he launched karaoke and sufi nights at his outlets, merged retail with fine dining and still finds ways to bring something new to the table.

Not everyone can afford the luxury of disconnecting from work while travelling. And so, Vandita Purohit, Founder of Pune-based TraWork, did the next best thing. She popularised the concept of 'work' holidays, which makes work away from work possible.

The travel startup facilitates travel and work opportunities for working professionals who find it hard to find time to travel thanks to their hectic working schedules.

At the heart of the idea is travel, but Vandita and her team ensure that these trips are well-worth your time by arranging visits to local events and experiencing the local cultural scene.

Don’t miss reading all about this exciting new way to work.

How do you cook a great Indian dish? How do you cook every part of a fish for dinner? What are the top food trends this year? Chef Sebastian Simon from Melbourne has many answers to our culinary questions.

He is in Bengaluru to hold master classes in the city, so here’s your chance to find out more about his style of cooking and how to attend his classes.

Sebastian’s philosophy and approach to cooking has always focussed on creativity and depth of flavour. Avoid processed food, waste less and watch out for food miles, says this skilled chef as he shares some of his secrets of great cooking with us.  

Who is a guru? Is Karma fatalism? What are asuras? If you’ve been bogged down with all kinds of spiritual questions, check out our review on Devdutt Pattanaik’s new book, where he answers these and other questions.

The author has been a student of religion and mythology almost all his life and his books are an attempt to make this knowledge – often limited to scholarly works – accessible to regular folks.

And finally, if your idea of perfect happiness is cuddling your dogs when you get home and if you believe that karma will bite people back, you will find a kindred soul in Rahul Bajaj, director and conceptualiser of Out of the Blue, Bandra’s trusty old joint.

Rahul believes that innovation is the key to living well and his creativity can be seen in the way he runs his business. In his responses to our Proust questionnaire, he tells us all about his most treasured possessions, his real-life heroes, his favourite writers and much more.

And his motto, ‘Life is like ice cream, enjoy it before it melts’, is surely, the most deliciously grim philosophy to live by.