Hosting The Explorers

The Explorers is a growing foodie community (1,500+ members) curated by Rohit Iyengar, creator of the Instagram & YouTube channel Rohit Explores. We host community meet-ups, Thindi Walks, and paid collaborations with restaurants.

This is a quick overview of what it means to Host a meet up for The Explorers at your restaurant or cafe.

If you are more interested in attending our meet ups, please CLICK HERE for more details about how to be a part of them.

What does hosting The Explorers mean?

We have a community of over 1,500 individuals from across the city who share a strong interest in food. We have explored several cuisines and neighbourhoods together and we are eager to explore more!

A collaboration with The Explorers begins with sending an invite to the community. The invite includes details about the event, the food, the location, and any activities planned alongside the dishes.

We usually host 10–30 people at our meet-ups, depending on the restaurant’s capacity and the type of food being served.

The meet-ups are promoted in our WhatsApp Community and on my Instagram page via Stories. They have filled up in as little as 12 minutes, with 45–60 minutes being the average. And these are paid sign-ups!

Once people sign up, we send out confirmations and create an event-specific coordination group (if needed). We handle the billing too!

On the day of the event, we ensure all attendees are checked in, given name tags, and handed an “And Why?” card, our icebreaker game designed to help strangers become friends.

During the event, we capture video footage of the dishes you’d like to showcase, attendees interacting, tasting the food, and short testimonial-style sound bites from The Explorers about their experience. We also share 4–5 Instagram Stories during/after the event. We can also carry out group games during the meet-up.

After the event, we draft a voiceover script for the reel, incorporating testimonial quotes and referencing the video clips shot. After one round of consolidated feedback, we finalise the script and proceed to edit the video.

Once the video draft is ready, it will be shared for one round of consolidated feedback, after which the video will be posted to our page.

You effectively receive 3 rounds of promotion:

  1. When the event invite is announced

  2. When we bring actual paying customers to your restaurant

  3. When the reel is posted and shared

What We Need From You?

Capacity: How many people can you accommodate and serve at once? We typically prefer a minimum of 10 and a maximum of 30 Explorers for an ideal meet-up. The meet-ups usually last 90 minutes.

Dishes to Showcase: Which dishes would you like to highlight? One version of each dish should be provided complimentary for the video shoot and can be shared with the group as taster samples after filming is complete.

Choose Your Preferred Model:

  • Pre-paid package: A set menu or buffet at an all-inclusive rate. Explorers enjoy tasting smaller portions of multiple dishes, so sharing dishes among groups of 4-5 works better than one dish per person.

  • Pre-paid cover charge: Explorers pre-pay an amount that can be adjusted against their restaurant orders.

  • Booking Fee + À la Carte Ordering: Explorers pay a small fee to reserve their spot, then order from the menu and pay for what they choose. They may order individually or share dishes with the group.

All meet-ups must have at least a booking fee to ensure strong intent to attend. No Free Sign ups.

 

Other Things to Know

Vegetarian Focus

  • Content features only vegetarian and vegetarian+egg dishes, even if your restaurant serves non-veg.

  • You may serve non-veg items to The Explorers that order them, but the dishes will not be featured prominantly in the reel.

  • Upto 6–7 signature dishes can be featured - but only veg or veg+egg.

  • One complimentary plate of each featured dish must be provided for filming and tasting.

Alcohol

  • Alcoholic drinks may be shown but not as the main focus.

  • Dishes cooked with alcohol (e.g., tiramisu, risotto) are acceptable.

  • Cocktail/bar-focused videos are not part of our format.

  • Restaurants may prepare a mocktail for Rohit to sip on camera.

Cuisine Fit

  • Community meet-ups are strongest when the restaurant/menu aligns with our ongoing series e.g. (Pizza Wars, Burger Wars, Finding the Best Dosa, Kulchas of BLR/BOM, Croissant Wars, etc.).

  • If time permits, a pre-event tasting with Rohit can be conducted to refine the menu.

Paid Collaborations Only

  • We do not engage in barter. Costs for transport, filming, VO recording, and editing must be covered.

  • Our rates vary month to month as our community and following grow. They also vary based on scope. Please check for the latest rates.

Transparency

  • All collaborations are disclosed as Paid Partnerships per government guidelines.

  • No “organic-looking” undisclosed posts.

Promotion

  • We can tag your brand in Stories and Reels.

  • Collaboration requests can be initiated from our end.

  • No boosting from our account - our growth is 100% organic and we want to keep it that way. Once you pay Instagram, organic reach gets throttled.

Content Integrity

  • Rankings in Pizza Wars, Burger Wars, the Dosa Leaderboard, etc., are editorial and honest.

  • Paid collaborations do not guarantee top placement.

Rohit IyengarComment