Lucknow. Till now, Lucknow, the capital of UP, has been known only for its Nawabs, elegance and finesse. Now the United Nations organization UNESCO has also added Lucknow among the cities with creative cuisine. UNESCO has declared Lucknow as Creative City of Gastronomy. PM Narendra Modi has also expressed happiness over this recognition received by Lucknow from UNESCO. PM Modi has posted on X that Lucknow is synonymous with a vibrant culture. At the core of which is the culture of excellent cooking. PM Modi has written that he is happy that UNESCO has recognized this aspect of Lucknow. PM Modi has urged people from all over the world to come to Lucknow, the capital of UP, and know its specialty.
Lucknow is synonymous with a vibrant culture, at the core of which is a great culinary culture. I am glad that UNESCO has recognized this aspect of Lucknow and I call upon people from around the world to visit Lucknow and discover its uniqueness. https://t.co/30wles8VyN
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) November 1, 2025
According to the information, to include Lucknow in UNESCO’s Creative City of Gastronomy, the Tourism Department of UP had sent the name of the city to the Ministry of Culture of the Central Government on January 31, 2025. The Central Government had written to UNESCO about this on March 3. UNESCO recognized Lucknow as the Creative City of Gastronomy in its 43rd meeting in Samarkand, Uzbekistan on 31 October 2025. Now apart from Lucknow, the cities of Creative City of Gastronomy are Hyderabad, Al-Madinah Al-Munawwara of Saudi Arabia, Kelowna of Canada, Qianzhou of China and Zaragoza of Spain.
Lucknow has a distinct identity in food items. Various types of kebabs, biryani, kachori, khasta, black carrot halwa, butter cream, malai gilauri etc. are sold here. Apart from this, Lucknow’s chaat is also famous. Navbharat Times newspaper quoted UP Tourism Minister Jaiveer Singh as saying that a proposal about Lucknow was sent to UNESCO after extensive research by heritage architect Abha Narayan Lamba. Abha along with her team tested the food from the royal kitchens of the Nawabs of Lucknow to the food sold in the streets. In the proposal sent to UNESCO, complete information about Lucknow’s culinary art, traditions, cooks and the dishes prepared by local families was also given.