New Delhi, Feb. 13 -- One of the eternal mysteries of dining out is why restaurants are so stingy with handing out individual menus and why they are so eager to whisk these away the minute you have placed your first order. Who hasn't pored over a menu over another person's shoulder, or refused to hand it over to a smiling but determined server, or, increasingly often in middle age, lit a smartphone torch to read tiny print?

Yet, menus are indispensable-and today, they are not mere purveyors of information but vehicles of storytelling that restaurants increasingly rely on to not just tell you what's on offer but say something about their ethos and sensibilities. In fine dining, menus used to be standard, leather-bound books with thick pag...