A matter of refined tastes

Zephyr, the city’s new gastro lounge, follows a stringent guideline of no preservative, no packaged syrups and sauces and believes in making things from scratch

Delhi-based pitmaster Harman Singh and mixology consultant Viju Raj were in Hyderabad for a short while and couldn’t have enough of the city’s diverse flavours. They talked with genuine enthusiasm about their gastronomic discoveries in Old City and the plush Banjara and Jubilee Hills neighbourhoods. The two know their food and drink and were here on business, hand-holding the setting up of Hyderabad’s new gastro lounge, Zephyr.In a nod to Greek god Zephyrus and the connotation of ‘a gentle breeze’, Zephyr has a blue and white Greek theme for its interiors and is styled like a few living rooms seamlessly merging into one another. It’s not a typical bar, both in design and ideology. Viju Raj has been the driving force behind new-age bar concepts in Mumbai and Delhi but he admits that he hasn’t really pushed the envelope elsewhere, like he has with Zephyr.

More and more bars in the country now pride themselves in using locally sourced, natural ingredients in their drinks. Here, restaurateur Vikas Passary takes it a step further and says, “We wanted a cocktail bar that stems from the concept of drinking responsibly. The focus is on the craft than volume.”

A spectrum of cold pressed vegetable and fruit juices are made in-house, so are a range of syrups, sauces and garnishes. At one end of the bar counter are two gas tops on which sauces and syrups are cooked. “Nothing is served from a packet and no preservatives are added,” asserts Passary.

Signature infused gins

Viju Raj and Passary have curated a menu that boasts of cocktails made with cold pressed juices and insist that “the vodka tastes much better” this way. Their signature drinks use a range of infused gins, also done in-house. Think of gins infused with hibiscus and vanilla, saffron and ginger, clove and orange peel, star anise and filter coffee and more. “We source a lot locally to keep flavours intact, and some are handpicked from different regions of the country, like kokum from Goa,” says Raj. The infused gins are ready within 15 to 20 days and the experimentation with new flavours is an ongoing process.

The garnishes tick varied sensory notes. Frozen candied orange slices are enhanced with a hint of cinnamon and organic sugar, there are dehydrated slices of oranges and pineapples (thanks to an in-house dehydrator) and the drinks are served in handmade glassware sourced from Ferozabad. “The serving is more courteous; the second drink would never come in a shot glass but be well presented to go with the living room concept. Everything has to appeal to the five senses,” says Raj. Some of the drinks are served enclosed in smoked pine wood, to enhance the presentation.

A centre community table, borrowed from the Mediterranean lifestyle, encourages visitors to greet share conversations with new people.

The food menu is the deft handiwork of Harman Singh who likes to underplay his role as “the man who cooks”. There’s a method to madness in the pairing of flavours and he, along with Passary, has put together a menu that would offers for the global traveller, the local palette, for those who enjoy heightened or subtle spice notes. From a watermelon-mint gazpacho with a kick of chilli to sago punugulu , dahi ke kebab or three bean salad, there’s plenty to savour — you get to sample Mediterranean, Indian, Thai and much more. Desserts get a whiff of subtle fusion too. Try the mango mascaropone rabdi, it has all the good notes of the mango and the creaminess of the mascaropone without an overpowering sweetness.