Minakshi Singh and Yangdup Lama gave a simple brief to everyone they set out to work with, from the interior designer to the person who was to handle social media: listen to Toby Keith’s song ‘I Love This Bar’. “It isn’t often that people get a song as a brief,” laughs Singh, who runs Cocktails and Dreams Speakeasy in Gurugram’s Sector 15.
Five years ago, when the under-the-radar bar opened, Singh, a hotel management graduate, and Lama, a bartender, were nervous it might attract a clientèle that would disrupt proceedings. They were pleasantly surprised when there were no bar brawls, with the place becoming popular amid Gurugram’s corporate crowd, a clientèle that was well-travelled and “wasn’t in their 20s”.
“We’ve even had a group of 60-year-old women come here to celebrate the fact that their children had flown the coop, and a number of turning-40 birthday parties,” says Singh. That’s not to say Cocktails and Dreams is a celebratory place. Mostly, it’s where people come in after work to get a drink, or to unwind with their partner. Single women sit at the bar and talk to Prajjwal Chamling, the bartender. It’s a great place to meet old friends, or come by with the folks, because the music is not a conversation killer, and it isn’t about it being the hippest club on the block.
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Mostly though, it’s someplace safe — a big deal in Delhi-NCR. Shubika Rana, who has been going to the bar since it opened, says she would often go alone, sometimes ending up chatting with other patrons. “I remember a Tuesday night, when there were three couples celebrating someone from the group getting promoted to CEO. I was the only other person in the bar, and they invited me to join the celebration,” she says.
Unwind spots
Tuhin Mehta, a DJ and music producer in Bengaluru, speaks about a similar experience at 612 East in Indira Nagar: a 3-storey place so relaxed he once saw someone drinking green tea and another sipping beer at the same table. “We all struggle with circus acts in daily life, and in my down-time I want to be who I am,” he says, of the predominantly 70s- and early-80s-born crowd that comes in.
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You don’t need to dress a certain way either. “It’s the music-food-drink combination that works at these places,” he says. ‘The kids’ come too, and when they encounter music older than they are, they’re uncertain at first. “But they go back and research the music, and you see knowledge flowing down to a younger audience, about music from a different time, another generation,” says Mehta. He also likes Chennai’s Radio Room for the same reason: it’s easy to just be, no one gets off-your-face drunk, and he’ll invariably bump into people he knew from years ago. There’s also The Velveteen Rabbit, in RA Puram.
In mind-your-own-business cities, where scepticism and cynicism is rife, especially in a generation that is in mid-life, it’s a paradoxical reaching out of sorts. More and more people opt for homestays or village getaways, choosing to digitally detox and connect with people they don’t know. It’s probably the same vibe they look for on a city ‘island’ too.
“People travel and they want that same experience in their own city: good jazz, spoken-word nights, conversation... a social gathering place, rather than a too-loud place,” says Mumbai-based Rojita Tiwari, founder, Drinks & Destinations, a blog about spirits. “It’s as if bars have grown with me,” she laughs, talking about the ‘disc’ culture of the late 90s that evolved into clubs. Today, the popular spots are places that almost resemble cafés, but also serve alcohol. She speaks of Pali Village Cafe in Bandra and Jamjar Diner, in Versova.
At Sly Granny – The Community House, in Bengaluru, Gunjan Pal, the manager, speaks of how quality and service are of utmost importance to the ‘older’ crowd. They’ve been around and are willing to pay for good food. Sly Granny has what they call Indo-Continental fare: European food with a twist, like their pan-seared halibut with Totapuri mango. “We aren’t focussed on volumes, nor will we ever do pure liquor promos; it’s always about pairings and the experience of the place,” he says, echoing Tiwari.
Palash Krishna Mehrotra, a writer and editor of House Spirit: Drinking in India, sees it as part of the maturation of the drinking scene in our country. “This diversification of watering holes to cater to different needs is a natural process of evolution,” he says. He’s not sure we can talk of them as ‘locals’ though, the way they are in the UK, where “there’s a crashing sound and everyone says, ‘Oh that’s Johnny’s dad,’ and they prop him up, tell you a story about his life, and continue drinking,” says Mehrotra.
He feels we’re almost there, because these places are unpretentious and friendly, despite the class and generation divide. There are no invisible screens between the customer, the bartender, the owner, and the person who serves. Singh remembers serving customers, then sitting down with a few and having her drink. Great for “early birds and all-nighters,” as the song goes.