Lounge
How restaurants keep you coming back for more
Summary
From stylised menus to irreverent spatial design, restaurants are trying to tell stories that go beyond the plate
There was a time when restaurants set the mood with crimson tablecloths, carnations and the Muzak version of Beethoven’s Für Elise. With the rise of “concept restaurants" and “sensorial dining" in the early 2000s, chefs and restaurateurs got more creative with their offerings and the ambience. Early adopters played with themes based on location—Greece, Italy, Japan—or culture, music and movies. While having a unifying subject, architecture or décor to attract diners is hardly new to the F&B world, in recent times it has demanded more originality.
“Even if we are enjoying a solo meal, when we are in a shared space, we are benefitting from communal connections. The ambience, the music, the service, the food, these are all elements that need to be considered in order to offer a synergistic experience," says Jorge Zapata, the New-York-based architect behind the cafés of speciality coffee brand Araku, which has outlets in Paris, Bengaluru and Mumbai.
Zapata’s is one way of looking at the changing F&B landscape where the focus is on building cohesive narratives and transformative experiences.
Vipin Raman, the restaurateur behind Jamming Goat in Goa, Bengaluru and Hyderabad and Room One, Goa, as well as the founder of creative and branding studio Seen Studio, says the focus on interiors and the “right vibe" is all about differentiation. “Everybody has a social media page. Everybody has great food, good drinks, great interiors. How do you stand out?" he asks.
The idea is to home in on a distinguishing characteristic that the restaurant can own in the space, menu and communications. It could be something tangible—like the logo and interiors—or more nebulous, such as ethos. In Zapata’s case, the answer lay in reiterating the brand’s commitment to “Arakunomics", or ensuring “profits for farmers and quality for consumers through regenerative agriculture", while simultaneously focusing on the wellbeing of the Adivasi farmer-community in the Araku Valley in Andhra Pradesh. This vision comes to life in elements such as a 3D wall render modelled on the terroir of individual estates and bamboo chandeliers crafted by artisans from the North-East.
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On the opposite end is Mumbai-based fine-dine restaurant Masque. Owned by Aditi Dugar (who is also one of the consultants for Araku’s menu), the diner, when it opened in 2016, was designed as “deliberately understated so as not to compete with the food". “Masque is a testament to the idea that less is more," explains architect Ashiesh Shah.
Shah has been at the forefront of the wabi-sabi wave that saw a host of hospitality outlets borrowing from the Japanese aesthetic that embraces imperfection and impermanence. “People crave constant visual and experiential stimulation. With so much visual content in our daily lives, people expect dynamic and engaging environments that keep them excited at every turn," he says, explaining that the tide is turning from purpose-led interiors to emotion-first design.
At Neuma, one of Shah’s newer projects and a Mumbai dining spot that’s popping on weekends, he has made a departure from his signature minimalism. “Neuma resembles a member’s club, where each room provides a different experience and the worlds within keep changing," he explains, adding that objects from various parts of the country have been used to elevate the restaurant’s charm.
Using memorabilia to add character to an establishment isn’t new. It’s the same as that lone photo frame at a café, posters at a brewery or accolades collected over the years displayed on the wall. The difference lies in intentionality: if earlier, bits and bobs were placed as an afterthought, today, F&B brands are consciously harnessing the affiliative power of souvenirs, collectibles and keepsakes.
A relatively new sandwich shop in Bandra, Santa Maria does this well. It pays homage to Mumbai’s Catholic community and the neighbouring Ranwar village. Some of the original residents of the village are stars—including a popular Elvis impersonator and Paralympics champion Mark Dharmai—and they are commemorated in Santa Maria’s menu with dishes named after them. The sandwich shop is a repository of several cultural mementos, such as decades-old church periodicals and 1990s relics like stereos and cassette covers.
Not far away, Bandra Born, a restaurant helmed by chef Gresham Fernandes, also taps into the sentiment of Bandra with graffiti-splashed walls, and “missing cats in Bandra" posters. Napkins printed with a kiss-shaped motif have become its most identifiable mnemonic. “They (the restaurant) have an identity," Raman observes, referring to the totality of logo, tone and experiences a brand offers.
Also read: This Goa café sources coffee from the North-East
“What is there beyond food and drinks for the customer to take back? Something that they will not forget. You have to have multiple things going on for them to talk about," he adds. This explains, in part, some of the outrageous things at bars like the Goan speakeasy Room One, which has a mock-up of what seems to be a chimera, christened Fluffy, as their mascot, hanging from the ceiling.
“It is a (cross between a) crocodile-dinosaur-turtle," Raman clarifies, adding that the team has made a replica of Fluffy for out-of-town takeovers and events. “For us, brand language is very important. And so is consumer experience. That’s why when we do a takeover, we’re not saying that we’re coming to sell drinks. We’re coming there to sell an experience. So, wherever we go, we take Fluffy along. And it makes people remember the brand."
Like Fluffy, Bengaluru’s Soka, an experimental bar, has a captivating centrepiece. Conceptualised by Raman and co-owned by his college friends Avinash Kapoli and Sombir Choudhary, the 531 sq. ft, 38-seater has a large 2.5-cm-long horizontal lamp mimicking a cocoon hanging above the bustling community table. Brought to life by artist Sidharth Kerkar—also the co-owner and designer behind Room One—the fixture is an expression of the restaurant’s food philosophy, “evolution of flavours". The food combines local ingredients such as coconut cream with global favourites like gyoza.
Kerkar feels his viewpoint as an artist versus an architect played a seminal role in shaping the restaurants he has worked with. “When architects handle space, they solve problems for people. The client will say, ‘I need a four-seater here; I need my kitchen here’. Designers create problems. So, when it comes to Soka, we put up a massive cocoon lamp, which might hinder the flow of service. But I knew it was going to become a part of their identity," he says. What Kerkar means by creating “problems" is that an architect will have a cookie cutter way of working, whereas when it comes to an artist, they’re not so bothered by the semantics or logic. He explains how he has used the back-of-the bar display (traditionally used to showcase liquor bottles) at Soka and Room One to exhibit art instead.
Located inside a 108-year-old Indo-Portuguese bungalow in Saligao, Goa, restaurant Second House makes similar use of art. Conceptualised by architect Ayaz Basrai of Busride Design Studio, the space commemorates the artistic history of Saligao, home of famed creatives like artist F.N. Souza, tiatrist C. Alvares and Konkani singer Lorna Cordeiro. The diner has AI-generated artworks indexing local culture, and oddball installations such as a stack of vintage TV and radio sets, lending the space a gallery-esque drift.
Be it cuisine-agnostic menus, bar programmes championing ingredients, or absurd and irreverent spatial design, this kind of left-of-centre thinking is clearly becoming more commonplace within Indian hospitality. Craft coffee and chocolate brand Subko embodies this rules-defying spirit in their design language and in their deliberate choice of nondescript locations in Bandra alleys.
“When searching for venues in the F&B space, it is natural to be using metrics such as where the footfall lies. We just never saw it that way," shares Rahul Reddy, founder of Subko, adding that this allowed them to foster discoverability and "self-select the audience", which in turn helped “create a whole new value system around genuine craft products". The food world is veering away from the one-size-fits-all mindset in their quest to form deeper connections and serve their social function as a gathering place catalysing human interaction.
The answer for them lies in creating a memorable, singular vibe. And it is true that most diners return to a place for the food, sometimes for the service, but most often for the vibe.
Suman Quazi is a food writer and the creator of The Soundboard, a community dedicated to gourmands in India.
