BENGALURU:About ten years ago, if you would've asked your friends to meet you for dinner, it would have been a simple call. You pick a nearest restaurant or the one with the best food, but today that conversation will also need to take into account choices in music, theatre and art workshops.
City restaurants are working hard to be non-restaurants/‘unrestaurants’, where people go for art and culture and not necessarily food.
While Social dwelled in surrealism to engage writers and designers in the city at their space, The Humming Tree hosted a session getting to know the gentlemen who sell flowers on KR Market. Strange choices, one might think, but turns out both these events turned out great successes for these restropubs who are today synonymous to cultural spaces in the city.
Averse to the Commercial
“I have never wanted it to be just an eatery,” says Nikhil Barua, founder and director of The Humming Tree. He always intended it to be a performance space. Started over three years ago in Indiranagar, The Humming Tree is credited to be one of the top cultural spaces in the city having hosted Guthrie Govan, Mike Posner and set stage for some of the biggest comedians in the city. The space is known to offer a stage to independent artists, including spoken word poets. “It is all about the arts. We have made a conscious decision of staying away from anything commercial, be it Bollywood or EDM. Our team has made efforts to bring great acts to the city in poetry, theatre and have supported independent producers,” says Barua. Supporting artists also requires high quality sounds system that blueFrog credits itself on in the city. “There are very few venues in the city that have the lighting and sound system as we do. We're the only venue in the country that has a DL3 projector for visuals in-house,” says Nitish, the curator of blueFROG Bengaluru.
Get Them Talking
Social organises a mix of music as well as cultural and community events at its spaces in the city.
The head of programming for Social outlets in South India, Nikhil Warrier says, “We have a wide array of events that are community and cultural events too. From photographers' and foodies' meetups to screen printing and sand art workshops to panel discussions that are part of the Get Offline series of events we curate, our calendar is quite varied”.
Get Offline was a series of curated chat sessions/panel discussions that bring together people in the know to talk about a specific topic that is in focus on the day.
The Sunday philosophy club at the recently opened Sly Granny has peaked the interest of many in the city. “Discussions include topics of social and world relevance such as relationships in the age of tinder and virtual porn, validity of religion in a world seeking spirituality, status anxiety, and soon will include film and book reviews,” says Akanksha Chaudhary, head of marketing at Sly Granny.
“We plan the activities at Sly Granny very carefully to suit the discerning clientele that visits us,” she adds. Their target audience is anyone above the age of 27 and those who are well travelled, well read or are passionate about art and culture. “This is about those who aren't restricting their experience to eating, but those who understand and value cultural experiences,” she adds.
Open mics, DJ Battles, rap wars and comedy night are a few experiences hosted by blueFROG, other than hosting rock legend Jeff Loomis, of course. “We choose to filter requests from performers according to what our audience expect from us,” says Nitish.
Inspiring Menu
A lot of the events hosted at these pubs and restaurants get their own menu too. “Our general manager Anuj Mehta is one of the best bartenders in India. He introduces a special menu around the artists or theme of the show,” says Barua.
Social too takes that extra mile in coming up with an experimentive themed menu. “From a special cocktail menu specifically designed for Women's Day to a tax free F&B menu for Independence Day to our Christmas specials to our infamous Pichkari Shots and Thandai Kulhars during Holi, we are constantly introducing new menu options,” says Warrier.
While Sly Granny hasn't quite yet experimented with the menu, they are open to the idea. “We certainly plan to do bigger discussions that involve sensory ingredients and who knows, we may just introduce a special menu to go with the theme,” says Chaudhary, who adds that there is something very exciting in the pipeline on these lines.
As new restaurants crop up every other day in the city, is it competition that is forcing these outlets to offer more than just food, drinks and the regular DJ spot? “It takes a lot to survive on merit and sustain yourself in the middle of Indiranagar,” says Barua.
While acknowledging the current scene, Warrier talks about how it is important to define ones brand. “We believe in making Social a forward thinking space and let it stand apart,” he says.
For a recent gig in partnership with with The Art Of Living, blueFROG went completely vegetarian and even refrained from serving alcohol on the day.
Costly Affair
So does it cost extra to run a restrobar that is also a cultural space? “It is a huge investment,” says Barua. He insists that his focus is in setting the best stage in the city at The Humming Tree.
With the outlet even having its own dedicated cultural managers, for Social, programming a calendar of interesting events throughout the year is a big priority. “It is safe to say we spend more than most F&B outlets towards this agenda,” claims Warrier.
For the team at Sly Granny, the expenses vary from one subject of discussion to another, informs Chaudhary. “It may be negligible to slightly substantial. For example, we sometimes give away things people can take back with them; sometimes we may need to firm up associations with a partner or even involve field experts or guest speakers. So it’s a variable component essentially,” she says.
“The primary focus is to get the best sound systems for the performance and that comes at a high price. You also have to fly the artists in, pay them, be able to afford the latest technology sets and so on,” Barua says.
He adds that the main motive is to ensure that people come in to watch the shows.
“The Humming Tree has featured over 540 independent acts so far,” says Barua.
“A couple of people who own bars, ask me how I earn with music? Honestly, I am not making much money doing music. This is an art driven project,” he says.