BENGALURU : In the backdrop of the pandemic, we have witnessed temporary or permanent restaurant closures across the country in recent months. However, in these tough times, there is good news to cheer on the food and beverage front with a slew of fresh bar and restaurant openings defying economic headwinds.Last week, the much anticipated 7Rivers brewpub opened its doors at Taj MG Road, the first of the many outlets which will be launched across the country. You can sip craft beers from the on-site microbrewery housed in this 2,700 sq. ft. space while savouring a glocal menu, the best music and brewery tours. 7Rivers, designed by Hamburg’s JOI-Design, is a collaboration between IHCL and AB InBev and given Namma Bengaluru’s tag as the pub capital of India it’s a delight to see the first 7Rivers open in our city.
Rock and roll inspired, 1522 The Pub is all set to open two new outposts on Residency Road and in RR Nagar in October and November respectively. From their first pub in Malleswaram, 1522 has already grown to five outlets in Koramangala, JP Nagar, New BEL Road and one in Mumbai spreading the love of music, food and drinks as our favourite neighbourhood bar.
HopsHaus brewery and kitchen in Whitefield is now serving innovative cocktails and global food prepared under the watchful eyes of award-winning chef Vikas Seth and his team. They will shortly commence production of their craft beers with hops sourced from the remotest corners of the globe. The expansive restaurant, filled with lush greens, private nooks, terrace seating and an emerald long bar, makes for a perfect setting to uncover the culinary, cocktail and beer experience here.
A once abandoned plywood factory has made way for the Geist Brewing Factory on Old Madras Road. The brewery will soon start pouring fresh craft beers to savour in the open-air restaurant built under the shade of a majestic 100+-year-old banyan tree. While the restaurant is currently open for food service, guests will shortly be provided brewery tours while they sip on Geist’s entire range of beers, including limited-release brews. The beer garden experience will offer beer tasting sessions, food and beer pairing workshops plus guests will be able to take away Geist beer growlers to enjoy at home.
Then there is KoraMingle, a 12,500 sq. ft. bar and restaurant which is opening this week in Koramangala. We hear the interiors will reflect Amsterdam streets and the space will house a deli, a mystic medic bar and book library. On a side note, mixologist Karthik Kumar and Prathik Shetty, owner of The Reservoire cocktail bar, have joined hands to launch 2 Ounces handcrafted cocktail mixers.
The range includes seven variants such as Salted Caramel Old Fashioned, Black Martini, Jackfruit Mojito, Darjeeling Chai Punch, and three flavours of Ultimate Gin & Tonic. Packed in travel-sized bottles the premixes can be enjoyed anywhere, anytime - one ounce of your favourite spirit and one ounce of the premix is all it will take to fix your perfect two ounces cocktail.(Aslam Gafoor is a Bengaluru based hospitality professional, food lover and travel enthusiast)