A raconteur’s paradise
After spending the most part of his life between Puducherry and neighbouring Auroville, Dilip Kapur started a cultural hub discreetly ensconced in the basement of his hotel, Promenade, in Puducherry. The founder of luxury leather label Hidesign and hotelier, Kapur’s The Storytellers’ Bar is a cultural hub built “for dreamers and travellers alike”. The bar is also the brainchild of Simran Mulchandani, co-founder of Mach One Associates and Blue Frog. Ayaz Basrai, co-founder of Busride Design Studio, and Kapil Thirwani of Munro Acoustics, are responsible for the décor and acoustics respectively.
“I grew up in and around the Auroville ashram, which gave me a sense of community. I don’t want Puducherry to be just another small town. It has such a unique flavour, which we’d like to showcase. The main objective of this space is to allude at every point to Puducherry,” says Kapur.
While mixologist Mukesh Khatri’s innovative cocktail list is in focus here, The Storytellers’ Bar is much more than just that. It is a space where literature, travel, art, design, music, food and great cocktails come together.
The Storyteller’s Bar has been two years in the making. “We started off at an organic produce store in Auroville called Farmfresh. We then visited the Matrimandir, Auroville’s spiritual nerve centre. We visited places where musical instruments are created, and even a moneyless supermarket for Aurovillians. We decided that this is what we needed to be doing,” says Mulchandani.
The group set out to create a physical embodiment of a Puducherry travel guide, a space for sharing experiences, where locals can connect with travellers. “It’s a social sharing network. Just like Facebook, but without the technology. Just genuine, cultural sharing,” says Mulchandani.
At the centre of the Storytellers’ experience is the interactive Wall of Stories, a curated collection of memorabilia, props and anecdotes, “from travellers and locals, stories you will not find in guidebooks,” says Kapur. On walls and in nooks and crannies are myriad “stories”, and even diaries where guests can share their travel stories, anecdotes and memories of Puducherry.
Chef Sathish Rajshekar’s menu hinges around local Franco-Tamil influences, with a strong focus on locally-sourced ingredients. The Auroville Cheese Platter is a showcase of Auroville cheese. Other dishes on the menu include roasted vegetable and goat cheese ravioli, Creole spiced calamari fritters, grilled sand lobster with sweet potato chips, among others. Locally-inspired dishes include Pondicherry crab cakes and mutton samosas with tamarind chutney.
Mumbai-based mixologist Mukesh Khatri has conceived a quirky bar menu with signature tipples such as The Lighthouse (gin infused with elderberry) or French Toast (Cointreau and Cognac with grapefruit and raspberry). A must-try is the Chocolate Filter Kaapi, replete with stainless steel dabara set, a heady concoction of espresso, coconut cream, Kahlua, whisky and Auroville chocolate.
Concerts by local talent will be the highlight here. “Puducherry is on the cusp of a great tourism movement. If we had created a simple bar for people to drink at, maybe they would have related to it easier. But we didn’t want to take a simple path. I wanted to do something with more depth, giving me more scope to experiment and innovate,” says Kapur.