Between sips by Magandeep Singh: Looking at the bigger picture

Judging a bar or restaurant simply by the quality of food and drinks served on launch night can be misleading

Over the past two decades and some, I have been invited to innumerable launches and have attended just as many. People in the writing space—and more recently, online influencers—are the first on any party list to be invited when a new place ups shutters. The idea is that when a new place opens, it needs to reach out to all the people who can maximise the spread of this news, amplify and bring it to the notice of the highest possible numbers. For whether you have or haven’t run a restaurant, one thing is certain—an unsold seat is the worst and most irrevocable kind of loss to endure.

But to me, visiting a place on its launch night is like evaluating a fresh recruit on day one of their job through the toughest of tasks. It’s unfair, for two reasons. The first is, teething troubles—every new place has its share of them, so one can never get the right results. The second reason is the extra load of the launch night which stresses the barely-out-of-its-packaging system far beyond its tensile limits.

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Allow me to illustrate with an example. Recently, a bar and eatery called Khikhi launched in the capital. I was invited to the launch, and, against all my experience and wisdom, I decided to attend it. Well, to say the venue was packed would be an understatement. If I had come out of the apprehension that the owners might mark my absence at the launch, it was quickly dispelled since it took me almost 20 minutes to navigate my way from the entrance to the bar where they were, a distance of no more than 10 metres.

And in this packed melée, the service staff, which insofar had possibly only been trained to handle a bar worth 90 people, were now finding themselves drowning in a sea of bodies and conversations as they tried to navigate their way through it, carting drinks and removing empties. I have to commend them that they managed it quite well and even the bar, with their prebatched range of exotic drinks, was quite well prepared for the onslaught.

Then, I went back this week, almost seven days after the launch night. The space was still buzzing but it seemed way more manageable. We got a seat, said a nice cheery hello to the owners who had all the time as they weren’t being pulled in ten directions to be part of photos and rushed interviews. The bar was relaxed and even though it was a takeover night—Olterra from Kolkata staged a pop-up with some truly delicious drinks—there was a sense of calm about the whole operation.

Navdeep, the owner, was (finally) able to share his vision and the story of the bar and how it all came together. We marvelled at that massive carpet-wall which was custom-woven in Banaras and then installed on site, all 104 kilos of it. The colourful strings which form the geometric roof design now made more sense than they had on the night of the launch. We actually got to sit and take in all possible elements of the bar, from the mixologists busy at their craft, to the way the music flowed and how the placement of the tables gave a sense of privacy and yet being part of a communal space. All these elements had been there on launch night too, but our senses were possibly too overwhelmed.

Navdeep shared that going ahead, the bar would cap headcount at 90 and the minute that number was hit, they would halt entries. “Everyone should get a complete and memorable experience. We all work too hard through the week to come and be anxious at overcrowded bars.” I completely resonated with his thought process. I also realised—yet again—why judging a bar or restaurant simply by the quality of food and drink served on launch night, can be so terribly misleading.

If we shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, think of launch nights to be the ephemeral dust cover, at best—it can be attractive but isn’t remotely a representation of the matter within. It also means that every outlet, no matter how good or bad on the first visit, needs to be given future chances to vindicate themselves. Or can themselves; consistency, to me, is much more important in the long run than quality. I know that sounds controversial, but I’d rather go back knowing what to expect than to be surprised every time.

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That said, I was only using Khikhi as an example from recent memory. And never let a hasty judgement rule out a promising potential future visit. In case a new outlet doesn’t see me at their launch, know that I am saving it for a more immersive visit soon after.

The writer is a sommelier