Cavity, New Delhi

When did drinking start to feel like a tasting menu?

It’s something I’ve been noticing more and more lately. Bars are shrinking in size but expanding in ambition — fewer seats, more storytelling, cocktails highly experimental, almost experiential.

At Cavity, the new nine-seat counter tucked beneath @barbetandpals in Delhi, it’s not supremely cookie cutter but an interesting idea which unravels into a 2.5 hour nine-course cocktail and dine experience.

You sit across the bartenders as they build each drink in front of you, explaining the ingredient, the technique, sometimes even the geography behind it. Along with some banter.

The menu moves through a rather fascinating spread of flavours — Guntur chilli appearing with a warm gougère, Bhimkol banana slipping into a cocktail, Joha rice and Nilgiri coffee turning up in sync with the direction of a coursed menu from amuse bouche to palate cleansers and nightcap style dessert ones.

The bites are small, as expected in a cocktail forward space, the pours highlight the trend ongoing currently across Asia — ferments, savory, sours, saline and more.

These are all chapters in a longer narrative.

It’s immersive, theatrical almost — the kind of evening where you’re as much a spectator as you are a guest.

But it does make you think.

Are these hyper-curated drinking experiences where cocktail culture is headed… or do we still secretly prefer the simple pleasure of walking into a bar and ordering a drink?

Curious to hear where you land on this. 🍸