One of the most happening and vibe –worthy places of the city is the Mexican restaurant Mehico. Opened recently it is already winning the hearts of the people of the city with its deliciously curated food and drinks menu. To add to its charm, it recently hosted the Cinco De Mayo, a three-day festival with a special menu and an exclusive one-day bar takeover by Sujan Shetty from Slow Tide Goa. Indulge went over to feel the pulse of the event with smiling faces and propped up selfies; lip-smacking food like jackfruit tacos, Grilled chipotle shrimp, Spicy mango, avocado beans; special music by DJ, a dance floor and more. We caught up with Sujan on the bar–takeover, recent trends, and how does Goan vibe complement the event.
At the onset, what was intriguing was how Goa and Latin American culture got along well. Speaking about matching the vibe Shetty mentions, “Goa is also a coastal city like the Mexican cities. They have some similar ingredients in food, though not all. But yes we are getting the old hippie vibes. Anjuna today is what it is from the old hippies of Goa and our cocktail menu is inspired by them.”
How is a cocktail made? Is it always easy to find the right ingredients while doing a bar-takeover in a different city? Sujan answers it all, “We use a lot of different ingredients but you cannot label anything as truly unique. So, we use different techniques to make the flavours unique. For example, we have a cocktail called Acid Eric where if I don’t spell out the ingredients you will not be able to catch the flavours. There are a couple of things that we had to get from Goa this time. For instance we make a pickle which takes one week to prepare. We also use locally available ingredients a lot.”
What we noticed evidently throughout the space was how the guests indulged themselves on taking selfies and groupfies with the various props and food and drinks. Continuing to talk about this trend further, Sujan revealed an interesting insight, “People will get their phones out for sure. I believe the first experience is seeing and that is why we do garnishes but not over the top ones. But then I don’t use a garnish just for the photo purpose only. It has to carry a story or add something to the cocktail, say a flavour or a texture.”
While we gorged on some tangy nachos it was time to talk about bar –bites and how they have evolved over time. Sujan mentions, “In terms of Bar Bites, we have papad, and now we have introduced five new bar bites like fried chicken in Slow Tide. We don’t go out of the essence which is inspired by coastal cuisines from Gujarat to Sri Lanka.” He continues, “If you are having a cocktail you can have anything along with it. It depends on people what they prefer. Mostly, they prefer fried stuff, papad, a lot of cold dishes. Our Goan prawn balchao is very popular. Today we are using Mexican inspired bar bites only to go along with the drinks.”
Interestingly, when we talk of Goa the first synonym which flashes is party. Coming from a resident, Sujan spills the beans on what it is like in Goa today. “There was more of a party scene till the late 2020’s. In fact, after COVID it turned into a hospitality hub. Restaurants are focussing on the cocktails and food rather than just party. Even we sell the experience. I think the city has evolved a lot from partying to experience.”
With the takeover being his first time in Kolkata, how could we not ask him about his experience here to which he responded, “It’s interesting to see the vibe in Kolkata. When you talk about cocktails there are few cities that come to your mind. But when I came here, and it’s my first time, I tasted the food and drinks, it was mind blowing. The techniques and the quality of the ingredient that they are using, I never expected that to be in Kolkata.”
Leaving us on a high note, he mentioned his personal favourites to be “Right now everyone’s favourite is tequila and so is mine and I like a nice pork roast or chorizo to go along with it.”
