From the New York Times 100 Best Restaurants to fine-dining imports from London like the Ambassadors Clubhouse, Indian restaurants in New York City are some of the most dynamic in the city. Food, however, is not the only area of elevation; the cocktail scene is also seeing Indian cultural influence. I visited Saaqi, a speakeasy cocktail bar located beneath Musaafer NYC, an Indian fine-dining import from Houston, Texas, to experience Indian-influenced cocktails. “We wanted the focus to be on our regional produce,” says Mithu Malik (co-owner of Musaafer). “And the creativity of our team to craft specialty regional cocktails while at the same time making it a space to relax, unwind, and be in a space that seamlessly merges New York character, the age of the space, and funky, modern, Indian aesthetics.”
The Indian-influenced decor and design
Saaqi is located in the basement of the spectacularly designed Musaafer. Whereas Musaafer is opulent and bright, with visual cues to the Taj Mahal, Saaqi is moody and lush — a good fit for a cocktail bar. Paintings anchor the setting, and there are plenty of tables and seats for guests. In fact, the speakeasy setting of Saaqi is historically accurate, as the original interior was once a 1920s speakeasy. The original exposed brick and cast iron pillars remain, but the designers added some modern flair. “We hired an artist, Abhay Sehgal, whose work we liked,” explains Malik. “He works with mixed media on old paintings and adds interesting elements to lighten the formality of these paintings while at the same time making them relatable to the modern generation. Next was to add plush sofas, carpets, lamps, beautiful marble, and wood tables with brass inlay work.”
The cocktail menu
The menu at Saaqi is presented in a visually rich booklet, centering a storytelling element to the cocktail program. Each Indian cocktail is centered on a region of India and features ingredients and flavors associated with that state. “Musaafer, literally translated, means traveler, and we wanted to extend our concept of regional cuisine also to our cocktails,” says Malik. “So the next step was to work with local ingredients and flavors of the different regions and states of India and incorporate those into specialty cocktails. We then decided to use, either as a garnish or as a prop, an art form of the same region. That’s how the program was created.”
I found many of the cocktails at Saaqi very spice-forward and on the sweeter side, which actually pairs well with the food, such as the Chicken 65 Popcorn (a twist on the classic Chicken 65 fried chicken) and Kholiwada Shrimp, a fried shrimp. Two of the most intriguing drinks I tried were the Sikki (Bihar state), a refreshing blend of banana, lychee, rum, and allspice, along with the Toda Embroidery (Tamil), a spice-forward, creamy mix of coconut curry rum, Jaisalmer Indian craft gin, curry cordial, egg white, and curry oil. There’s an element of familiarity to the drinks since lychee, coconut, and egg whites often appear in other cocktails, but the mix of spices gives the cocktails a unique snapshot into the vastness of Indian cuisine.
