At BKC's Capital Social, political propoganda is 'dished out' in style

This week hospitality group Impresario headed by Riyaaz Amlani will launch its 10th outlet of allday cafeacute and bar Social in India Fifth in the city it is located in the office maze of Bandra Kurla Complex It will share its name with the GBlock building it is housed in Capital But its inspiration lies 5000 kilometres away and 71 years ago in World War IIstricken RussiaCapital Social at BKC has an austere vibe inspired by Russian bunkers and and is a throwback to the World War era PicsNimesh DaveWhen we walk into the nearready 1950 sq ft space a jam session of drilling cutting and polishing is underwayAmlani and Ayaz Basrai cofounder of The Busride Design Studio and architect for the project are facing the wall engrossed in conversationHaving finally arrived at a decision regarding the lighting Amlani turns to greet usThe two like creating spaces and admit that inspiration comes from things they are currently intoWe begin the interview on a disagreement They cannot decide on their first project together from around 10 years ago mdash was it Venom in Kolkata or Smoke House Grill ldquoArre I met you after I returned from Dubai where I did Manzil that dance bar Anyway letrsquos start the story with Smoke House Grillrdquo Basrai says reaching a compromiseOne thing he remembers clearly is the first brief Amlani gave him ldquoIt was for Smoke House Grill and he played acid jazz for four hours It was the best brief a design person could have asked for It offered us the mood he was looking forrdquoCollaborating with Amlani is like working with another design powerhouse says Basrai ldquoHe means I interfere too muchrdquo Amlani quipsldquoWith him there is potential to take a concept beyond the light and furniturerdquo says Basrai giving Amlani credit for changing the way his firm approaches design ldquoInputs can come from music food or a graphic novels you are reading Yourexperiences permeate the restaurant If we didnrsquot earn this perspective early in our career we may not have continued on the hospitality trackrdquo says Basrai considered one of Mumbairsquos most prolific restaurant designersDesigned from scrapEvery Social since the first one opened in Bengaluru two years ago dons a different look but retains an underlying thought ldquoWith Capital we have created a communist vibe using a brutalist design raw simple and functional Itrsquos minimum intervention maximum upcyclingrdquo says Amlani adding ldquoThere can be three kinds of government mdash social communist and capitalist mdash and we decided to depict all three The space is a throwback into the Cold War era The Russians were calling Americans capitalist pigs The Americans were on a witch hunt to hang the commies Both governments were trying hard to out do the other In retrospect it is a laughable exercise but it was quite diabolic thenrdquoThis brief took Basrai to the ship breaking yards of Bhavnagar in Gujarat ldquoWhile sourcing scrap in the yards our reference point were the old Russian enigma machines that helped the Allies crack German codes and preempt strikes I also sourced this cool handle from a BEST bus I am now using it as a handle on a booth door Imagine a Russian bunker in the middle of BKC mdash an austere stark Cold War look complete with bright propaganda banners We are also going to fix TV screens on the faccedilade playing clips of soldiers marching and communist propaganda on looprdquo says Basrai sipping his coffeeFor the first time a restaurant will see detachable community tables been fitted on tracks so they can be moved and joined to accommodate large and small groupsFifteen years into the industry and the challenge for Amlani is to outdo himself The industrial vibe he made cool with Social has been replicated across restaurants in India ldquoMore than once we have gone for client meetings and the Social menu is lying with the client in his file to produce as referencerdquo he addsAmlani is having the last laugh ldquoIt forces you not to do what you did How do I get that grungy vibe without using brick for instancerdquo Basrai interrupts ldquoYou mean lsquoshabby chicrsquordquoAnd therersquos more laughterWith the food and music constant across the chain Social Capital sits in the safety net of being a wellaccepted brand ldquoNow we can f around a little bit with the design People are copying elements from Social but they mistake furniture for mood which is a myopic view to takerdquo says BasraiDesign says the duo stems from the space available ldquoYou canrsquot force the same design onto every locationrdquo Capital Social is a linear property lending itself to messstyle community tables and bunker private spacesGeneration bridgeHow do two men who are kids of the 70s create a space that makes the millennials keep coming back The 70s were about ldquobad haircuts rock lsquonrsquo roll and rebellionrdquo the 80s about ldquotowing the line getting an MBA degree and then a jobrdquo says Basrai ldquoToday people follow Zuckerberg and Larry Page Youngsters want to try and save the world with an app Itrsquos about taking your time going on holidays and being hipster coolrdquo says AmlaniAnd Social offers the customer that leisurely pace to return to ldquoWhen we were growing up we kept secrets Now itrsquos about collaborating telling the world what you do Let them do it at Socialrdquo Basrai agrees ldquoLetrsquos offer them a banging wifi lockers instead of frowning upon itrdquoCafeacutes are Indiarsquos piazzasAnd so at Social stewards who you often mistake for customers donrsquot glare at you for sitting too long ldquoIn my headrdquo says Amlani ldquoSocial is a cafeacute We encourage people to linger work Cafeacutes are our piazzas where people congregate We donrsquot have open spaces so cafeacutes have to step in and double up as townhalls or community centresrdquo he addsThatrsquos why every Social has a lsquoneighbourhoodrsquo identity Todi Social was built for professionals who live and work in Lower Parel ldquoHumans are addicted to being part of communities Twitter is serving the need online Cafeacutes must do it offlinerdquo