A hearty swig of Madras

It’s a warm Saturday evening and I am having cocktails with Rajinikanth. He gazes at me from my glass of cocktail, his trademark sunglasses still on. An image of the superstar is created on the frothy drink — aptly titled Magizhchi and comprising gin, home-made ginger karupatti syrup.

We are at Wire Room, the sparkling new lounge bar in the Design Hotel that celebrates Chennai and all that is synonymous with the city. And here, like most of us, they still prefer calling it Madras.

A criss-cross of wires hangs overhead, resembling the famous Madras checks, detailed by around 20 kilometres of metal wire spun inside. About 9,600 plump bobs hanging from the ceiling. There’s also inspiration from Madurai Meenakshi temple: an art work by artist Ivan Nabarro, involving wood and mirror, creates an illusion of 1,000 pillars, like in the Ayiram Kal Mandapam.

“Can you guess what the ceiling is made of?,” asks one of the staff excitedly. Is it carpet, or velvet, we wonder, peering harder at the ceiling that looks like it’s smeared with vermilion. “It’s sawdust that’s been dyed this shade of red,” he smiles, serving us another speciality cocktail.

Rum-based, its called R&G, and has South Indian black coffee with home-made ginger ale. Just then, we hear the blaring of horns from an auto. It gets closer as our third drink nears our table. The honking is part of the elaborate drink, served in a volcano bowl. It’s called Tikki takes a tuk-tuk: tequila-based with banana purée and home-made falernum. Most of the cocktails infuse local ingredients like paneer soda, thaen mittai, inji marapa, and nannari.

The food menu is more global. You’ll find Italian, Asian, Indian... The dahi ke kebab are little vegetarian cutlets stuffed with yoghurt and are addictive. The galouti shot will make you cry tears of joy (it’s that spicy, but melts in your mouth). The crystal dumplings with succulent bits of shiitake, zucchini, carrots and broccoli are bland, but help pacify the tongue. The tacos fare better, with their desi twist. Here, methi parathas double up as soft shell tacos and are stuffed with flavourful gilafi seekh. The Mediterranean quinoa salad with cherry tomatoes, diced peppers and red onion, though healthy, lacks flavour. The only thing that stands out is the subtle taste of guacamole. By now, the heady concoctions have us swaying to the music. For those who find it loud and would rather have conversations, there’s a private dining area... free of charge of course. Our dessert arrives. Artfully plated chocolate marquise served with lemon and mint sorbet. Each spoonful is a mix of bittersweet chocolate with a hint of zest. Just right to put us in the weekend spirit.