Stepping into the 60-seater, the social privilege becomes instantly visible. On one end, I spot industrialist Abhishek Poddar, the founder-trustee of MAP. On another, I see Priyanka Blah, mixologist and the academy chair for the World’s 50 Best Bars programme. Slowly, the attention to detail sinks in: the ruby-red seats swivel with ease under a slanted mirrored roof that makes the bar happily kaleidoscopic. A wooden console holds vinyl records, while a grand library of records waits to hit the turntable.
Because it’s at MAP, the art lining the walls isn’t just run-of-the-mill prints; the vintage Air India posters housed in the frames are currently valued in crores, I’m told. They are also handpicked and changed every few weeks by Poddar himself. Yet the art doesn’t scream at you, there are no spotlights or artist descriptions. You discover the walls at your own pace.
“We put this place together in 12 days,” says Salman Sait, partner at Investorant, the food and bevs investment firm behind city stars like Bar Spirit Forward, Una Hacienda, and now Cameo. Sait explains the story behind the name: “A cameo is a fleeting appearance in a work of art. The bar is just that, an added layer in the museum that highlights that drinks and culture can co-exist.”
The bar was designed to play a supporting role to the museum. “Abhishek wanted to start a bar here, but he didn’t want to change anything about the previous space. While the museum is beautiful, a bar needs a mood, an experience, and air-conditioning. But he didn’t want us to do any plumbing or construction with art worth millions of dollars below.”
After eight months of back and forth, a middle ground was found. First, Sait’s team had all the elements assembled outside. Then, for two weeks, they had from dusk to dawn to install it above the museum. Architect Pranav Sait of Studio Pomegranate was called in for the interiors, while Hemant Mundkur of D’YAVOL, Diageo, and Bacardi fame, was recruited to lead the bar programme. “Since we opened Spirit Forward, every two weeks there’s a new cocktail bar. There’s only so much you can clarify a drink,” Sait explains. “With Cameo, we wanted to peel back the layers and tap into Bangalore’s easy drinking culture. It’s specifically crafted as a bar, not a cocktail bar.”
The wooden shelves behind the bar are testament to this shift. They carry an extensive collection of homegrown and global liquor, from Lagavulin, Fandango and Toki to Paul John, Greater Than and Hapusa, ready to be served on the rocks. It’s my day out, so I opt for the limited cocktail menu instead.
The mezcal-based Sol y Sal features a house-made grapefruit soda that cuts the citrus with sweet smokiness. The Duskfall is an elevated gin soda with plum brine, but the next drink is what I already know will be my forever order here: the Shrooms, a vermouth and gin mix with umami mushrooms.
Cameo is also the kind of bar where you can be excited about the food. The menu at the drinks lounge and the adjacent bistro has been conceptualised by Kanishka Sharma and Pallavi Menon, the chef-founders behind yet another city favourite, Navu. (There’s an inexplicable giddiness in knowing that Cameo has somehow tied in flavours from Bengaluru’s most loved food and drinks places under one roof.) The single-page menu packs a good balance of safe (Chinatown dumplings and Kolkata chilli chicken) and experimental (Earl Grey pear salad and tuna tartare don) to keep all kinds of nibblers satisfied.
