The gallery is not just for art. The restaurant is not just for food

In Mumbai, everyone knows Mag St. by day. With outlets in Bandra, Colaba, and Lower Parel, the establishment known for its lobster rolls and Korean buns is a staple for every kind of get-together, from work brunches and first dates to birthday parties. Yet, on the second Saturday night of every month, Mag St.’s space in Bandra transforms into something different. Amidst tequila shots and dim lighting, multimedia art and photo installations take centre stage. Musicians like Makāra, Chhab Ra and, most recently, Choksi, set the tone for such gatherings. On these nights, Mag St.’s regular menu is thrown aside, replaced with elaborate dishes like chargrilled Moo’s Ping bacon glazed with coconut cream and a selection of drinks that the guests may not have tried before. Thus comes alive Off Menu.

Conceptualised by 26-year-old Alya Vachani, this monthly ritual—which brings together connection, creativity and, of course, good food—started in June this year. Freshly back in Mumbai after nine years in New York, Vachani found herself contemplating what makes big cities so alluring to the average outsider. “Why are people so obsessed with New York? It’s not the hustle culture or the tiny apartments you struggle to live in; it’s not even the diversity of people or thought,” muses the daughter of Food Matters CEOs Jay Yousuf and Gauri Devidayal who is the newest recruit to the family business. “It’s actually the fact that New York is a cultural hub. Literally anything you can think of, be it food, fashion, music or art, you can go to an event that will showcase that specific niche.” India, too, she points out, is just as rich in all these aspects. The only difference is that we don’t have as many spaces that intentionally showcase such cultural movements.

Off Menu’s latest edition, held in collaboration with Frostbite Lab on August 9, spotlighted Mumbai’s street culture alongside “classic cocktails that may have been forgotten”. On display were works of two visual artists with starkly different approaches to documenting the city of dreams. On one hand, Revanth Dasgupta’s strikingly vivid and colourful multimedia work (pictured above) bubbling with chaos, unpacking power structures and everyday hierarchies across urban India, and on the other, photographer Sunhil Sippy’s images—more sombre, capturing the rapid transformation of Mumbai between 2010 and 2020 in black and white.

Sippy’s interest in street photography began when he lost his left heel in a 2012 accident and began to take long walks during recovery, and the series reflected that slow and melancholic tone. Not far from there, in another corner, a Frostbite Lab grillz and jewellery zone highlighted a cultural movement that has long been a part of America but is only just coming to India.

A restaurant like Mag St. may seem like an unlikely place to discover a new artist or buy jewellery. Yet, in the last couple of years, more and more hybrid spaces have cropped up across the city, blurring conventional boundaries of what it means to be a restaurant, store or even art gallery. Only 10 minutes away from Mag St. in Bandra is Method, a contemporary art gallery that frequently hosts community dinner parties and mixers that are open to all. Just last week, their Forward to the Past community dinner brought flavours from the ’90s—from tiffin-waali Maggi to old-school jelly and Black Forest cake and smiley potatoes—to a yellow checkered table inside the gallery. In the past, the gallery has morphed after-hours to host poetry readings, weaving workshops, and cookouts that allow anyone interested in cooking, curating a menu or planning an event to take over for the evening.

These shapeshifting venues are not your usual restaurants that keep the good times going with a music gig or band on the bill; these are alternative events curated in a space that is typically far from conventional.

In Lower Parel, the recently launched Nilaya Anthology by Asian Paints, a 1,00,000 sqft space that houses coveted international and Indian design brands, also morphs into an exhibition space, theatre performance venue, art pop-ups and more, declaring it is not just a fancy decor store. When every second story on Instagram feels like an advertisement pushing you to buy something, such experiences hit differently. “What we are missing in India, and maybe everywhere in the world, are places that are not just about consumption but about experience, understanding, and beauty,” notes Pavitra Rajaram, creative director and curator of Nilaya Anthology.

A new experience guaranteed in a familiar space is the bait Gen Z needs to get going. Mandovi Menon, co-founder of Egodeath, a strategy and design practice, explains that the rise in hybrid spaces and the off-kilter experiences on offer is a reflection of our shifting culture and identities. “When the illusion of choice is so high, it makes sense that people—especially younger demographics—have more layered ideas of who they are and want to belong to spaces that speak to more than one facet of their interests,” she points out.

While restaurants hosting gig nights is hardly unusual, these hybrid spaces offer something out of the ordinary. In Goa, MTW is an office by day, cocktail bar by night. Also in the coastal space, at Barefoot Goa you don’t even have to partake in the café menu if you’re just looking for a silent place to read a book with strangers. In Bengaluru, Circa 11 is a shapeshifting coffee house and cocktail bar. Only five minutes away lies The Studio by Copper + Cloves, a cafe combined with a yoga and pilates studio. In Mumbai’s Versova, Ink n Brew is a tattoo studio cum coffee shop that regularly hosts live gigs, vinyl listening sessions, and film screenings. In Navi Mumbai, Anti Disciplinary Club’s Crash Pad turned a house party into a one-day art show with live music. The list of examples grows longer by the day, and Menon believes that internet culture is to be credited for this shift: “Individuality has always been the primary currency of the internet but as it becomes more confining, people are looking outside it for more expansive expression. Brands and institutions are commoditising and capitalising on a desire for real human connection.”

For Gen Z, a multi-hyphenate generation that is never happy doing one plain job, such hybrid spaces offer an exciting new alternative to the formulaic night-out, giving them more chances to find their community. The idea behind Mag St.’s Off Menu was the same, confirms Shrikesh Choksi, DJ and founder of Frostbite Lab. “Alya and I both want to create spaces where multiple things can come together. Almost like a restaurant meets art gallery meets music venue where everything tells a story,” he admits, adding, “This is meant to be a space where you might come for the jewellery or the food but leave obsessed with a new DJ, an artist, or even just an idea.” Menon is all for such experiences—with one exception. “Death to coffee raves. Please and thank you.”