ARQ - THE ESSENCE

OUR Signature Menu: ARQ - THE ESSENCE

OUR Signature Menu:

ARQ - THE ESSENCE

Sidecar’s “Arq-The Essence” is the 4th iteration of our annual cocktail menu, which seeks inspiration from myriad sources. The two governing tenets of our bar program are sustainability and seasonality, and this menu is a nod to both along with being a medium for highlighting indigenous ingredients, legacies and drinking culture.

Arq is the essence of time. Of letting a scent transport us to a moment and pausing in it. More ethereal than all other senses, scent has the power to unlock emotions by tapping into our collective memories – the perfume of raat ki rani in summertime, the smell of incense lit in the evening, the fragrance of chai being boiled street side, and the scent of first rain falling on muddy grounds. Arq attempts to bottle that familiar rush through cocktails that showcase the uniqueness of India.
Our menu uses paper made by artisans in Kagzipura.

This is a small village in Aurangabad that prides itself on the centuries-old legacy of paper making without cutting any trees, which dates back to the Pre-Mughal Era. The beautifully crafted handmade paper presents as the perfect medium to carry our new menu, where all 10 drinks draw from an “essence”. Like Beet taking root in the smell of first rain – earthy, vegetal and deeply savoury, and Cilantro encapsulating the essence of Indian Kitchens, with spices and herbs found in every household in the country.

The presentation itself is like that of a diary entry written from the perspective of the ingredients, talking about origins and myths. The book is made to look handwritten, with doodles and scratches to show the creative process, warts and all.