Good old Soak

When fashion designer Ravi Bajaj decides to open a wine bar, you are assured of elegance and expect it to be trendy and rocking. Elegant and trendy, Soak is. But, it has yet to rock...

Blame it on the fact that Ravi hasn’t gone into a marketing spiel, the approach to the bar, or on the lack of a mature wine audience in Delhi – the truth is that Soak isn’t quite soaking it up yet!

“Oh, rock it will,” says a confident Ravi. “We haven’t yet started marketing it. But let me tell you. I was over at Polo Lounge the other night and saw this group of lalas you normally wouldn’t expect in a classy bar. My biggest shock came when I saw each of them was nursing a glass of red wine! Who says wine isn’t popular?”

Ravi’s retail store occupies a prominent corner in the trendy GK-1 N-Block market. Walk though the menswear section and take a lift to the first floor where the door opens onto a dark ambience shot through with muted red lighting. Comfortably padded velvet-wine high-back sofas line one wall; alternatively go for the table and chair arrangements nearer the bar counter or just perch on the bar stools across the granite counter.

Be warned – Soak is not the place for a high-pitched evening of fun and dance or even foot tapping music; this is where you come for a quiet evening to chat with friends over a drink or two. Teak wood flooring, brass lamps, muted music and soft lighting provide the right ambience for a relaxed evening and conversation. Food from Le Café, Ravi’s café on the top floor is a good accompaniment to the drinks.

Hailed as Delhi’s first wine bar, Soak is still a “work in progress” with a balanced wine list of 33 varieties, hoping to go to 60-70. Ravi protests. “All bars in five stars have a huge edge over us, since they have to pay much less as duty because they earn foreign exchange.” However, he hopefully interjects, the tax regime in Delhi will surely change with the Commonwealth Games.

To keep the play on an even field, Soak minimizes the mark-up on wines, making up for the loss through sale of beers and other spirits. Go for a bottle of the bubbly, choose from the 12 wines offered by glass or go for their martinis, vodkatinis or Wine Spritzers. Or, settle for beers such as Stella and Hoegaarden, both brands represented by Ravi Bajaj.

What inspired Ravi to start a wine bar? Ravi waxes lyrical, “Wine is a very sociable drink, you could even call it fashionable. It indulges the senses and enhances the taste of food. It is quite complicated and a fascinating study. Consider the adjectives used with wine – bubbly, effervescent, full-bodied, and so on ... ”

Voila! As a designer, wine and all that goes with it appeals to Ravi’s sense of style and sensibilities. And Ravi’s dream was to unfold the equivalent of “a traditional Parisian ambience to meet for a ‘glass of wine’ anytime from 11 a.m. to 1 a.m. over delectable Tapas fare.”

However it will take time for that to be realized. As of now the place lacks a ‘full bodied’ wine list, a trained sommelier to take you through the ropes and though the wine list is exclusive, it lacks the depth Soak aspires for. Avers Ravi, “I am not looking at making this a watering hole. I am quite happy selling 15-20 bottles a day. A more evolved audience will happen by and by ... My experience with Le Café tells me it’s better to start slow rather than with a bang!”