Where every cocktail is a time machine

With Synthe, its newest addition to the city’s after-dark scene, Kolkata has stepped into the future of drinking—quite literally. The bar programme of the cocktail and contemporary dining destination time travels between 2030 and 2110, with each drink imagining how the flavours and character of a different future decade might taste.

Opened earlier this year at Altitude on Lee Road, this intimate new bar starts with cocktails and builds an evening around them. The experience unfolds in the spirit of omakase, with the menu designed as a sequence rather than something to scan and order from. Each drink corresponds to a different decade, touching on ideas of wellness, personalisation, sustainability, abundance and restraint. Beverage consultant Ankur Chawla conceived the programme, with Head Mixologist Abhishek, Partner Director Aman and Beverage Programmer Debojit bringing it to life.

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Some of the drinks are particularly good at making the concept feel tangible. Reclamation, a herbaceous gin cocktail, is built around the idea of wellness and more considered living. Optimism brings together yuzu, peach and jasmine, while Synthesis uses tequila to play with the meeting point of organic flavours and technical precision. Unlearn is the more unexpected of the lot, pairing gin with tomato and strawberry vinegar. Then there is Restraint, a whisky, chamomile and Peychaud bitters combination that makes a case for a less-is-more approach to luxury.

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The food, by Chef Vaibhav Bhargava, is meant to work alongside the drinks rather than steal their thunder. There are plenty of things to pick at over a long evening, from the Tokyo Crunch Royale with avocado tartare and Blackout Futomaki with charcoal asparagus tempura to the Tropical Fire Bird with mango-habanero glaze and charred grilled prawns with yuzu chilli butter. It is the sort of menu that makes sense when dinner is happening between cocktails.

Inside, Synthe is dark, intimate, and deliberately theatrical. The bar sits under moody red light, with projections and LED walls altering the room as the night goes on. For all the technology, it never feels impersonal. The 30-seat format keeps things intimate, and there is enough warmth in the room to make you want to linger.

That, ultimately, is what works about Synthe. The idea is clever, but the evening doesn't feel like a lecture about the future. You can simply sit at the bar, try something you've probably never ordered before and let the next drink surprise you. In a city with no shortage of places to go for a drink, Synthe gives you a reason to stay for another one.

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