Project Grain is ‘Mad Men’ via 2026

Project Grain, the new Bengaluru bar, holds its essence in its name. When you step into the dimly-lit vault, every flicker of light celebrates the grain on the wood that surrounds you. From the patterned wooden bar frame and the unstructured wood chandelier to the corner stage waiting for a jazz band to step in, the space relies on material to do the talking. Despite being located in the plush lobby of Sheraton Grand Bangalore Hotel at Brigade Gateway, the 60-seater doubles as an escape to the Mad Men-era with a focus on leather and dark wood.

Designed by architecture firm SDeG, which is also behind the city’s favourite watering hole Bob’s Bar, Project Grain is consciously created without the stuffiness of a classic five-star hotel. There are no dress codes, no tablecloths, no daunting artworks or fussy servers hovering over you. “We want to create a hotel bar that goes against the grain,” shares Guru Shivaram, the co-founder of F&B investment platform Investorant. If the name sounds familiar, it’s because the company is behind Bengaluru’s best known drinking spots, including Spirit Forward, Una Hacienda, and recently Bar Cameo.

For Project Grain, they invited Spirit Forward’s ace mixologist Arijit Bose to flesh out a concept where wood plays the hero far beyond the atmosphere. “Whisky, wine, and rum take their character from the wood they age in, whether it’s oak, mizunara or chestnut,” says Bose. “The bar is built, first and foremost, around aged spirits.” At a time when cocktail bars win intrigue by blending the liquor with wild ingredients like seaweed or bacon, Grain bets on spirits that have been given enough time and attention.

The bar’s menu opens with Reserve Highballs, which pay homage to the role of wood. These spirits have spent more time in the barrel, allowing the alcohol to absorb layers of vanilla, caramel or smoke from the tannin. Grain’s bar lead, Pawan Rawat, who has previously worked with Shingo Gokan, the renowned bartender at Hong Kong’s Gokan Bar, built this premium-priced programme without any IG-friendly frills to back it. These Highballs are for serious drinkers who can tell the difference between a 12- or 18-year aged whisky from how it lands on their palate or slides down their throat.

It’s also for curious, experimental drinkers like me, who want to understand how wood barrel influences flavour. Who needs to fly to Osaka for a specialist Suntory tour when you can tap that knowledge at a bar in Bengaluru? Rawat offers me two options: “The reserve expression from Yamazaki carries the fruit-forward brightness of Japanese white oak ageing, while a reserve Anejo tequila carries the weight of barrel time alongside the agave’s earthy sweetness,” he explains.

As a tequila girlie, I instantly go for the second and have zero regrets. Served in a tall glass with Fandango mezcal and chilled seltzer, the drink is undeniably potent and smoky with a hint of caramel. It’s also perfect for those of us who indulge in small, slow sips. But on this particular evening, I was feeling mildly chaotic and decided to mix things up with a few cocktails. If you were at Grain at the same time, you would recognise me and my plus-one as that one table rotating six glasses of heady drinks.

The mood of the bar enables this hedonism. Grain partnered with Delhi’s The Piano Man for the music programme. You will rarely see a pre-made playlist and never a DJ at the bar; every night a two- or three-piece jazz and blues ensemble takes the stage. In just over a month, they have already hosted Meba Ofilia and Tarang Joseph for International Jazz Day. The night of our visit, a duo moved through mellow grooves and timeless classics that felt inviting even to a jazz-newbie like me.

Perhaps it’s all the research I’ve been consuming on sonic seasoning and how sound enhances flavour but with the tunes in the background, I was ready to guzzle the Street Orchard. Imagine blanco tequila and kiwi oleo with a hint of togarashi spice. Picante who? The Barrel Aged Gibson, where hand-foraged botanical gin met vermouth and maple, was also a favourite.

But if you absolutely had to pick just one drink (after the Reserved Highballs, of course), I would advocate for the Tall Man—Scotch whisky, aged to perfection, with raspberry, honey shrub, tomato, and vermouth. It sounds like a disaster, but this is why it’s important to trust your mixologist, and Rawat is right, it’s a banger. As someone who needs to sip-sip-nibble, I’m also glad that Hacienda’s Jason Hudanish built the food menu at Grain.

While the menu is smaller than other bars today, its Japanese, Korean and Thai-influenced dishes slot well with the woody drinks on offer. The corn ribs with umami butter and schimi should basically be trademarked chakna for Bengaluru’s monsoons. Meanwhile, the Salmon Handy and its veggie equivalent come with crispy nori sheets and gochujang cream cheese. The DIY style of their sushi serves as a great prompt to check where you’re at on the happy tipsy to topsy-turvy drunk scale. (I was doing just fine, if you’re wondering!)

My only regret from the evening would be that I forgot to try the blueberry or matcha cream pie sando. But oh well, another reason to head back for the Street Orchard. Truth is, in Grain’s little vibes-pilled hideout you not only forget that you’re in a bougie five-star, you also forget that you’re all the way out in west Bengaluru. The bar has such a dreamy, cinematic quality to it. The hour-long journey back home feels like a later problem.

Address: Lobby level, Sheraton Grand Bangalore Hotel at Brigade Gateway, 26/1, Dr Rajkumar Road, Rajajinagar, Bengaluru 

Timings: 5 pm to 12:30 am, Tuesday to Sunday

Reservations: +91 7337746970

Cost for two: ₹3,000 + taxes