Sequel by Ashiesh Shah Atelier & Chef Vanika Choudhary
Sequel, the Mumbai-based restaurant brand that advocates clean, organic eating, has launched its third outlet, in BKC.
The brand is the brainchild of Founder & Chef Vanika Choudhary; Sequel’s BKC location is one of the first restaurant openings in the country to take place during the pandemic.
After a stunning renovation of Sequel’s Bandra space by renowned designer Ashiesh Shah, Choudhary and Shah have reunited on the BKC launch, creating a space that imbues a touch of luxurious seamlessness with Shah’s signature ‘Wabi-Sabi’ aesthetic.
The BKC location marks the brand’s foray into the formal dining space, with clean eating and the freshest, organic produce remaining, as ever, at the core of Sequel’s philosophy.
Sequel BKC is futuristic in its form, and earthy at its core. The entire space is bound with soft edges and continuous, natural forms, that complete themselves in organic, hand-crafted materials. The lighting chosen for the space is warm and intimate, which lends a more personal vibe to the space. The restaurant exudes a sense of timelessness, through a multi-sensory character, evident in the tactility of its interiors. A design element first introduced in the Bandra location, naturally-lacquered, off-white Channapatna beads, handmade in Karnataka, float seven feet above the ground, in a stunning installation that offers a flattering glow.
In a continued bid to keep Sequel’s vibrant, fresh produce center stage, a monotonal design aesthetic has been chosen, with rough, textured walls, and a patterned, terracotta brick floor.
The restaurant is divided into three, distinct areas. The first, a grab-and-go section, allows guests in a hurry to take their favourite order to go. The second is a soft-edged café space, umbrellaed by fluid, oyster-like light fixtures, while a crisply-finished central partition leads into a formal dining room that exudes a sense of subtle luxury, slow living, and refinement. The dining room is enrobed by a warm honey oak wood veneer that runs fluidly from the ground onto the walls and along the gridded façade, highlighting how the design creates a wholesome experience of a sensorial meal.
Sequel’s menu is abundant with the cleanest local produce and ingredients, like cold-pressed extra virgin olive oils, cashew cheese, Kashmiri walnuts and morels, gondhraj lemon, fresh seasonal herbs, Himalayan polenta, lotus root, and much more. It is one of the few restaurants in the country to offer both formal, elegant dining as well as the cleanest, high-quality produce available.
A new section of main courses offers Red Snapper Burger with Greek yogurt, capers, pickled onions with jalapenos, and mustard aioli on buckwheat-rice sourdough brioche; Tempeh Burger; Jacket Sweet Potato; and Apple Wood-Smoked Black Rice with lotus root, edamame, mushrooms wrapped in banana leaf, served with coconut milk broth with kaffir lime, lemongrass, birds eye chilli and galangal.
Dessert at Sequel BKC offers options like Dark chocolate cake with cacao ganache; and Poached pears, vanilla ice cream and seed crumble.
Coffee lovers will delight in Sequel’s first-of-its-kind Black Eagle Victoria Arduino Gravitec machine, used at World Barista Championships. It combines the most sophisticated technology with the highest levels of consistency and control, when making each cup of coffee.
High tea will soon be served in Sequel’s formal dining space each afternoon. Botanical cocktails and organic wines will also soon feature on the beverage menus. Marrying modernity and subtlety through a fusion of craft and organic food – the newest rendition of Sequel is a conformation of perfect imperfection.
Project: Sequel
Location: Mumbai
Design House: Asheish Shah Atelier
Photography: Assad Dadan
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