Pondicheri unveiled its new bar in early December.
Anita Jaisinghani is always looking for ways to improve the customer experience at Pondicheri. After more than a decade of her Indian restaurant being open in Upper Kirby, she decided it was time to reinvent the wheel with a complete renovation of the restaurant’s bar.
The new space charms with its checkered floor, honeycomb architectural design, concrete-like arches, and marble countertop. Only a month after unveiling the bar, Jaisinghani says it has already been embraced by regulars.
“I feel like we needed a focal point,” Jaisinghani says. “It’s funny, a lot of people that have been coming for years don’t remember the old bar, and that makes me realize that it was ready for that bar to go.”
The work for the new bar began over a year ago. Jaisinghani worked alongside Gin Design Group, a prolific firm that designs some of Houston’s top restaurants. Many ideas were presented to her, but nothing felt right. Then, a trip to Jaipur, India, changed everything and helped solidify her vision. During Jaisinghani’s travels, she visited Bar Palladio, which she describes as having a “beautiful modern Indian vibe.” She instantly knew she wanted to recreate a similar space at Pondicheri.
“I wanted that essence of what they had,” she says.
The arches on the wall where the liquor is held are core to the bar’s design: Featuring a concrete matte finish, they align with the vision to bring modernity to Pondicheri. The restaurant and Gin Design Group brought on local plaster artist Carissa Joy Marx, who’s known for her texture work across the Houston area.
Anita Jaisinghani says the arches prove the beauty in simplicity.
Jaisinghani says the arches prove that simplicity is beautiful; it reminds her of another place, another time. She also notes the bar’s wood paneling is an important aspect of the space. Pondicheri’s previous bar was covered in wood, but Jaisinghani couldn’t bear to throw it away, so she instead asked to repurpose it in the renovation.
“We wrapped the bar in that wood to give it a memory of the old bar,” Jaisinghani says.
Despite having such extensive work done to the space, it was all completed within six weeks. To ensure that the construction didn’t interfere with the restaurant’s day-to-day operations, the part of the bar being updated was closed off. Cocktails were still on offer during construction. At first, the bartenders were making them in the front of the restaurant, but when that created a traffic jam, everything was moved to the kitchen.
With the renovation complete, Jaisinghani’s goal is to turn Pondicheri into an inviting spot that people go to after work to enjoy drinks and small bites. Running from 4pm to 7pm daily, the restaurant’s happy hour offers $5 craft beer, $9 cocktails, and 25 percent off wine. Light bites include lentil dumplings, chicken chutney in a cup, and baked oysters.
“My favorite time of the day to snack on food is around 4pm, before dinner,” Jaisinghani says. “So, Pondicheri is the perfect place to come for a snack, and happy hour is what I’m hoping people come here for, whether you’re sitting at the front, the patio, or the bar.”
Pondicheri didn’t even have a happy hour until early December—Jaisinghani says she’s ashamed to admit it took the restaurant this long to start one. But since its unveiling, the new bar has been busier than ever.
Pondicheri’s new bar uses artwork to elevate the space.
Jaisinghani’s daughter, Ajna Jai, helms the drinks. Pondicheri’s cocktail offerings haven’t really changed, but she says everyone behind the bar is always open to exploring new ideas. For instance, the inspiration for the Blueberry Sparkle first came from the kitchen. Sometimes, Pondicheri serves crepes and pancakes with jam, so Jai says they decided to make a blueberry and rosemary jam to put at the bottom of the drink, complemented by gin and bubbles.
Jai says cocktail recipe development is truly a team effort. If a staffer comes up with an idea for a drink, they’ll usually make it, then do a test taste to get feedback on what could be better—or to see if it’s good enough to add to the menu. Plenty of other drinks have passed the test and made it onto the current menu at Pondicheri, often reflecting the restaurant’s culinary sensibilities. A chai old fashioned and a chai hot toddy infuse the classic cocktails with Indian tea, for example. The Honey Blues cocktail mixes butterfly pea vodka (giving it that blue color), lavender honey, ginger, and lemon juice. And the Pollinator is a type of sour cocktail made with chamomile and mezcal.
Jai feels that Pondicheri’s use of fresh juice sets the restaurant apart. If you try to find any of the bar’s employees an hour before it opens, you’ll be out of luck—they’ll be busy juicing away to ensure the cocktails are up to par with the rest of the restaurant’s offerings.
“I hope that guests feel the cocktails are made with a lot of care, attention, and love,” Jai says. “It’s a labor of love back there.”
Pondicheri has become somewhat of a destination restaurant, thanks to local recognition as well as national award nods from the likes of the James Beard Foundation. With the newly added happy hour, Jai would love for people to add it to their weekly rotation. Eventually, Jaisinghani hopes the restaurant and bar space will gain enough traction to host a late-night crowd. But right now, the focus is on building up the clientele.
“I think by creating the space, we made room for other people to come,” Jaisinghani says. “When it came to the bar, I feel like it’s kind of where we fell short, so we fixed that, and now it’s beautiful.”
The bar is still a work in progress. Jaisinghani claims she isn’t a static person and feels that nothing is ever totally final, so it’s safe to say it’s only a matter of time until we see something else exciting come from Pondicheri.
