Good food, music and beverages always make for a great outing but as this package keeps evolving, you keep returning for more. This was the secret behind AMPM Kolkata’s success as they completed one year on June 2. The 6,200 sq ft area has been giving the Kolkata ‘am’ and ‘pm’ hours a bump up, with the kitchen helmed by chef Auroni Mookherjee, Pradyumna Manot aka Paddy curates the music scene and Pankaj Gusain serves up the cocktails.
Known for its coffee and cocktails combination, AMPM tapped into the Kolkata market with its Victorian decor and classy vibe in a way that has made a mark in the industry. To celebrate the one-year success of AMPM, Rajan Sethi, the co-founder, speaks to My Kolkata about the plans ahead.
My Kolkata: Congratulations on AMPM Kolkata turning a year old. How has the journey been so far?
Rajan Sethi: Kolkata was a new market for our company [Bright Hospitality] and the biggest challenge was that the city has a mature and established scene in terms of food, beverage and music. There are long-standing iconic spaces that are thriving and killing it. So how do we break in? AMPM is forward when it comes to cocktails, food and music. We realised it would not be an easy task but decided to build a community and emphasise on collaborations and partnerships.
What are some of those collaborations?
There are quite a few notable ones. Auroni Mookerjee joined our parent company, Bright Hospitality, as a culinary director. Now all the Bright Hospitality brands will come under his guidance. Paddy [Pradyumna Manot] joined us as music director. We partnered with Glenburn Tea Estates for our new gin and tea cocktail menu. Then there are partnerships with local markets and PR agencies from the city. You cannot enter and penetrate this market on your own. The first year has been a trial period and we’ve sought and implemented feedback from our customers to try and cater to their food and music requirements. We’re pleased to be doing better than we had planned.
AMPM has hosted a number of unique events. What are some of the highlights?
Each segment had its own highlight for us this year. Paddy is a renowned jazz musician from Kolkata and he has connected AMPM to the larger world of music lovers. On the bar front, we hosted an international bar takeover with Beckaly Franks, who is Asia’s Number 1 Bartender (Asia’s 50 Best Bars 2023). We had about 800 people that day at AMPM during the takeover. That has led to offers from bartenders across the world who want to do takeovers at AMPM Kolkata.
What, according to you, makes AMPM Kolkata stand out?
Although many brands have been running in the city for decades, they have been doing the same thing. There has been no evolution with those brands. So we decided to take a different approach. After a market research, we saw that Kolkata is an elevated market with a discerning audience. For example, there is a place called Broadway Hotel… I just fell in love with the place. It is a dive bar and the music they were playing was amazing. The potential was always there, it just needed the right packaging.
AMPM has also opened up the stage for many musicians…
Going back to our research we realised that Kolkata has a massive pool of musicians but there are limited venues. That’s why we gave the most prominent spot in AMPM Kolkata to the stage. We call the stage ‘The Legends’ because we want people, who are performing on that stage, to be seen as legends. We provided state-of-the-art sound systems and installed studio standard lights. We met the needs of the artistes, and they, in turn, have been our greatest supporters.
What are some future plans for AMPM Kolkata?
We introduced Concert Mondays, where people come, sit, give their order and for one hour throughout the show, no one is allowed to make any noise. We also launched Artiste Battles, where two bands perform simultaneously. We will be hosting more international bar takeovers, including some from the World’s 50 Best Bars list, and hosting international musicians. Around World Music Day, from June 21 to 26, we plan to host a week-long celebration of music.
