Restaurant India News: Papi Opens in Bandra with Cocktail-First Dining and Late-Night Energy

Papi, a cocktail-focused bar and dining destination launches in Bandra, Mumbai. Founded by Ansh Kapoor and Aditya Wanwari, the venue combines late-night bar culture with an all-day dining experience, offering curated cocktails, small plates, and design-led interiors. Located off Linking Road, Papi aims to create a space that evolves through the evening, shifting from a relaxed dining atmosphere to a high-energy late-night destination.

Spread across a warm, open-layout setting, Papi has been designed to transition seamlessly from brunch and coffee service during the day to cocktails and music-driven evenings at night. The interiors is conceptualised by Loop Design Studio, feature layered textures of wood, stone, brushed metal, and African textile-inspired detailing across the walls, private dining area, and bar. 

The cocktail programme remains central to Papi’s identity. The menu features ingredient-led drinks developed with in-house brines, foams, ferments, and distillates. Instead of traditional cocktail names, the beverages are listed as Cocktail No.1 to No.10, encouraging guests to discover flavours through experience rather than familiarity. Signature offerings include a chamomile whiskey highball with salted peach foam, a cucumber and dill brine martini, and a spirit-forward old fashioned. A notable feature at the venue is its cocktail-on-tap programme, still relatively uncommon in Mumbai’s bar industry. 

While cocktails lead the experience, the food menu has been curated around shareable small plates designed for long dining sessions. The menu draws inspiration from coastal, Mediterranean, Latin, and pan-Asian cuisines, with a focus on acidity, freshness, and umami-driven flavours. Dishes include Sichuan Paella, Buff Carpaccio with Truffle, Ricotta Reachado, Al Tartufo Pizza, and Radiatori alla Vodka. The restaurant also prepares its pasta in-house, while desserts such as Dark Chocolate Mousse complete the offering. Papi marks the first hospitality venture from Kapoor and Wanwari and is positioned as the beginning of a larger expansion into restaurants, bars, and hotels.

"Bandra is a very aware market. People go out often, they know what they like, and they can tell when something is trying too hard. The bar leads the experience at Papi, but the food has to keep pace with it, plates that can be shared and ordered over time, with deliberate contrast between light and rich, familiar and unexpected." said Aditya Wanwari, Co-Founder of Papi.

"Papi was designed to build slowly, to shift as the night progresses, so the experience at 8 PM feels completely different from what it becomes by midnight. Every detail, the way the light shifts, how the cocktails are structured, the pacing of the menu, has been considered to contribute to a certain feeling." added Ansh Kapoor, Co-Founder of Papi.