ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM

At The Elephant Room, award-winning bartender Yugnes Susela builds cocktails that channel the textures, spices and spirit of Singapore's Little India. The bar, constantly ranked among Asia's 50 Best, is a quiet force reshaping how heritage can taste

- Words SNG LER JUN Photography JEREMY TAN

It is easy, almost expected, for chefs and artists to draw inspiration from their childhoods. A piece of furniture becomes a symbol of rebellion. A menu, a thesis on longing. A painting, a love letter for the deceased. This instinct has long run the gamut of creative spaces, from test kitchens to studio classrooms.

There is a place Susela wants to take us, and it begins in Singapore, specifically the neighbourhoods of Little India, where much of the bar's repertoire of cocktails draws its references. These drinks begin with something lived: spice from Tekka Market, a street name, and even a phrase in Tamil.

What distinguishes the Singaporean millennial Yugnes Susela, 37, isn't simply that he looks to the past and his roots for inspiration: it's that he built a taproom to make sense of them. A bartender by training and the founder of The Elephant Room, he has created one of Singapore's most singular drinking experiences: a bar programme rooted in Indian-Singaporean culture that has earned repeated spots on Asia's 50 Best Bars list.

While the sunny island is rife with excellent taverns, it can be said that few truly celebrate local culture, he opines. That's what The Elephant Room strives to acknowledge. "I wanted a place where storytelling, spices and provenance were at the heart of every drink, so guests could taste the soul of Little India, beyond the ingredients," Susela explains. At The Elephant Room, he and his team construct drinks that honour the neighbourhood without romanticising it. "I wanted to shed more light on aspects of our culture that have been overlooked or underrepresented, specifically the Indian community."