ICYMI, Tinder, LBB and Gaysi Family are coming together to provide a digital space for products, services and businesses owned and run by India’s queer community, on Queer Made.
With Queer Made, we hope to support and celebrate queer entrepreneurial voices. We’ve come across some unique brands ranging from a variety space (wellness centre and movies anyone?), a seasoned mixologist, a bar training academy to a queer safe space!
A restaurant that is a wellness center AND has movies? Sign us up for this magical experience! Bellissimo is a boutique restaurant in New Delhi’s Malviya Nagar that welcomes the LGBT+ community and allies to its non-judgemental and inclusive space. The founder of this restaurant, Mithun Chatterjee also heads India’s first gay travel venture, HeTravels, as well as PrideStoreIndia, a one-stop shop for lifestyle products, Pride accessories, as well as men’s boxers and jockstraps.
Well, we’ll raise the bar of mixology by introducing you to Ami Shroff, India’s first female flair bartender, mixologist, and performing artist since 2003. A passion for bartending led Ami to create Mixed with co-founder Arundhati Chakraborty. Mixed is a brand of non alcoholic gourmet cocktail mixers that are mixed fresh from scratch. These pre-mixes can be customised for big house parties or large events. What’s more, Ami and Arundhati are also making Mixed sustainable, by packaging the premixes in reusable glass bottles covered in bamboo/jute casing with label tags that are plantable and made from newspaper/jute bags. The newspaper bags that the cocktails are sent in are made with Origami techniques that use ZERO glue or pins! We don’t know about you but we’re excited to try this brand that has so many yummy combinations such as ripe & raw mango + basil + jaggery, gooseberry(amla)+ orange + lime + jaggery and many more! Head over to their Instagram page to know more about their mixes!
Fascinated with mixing and bartending videos (or IRL)? Now, you can master the art with Mr. Bartender & The Crew in Bombay & Goa. Headed by Mr. Bartender Fay, The Crew is an academy that teaches bartending skills to women and the LGBT+ community. They want to include everyone from all walks of life, specifically marginalised people, and help them with a source of income. Fay started out as a bartender himself and has worked with a number of bars, restaurants, and chefs before. Along with being an academy, Mr. Bartender and The Crew also take up bartending gigs at personal & corporate events, do consultations for restaurants, and collaborate with alcohol brands. They can do any fancy mixology, from infusions, flavor blasters to cocktail toppers, molecular bars & much more! Check out their Instagram page to know more on how to register.
Safe spaces are vital to cities. Introducing you to People’s Choice in Hyderabad, a cafe exclusively for LGBT+ community that gives them a safe space. One of the unique/cool things about this cafe is the myriad of themes they have- Glow in the Dark room, Vintantique (the retro room), Queeropedia (the queer room), and the Unofficial Velvet (Bakery room). That’s not all. The in-house chef is always open to new ideas and suggestions for food options. They also conduct workshops and counseling sessions for people. The founder, Hephzibah Smith, is also a chef, bartender, food & travel blogger, national level badminton player, photographer, menu designer, restaurant consultant, aspiring lawyer and she aspires to be a lot more. Along with her co-founder, Tilottama Panda, they share a passion for travelling and exploring new things. Their dream of owning their own business materialised into People’s Choice. Their next step: make People’s Choice national.