When Buenos Aires Meets Hyderabad Behind the Bar

There is a certain freedom to a great cocktail when the technique disappears into the glass. The ingredients may have gone through hours of preparation, experimentation and precision behind the bar, but what reaches the guest should feel instinctive: delicious, playful and, ideally, leave them wanting another sip. That is the philosophy Lucila Calichio brings to Tres Monos, the Buenos Aires cocktail bar that has become one of the most talked-about names in the global bar scene.

On August 23, Calichio, Bar Manager at Tres Monos, will bring that approach to The Bar at Novotel Hyderabad Convention Centre for a one-night international takeover. Ranked No. 10 in The World’s 50 Best Bars 2025 and named The Best Bar in South America 2025, Tres Monos has built its reputation around Argentine ingredients, irreverent creativity and cocktails that refuse to take themselves too seriously.

For Calichio, one ingredient captures the Argentine identity particularly well, even though it remains surprisingly underused internationally.

“Yerba mate. It is such an important part of everyday Argentine culture, but it still feels underused behind the bar internationally. It has this beautiful earthy, herbal and slightly bitter character, and it can bring a lot of depth to a cocktail without overpowering it. For us, it’s not just an ingredient, it’s part of our identity.”

That sense of identity is central to the way she approaches mixology. At Tres Monos, technical skill is never meant to become the star of the drink. Instead, it sits quietly in the background, allowing flavour and emotion to lead.

“For us, the guest should never feel the complexity. There might be a lot of technique, preparation and crazy ideas happening behind the bar, but when the drink arrives, it should simply feel delicious and fun. We always start with flavour and emotion rather than technique. If the guest takes a sip and immediately wants another one, then we’ve done our job.”

It is perhaps this balance between precision and playfulness that makes Tres Monos' style so distinctive. The bar’s cocktails are rooted in experimentation, but the experimentation is not about making a drink complicated for the sake of it. Calichio is equally interested in ingredients that can surprise the drinker, particularly those that traditionally sit outside the conventional cocktail pantry.

That willingness to look beyond the expected is also where Hyderabad becomes an interesting playground. If she could pick one local ingredient to experiment with behind the bar, Calichio already has one in mind.

“We would love to play with tamarind. It has this amazing combination of acidity, sweetness and depth that can work beautifully in cocktails. Hyderabad also has such a strong relationship with spice and bold flavours, so we’d be curious to explore tamarind with some of those local flavour profiles and see where Argentina meets Hyderabad.”

It is a meeting of food cultures that makes the takeover particularly interesting. Argentine cocktail culture may have its own vocabulary, but Calichio sees plenty of common ground in the way both places approach flavour, food and socialising. Buenos Aires, she says, naturally finds its way into the drinks at Tres Monos.

“Buenos Aires is full of food, music, football, late nights and people sharing drinks and stories on the street. That energy naturally finds its way into Tres Monos. We work every menu with small producers and traditional national brands from all over the country, so we try to represent where we come from but also local get a nod to flavor they already know.”

For the Hyderabad takeover, the intention is not simply to transport a Buenos Aires menu to another city. Calichio wants the drinks to retain their Tres Monos identity while responding to the place in which they are being served.

“We’re bringing local flavours from Tres Monos, some techniques and ingredients that cannot be obtained everywhere else, and that’s what we always want to explain to every guest coming to our event and create a connection with the place we are visiting. Hyderabad has such a strong and distinctive food culture, so we’re excited to bring our Argentine vibe for one night and let them interact with the city.”

That interaction is likely to be as much about the experience as the cocktails themselves. Calichio’s idea of mixology extends beyond what is poured into the glass. It is about the atmosphere around it, the people on the other side of the bar and the sense of discovery that comes with trying something unfamiliar.

“Expect a lot of energy, flavour and a little bit of chaos… the good kind! We want people to experience the personality of Tres Monos, not just drink our cocktails. There will be Argentine-inspired flavours, playful serves and drinks designed to be shared and remembered. Hyderabad also gives us an opportunity to experiment with local’s vibe and built together an event that you won’t forget, and hopefully will make you want to go visit our beautiful country. For one night, we want Buenos Aires and Hyderabad to meet behind the bar.”

That meeting is likely to unfold through a mix of herbal, citrusy, savoury, sweet and spicy notes, with familiar flavours viewed through an Argentine lens. More importantly, it offers a glimpse into the thinking behind contemporary mixology, where an ingredient can be a cultural marker, a technique can remain invisible and a cocktail can become a conversation between two places.

“Hosting Tres Monos is another step in our commitment to continually elevate the city’s food and beverage landscape through exceptional collaborations and unforgettable experiences,” says Rubin Cherian, General Manager, Novotel Hyderabad Convention Centre & Hyderabad International Convention Centre.

For one evening, then, the bar becomes a meeting point between Buenos Aires and Hyderabad, with the cocktail doing what it does best: bringing different flavours, ideas and people together in a single glass.