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SOCIETY AND TRENDS: NIGHTCLUBS

NEW METRO HOTSPOTS

They have encroached on the disco domain and five-star eateries, trapping the best of services and prices. The addas of fun and food, music and art, they are the new hybrids — night spots with a difference.

By Natasha Israni

Where do they go, the lovelies, where do they go?

Once upon a time, they began their evenings at single-cuisine restaurants, moved on to strobe flashes and claustrophobic bars of discotheques in megastar hotels, and wrapped up at dawn in sleepy hotel coffee shops. Not any more.

Now, if you wish to karaoke or have your own birthday rock show at a night spot, listen to Dom Moraes spout poetry at a lounge or feast on an art exhibition at a restaurant, you actually can. A range of neoteric hotspots combining a rash of activities has taken over the one-dimensional disco domain: stand-alone, niche restaurants with bars and lounges like Mumbai's Indigo and Athena, quaint joints like Chennai's Korea House and Akasaka, spacious cafes like Delhi's Turtle and Fab, theme pubs like Bangalore's Urban Edge and Sparks, even sports bars like Kolkata's Winning Streak.

It's Latino night at Twisters, a two-month-old south Delhi pub, and salsa lessons are on. The buzz is palpable; standing room, only just. And if you are wondering about the yellow ceiling, blue walls and traditional paintings, you can go and down another drink. Here, you can afford to, unlike at the five-star hotels. At Rs 350 for a beer, it's much easier on the purse than the Rs 550 at star bars. Traditionally, five stars have always been identified with prices that tax the wallet: Oberoi Mumbai's Frangipani is 20-25 per cent more expensive than south Asian wok speciality restaurant, Sidewok.

Luxury hotels blame it on tax. The tax on food in hotels is 33 per cent while in independent restaurants it's only 15.3 per cent; the tax on alcohol is 36-37 per cent against 23 per cent in restaurants. "We are popular because we offer five-star facilities at cheaper prices," says Twisters' S.S. Gill. Leaning back in a leather chair, NRI engineer Navesh Khandelwal voices the preferred partying flavour of the 20 and 30-somethings who have outgrown headbanging: "It's more chilled here, more relaxed."

Chilled translates into happening, as in organising innovative events, and the megapolises are competing with a vengeance. The USP for the multicuisine restaurant Stop At Sam's is "Chennai's most surprising restaurant". It is. There are talk sessions and workshops with city celebrities, and walls often double up as art gallery. Says Gunit Singla who owns the RA Puram café with husband Samir: "Last year, we held 14 special nights, including a Friday the 13th spooky night, and a Thanksgiving night with tandoori turkey on the menu." Another new Chennai joint, Artz, has jumped onto the art bandwagon and welcomes amateur and professional artists to display their works.

Mumbai's Olive Bar & Kitchen took to the event trend when it opened its Mediterranean doors nearly a year ago. "We are trying to push the boundaries of who we are, moving beyond being restaurants to becoming neighbourhood addas," says A.D. Singh, one of the five owners of this restaurant-cum-bar. Music and art are among the creative founts that spout fun at The Art Club vents organised by ArtWorks with support from Olive. This, when blindfolded restaurant regulars aren't soiling their hands at pottery dos. Preity Zinta and Hrithik Roshan, who live in the neighbourhood, are known to drop by occasionally, though they haven't taken up painting. Yet.

But does this brouhaha translate into better sales? Not directly, explains Singh. "Most of our events are during off hours, during afternoons or early evenings. We hope these cultural events will help cultivate long-term customers." So wine appreciation workshops and poetry readings do a good job of keeping the culturally inclined entertained at Chateau Indage's Athena, another new destination in south Mumbai. Managed by Moshe Shek and Vikrant Chougule, Athena isn't about the gentle buzz of a restaurant, the vibrancy of a bar or the serenity of a lounge. It's all three coming together in 10,000
sq ft.

Delhi's DV8 pub-the legendary Cellars redone-with its old-fashioned interiors hosts fashion shows, media nights, live music-retro, jazz-and even Formula 2 race days. Plush leather chairs, bookcases with yellowing books, subtle lighting all add up to cosy comfort. At Fab Cafe, also in Delhi, theme nights like the Roopa Gulati show, book readings and jazz nights are standard fare. "The concept of 'cool' is changing. We fit into the new concept," says Manager Ruchi Tandon. The new concept? "Calm, stimulating atmosphere", rather than the "rock till you drop" partying 'n' boozing earlier.

"The number of people at discos has definitely dropped in the past few years," says Rajiv Joshi, marketing manager, Razzberry Rhinoceros, one of Mumbai's oldest suburban discos best known for introducing the afternoon disco concept. "One of the main reasons for this is the many new forms of entertainment, besides new places like theme restaurants and lounge bars-cum-restaurants like Athena. The saving grace is teenagers who still love partying here."

MetroScape

Looking Glass

Delhi Restaurant:
Kootub Restaurant

Delhi Dance Festival: Abhinaya Sudha

Delhi Restro-bar:
Buzz, Get It Here

Bangalore Exhibitions: Cinnamon