Arjun Sagar Gupta has opened a bigger, better jazz club but what he is really after is building a legacy. The Piano Man at Eldeco Centre, Malviya Nagar, is the third club of the brand, and it is striking in its design and its ambition. Unlike the other two which have a Latin Quarter feel, here it has gone Gothic. “Bigger space doesn’t mean more people coming in. What it means is we are able to bring in musicians who want larger spaces to perform,” says Gupta to TMS as we chat on a Wednesday evening, the day the club opened its doors for a launch party.
Whether you are a music aficionado, a culinary enthusiast, or someone simply seeking a memorable night out, The Piano Man (TPM) is a place of promise. Its foyer leads to an antiquarian world—in ambience and look. A cluster of chandeliers resembling Gothic church candle-holders and the black-and-white photographs of the very piano on which ‘the piano man’, Gupta himself, learned to play, catch the eye, as does the all-new TPM merchandise rack. Music is very much what this is all about, for Gupta. “Having a much larger space for audiences to be exposed to live music” was a significant factor behind him setting up the Malviya Nagar outlet, he says.
With the third edition of his concept club, Gupta has pushed the envelope in terms of décor, music, technology and food. Apart from increasing the surface area, great attention to detail has been given to the interiors to ensure that both the artistes and the audience have a memorable experience. Spanning an impressive 8,500 square feet, the club is spread across three floors. It has been designed strategically to offer optimal seating arrangements to over 300 guests, ensuring that every guest enjoys an unobstructed view of the live performances on the stage—undoubtedly the heart of The Piano Man experience.
Familiar yet different
“As I walked through the main door, it felt like the same Piano Man I have loved for so many years but bigger, grander and even more timeless. Elegant seating plan, wooden interiors and the perfect stage that every jazz musician deserves. Overall, it felt more New Orleans than New Delhi, taking me to an era of brass and classics,” says guest Bhuvanesh S Manhas marvelling at the stage.
Arjun Sagar GuptaThe stage is 22x12 ft with two 6x6-ft extensions on both sides on which Gupta’s famous piano stands proudly after careful restoration. Close to it is a setup of tables for guests who want to see ‘the action’ closer. Amith Chhabra, who heads Livin’ Colors Design, an interior-design studio in Delhi, was roped in by Gupta again—he designed the other Piano Man clubs as well—to do the seatings, pillars and wooden panels, all in hand-crafted quatrefoil design on European white ash wood, thus bringing a Gothic-inspired music room to life. Another guest, Arjun Bagga, who stopped by with his friends, says: “The architecture and the interior of the restaurant are exceptionally beautiful.”
There are two wide, wooden staircases at opposite ends of the club, with one leading to the middle row — dedicated to the artistes and the sound engineers — while the other goes to the top balcony, which overlooks the performance area. As we sliced through the lamb chops and sipped the fancy cocktails at the top balcony, we could see right down below as the artistes stood around the piano under the intricately-crafted chandelier made of a staggering 591 trumpets. The trumpet chandelier, a gorgeous highlight across all the outlets, this time comes in three tiers—it has a big centrepiece along with two similar but smaller chandeliers on the sides. As Gupta puts it: “It’s like wax melding off a candle.”
Sound sensitive
One of the biggest challenges of having a larger space for music is to make it sound acoustic. However, TPM has nothing to worry about. According to Gupta, they have distributed the acoustics very evenly across the entire club. “There is a level sound field no matter where you go,” he assures. “So, we don’t have to pump up the decibels at the front and deafen the people there to make the sound reach those at the back. We try to operate this space with 80-87 decibels, which is loud but comfortable.”
Jazz artist Vasundhara Vee, who rendered a good performance, evoked the club’s seven-year history; the first club came up in Delhi in Safdarjung Enclave in 2015. “As artistes, we are very sensitive to the space where we play. Everything being hand crafted and designed with the names of our musical heroes in the carvings, gives us a sense of history and pride in the legacy that we are trying to carry forward,” she adds.
What distinguishes this outlet from the previous two? “Our programming in each of the three clubs will start changing. Each club will build its own sonic identity. The Safdarjung one will start moving towards jazz, back to how we started. The Gurugram club, much like now, will have eclectic music and in this club, we also intend to open it to indie music as well as bring a larger variety of music,” says Gupta. The food menu, too, he promises will be “extraordinary”.
Eurasian on the plate
Partner-chef Manoj Kumar Pandey, says that the new outlet aims to do Indian cuisine with local ingredients. “We have meticulously curated an Indo Fusion menu that not only pays homage to our Eurasian roots but also embraces the rich tapestry of flavours and ingredients that India offers. I can confidently say that our guests are in for an extraordinary gastronomic experience,” says Pandey. Apart from serving the traditional dal makhni, and butter chicken, TPM has come up with a range of dishes such as Smoked Aubergine and Burrata Kulcha, Global Gappas, Asian Masala Peanut, All Spice Chicken and Cheese Kulcha, Risotto Tacos Prawns, Pulled Jackfruit Tacos, Wasabi Broccolli from Tandoor, Crispy Chilli Pumpkin, and Tandoori Miso Lamb Chop— all of which gives an Indian touch to its exquisite Eurasian cuisine.
