PERMANENT ICE LOUNGE

OPENS IN INDIA

India is the latest country to weigh in on the ice lounge concept and 21 Fahrenheit opened in November, 2008 in Andhari, Mumbai.

Owners of the lounge, Vaibhav Tandel, Aalok Purohit and Harshan Dharmadas (seated in photograph), were formerly with the Sharaf Group in Dubai and were responsible for the introduction of the Chillout ice restaurant that has been operating in the Emirates for more than two years.

21 Fahrenheit boasts 820 sq ft of space which can accommodate 45 people and like the Chillout restaurant the menu includes hot food dishes – with some, believe it or not, being flambéed.

Red and blue lighting provide a jazzy vibe and with a regular bar alongside and a high-end Asian restaurant above, the lounge has all the ingredients visitors require for an evening out. Visitors wear locally-produced insulated parkas.

Celebrities including actress Shweta Salve attended the Grand Opening in mid-November.

Vaibhav Tandel, CEO of Hyacinth Lifestyle who was responsible for construction of the lounge says, ‘The idea is to give people somewhere to spend a whole evening in addition to the 30 minutes or so they are in the ice lounge. The lounge is ideally located to attract tourists and the college crowd.

Unlike many ice lounges, 21 Fahrenheit features ice walls that do not fully cover the walls. However, the sub-zero temperatures, ice bar, glasses and furniture combine to give visitors the ‘ice experience".

Vaibhav used a team of seven to build the ice lounge, a project that took 20 days.


Few people realize that there has been a ‘cold’ bar in India for 18 months.

Known as Bond – the Fun Bar, it is located inside a regular bar and consists of a chilled room maintained at minus 7 degrees C. It attracts people wanting to experience a cocktail served in an ice glass.