From the stable of Piano Man Café comes Piano Man Jazz Club, which allows musicians to belt out a few numbers to the accompaniment of a very tested tapas menu with cheese fritters. By Devi Singh
Some of the renowned names in the jazz history, which also happen to be the favorites of the owner, are engraved on the brick walls. With a piano on the stage and floor done in wood emanating warmth, Piano Man Jazz Club takes one to the prohibition era of 1920’s America. Spread across two levels, the ground floor and mezzanine, the place has the archetypal vintage appeal to it. Just above the stage, a chandelier made of 58 trumpets grabs your attention from every corner of the club.
Yet another brainchild of Arjun Sagar Gupta, the man behind The Piano Man café, the place doesn’t shout out loud for attention but induces a subtle intimacy. The ground floor is surrounded by wooden chairs and tables with a corner done in amphitheater style to optimize the viewing experience of the live acts.
Essentially an electronic engineer, Gupta has been a pianist for 15 years. “I play every Sunday here. I stopped practicing for a long time as I got busy with food but this place is bringing me back into the form,” quips Gupta. Food happened by chance for him. He started with his first food venture, a bakery in 2010 which was pretty successful after which he opened the first Piano Man Café in Vasant Vihar in 2012. “It was a great learning experience. The one thing which remains constant is our vibe. Once we make customers we try to keep them for life,” he shares. The decision to shut down Vasant Vihar café was made as they wanted to concentrate their energies on the jazz club — their actual dream project.
At first look, the place does feel a little cramped. The tables are tiny, and definitely not for the ones who like to order food in bulk. The low ceiling is another bummer. You’ll have to edge your way to the smokers’ room. The place would be a hit with the vertically challenged though. Ahem! The good thing is they placed the bar to the mezzanine so the drinks being mixed don’t take the pleasure of live acts away.
The place offers quality live performances ranging from open-mic nights to live gigs. “We are bringing in a lot of amateur musicians but essentially the performers who come here are seasoned veterans. I want to give them the creative freedom in the comfort of our space because a performer can only perform when they are unhindered,” says Gupta. They also have movie screenings which feel like an indie theatre, a sort of a private space. “I talk a bit about the movie before the screening; it’s all about creating the ambience and educating people on what’s going on,” Gupta adds.
Passionate about music, he wants a strong space to promote art and culture. “There are specific styles of performance art I prefer and favour. The music verticals would be jazz, western classical, blues and classic rock. I want to promote classical music and expose the untapped talent in Delhi. People say there’s no audience for classical music but I say there’s no audience for anything till there’s exposure. Their approach is quintessentially ‘artiste centric’. They want great food and music to go together but the focal point of the whole experience is the ‘artist’. “We want people to respect our house rules,” Gupta tells us.
The performance art is curated of course. Musicians have a dialogue with the audience to keep them hooked. They simply don’t leave after their rendition. Thematically it is a jazz club as that’s what Gupta would ideally want it to be. “Seven days of jazz in Delhi is scary. I don’t think a place can sustain purely on jazz. That’s why we are mixing up with performance arts,” he says.
The food basically is an ingenious mix of European and pan Asian cuisine. The drinks have been priced across the board. They have created a story behind each cocktail which is quite absorbing. Manoj Pandey, executive chef of TPM elaborating on the menu tells us. “For the club we have essentially created the tapas menu. We don’t have enough sitting space so decided to go with the finger food which would be more convenient so that people could stand and enjoy the food,” Pandey says.
We ordered, bacon cheese bombs, butter roasted sweet potatoes, mac and cheese fritters and Old Monk flavored wings and marinated mushrooms. The chicken succulent and nicely enveloped in the booze, maintained its sweetness though the portion was much too small for ‘our’ chicken crazy. The bacon bombs were a delight. Bacon lamb patty coated in cheddar cheese with bacon wrapped around the patty. The crisp of the bacon was conspicuous.
The mushrooms served cold with garlic bread, marinated in olive oil, salt and pepper with a dash of white wine were kept to the basics and tasted good. Minimalism works for the mushrooms. The butter roasted sweet potato coins served with homemade mustard and garlic aioli did have the pungency of the mustard but it wasn’t overwhelming. The aioli cut down the pervasive flavour of the mustard enough to keep the Indian clientele not running for water. What wins hands down is the mac and cheese panko crusted croquette balls. Again, not much of a fuss there, basic mac and cheese, without the excess cheesiness coated in Panko bread crumbs retaining its crispiness for long. The house made barbeque sauce served with mac n cheese lacked the requisite smoke and heat, not being able to tantalise the palate.