Shot Two

Atmospheric Tabula Rasa,the trendy lounge bar at Saket’s Square One mall that made quite an impact with its ethereal décor and the small plates concept will now rest forever in peace. In a move to bring back the crowds that deserted Tabula Rasa for fresher eateries that have sprung up in the area,proprietors Sohrab Sitaram and Rohan Gupta have divided it into three,distinct new spaces. The retro bar Ink,has a moody,chic sophistication,while Oregano,launching in October,is a rustic outdoor lounge serving Italian cuisine. For fine dining,there’s Sage,understated and elegant,with many more tables where the old Tabula Rasa bar used to be. At the relaunch,Delhi’s party crowd showed up in full form on a Wednesday night,merrily spilling out into the terrace. Designers Shantanu and Nikhil who have created the staff uniforms partied with socialites Ameeta (inset) and Ayesha Seth,while restaurateur AD Singh beamed about his own fine dining restaurant Olive,reopening,three years after being sealed. “We needed to do something new and we wanted a bar and fine dining together,” says Sitaram,who also runs Chi in Select Citywalk and Safdarjung. It’s a second shot at grabbing a piece of the fast shrinking profits in restaurants,but a worthy one.