Step into Earth Italian Lounge and Den in Gurgaon, and your lips are bound to curl into an impressed “Wow!”
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| Tanu Bindra Owner and Operations Head of Earth & Den |
The décor is the difference here. Standing inside these soft-lit, plush environs, it is easy to imagine that you are in an upscale European eatery. Even before the menu arrives, your five senses are soaked in pleasure.
> Flowing curtains fashioned from burlap sack fabric
> Logs studded into walls to create the feel of a ridge
> Big blow-ups of magazine photos, framed in chunky wood
> Sofas that say, ‘Come, sink in’
> Slate flooring
> Hand-ruffled natural white paint on the walls
It’s beautiful. And graceful. Like its creator: Tanu Bindra.
Tanu, who has had no formal training either in designing interiors or in running a restaurant, says she always had the eye for beauty and style, but spent the prime of her life doing her housewifely duties. “Once the kids grew up, I began feeling restless,” she says, ”And asked my husband if he would let me do up the new restaurants he was planning.” He did, although a tad doubtful about his so-far-housebound wife’s creative capabilities. But the results soon left him stunned.
“I believe there is something special in each one of us. All we need to do is, make the effort to discover and harness it,” she says.
Sitting in her tastefully decorated Gurgaon apartment, Bindra is the picture of poise as she reflects on the elements that set her restaurants apart. “Let us admit that most restaurants today do serve good food, or they would not be running successfully. So, hiring a good chef, thinking up an appealing menu are a given when you’re in the food business. To get the edge over competition, something has to be unique. And in my restaurants, that something is the ambience.”
We agree.
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| Fast Facts > Tanu Bindra is the owner and Operations Head of Earth & Den > She belongs to the family that owns the mega-popular Moet’s Group of restaurants. > A deeply spiritual person, Bindra says meditation helps her stay anchored through stressful situations, and gives her the clarity to take the right decisions. |
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| About Earth Covered Area: 6000 sq. ft. Location: Part-II, Sector 15 Gurgaon Cuisine: Italian Staff strength: 30 Biggest Challenge: the location. "It is difficult to get people to drive down this far,' says Tanu. New Move: "in the five years since its launch, Earth has picked up through word of mouth, but to improve the response, we have now hired a PR agency." |
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| 5 Fine Dining Design Tips I. How’s your curb appeal? Let the door and the signboard announce the concept of your restaurant. Invite the eye in! II. Paint is an instant and inexpensive way to wake up your walls. III. Dramatise focal points. Orange and yellow tones suggest warmth and whet appetite. IV. Simplicity can make a bold statement. Restaurants in Europe do that with bare terracotta walls and naked bulbs! V. Create cosy corners. People come to a restaurant not just for the food, but for a sense of intimacy. |
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