A model with Manish Malhotra’s latest collection, (Photo: Earth NYC)

Hemant Phul, a 28-year-old IT professional, says he and his wife Bhavna had a tough time finding trendy partying spots in New York. So rather than looking some more, Phul decided toEarth NYC, a boutique lounge which he says combines energies of Mumbai and NYC.

“My wife loves partying. All that we came across in New York were rent-a-club sort of affairs where more often than not fights broke out among guests. That inspired me to start Earth NYC,” Phul told News India-Times.

Phul, who came to the U.S. from Mumbai, says he wanted to bring a touch of one of his favorite cities to New York. “I wanted a combination of something very upscale yet something which felt like Bombay in New York,” he said.

From left, ‘Bombay Dreams’ lead Manu Narayan, Earth NYC owner Hemant Phul and designer Manish Malhotra. (Photo: Earth NYC)

To achieve the effect, he roped in well-known Indian designer Manish Malhotra, who is particularly known for major image make-over of well- known Hindi cinema actresses through their clothes. “Manish and I are friends. I left the decision about the decor completely him and my wife. My only requirement was that it should have a high ceiling,” Phul said. He began working on Earth NYC in June 2002 when he found a run-down building on the 10th avenue in Manhattan. “It was like starting from scratch,” he said. The 600-capacity Earthd to what Phul described as “an overwhelming response.”

“On the first three days we had twice the capacity crowd. Even on the day the blizzard hit New York (Jan. 22), we had a capacity crowd,” he said. The menu on offer at the restaurant has been devised to be non-fussy. Or the way Phul put it, “very Bombay street fare.”

“We do not want to offer gourmet food. We want to offer Bombay street fare served in a classy fashion. You could find items such as wada-pau (a spicy burger with a potato patty), masala pau (spiced up bun),” he said. The lounge’s signature drink is vodka pani puri. For those not well versed with Mumbai’s street food, pani puri is really puffed up wheat biscuits with a filling of potatoes, garbanzo beans, chutney and pungent and spiced up water. In this case water is replaced by vodka.

A model with Malhotra’s latest design. (Photo: Earth NYC)

Phul said since the menu was no-nonsense he did not have to bring in highly-skilled chefs. “What we are selling is ambience, a cool place where very urbane people can hang out,” he said.

According to Phul, he expected nearly 50 percent of his clientele to be mainstream Americans. “Of the remaining I expect 90 percent to be those who were in Bombay,” he joked.

With the New York venture taking off, Phul said he was considering branching out to other cities. “Diversifying is certainly on the cards but when is a question of time,” he said.

Theng night at Earth NYC was attended by Manish Malhotra, choreographer Lubna Adams, models turned actresses Aditi Govitrikar and Anupama Varma, Bombay Dreams’ lead Manu Narayan, designer Anand Jon and a whole lot of New York’s hip crowd. DJ Whosane brought a blend of Indian sounds with techno/trance influences.