Don’t bar yourself from entering this splendid ice bar

Bhanu P Lohumi

Tribune News Service

Shimla, May 20

The first ice bar of the state has come up at Pine View Hotel near Kaithu. Though there are a number of tourist attractions in the city, the bar will certainly become a hit. All you have to do is — enter the bar and enjoy ice cold refreshing drinks in a below-freezing setting. Yatish Sood, owner of the hotel, said:

“I, along with my wife, visited an ice bar in Barcelona two years ago. I saw a long queue outside the place and decided to introduce the concept in my city,” Sood said. Designed by the head of the fine arts department, Himachal Pradesh University (HPU), Him Chatterjee, the bar depicts various shades of white with lighting effects. It is spread over 800 sq m. The area is dry and the room temperature is maintained between minus 6 and minus 15 degree Celsius with the help of a room insulator.

Automated specialised machines sense the temperature. The bar has a seating capacity of 25 to 30 persons. Visitors are provided special warm jackets before entering the bar. The massive ice blocks to construct the bar have been brought from Ludhiana and the entire bar is built of ice. The walls, tables, chairs, plates and glasses are made of ice. The customers sit on ice blocks and the food is served in ice plates. Creating a perfect ambiance was a tedious task, Sood said. He added: “It took us more than 15 months to get the whole thing in place. We have applied for a licence and the bar will be started soon. Right now, we are just serving only mocktails.”