It’s got Room to move!
A kitschy new event complex inspired by a Midwestern supper club’s idea of the Middle East opened one of its three doors in Bushwick this week. The Sultan Room, a two-floor live music venue and dance spot, opened on June 22, takeaway spot Doner Kebab began serving shwarma the next day; and sit-down restaurant the Turk’s Inn is scheduled to open on June 27.
The owners of the three-part biz, lifelong friends Varun Kataria and Tyler Erickson, see the project as giving new life to a beloved spot from their youth in Wisconsin — the Turk’s Inn supper club.
“When we heard that it closed and the contents of Turk’s were being auctioned off, we plotted a scheme to give it a second life,” Erickson said.
The pair bought many brightly colored artifacts from the supper club, which originally opened in 1934, and have decorated their new restaurant in its over-the-top style.
But music venue the Sultan Room, named after a lounge in the Wisconsin club, has more of a ’70s glam vibe, with black leather banquettes and sunken gold dance floor — along with a painting of an Arab man leading a camel.
The Sultan Room is geared towards music lovers of all stripes, and attendees can expect a big tent of musical genres, including alternative, house, techno, rock, pop and more, said Erickson.
“Certain venues in New York tend to carve out a niche for themselves, we are not sticking to that format,” he said. “We want to be a tapestry and include bits and pieces of things. For example, we might have an R&B night, but that doesn’t mean we are an R&B club.”
The Sultan Room will focus on local dee-jays, such as Naeem, to cultivate a strong sense of community for Brooklynites, said Kataria, while adding a wide variety of live music in hopes of becoming a neighborhood favorite.
“The nightlife gives consistency to the Sultan Room. The variability and element of surprise comes from the live music programming, we want to keep people on their toes,” Kataria said.
The complex features three distinct spaces, each with its own entrance. The first door brings visitors to the Doner Kebab shop, the middle door leads to the Turk’s Inn restaurant, and the last door, which is adorned with brass, leads to the Sultan Room.
The Sultan Room [234 Starr St. between Wyckoff and Irving avenues, (718) 215–0025, www.thesu
The Turk’s Inn (www.thetu
The Doner Kebab (www.turks
