Deepak Ohri's best-known watering hole is the neon-lit
Sky Bar atop Bangkok's 68-story State Tower, scene of some dangerous buffoonery
in The Hangover Part II.
Now, Ohri is bringing his big vision down to earth in
Philadelphia, where his company, lebua Hotels & Resorts, plans to open the
first U.S. branch of a cafe-and-cocktail-bar hybrid called Breeze that it is
taking worldwide.
The India-born, Thailand-based restaurant and hotel mogul
was in Philadelphia on Friday scouting potential sites for Breeze and left with
two contenders in mind.
Ohri, who also operates hotels, bars, and restaurants in
India, New Zealand, and Germany, said he had planned to open his first U.S.
spot in New York but changed his mind after being sold on Philadelphia by Mayor
Nutter.
"Philadelphia has great restaurants," Ohri said
during a joint interview at City Hall with Nutter, whose economic-development
team had just shown him around the city. "But what we're bringing is
something very different."
Lebua is not the first company to make Philadelphia its
initial U.S. stop. The Brazilian chemicals firm Braskem and Australian
energy-efficiency specialists Ecosave have their U.S. headquarters here.
But city officials say they can recall no other business
with such direct consumer appeal choosing Philadelphia first.
The Breeze decision boosts the city's culinary profile
and helps it attract overseas visitors familiar with Ohri's other properties,
said Ceridwyn King, a professor at Temple University's School of Tourism and
Hospitality Management.
"He has the ability to elevate Philadelphia on an
international platform," King said.
Breeze's interiors are being designed by Eight Inc.,
which worked with Steve Jobs on the first Apple stores. Its plan calls for a
backlit ceiling that changes colors based on the time of day and a massive onyx
bar - big enough for 40 guests all around - notched with rivulets of running
water.
Breeze's menu will feature 100 kinds of tea, cocktails
such as a woodsmoke-infused tequila drink - the Smokin Senorita - and snacks
like chili-lobster-stuffed brioche.
"It is not a restaurant," said Ohri, who wore a
dark-pinstriped suit and burgundy wingtips with buckles. "It is an
experience."
Philadelphia's Breeze will be a relatively low-key
statement by Ohri, who once jetted star chefs to Bangkok for a 10-course dinner
at $25,000 a head.
Still, Nutter said the opulent addition to Philadelphia's
restaurant and bar scene could have an outsize economic impact.
Restaurants have led development in places such as
Manayunk and Northern Liberties, Nutter said. Breeze could spark growth in an
emerging neighborhood or enhance an established one, he said.
"It will become a destination in and of
itself," Nutter said. "He'll figure out where he wants to have it.
What we're banking on is that people are going to want to find it."
Ohri declined to discuss the locations he was considering
ahead of talks with potential landlords. The Philadelphia site also will become
the chain's regional hub, from which it will expand to New York and elsewhere,
and will accommodate its marketing offices, test kitchen, and other
administrative functions, he said.
Though the city is not providing Ohri with any financial
support, officials have dedicated time to showing him around and setting up
meetings for him with potential landlords.
Ohri's trip to Philadelphia came a few months after he
and Nutter met in Frankfurt, Germany, where Ohri was opening Europe's first
Breeze.
When Ohri told the mayor that he was eyeing New York for
his next spot, the mayor delivered such a convincing pitch for Philadelphia
that he decided to begin his U.S. expansion here instead, despite never having
even visited before, Ohri said.
Now, he said, he is ready to make a big impact on the
city.
"It will open doors for more international players
to come," he said. "Once we are successful, many others will follow.
Source: Philly.com
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