Varun Kataria owns various nightlife venues in Bushwick, Brooklyn. His Sundays usually begin with creative projects and end with his dog, Mushroom.
Varun Kataria owns various nightlife venues in Bushwick, Brooklyn. His Sundays usually begin with creative projects and end with his dog, Mushroom.
Varun Kataria wore many hats before he became a nightclub owner.
“I took a vow of unemployment at the age of 23,” Mr. Kataria, 41, said. “So I never had, like, a proper job since then.”
He once owned a music studio in Minneapolis, where he was born and raised. He has taken travelers on what he playfully calls “Eat, Pray, Love” tours of India with his mother. He also studied law. “I’m not sure that it was time well spent, although I don’t regret it,” Mr. Kataria said.
He later moved to New York and, in 2019, opened three businesses in the Bushwick neighborhood in Brooklyn: the Turk’s Inn, a restaurant modeled after a Wisconsin eatery Mr. Kataria used to visit as a teenager; Doner Kebab, a kiosk; and the Sultan Room, a nightclub and music venue with a rooftop. All of them are interconnected, allowing guests to weave their way through the spaces.
After the coronavirus pandemic upended the city’s nightlife, Mr. Kataria said he was inspired to open a business that would emphasize “connection and fostering joy, to almost correct the impact that the pandemic had.”
Last year, he unveiled Xanadu, a roller rink that hosts skate sessions, concerts and dance parties. “Skating is the most intergenerational, intercultural activity that I can think of,” Mr. Kataria said.