Varun Kataria Doesn’t Have a Master Plan, He Just Wants to Entertain You

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Nostalgia is a powerful thing. In the case of Varun Kataria, nostalgia for a legendary Midwestern supper club inspired him to attend a dozen auctions to acquire as many pieces as possible of the establishment, including an original bar where JFK himself sat. 

When the relocated Turk’s Inn opened in Brooklyn’s Bushwick neighborhood in June 2019, there was nothing else like it in the city. I was completely smitten by everything — the old-school relish trays served alongside Martinis, the kitschy resin toilet seats in the bathrooms, the way one could move seamlessly from dinner in the front to a show at the Sultan Room in the back. Although I didn’t grow up going to the original Turk’s Inn in Wisconsin like Kataria did, his vision was powerful enough to transport me to a different place and time, albeit conveniently located a mere 10-minute walk from my apartment. It was his first real foray into the restaurant industry, but his background in music helped him create a space that feeds the desire of why we all go out in the first place: to be entertained.

“I think there’s something about showbiz and either being part of the show or putting on the show that has always spoken to me,” the 41-year-old Kataria told me over the phone earlier this month. “So even though I don’t have restaurant experience per se, the ethos I’m using in these spaces is very similar to the one I’ve lived with as a performing musician.” When he lived in Minneapolis, Kataria, a trained percussionist, was the frontman of a party band called Brown Moses. 

Last June, Kataria launched his sophomore project, Xanadu Roller Arts, across Wyckoff Avenue from the Turk’s Inn. The roller-rink-slash-music-venue is decked out in ‘90s patterns, neon lights and a long bar that separates booths from the skating floor itself. The rental skates are purple and seafoam suede, but you can spot the regulars because they come equipped with their own. A few people even whiz by on Rollerblades. 

After attending a very on-theme goth night during their opening week, I was elated for days. Not only did it feel amazing to do something successfully that I hadn’t tried in decades, but it was so different from any other nightlife I’d experienced.

“I wanted to imagine a new space that’s a music venue with specific acts but can still serve to welcome everybody all the time,” Kataria said. “And instead of leaning on the restaurant for that, we lean on the idea of the roller rink. There are a lot of restaurants out there, so why add more competition and more pressure on this already difficult industry at a difficult time? Instead, offer something totally new and different that doesn’t compete with anything else.”

“Something new and totally different” is an apt description of Kataria himself. He has the coolest style — a mix of vintage and modern fashion that’s often defined by bright colors and bold patterns — that you can instantly recognize from across the park. He’s kind and welcoming, always taking the time to stop and say hello even when he’s slammed. And while his creative vision is wholly unique, his Brooklyn wonderlands are infused with a sense of universality, too, from the old family photos lining the walls of the Turk’s Inn to the retro solar-system carpet in Xanadu.

“For Xanadu, I got lucky and got struck by this lightning bolt of inspiration almost in one single download,” he said. “I had this epiphany where I knew exactly how the space needed to be laid out, how it would work as a club, venue and roller rink.”

“I just hope and wish that if I’m my authentic self and make something really cool, people will love it.”

Spoiler alert: people really love it. Although the clientele is a mixed bag of hardcore roller skaters and patrons simply popping in for a fun night out, everyone is having a good time, even if they’re clinging to the rink walls for dear life. 

Roller-skating in New York City isn’t a new thing. Everywhere from the Roxy in Chelsea to Skate Key in the Bronx welcomed people for decades, but the last year-round indoor rink — RollerJam USA on Staten Island — closed last May. Although Kataria didn’t initially anticipate it, a huge community of skaters was looking for a home base, something Xanadu was able to fulfill immediately.

“It almost happened overnight,” he said. “It feels like an actual miracle because I wasn’t really part of the roller-skating community when I had this idea initially. Then once it opened, like magic, this fully built-out crew of humans just showed up, and they had talents I couldn’t have even fathomed.”

Not only is Xanadu a place for roller skaters to do their thing, it’s one of those rare adult spaces where you can have a night out without a drink in your hand. As adults, we tend to gather over cocktails and wine and beer. And that’s fine, but it’s freeing to be able to separate alcohol from the simple act of going out with friends.

“I do drink, but not that frequently, and maybe I want to socialize more frequently than that,” Kataria said. “It was a drag to me that I had to tie one to the other, so it feels great to offer an option where you’re not compromising this experience.”

“Even if I went to a dive bar and ordered cranberry juice, in some way I’m not fully participating. And if you do that at Xanadu, you’re still fully participating in the experience. I do feel some social function towards promoting more healthy choices, and for a night at our establishment not to turn into regret the next day.”

Whether you like to go out and have dinner or drink or dance (or, like me, all of the above), you might agree that those activities start to feel homogenous after a while. That’s what makes places like the Turk’s Inn and Xanadu so special: Kataria hasn’t simply created a new restaurant or roller rink to align with current trends, he’s entirely rethinking how these establishments can entertain guests.

When was the last time you had dinner at a restaurant and remained in the same building for the show? That was something my parents and grandparents were able to do, but I never really experienced it until my first night at Turk’s. At Xanadu, you’re entering a music venue that’s been mashed up with a ‘90s roller rink, and there’s an event for everyone, from family-friendly days to gospel nights. Maybe what nightlife has needed for so long was someone like Kataria to give it a 180 — to make going out exciting again.

“People look at what I’m doing and think there’s some sort of grand master plan behind it, but the truth is I’m just having happy stumbles,” Kataria said when asked what’s next for him. “I think I want to keep working on Xanadu and keep polishing it. I want to continue to work on Turk’s and the Sultan Room and continue to let them blossom. Then when that moment of opportunity or inspiration strikes, you decide whether it feels right to follow it.”

What about expanding his particular flavor of nightlife outside of Brooklyn? When I asked Kataria if he thinks a place like Xanadu has national appeal, he was hopeful. 

“I think there’s a world in which Xanadu sparks a roller-skating renaissance,” he said, “and that would be an incredible legacy.”

Photography: Johanna Stickland for InsideHook