Stories from the Stage: The Sultan Room & Turk’s Inn
Front of Turk’s Inn & The Sultan Room
This week, we’ll look at one of the newer venues on the indie block, The Sultan Room in Bushwick, Brooklyn. Even though this room arrived recently on the scene, it has already carved out a memorable space in the Brooklyn music community, which is no small feat considering the abundance of amazing clubs right next door, with neighbors like Elsewhere, House of Yes, and Alphaville to name a few.
Co-owners Varun Kataria and Tyler Erickson
Not only is the Sultan Room a hub for the NYC music community, it also contains a kick-ass restaurant: Enter Turk’s Inn. One of my favorite things about this space is how you can’t help but feel immediately transported into some kind of kooky, enchanted dining room, decked out with knickknacks, bright red walls, some kind of fixation with fluffy white cats, and a true VIBE. The place feels like your Turkish grandmother’s house on acid, or the set of a new Wes Anderson creation. Evoking whimsey is what co-owner Varun Kataria was going for when he opened the joint in June 2019 with his partner Tyler Erickson. The entire restaurant itself was almost literally transported from the Northwoods of Nowheresville, Wisconsin. When Turk's Inn Supper Club, which opened in 1934, shut its doors for good in 2013, Kataria and Erickson sought out to recreate it in Bushwick, as accurately as possible. If that isn’t cool, I don’t know what is. Not only does Turk’s look incredible, but the food is bonkers, too. For me the love affair started with something on their menu called a “cheese cloud” (not currently served during COVID but maybe there is still hope). While COVID has forced the closure of indoor dining, you can still feast on kebabs, mezze, and incredible cocktails on their rooftop deck. Their heated and partially covered roof can be enjoyed all year long, even during the winter months. Alternately you can dine on their sidewalk for a more casual experience via their adjacent café, Döner Kebab.
Haley Heynderickx at The Sultan Room
The Sultan Room
Their music venue (The Sultan Room), is equally impressive and unique. The 250-capacity space hosts a wide array of genres and up and coming artists. In a short period of time, they’ve honed their programming to focus on developing their local community and creating a coveted space for artists to develop their audience. Booked by talent buyer James Buckley, you can expect a calendar filled with rock, world, experimental, jazz, disco parties, and the occasional cozy underplay with artists like Alicia Keys, Porches, Alex G. and beyond. What makes this room most invaluable is the intimacy established between artist and audience. The stage is low and thrusts out into the audience. It’s a space that oscillates effortlessly between listening room, rock venue, and dance club, which is a rarity. Both Turk’s Inn and Sultan Room are places that I bring my friends and loved ones. It feels like a space I want to spend time in. When shows existed, I would eagerly walk up, buy my ticket, and brace myself for something magical to unfold. And as Varun Kataria promises at the end of our interview, “We will come back, it’s a question of being inspired, patient, and navigating this tricky moment together.” and I couldn’t agree more.
You can support The Sultan Room and Turk’s Inn by visiting their restaurant for brunch or dinner, or by purchasing a gift card on their website here.
