Design

The entire layout of the restaurant has been designed to be extremely versatile- allowing tables to be separated or combined in different ways depending upon the needs of various parties. The restaurant is divided into the ground floor (2500 Sq. Ft.), a double-height mezzanine (1500 Sq. Ft.), and a wrap-around patio (1500 Sq. ft.). The ground floor is home to the main bar and restaurant dining area. The mezzanine - with its own dedicated bar - is available for private parties and corporate events, as well as restaurant overflow on busy days. The popular patio serves both as a dining space and as a lounge area for private events and regular dining. Click below to view.

At Ettan, design and art come together to create an environment that is as layered, expressive, and sensory as the dining experience itself. Thomas Schoos, principal of Schoos Design, was chosen by Ayesha Thapar for his distinctive ability to combine nature, functionality, comfort, and luxury within one-of-a-kind hospitality spaces. His vision for Ettan evokes the senses through color, texture, and pattern while honoring the deep visual heritage of Indian culture. Refined details inspired by traditional Indian textile dyeing meet a contemporary Indian sensibility, creating an ambiance that feels both rooted and sophisticated.

The restaurant's art program is equally personal. The three featured artists each share a deep connection with Thapar, having become personal friends over the years. Ramachandran's wooden box art was created especially for Ettan, reflecting the restaurant's color palette and visual themes. A leading contemporary artist and recipient of the prestigious Charles Wallace scholarship, Ramachandran combines woodcraft, graphic imagery, and studio technique to create three-dimensional works that explore the many faces of the urban universe. His carved wooden boxes, layered with imagery from newspapers, media, and everyday objects, invite viewers to question influence, perception, and prejudice, often with a story, a shock, or a smile hidden within each piece.

Alongside his work, Rohit Chawla's Wanderlust series, among Thapar's favorites from his internationally recognized portfolio, brings a poetic visual rhythm to the space. Gautam's gritty yet artistic streetscapes of Kolkata and Delhi also grace the walls, echoing the cities where Thapar grew up and that continue to shape her sense of identity. Together, the design and artwork at Ettan form a deeply personal, culturally rich atmosphere that complements the restaurant's distinctive hospitality experience.

Rohit Chawla is a portraitist with a body of iconic imagery shot over nearly four decades that straddles fashion, travel, and culture. His celebrated work, capturing deeply telling images of some of the most powerful individuals from the world of literature, film, sport, business, and politics, has featured on over 350 covers for the mainline media.

The striking visuals on view at Ettan are from his celebrated and sought-after 'Wanderlust' series, that were the consequence of Rohit's living with the fascinating nomadic Rabari tribes in Kutch for over 6 months. While on the surface, his visuals display the striking sartorial style of the tribes people, featuring their remarkable textile and embroidery, he also shines a powerful light on their underlying fortitude and resilience, an essential to survive in the trying conditions of their homeland.

Gautam Vir Prashad is a photographer born in India and raised in northern California. His landscape and street photography are a unique look into the vastness that is contemporary India. Arriving in India after almost 30 years in California, Gautam went about capturing life as he saw it, in all its raw and gritty beauty. His work represents that very ethos, that beauty and life is all around. When looking at this collection, Gautam would like the viewer to experience the dramatic diversity that is India, the people, the places, which may seem different at first but in essence resonate a similarity that unites Indians in its complexity and variance.