After rummaging through a dozen silver necklaces, Ambieka Hinduja finally decides on a coral one with a Rs 450 tag. A pretty ordinary buy, you might say. Except that it is half an hour past midnight and Hinduja isn't at a shopping mall but at Rain, a lounge bar and restaurant in suburban Mumbai. In between sipping on her coke, munching starters and exchanging hellos with her friends, she can rife through candles, art, clothes, jewellery or even try a funky tattoo or a tarot card reading. What's more, she loves the flea market ambience-a cheap rip off on the Goan beach markets. Made of shiny satins, a 350-sq ft passage is divided into eight stalls that leave just enough space for about 10-15 shoppers.

OLIVE, MUMBAI: Jaideep Mehrotra's works set the tone at a Spanish food festival

And it's not all about small change. Event manager Vivek Singh picked up a Rs 16,500 teak-wood table at Mocha, a hangout serving coffee and an assortment of wines. Says Singh: "Good teak-wood furniture is tough to acquire, so we decided to buy it. Not to mention the pleasure of having some amazing hot chocolate as well."

Restaurants are not just about great food anymore-also crucial is a fresh concept. Put up a painting on the walls, a sculpture or anything interesting and it pushes up the hip factor. For the artists it is an entry to the big world. Plus, the restaurateurs insist, their patrons are more likely to pick up a buy in the eatery than in a gallery. "These are like reminders of great conversations over good food-almost akin to buying a souvenir on a holiday," says A.D. Singh, owner of Olive, a restaurant in Mumbai.

Vicky Singh, the owner of Rain, certainly believes it. "Indians love the whole experience of eating out. The flea market helps raise the entertainment quotient," he says. Singh charges the sellers a token Rs 51, with no commission on the sales. The buzz it creates is return enough.

MOCHA, MUMBAI: The cafe sells furniture, hookahs and even the waiters' caps

In Delhi, they serve it with clothes. Hyatt flirted with designer-wear and briefly showcased Ritu Beri T-shirts on their premises. Urban Nomads, a new restaurant in Nehru Place serves Mughlai cuisine along with a display of Indian and western wear. "The owners thought the concept gelled with the name," says manager O.P. Diwan. Of course, it helps that the owners-exporter Sushil Kumar and NIFT graduate Rohit Taneja-deal in fashion too. But Urban Nomads is their only outlet in Delhi. About 10 per cent of those who visit the restaurant buy the outfits on display, he says.

Art is the more esoteric choice. Olive serves up art on a platter on its whitewashed walls. At a recent Spanish food festival, painter Jaideep Mehrotra and designer Arjun Khanna put up paintings and sculpture on a Spanish theme. Indigo, in south Mumbai, hosts regular art exhibits that revolve round food. They even successfully sold customised crockery recently. Even the staid Jewel of India hosted a sit-down dinner to promote a painting exhibition in the restaurant for a month.

The art trend is catching. Lalit Suri's InterContinental in Delhi was among the first to serve art and cuisine on the same platter. Art Junction in the city has installation man Naresh Kapuria as resident curator and Italian food to go with his displays. Says Kapuria: "We wanted to make the viewing and selling of art more people friendly, more relaxed."

When the erstwhile Cellar in Delhi's Connaught Place was relaunched as DV8, the menu cards came with information about painters exhibiting at the venue. While the initial response was good, the restaurant did not get "fresh artists" they were looking for and have now branched out: currently on display at the venue are sculptures by Satyajeet Sher-Gill.

ART JUNCTION, Delhi: Naresh Kapuria's "art gallery" also serves Italian delicacies

Mocha also invites new artists who want to display art on menu cards. They even have special shelves for hookahs, music, posters, mugs, furniture and more-all under the label Mochalife. These are popular with their clientele-dancer Shiamak Davar bought 40 CDs in five minutes. "It helps us re-position ourselves as world cafe," explains Riyaaz Alwani. "Besides patrons can experience the furniture, music first hand before buying."

Anything in Mocha is for sale. It makes great business sense. About 15 per cent of the business or Rs 10,000 a day comes from the sale of merchandise. "People want everything-from our waiters' caps to lanterns and even the music we play," says Alwani, who hit upon the idea after they lost too many ashtrays to butter-fingered clients.

Sometimes though, impulse buying can backfire. Ten of Mehrotra's paintings were sold on the first day at Olive, but the next day saw two cancellations. So, does this soft-sell idea really work? The sellers believe it does. Says tarot reader Urmila Nagda who has a stall at the Rain flea market: "I can now reach a cross-section of society. Fardeen Khan did a reading, Bobby Deol watched me in action. It is great publicity."

Reshma Alag, a candle maker, got orders worth more than Rs 50,000 after a single appearance. Likewise, tattoo artist Al makes about Rs 5,000 every night and enjoys knowing the Page 3 clientele of the restaurant. "Once people know you, they approach you easily to do a tattoo at their convenience at home. My business has grown better than I expected." And so has Rain's. Judging by the trend, it won't be long before other restaurateurs spice up the side dish.

— with inputs from Kanika Gahlaut