If there’s anything that actor Arjun Rampal likes as much as films, it’s binging on lip-smacking delicacies. So, it was a natural progression for the star to move from acting and producing films to starting his very own restaurant. LAP, his lounge-bar-restaurant, is set to open doors at Hotel Samrat on September 1.

Rampal, on a whirlwind trip to the Capital for a last-minute check of LAP, is upbeat about the prospects. “I’ve been waiting to do this for a long time. I have a deep emotional tie with Delhi because I graduated from Hindu College in the 1990s. I have many old friends here. They would always tell me how Delhi lacks a good place which blends right music, right food and right ambience. So, my first restaurant just had to be here,” he says.

LAP, for Lounge and Play, will have Delhi-based restaurateur AD Singh as Rampal’s partner. “We came up with the idea of this restaurant on a flight to Goa a few years ago,” adds Rampal.

The restaurant stretches across 17,000 sq ft space, divided into two sections — a “members only” lounge and an alfresco dining area of 10,500 sq ft. Rampal, who takes his music seriously, will have six resident DJs and plans to use the restaurant to showcase young music talent. “We will give young DJs a chance to spread their music to a larger audience,” he says.

Membership to the lounge area is by invitation only. “I would like this place to serve as a hang-out destination for people from the creative world. If things go well, there will be many more such places,” he says.

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