Striking a chill note: How this Mumbaikar is uniquely experimenting with designer ice

If ldquoright place right timerdquo were a person it would be Nicky Ramnani At least that is how he sees his career trajectoryHersquos a partner in Luna Hospitality hersquos a DJ who goes by the name of Orbs and more recently he has launched ICEX an artisanal ice studio along with Dasmesh Kalra and Rohit Hegde But he says he didnrsquot set off with a plan Even before he turned the console or began running the operations of an allday bar Ramnani had a studio in Juhu where he made diamond jewellery Around 2013 he got behind the decks at The Daily All Day in Bandra run by his cousin Dishant PritamanildquoAjay Makhija the other half of the DJ duo Orbs amp Zen and I played at our friendrsquos wedding for the first time and we had so much fun that we told Dishant we would play every Thursday and Sunday at The Daily Two weeks in we were noticed by someone who was launching their agency and looking for talent to add to their rosterrdquo Suddenly they were being managed by Regenerate opening for international acts and playing sets across the countrySo far Ramnani has frozen fruits flowers gold flakes coffee beans sunglasses a whole bouquet and a ring right A custommade ice stamp for a wedding with the couplersquos initialsWhen Ramnanirsquos jewellery business plummeted Pritamani asked him to come over to manage The Daily All Day A career switch at 32 was daunting but that year he opened The Daily All Day in Pune along with Pritamani later Tsuki in Pune and The Second House in GoaRamnani may have stumbled into music and hospitality but his creativity is untrammelled On Instagram he runs Humans of Music a blog that talks about independent music talent in the country And you will often see AI art experiments hold sway on his social media feedWith ICEX hersquos now into manufacturingmdashagain with a quirk At first he says was simply looking to invest in the business as ice manufacturing is an ancillary industry to hospitality and different from service which he is used to However upon more research the idea of creating designer ice appealed to his artistic sensibilitiesldquoYou tell me to just manufacture and sell normal cubes and dry ice I would never do it Even though it has money This creating designer ice had this experimental playful anglerdquo says Ramnani ldquoIt goes beyond making something It involves some creativity it becomes borderline artrdquoRamnani admits that manufacturing can be a boring affair But seeing icemdasha product of water that everyone sees and takes for grantedmdashin a new form has kept work interesting A few months in the process of creating artisanal ice has also captured his interest ldquoItrsquos interesting to study any material endtoend particularly how it behaves Ice also has a lot of variables small changes matter the ambient temperature makes a difference and all that can change the productrdquo he saysArtisanal ice popularly used in highend bars has been gaining popularity across the globe and even on the internet Its usage is limited to cocktailforward bars in India and elaborate events especially proposals and weddings Ice studios are opening up and offering clear ice that is cut as blocks cubes or in custom shapes As for infusions anything goesRamnani says everything he consumes serves as inspiration for infusionmdasheven a cool design on a plate So far he has frozen fruits flowers gold flakes coffee beans sunglasses a whole bouquet and a ring He adds ldquoWe were once doing a queer party in Goa and I was going to freeze a dildo It didnrsquot happen but the point is that you can freeze any objectrdquoElaborate ice sculptures once common at elegant dinner parties in the West have made a comeback Now catering companies in the West are using ice to make dinners more interactive for events especially ones hosted by luxury brands The founders of a food art studio AnanasAnanas in Los Angeles Elena Petrossian and Veroacutenica Gonzaacutelez have created culinary experiences for brands like Cartier and Prada using ice They once designed a 300pound ice structure and stacked it with seafood The ice sculpture was designed with eucalyptus branches shiso leaves and draped fabric Another Los Angelesbased catering company Sophiersquos Table has made ice cubes for the skincare line Rhode in the shape of their new products to be used in cocktailsEdible or not anything can be frozen including objects because consuming whatrsquos inside the ice is not the only goalldquoThe cube melts very slowly You will finish your drink three times over then the cube will meltrdquo says Ramnani Naturally this allows for ample room to explore For bars itrsquos a way to serve a cocktail that wonrsquot get watered down soon Many others use it to enhance the look of the drink or to add a hint of drama to the drinking experience A bar at a wedding can be made more theatrical for example ldquoWe freeze a full bouquet of flowers and you can pour alcohol on it Itrsquos a big punchblock of ice that is placed at the barrdquo he addsDesigner ice can be a gamechanger at weddings or events that demand something unique Event planners should be listening in But the process is also very technical Everything from setting up the plant studying machines and coming up with ideas of what to freeze next has been easy says Ramnani It was the logistics that were a nightmare to graspldquoWe had not accounted for how much logistics would eat into our profits The most difficult part has been logistics and distributionrdquo he addsAs more players enter the designer ice market Ramnani says margins are razorthin Itrsquos why ICEX has already invested in more machines which will increase their production volumesBut will this also mean that he gets to play out his artistic side ldquoSome artists are collaborating with ice sculptors in the West The art could be anythingmdashit could be a ceramic sculpture within an ice cube that slowly melts Itrsquos an interesting direction but I have not had a lot of bandwidthrdquo he confesses