According to Lotus' entrepreneurial owner Steve Sybesma, great food and music are essential to the club's success.

"The Lotus experience is centered around great contemporary-Asian food and music," said Sybesma. "Whether it's jazz and sushi Tuesday, Hip-Hop, Techno, or dance music from the 80s to today, the upscale food and the music are what set the tone for our club. While the speakers don't have much to do with the food, Klipsch certainly makes a big difference in the overall atmosphere of the restaurant, and especially on the dance floor on the second level."

The fact that the dining area has a DJ booth is another sign that the Lotus experience is altogether different from your run-of-the-mill, homogenized chain restaurant. Klipsch CA-8T indoor/outdoor two-way loudspeakers along with KI-362 three-way loudspeakers carry the audio load for the outside, entryway and first floor dining areas of Lotus.

Working with JKL Designs out of Florida, Steve said that the concept for Lotus was his, but that JKL Designs did a fantastic job of executing his vision.

"I travel the world," said Steve. "And I have seen what I think are some of the best clubs in any language or culture. Lotus is a combination of a lot of clubs, including those I visited in the United Arab Emirates, a club in Miami called Opium, and a couple of different spots in Paris. But that's not to say Lotus is a copy. Lotus is the best of those clubs combined with a lot of thought and planning for the people of Indianapolis and their thirst for something new and different."

Sybesma explained that another benefit of Lotus is that it's one of the only restaurants still serving a full menu until 2 or 3 a.m. depending on the night. He also said that each night of the week carries a particular theme and that the mixed clientele seems to change according to the music that's pumping out of the Klipsch KI-362 three way loudspeakers and the massive KP-682 subs that make up the system for the dance floor.

Yes. The dance floor at Lotus has a cage, two cages, in fact, and custom nude artwork by photographer Pamela Mougin. But the chic, Asian flair of the surroundings, including the wooly footstools and furry walls, as well as the occasional rock-n-roll painting (Jim Morrison, for example) keep Lotus' second level from taking itself too seriously.

That goes for the dress code, too. Sybesma said his club is not an elitist type of place that makes people line up and beg to get in. But Lotus does have a strict policy against ball caps and "offensive" attire. Sybesma himself admitted that it's hard to define offensive today, but he knows it when he sees it. Sandals and jeans are as welcome as the little black dress, but comfortable shoes that don't hinder your look or your ability to move are recommended.

"We shopped around, of course, when we were making the sonic decision for Lotus, especially for the second level where the dance floor is," said Sybesma. "But we found Klipsch to be the clearest and the best quality speakers, and we wanted to have the best on display. We wanted the club to be more upscale overall, so I wanted the sound quality to be the best it could be, too."

The third floor at Lotus is much smaller by comparison to the second and first floors, and the decor makes a shift from Asian-chic to Asian-gothic. Sybesma described it as a "chill-out" lounge with "chill-out" music where candlelight does most of the dancing and the clientele can take a much-needed breather from the high-impact grindage on the second floor.

Klipsch KI-362s, the same pulse-pounding monsters that shake the dance floor below, are used here as well because they deliver the detail and emotion of the music regardless of the volume.

On your next visit to Indianapolis, be sure to clear a night or two, or every night for that matter, for a trip to Lotus. If the food and music aren't reason enough, Formula One, Indy 500 and other sports figures are spotted regularly and who knows, you might just get a chance to "shake your groove thang" with a celebrity.