Oh, so cool! A bar made of ice in Richmond

Ice bars - watering holes with interiors fashioned completely of ice - are still sort of a rarity. There's one in London, one in Stockholm, one in Iceland and one in Dubai, the Arab world's paean to stupefying displays of wealth.

There is just one ice bar in the United States, and it is not in Miami, Los Angeles or New York but in Richmond, a mere scoot up I-64. It's called Infuzion.

Going into Infuzion's ice bar is sort of like going to the Grand Canyon or Times Square. You go out of curiosity and to marvel, but also to be able to say you've been.

Before you enter Infuzion's ice bar, a 300-square-foot section of a larger club, a host will drape a sleeveless, hooded parka over your head. You're also given a pair of cheap but comfy red gloves, which, you'll discover upon asking, are not souvenirs.

Walking into the igloo, which was created by the Iceculture Inc. team that's designed nine ice bars around the world - including the massive one in Dubai - you'll discover that, as promised, the room is made entirely of ice (except for the floor, which is ribbed steel). Blocks of ice around the perimeter, a massive, bottle-shaped statu e, the tables upon which people gather and rest their drinks - all ice.

The ice doesn't sparkle so much as it does glow, and muted red and blue lights help create a kind of heavenly effect. A comely young woman in a down jacket and a faux fur trooper hat waits behind the bar. (To prevent them from freezing, the ice queens behind the bar work in 30-minute shifts.)

Infuzion is the latest addition to an increasingly copious number of nightspots and hip restaurants in Richmond. While the majority of chic spots for people with disposable income are near Virginia Commonwealth University, The Fan or the West End (in-the-know locals now regard onetime nightlife district Shockoe Bottom as gauche), Infuzion sits in a relatively unchartered and unheard of area named Scott's Addition, off Broad Street.

"We chose Scott's Addition because it's kind of up and coming," says Paul Blacker, a 36-year-old former DJ and bartender who opened Infuzion in January with his father, Michael. It's their first club. Infuzion had been 12 years in the making, but Paul Blacker got the idea to include the ice bar just three or four years ago after visiting one in Iceland.

The city is looking for Scott's Addition, currently full of old warehouses, to be the next Carytown in five years, he says. "The warehouses are being converted to condos. We didn't want to be in Shockoe Bottom, where people could just walk in and out in an hour. We wanted to be a destination."

Think of Blacker as an urban pioneer, digging for gold with an ice pick.

For $15, patrons get to spend 30 minutes inside the 23-degree room giggling and preening and, of course, shivering. Guests also get a 4 oz. shot of vodka in a thick tumbler made of ice.

Infuzion has more to offer than the ice bar. The dance club section feels modern and sharp. Raised ivory platforms sit on the floor at the back of the room; they radiate different primary colors every few seconds. The DJ booth, to the right of the room, is more than 6 feet tall and made of white panels. There's a section of banquettes perched a few feet over the dance floor, a space any quasi-experienced clubgoer immediately recognizes as the VIP area ($150 for two).

Infuzion's unexpected gem is its bistro. Just around the corner from the ice bar and paces away from the dance area and its throbbing house and Top 40 hip-hop, there's a relaxed bar, an intimate room with a fireplace and a dining area featuring a jazz trio on sax, drums and a baby grand. These three rooms, which betray no audible trace of the other revelry, feature tan carpeted floors and walls painted in calming beige. Chocolate leather accoutrements are sprinkled throughout, and a water wall and statues of Buddha and a woman's bust combine to make an atmosphere that's both relaxed and upscale.

Of course, if you really want a special ty experience, you'll go into the ice bar.

The first thing you notice - and you do in fact hear people say this out loud - is, "It's really cold in here!"

Different flavors of Finlandia vodka are available, as well as one from Richmond and another, Spirits of the Blue Ridge, from Chesapeake.

You revert to childhood, worrying: Will my tongue stick to the cup? (No.) What if I lick the wall? (No, and the waitress says everyone asks that.) You rub your face against the ice to feel it. You rest your (ice) cup on an (ice) ledge and frown when it slides off and shatters on the floor. (Happens all the time, waitress says.) You blow fake smoke into the air. You take pictures - a lot of them. You chat with the people in the room - 15 max - all of whom are grinning and guffawing. You take more pictures, and then realize that your hands and feet are becoming uncomfortably cold.

In pops the host, who takes an instant photo of you with your friend(s). As you leave, the photo is inserted into a little cardboard frame, not unlike the ones you get after exiting a roller coaster.

The roller coaster comparison is apropos, because this room is sort of a theme park for adults. A one-room theme park with a one-drink, 30-minute time limit. It is a tad bit cheesy, but what tourist attraction isn't? Saying you've been to an ice bar makes great party banter, and of course, it allows for superior MySpace photos.

Malcolm Venable, (757) 446-2662, malcolm.venable@pilotonline.com