If tonight’s event promises to be at all as obnoxious as the set up happening on the sidewalk of 14th street yesterday, it will be all the rage. All the PA’s and set designers took over the entire sidewalk of 14th street just past the Apple store (heading west) to the extent that I actually had to go out of my way and step over planks of wood just to get by. Ridiculous, but naturally it was all necessary to ensure a proper press entrance, right? Right. The store has an amazing interior and tonight brought guests Brooke Shields, Maggie Gyllenhaal and many others, but stealing the show once again was Mena Suvari.
Brilliant chef of The Waverly (and former co-worker of mine), chef John DeLucie is at the consulting helm for the latest, greatest epicurean addition to the West Village, Charles. A departure from DeLucie’s delectable comfort dishes, he has encouraged chef John McAllister to curate a menu from his specialty of lighter, healthy Mediterannean dishes. DeLucie is a consultant on the project and oversees the finalized menu which will be laden with fish and dishes cooked with olive oil as opposed to butter. In addition to heart-friendly fish and olive oil, some pre-opening dishes included seared duck breast with roasted grapes and escarole, braised beef short rib with swiss chard and golden raisins, as well as diver scallops and prawns with fingerling potatoes and saffron. The wine list and select cocktails equally impress with consultation by Keith Goldston, owner of Time Warner Building wine bar, Clo. The interior was designed by Rafael de Cardenas who worked the denizen space into a brilliant rustic and cozy atmosphere. Plush red curtains, marquee bulbs and black-speckled wall mirrors add to the tin-ceiling, dark-floored room. Don’t expect to just show up and wait at the bar though, there are only six seats at the bar and they are not giving out the phone number. You can attempt a touching novella that harkens all emotions of how you absolutely need to experience Charles before you die at: reservations@restaurantcharles.com -but they’ll likely give you the contact of their snaggle-toothed cousin named Charles before they’ll give up a table.
The Army of M.E. has organized a field trip to see this tonight…it will be hysterical and infuriating all at once. I look forward to the colorful audience response which never disappoints in NYC…
Today is the inauguration of another Bond St. retail outpost. Billy Reid will have a wide selection of men’s apparel and accessories including selvedge denim, woven shirts, handmade luggage and shoes and a capsule collection of women’s apparel for bored girlfriends to browse. It’s a two-floor 1,800sf space on Bond close to Bowery.
People have not been able to shut up about this place for months and it’s just now opening, sort of. They’re hosting a lot of private events for fashion week and such over the next week or so but they are open, in some cases, after the events. Everyone became obsessed with getting a ‘key’ to the place that was supposed to be completely private -yeah, Bungalow 8 all over again- but I don’t know why these places waste their time. I will always get in In fact, The Eldridge wanting to be the new Bungalow became even more evident when owner Matt Levine described it as “a club fused with the hospitality of a concierge service” -someone call Amy Sacco! The ‘key’ pictured above right that was originally needed to enter has gone south and it will be open to the public -with a strict door, as all places worth going have. It has a clandestine front facade camouflaged as a bookstore and the interior details include gold-flecked floors, leather banquets and wood everywhere plus the oh so ‘mine is bigger than yours’ aspect of a $650k gold-plated Armand de Brignac champagne wall. I believe one of us has an event to attend there this week -we’ll update the details if necessary. 247 Eldridge between Houston & Stanton. Interior shot with house lights up (i.e. it will be much more dark and mysterious in person) courtesy of Thrillist.
Chinatown has found its replacement for one of my favorite drinking dens of the past, Double Happiness. This place reminds me of it in style but the concept is entirely different, being fashioned after an apothecary. A requisite of all places that intend to be ‘cool’ its remotely located in a corner of downtown you wouldn’t imagine yourself in the evening searching for a drink. The aesthetics elude to 19th century Parisian absinthe dens (yes, it’s all about absinthe of late) and the artistic misfits who hid in them. The man behind the cocktail menu is Albert Trummer whose resume includes Bouley, Thom’s Bar and Kittichai. Apotheke will have over 500 house cocktails which are divided into sections of apothecary -Pain Relief, Stress Relief, Health & Beauty and Aphrodisiacs. There are also over 1,000 bottles of liquor from around the world. Apotheke lounge is located at 9 Doyers St. (it was once actually an opium den) and I’d anticipate some fashion week after party there since this is a soft opening and they are promoting the place to be fully open by then.
Our favorite online haunt, Highsnobiety, has a comprehensive first look at much of the interior of the re-modeled Colette in Paris. We covered this whole story when the lifestyle boutique closed less than 2 months ago. The final result, unsurprisingly, looks amazing! There is a Tee Box and a sneaker wall…to read all about it and see their amazing photos click HERE .
Opening two nights ago was White Star which is owned by Sasha Petraske of Milk & Honey/Little Branch fame. The concept here is quite different. No table service, no secret, regularly changing phone number to call and make a reservations -just a straight-forward bar with a penchant for absinthe and something against cocktails. No fancy infusions here, just a marble bar serving apertifs, beer, wine and (legal) absinthe (that’s one of our favorite words to say, say it, you’ll see) neat or on the rocks. Members of the Army of M.E. stopped by and loved it -they said it was packed but somehow not annoyingly so (we suspect it was the absinthe that took the edge off) even though it’s quite small. Also the fault of the spirits were their hideous photos so we had to steal this one from Eater. The full house lights don’t do the clandestine atmosphere justice -the only light is usually that of the Moroccan white star fixtures hovering over the bar for which the bar is named after. According to Eater, Petraske has taken over the space next door and is already prospecting expansion. What makes the place truly special is that Petraske is behind the bar, not figuratively, like the many establishments who have commissioned him to curate their drink menu -it seems Sasha must have missed tending bar since that’s where you can find him at White Star. 21 Essex (near Hester).
“My Life in T-Shirts” is the title and you know you wish you thought of it first. Just think of how, as a man, you could easily define the times of your life via the tees you’ve rocked. Aaron is known to many as ‘Aaron the Downtown Don’ having founded aNYthing and recently Off Bowery. The book has an introduction by Richard Prince (click HERE for a recent article in the Daily Telegraph where Mr. Prince -if that’s really his name- admits he can’t be trusted) and will be released on September 6th (also known as the biggest day/night of NY fashion week) at Asia Song Society. Overseas releases are also scheduled for Colette in Paris and The Pantheon in Rome…I suppose they likely coincide with Paris and Milan fashion weeks as well.
If tonight’s event promises to be at all as obnoxious as the set up happening on the sidewalk of 14th street yesterday, it will be all the rage. All the PA’s and set designers took over the entire sidewalk of 14th street just past the Apple store (heading west) to the extent that I actually had to go out of my way and step over planks of wood just to get by. Ridiculous, but naturally it was all necessary to ensure a proper press entrance, right? Right. The store has an amazing interior and tonight brought guests Brooke Shields, Maggie Gyllenhaal and many others, but stealing the show once again was Mena Suvari. 
In fact, The Eldridge wanting to be the new Bungalow became even more evident when owner Matt Levine described it as “a club fused with the hospitality of a concierge service” -someone call Amy Sacco! The ‘key’ pictured above right that was originally needed to enter has gone south and it will be open to the public -with a strict door, as all places worth going have. It has a clandestine front facade camouflaged as a bookstore and the interior details include gold-flecked floors, leather banquets and wood everywhere plus the oh so ‘mine is bigger than yours’ aspect of a $650k gold-plated Armand de Brignac champagne wall. I believe one of us has an event to attend there this week -we’ll update the details if necessary. 247 Eldridge between Houston & Stanton. Interior shot with house lights up (i.e. it will be much more dark and mysterious in person) courtesy of Thrillist.
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