When was your first "club experience"? I am going to go out on a limb and say that whether you are some hotshot model, some hedge fund owner, or some happily married half, we have all had a similar experience on that very first time we set foot into a club. Whether you were a 17 year old character straight out of Gossip Girl, or a post grad transplant from the midwest to the city...really how could your "first" be that much different to mine, or theirs, or theirs? Even the owners of these places will admit as much (they too were once a peon at the door).

That first experience for most, left you feeling that the owners of the entire operation were no less than some kinds of gods. Today, you may realize how naiive you were in assuming that, yet there's still no doubt that these "club gods" are crafty organizers. And they have to be. The club business. is. a. HARD.BUSINESS. With skyrocketing rents, stiff competition, and lawsuits around every corner, it has become an entirely different mammoth. I'm acting like I know what I'm talking about again.... More»

Confused???? Wanna know the answer to this little riddle?

Where is:

* A Mac n’ Cheese a Marquee?
* A Cheeseburger a 1OAK?
* Disco Fries a Studio 54?
* A Bagel and Lox a Mark Baker?
* A Veggie Pizza a Wass?
* A Jumbo Juice an Alon Jibli?
* A Chamomile Tea a Good Night Mr. Lewis?
* Onion Rings a Palladium?
* A Caesar Salad a Limelight?

Go HERE for the answer to this puzzling riddle.

Our good friend DBTH has debuted a protégé...Nicolette. As in "Nicolette in the City":

"Hey everyone. Meet Nicolette. She's relatively new to Manhattan and is having so much fun going out, she decided to start writing about it on her own site, Nicolette and the City. She is going to help us out by covering many places we just can't (or don't want to)."

This is awesome. Yeah a complete Jerseyan, and yes she needs a stylist, but, make as much fun as you want, she's definitely useful. For those of us that get enough Guido sightings in during the day, Nicolette will do the dirty work for us at night. Clever little DBTH, always has been too cool to hit up spots like "Touch" and "Kiss and Fly" though, there is clearly a market for that kind of real guido coverage. Just where he found this diamond in the rough? Our guess is as good as yours.

[Everything You Need To Know: The New Jerseyan]
[Everything You Need To Know: The Guido]

Imagine going out to a club, a determinately hot spot with an A-list crowd (a la Socialista or Beatrice Inn), and finding it devoid of hipsters? Well look no further than London. On a recent jaunt there this weekend to visit friends, I went to Volstead to experience the Soho area of London. Not being a regular in the London scene, I had no juice with the door, but an easy call to my hotel concierge and a reservation proved to be a very effective work-around. The doorman (Nick) greeted our group with open arms, and ushered us down into the 1920s retro spot. More»

[Pianos]

While the Oper8tor whiled away his pm hours consorting with rainbow-spandexed flowers at Hugs this Friday, I headed over to Mama's Bar before happy hour's end. I heard their ginger-infused vodka's good enough to drink straight --all the better for some guilt-free shot-soaking meatloaf indulgence from Mama's Food Shop next door. Hydration and nutrition taken care of, I braved the cramped confines of Piano's concert room for the States' educated indie rock. And after? We let the wind blow us back to our place for some calming Swiss Miss and Peppermint Schnapps. Complimentary stockpiled candy canes for all who find our buzzer. Muchos besos and hope you enjoyed the woefully frigid weekend as best you could (tomorrow brings back the fifties!),
The Undergrad

[Brooklyn Weekend Itinerary]

[Burp Castle, Photo via NY Mag]

Kan ik de kamer zien? Nee...Yesterday, DBTH informed us that Belgium Room's underage brew crew is currently in need of a new dive in which to guzzle those Delirium Tremens. Tragedy? Nous pensons que non. While we're certainly in favor of lax doors, and like our bière et frites as much as the next semi Flemish/Francophile, we prefer cette expérience sans an NYU frat-tinged soundtrack. We suggest those displaced FIJI's head over to Burp Castle. They have potent suds and spuds aplenty (from the très authentiquely greasy Pomme Frites) plus the mash-up of Gregorian chants and gratuitous innuendo --shall we call it The Greg Album?, could be the next grand chose. Dangermouse, watch yo'back.

Thus begins the greatest interview of the year. Steve Lewis grilling Wass Stevens. God Steve your blog is good so far! "What did I do today to deserve this?!" Was the thought going through my head while reading the conversation that played out between these two. I could almost HEAR them saying this shit. You have to obviously go to Steve's blog and read it in it's entirety. The BEST doormen in the WORLD discussing their craft, and a dying one at that. Here are some of the highlights:

Steve stated early on: "As I talk to Wass, he’s dressed impeccably":

Obviously.

However, it was this comment about Wass' style that really made my day:

"While we are doing this interview, Wass is working the door. He’s wearing three hats."

Awesome.

Then there was this from Steve:

More»

[Photo via Joonbug]
I have a secret, and I might as well share. First of all, anyone that knows me, knows of my obsession for all thing club kids...though most of them have no idea where this came from, me being basically the opposite of what you would conjure up in your head upon thinking of those crazy kooky bastards that roamed the city's nights before Guiliani, before 9-11, before Wholefoods. They were simply crazy, and crazily simple in that regard. But this is not a post about the club kids, who are still around in various forms of Kenny Kenny, Richie Rich, Motherfucker, Heatherette, and young hipsters. This is about a man. A man that depending on the time, and the writer, could be called an award winning club designer, club kid wrangler, doorman, fashion designer (back in the 80s), and night life king...and now, we can add blogger to the list. Yet Steve doesn't fit any of these...at least for me. More»

In answer to our question posed months ago: "Is anyone still going to the Box?", it seems to be an affirmative. Famous craddle-robber Demi Moore and her lover Ashton caused owner Simon Hammerstein quite the stir up recently. Apparently, a dancer spilled their drink all over the couple and in today's Post, Simon's response to the incident was made public. In one little email he opened up a can of worms by both "privately applauding" whomever it was that had the balls (or fake boobs rather) to soak the pair, writing to general manager Javier as well as co-owner Richard Kimmel:

"[Bleep] Ashton and Demi, they are so up their own arses . . . and they spend nothing, I can't stand those two, and I applaud whoever spilt a drink on them."

However later, in the very same email he stated that he wants to make sure that publically, the culprit is chastised.

"Richard, make sure you ream whoever did it."

We can't decide if this is a lesson for all of us in today's digital age where every single thing you send across the web can and will come back to haunt you, or if it's just a publicity stunt by the organization that is slowly becoming an irrelevant fixture on the list of this city's "hot spots". Having read about this incident all over the web already (and it's not even noon), we are banking on the latter. Whatever the case, does anyone care? It's so true about famous people being cheap bastards and funny that it's stated right there in print by the man behind the scenes, stunt or not. Oh not to mention: who hasn't been spilled on by some tranny in tights at The Box?! Who do these people think they are? Some Divine Untouchables?!

It's a fact: New York City and New Year's Eve seem to go hand in hand.  At least for people that don't live here.  Another fact is that a large majority of New Yorkers opt to peace out, choosing to ring in their New Year in a more fabulous location (Miami, St. Barths, Bahamas, Aspen, etc)...God knows Manhattan will be here, with considerably less tourists, on their return.  NY1 reports today that their poll numbers reveal what we already could have assumed.  Of the New Yorker's actually staying here for New Years, 80% of you will choose to stay home (and out of the 20% that go somewhere only 2% will take part of the festivities in Times' Square).  This, once again, confirms to us that New Yorkers are the smartest people around.  For everyone else out there, you have a shitload of options to choose from.  Our inbox has been packed since November with invites from everyone from the Strategic Group to the Bloc Group, to some guy named David Shapiro throwing a party on a boat.  Jesus Christ, do people like to promote!   It's sensory overload and we fear that it is often times wasted on the very people that wouldn't be caught dead in a NYC club on NYE, let alone ringing it in next to Ryan Seacrest at TenJune, or Johnny Drama (Kevin Dillon) at some place called Spotlight.  (How much do you think these people are getting paid to make THESE gigs worthwhile ones? ...we're guessing not enough).  Just for fun, we will present you with just a small percentage of the thousands of option that await you and your $130-all-you-can-drink-platinum VIP ticket:

-Join the Euros at Pink Elephant at their usual 27th street location, as well as at the Tom Beach Hotel's La Plage in St. Barths.

-Join Ryan Seacrest and hundreds of wanna be idols at TenJune.

-There's always the chance of getting fondled at Cipriani's.

-Kid Rock will be shitfaced for sure at the Hotel Gansevoort.

-1Oak is already irrelevant, but New Years may be the perfect time to check out their new gold wall, it's One of A Kind we hear.

-The underaged Richie Rich's will be will be popping bottles (as well as collars) at good old Bar Mart's.

-Upstairs, the "secret club where Leo gets in fights" is no longer a secret as the fights will be now started by followers of the blocgroup.

-There will be parties at Tavern on the Green, Amalia, Stereo, and even the "club formally known as Crobar"....The Grand, Azza, every club in Chelsea and 27th street, and of course all over Miami (if we get ONE MORE email about the event at the Raleigh Hotel in Miami Beach we may never be able to hear about Samantha Rosen again without throwing up!).  So in case you are interested in how much money you will be saving tonight, here's a sampling of the invites:

No this isn't the name of a new hit single by Bright Eyes, it's how Jeffrey Jah described what his new joint venture, opening soon, will be based upon.

[Photo from NY Times]

Question: What do Butter, Life, Spa, Lotus, GSpa, Club USA, Bowery Bar, the Inn LW12, Palladium, and Tunnel have in common? (besides being THE place to be scene at one time or another in New York)?

Answer: They were all owned or operated by one of more of the four gentlemen that are about to change the face of nightlife in New York.

We have been anticipating the arrival of 1 Oak for quite some time now, however, when the Sunday Styles section of the New York times FINALLY took notice this last Sunday, in an article titled "You Bring Leo, I'll Bring Diddy", we knew we were on to something (fyi: they cited us in the article which we are pretty excited about). Jeffrey Jah, aka "the Veteran" has joined forces with the Butter Boys Scott Sartiano, "Mr. Finance", and Richie Akiva, "The Club Kid", as well as Ronnie Madra, "The Music Man"; all on the commonality of being down right SICK of the way things were going in clubland (amen to that!).

Though there have been many rough patches, 1 Oak will be opened this month....that is a direct promise, from Scott himself. But don't expect it to be anything like their neighbors down the road in meat packing. At just a 250 person capacity (with seating space of only 150), showing up with Mr. Bigshot Hedgefunder with hundee's in his pocket is apparently NOT going to have any bearing on whether or not you will cross that velvet rope. According to Jah,

"People will have to earn their way past the ropes with an appealing personal style or disposition...not a promise to pay for bottle service."

Sounds like they are trying to bring back the golden days of Spa and even Studio 54 where struggling artists, musicians, and trannys could all hang out safely and just know that they collectively made up the "cool kids" of the city. Sounds fantastic. But will it work?

This will be perhaps the toughest challenge anyone has ever faced regarding night life here...at least in this decade. Maybe it is possible? With four seasoned veterans on board, you know that these guys have their shit together, and their peeps. Leo and Diddy don't even begin to cover the extensive network these guys have amassed over the years. Madra may have said it best: "This is like our Field of Dreams. If we build it, they will come." Come they will. Getting people to the door will not be the challenge...sticking to their Velvet Egalitarianism policy will. With night spots earning over 10 billion dollars a year in revenue, this is an amazing idea (one that we think most of us have discussed at one time or another), but will it really be possible? Will it be possible for "The Quad", as we call them, to brush away the poorly clad wall streeter flashing bills in their face? Stay Tuned....