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Category: Bars/Nightlife
UD - The James Hotel’s Tanning Concierge
JAMES WORTHY
The James Hotel’s Tanning Concierge
Rooftop pools typically sell themselves. But on the off chance you need some extra motivation, meet the new tanning concierge at the James. For $15 they’ll prep your chaise, bring you water and text you when it’s time to turn over. So, yes, sort of like human oven timers.
411:
Sat-Sun, 2-7pm, Jimmy at the James Rooftop Pool, 15 Thompson St, 212-201-9118
UD - Bringing Back Prohibition at Apotheke
PERIOD PIECE
Bringing Back Prohibition at Apotheke
You missed Prohibition the first time around, but worry not. Apotheke’s faithfully recreating America’s driest era every Wednesday night. The door’s password protected (try “revolver” or “white lightning”), but once inside, you’ll be able to sip moonshine from a mason jar without the threat of jail time. Blindness, though, still a risk.
411:
Wednesdays, 6:30-10pm, Apotheke, 9 Doyers St, 212-406-0400
UD - Hotel Giraffe’s New Rooftop Bar
NECK UP
Hotel Giraffe’s New Rooftop Bar
Great, another rooftop lounge. No, seriously, great. See, Hotel Giraffe’s opening their 12th-floor, retractable roof terrace to the public for the first time. So you can finally stop by after work, unwind on a low-slung sofa bench and see what you’ve been missing. Apparently, amaro mojitos and salmon belly crudo.
411:
Now open, Mon-Sat, The Rooftop Garden, Hotel Giraffe, 365 Park Ave S, 212-685-7700, see the slideshow
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UD - Jane’s Sweet Buns
Behold Jane’s Sweet Buns, a boozy little bakeshop from the folks at Death & Co. that’s serving as ground zero for cocktail-inspired confections, now open.

Think of this as that rarest of opportunities to have your cake (or sticky bun/cobbler pie/savory tartlet) and drink it, too. Because the key ingredient in every pastry here… cinnamon. Kidding, it’s alcohol.

See, the joint’s fiery-haired proprietress, Jane Danger (apparently, Danger’s not her middle name), used to keep bar at spots like Cienfuegos before trading in her muddler for a rolling pin. Hence: butter-brushed Old Fashioned buns with bourbon, pecans, caramel and Angostura bitters.

Like a bar, the place is open late-ish (last call is midnight on Friday and Saturday). Unlike a bar: it looks like a set from Easy-Bake Oven: The Musical. Still, you’re not one to let some hot-pink aprons and strawberry-striped walls keep you from finding a new suitable way to incorporate rum into your breakfast.

Spreading it on your toast was proving to be impossible.

Jane’s Sweet Buns
102 St Marks Pl
(between 1st Ave and Avenue A)
New York, NY 10009
212-777-6707
official website

 

Note:
Birreria
Photograph: Paul Wagtouicz

Superstar restaurateurs Mario Batali, Joe and Lidia Bastianich will complete their blockbuster Eataly complex when they open Birreria—a massive rooftop beer garden located 14 stories above the Italian megastore—on June 3. Hops-heads will geek out over the three proprietary cask-conditioned ales brewed on the premises—the collaborative effort of craft-brew pioneers Sam Calagione (founder of Delaware’s Dogfish Head), Teo Musso (Piedmont’s Birra Baladin) and Leonardo Di Vincenzo (Rome’s Birra del Borgo). But you don’t have to be a beer nerd to appreciate the views of the Flatiron and Empire State Buildings while sipping on the unpasteurized, unfiltered suds (the debut menu includes a peppercorn-spiked wheat beer, thyme-infused pale ale and English-style chestnut ale). Drinkers can also choose from nine Italian and American draft microbrews, more than 30 bottled beers and a selection of wines on tap. Given the place’s pedigree, expect some serious grub as well—hearty alps-inspired dishes, such as grilled meats, pork shoulder with sauerkraut and house-made sausages. If you manage to fight your way through the anticipated scrum, snag a seat at the Carrera marble bar or one of the communal salvaged-wood tables. 200 Fifth Ave at 23rd St (212-937-8910)

UD - Dream Downtown
Dream Downtown
355 W 16th St
(at 9th Ave)
New York, NY 10011
212-229-2559
official website

 

We’re coming out of the long weekend with guns blazing.

Eighty degrees. Sunny. Severe sundress warnings in effect for the tristate area.

That’s a beach day on any calendar.

Lucky for you, we happen to know a sandy spot that’s easily accessible… via elevator.

Introducing the Dream Downtown, a summer-loving MePa hotel that’s capped with the first rooftop beach in Manhattan history, soft-opening this week.

What you’re looking at here is essentially a Saint-Tropez-themed version of the elevated lounge. A sand-covered, bamboo-shaded oasis situated on the second floor, where you’ll come for a dip in the glass-bottom pool anytime the UV index breaks 7. (Or anytime you’re taking a summer Tuesday.)

At the precise moment when the sun’s at its strongest, you’ll want to shift from the first-floor lobby (with views up into the glass-bottom swimming pool) to the beach deck, secure a place to sit and drop by the bar for a piña colada. You’ll find it toward the back, surrounded by picnic tables and located on a plot of white sand.

And though it may have all the telltale signs of an exclusive beach club, the pool is open to the public, so access won’t require a room key, a cabana reservation or even a properly zinc-covered nose.

But you’ll probably want to have the zinc just in case.

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A Chinese Place That Moonlights as a Secret Disco
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UD - Madame Wong's
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We want to let you in on a secret about tonight.

But before we do, you have to promise us something.

Don’t tell anyone else. Under any circumstance.

Okay, we’re just scaring you. But really, keep this one buttoned up.

Unveiling Madame Wong’s, a run-of-the-mill, fried-rice-serving Chinese restaurant that’s surreptitiously moonlighting as an off-the-wall, occasionally password-protected dance club, discreetly open now.

You’ve known for quite some time now exactly what your weekends were missing. A dark, sinister, high-decibel-level, mirrored disco lounge from the impresario behind Le Bain. You just didn’t know till right now that it would faintly smell of duck sauce.

So you’ll make your way to Chinatown sometime after midnight, and you’ll be looking for a derelict eatery that’s covered in old newspaper. If that’s not specific enough, it’s the one with the cross-dressing Lady Gaga parked out front.

Inside: well, it’s a lot like 1930s Shanghai. There are paper lanterns, crimson curtains, one abandoned grand piano (BYO tip jar), several forsaken Lazy Susans and a coat check that’s been reappropriated as a spare bar. Ordering a scotch: not the craziest thing you’ve done in a coatroom.

Now, should this information disseminate to the masses, there’s a good chance Mr. Gaga and Co. may start requiring a password before granting entry into this three-room circus.

We hear it’s a randomly generated fortune cookie cliché.

Note:
Madame Wong’s, open tonight, 11pm, 3 Howard St, see the slideshow

Beekman Beer Garden Beach Club
Opens Next Friday, May 27th: At the South Street Seaport, North Side of Pier 17, nr Beekman St; Fidi; 212.896.4600
View Map

Website
Menu


The closing of Water Taxi Beach left Manhattan residents few proximate options for beachy fun, meaning anyone who wanted to play in the sand would likely just be told to go pound some. Thankfully, Beekman Beer Garden Beach Club has moved into WT’s shuttered Seaport spot, and’s fleshing out a beach-meets-beer-garden concept via a number of distinct, Voltron-esque components, none of which are hopefully the whiny green lion dude. Expect the unexpected, or see below:

  • 6000sqft of beach area with the same awesome BK Bridge views, but seating options expanded to include chaises, hammocks, and “glowing” lounge chairs, so you won’t be the only thing on them that’s bulb-ous
  • Foosball, ping-pong, two outdoor pool tables, and even one of those hilarious life-size chess sets
  • Pretzel-bunned German brats and spicy cheddarwursts to complement La Frieda burgers, lobster/crab rolls, and fish & chips, also the name of a failed pilot where Dan Marino and Erik Estrada went deep…on crime!
  • Plentiful craft brews, wine, and cocktails slung from two mammoth bars made of driftwood, though the waves here will hopefully just catch the bartender’s attention
  • A beach-adjacent stage for live music, including a free indie rock series on Sunday afternoons

For private parties, the joint can be partitioned to three separate spaces with different entrances, and the whole shebang’ll be running until 3a, a time of night at which most people will pound just about anything.

The Hot List
Hamptons Summer Preview
Next weekend: your triumphant return to the Hamptons. Though we planned to mark the occasion with an original song, it proved impossible to find a competent oboist on short notice. Instead: our list of the essential newcomers arriving out east this summer. Probably for the best that we didn’t do the song anyway.
UD - SL East
SL East
What You Seek: A beachy version of a MePa mega-club with enough room for you, your friends and the A-list celebrity crowd that dogs you at every turn.
What You’ll Find:
7,000 square feet of East Hampton patio space, outdoor daybeds and plush banquettes. The latter of which were aligned to form a catwalk. Helpful should a spontaneous walk-off break out.
411:
Opens May 28, Saturday nights, SL East, 44 Three Mile Harbor Rd, East Hampton
UD - South Pointe
South Pointe
What You Seek: The distinct feeling that you’re on a deserted Caribbean island. But with a state-of-the-art sound and lighting system.
What You’ll Find:
A deck of 12 VIP cabanas cut off from civilization by a wall of potted palm trees, all brought to you by the Lavo folks. Don’t worry, you’ll still be able to communicate with the outside world through message in a bottle service.
411:
Opens May 27, then Saturday nights, South Pointe, 125 Tuckahoe Rd, Southampton, 212-255-1933
UD - The Elm
The Elm
What You Seek: Multi-floor, sexed-up gatherings where burlesque dancers outnumber share-house kids.
What You’ll Find:
Upstairs: a champagne-drenched dining room. Downstairs: an English study complete with pool tables and live stage shows. Everywhere: those pesky burlesque dancers.
411:
Opens May 27, Fri-Sat nights, The Elm, 230 Elm St, Southampton, 631-377-3900
UD - Southampton Social Club
Southampton Social Club
What You Seek: Minimizing movement after you’ve taken down a multitier seafood tower.
What You’ll Find:
An ocean-to-table restaurant that transforms into an unhinged outdoor nightspot the moment the last lobster claw is cracked.
411:
Opens May 28, Southampton Social Club, 256 Elm St, Southampton, 631-287-1400
UD - Nobu at the Beach
Nobu at the Beach
What You Seek: A way to finally bring Nobu with you on vacation.
What You’ll Find:
A casual, poolside, Southampton satellite version of the famed sushi dojo. Complete with full catering capabilities. Just in case you’re looking to host a backyard omakase clambake.
411:
Opening early summer, Nobu at the Beach, 281 County Rd 39, Southampton, 631-287-9888
UD - Aquatic Adventures
Aquatic Adventures
What You Seek: The Saint-Tropez yacht scene. By way of Long Island.
What You’ll Find:
A luxury sea vessel that’ll chauffeur you around the Hamptons, ply you with wine and hors d’oeuvres, and cook onboard gourmet meals out of anything you catch. Or bring with you in a cooler.
411:
Aquatic Adventures, booking charters now
UD - Hamptons Free Ride
Hamptons Free Ride
What You Seek: A ride to the beach.
What You’ll Find:
A ride to the beach. For free. In an eco-friendly smart car. Apparently you can’t put a monetary value on saving trees.
411:
Launching May 28, Hamptons Free Ride, 646-504-3733
A Terraced Lounge Atop Columbus Circle
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UD - Above 6 at 6 Columbus
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You always remember your first…

Rooftop lounge of the season.

Which is why this is about to become the most unforgettable Monday in ages.

Or at least in May…

Welcome to Above 6 at 6 Columbus, an elegant rooftop perch that’s signaling the start of high-altitude cocktailing, soft-open now far above Columbus Circle.

Yes, you’ve officially been cleared to come out of your basement dancehalls, speakeasy bunkers and self-sufficient subterranean karaoke shelters. From this moment forward, all post-work cocktails and panoramic nightcaps shall return to their rightful place—a well-appointed, retractable-roof terrace with enclosed waterfalls and aerial views of Central Park.

Ideally, you’ll want to time your trips up to this sleek steel-styled balcony (designed by the savvy rooftop veterans of Above Allen) to just before sunset. And just after dipping into the Blue Ribbon Sushi downstairs for a little pre-après-work snack.

A short elevator ride later (or long staircase climb, should you prefer to do things the hard way) will take you straight up to this glass perch, where you’ll figuratively drink in a warm summer night. And literally drink in a cold Hummingbird (cava, St-Germain, club soda and yamamomo).

Of course, should the weather not cooperate (like today), there’s always a retractable roof that can cover the veranda at the first sign of rain.

Making this the safest cava-filled place to be during a thunderstorm.

Note:
Above 6 at 6 Columbus, soft-open now and taking reservations, 212-397-0404, see the slideshow