 | The Gates
290 8th Avenue, New York, NY map
Cross Streets: Between 24th and 25th StreetVenue Type: Lounge
Age Requirements: 21 with ID
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Danny Kane and Rod Surut (Naked Lunch, Gemini Lounge) have revamped one of the city’s truly lavish spaces, the former Biltmore Room (the marble walls alone have been valued at $2.4 million) as a “super luxury restaurant/bar.”
Promotional director Redd Stylez (Home, Guest House, Cain) is overseeing an “ambassador” program that awards keys (the lockets double as pens or bracelets and don’t actually open the front gates, which used to belong to the Biltmore Hotel in midtown) to 125 members of the “New York City elite.” Those ambassadors can use a computer program (which Kane says took 2,000 hours to build) to add five to ten “members,” who will then be allowed to show up with guests. Kane (who compares his place to GoldBar, Rose Bar and a “mini Capitale”) told us, “We’re going to try to take as much guesswork out of the doorman as possible,” meaning the gatekeeper will give preference to members (they'll carry a golden swipe card that allows them to earn back money, or generate donations for charity, as they spend — eliminating the need for promoters).
As for the food and beverage program, waitresses in Maggie Norris corsets and pencil skirts serve $16 drinks such as “the Ambassador” (the cocktail consultant is Paolo Vodtano). Kane issues a familiar line about bottle service: “We’re going to offer it, but we’re not going to be driven by it.” |
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