The Bunker Club

24 9th Avenue (@13th Street)

New York, NY 10014

212-837-4700

Last week I went and checked out The Bunker Club, a new underground club in the Meatpacking district.  A good friend and former bartender at The Box is running the door so we went to pay our respects.  And, while we weren’t sure what to expect initially, it’s a pretty sweet spot.  The whole place is sort of speakeasy-ish, a discreet dingy staircase entrance leads down to an exposed brick vaulted dance hall where no sounds are coming in or out.  It is a pretty big space, one long bar when you first come in, with oversized leather tufted furniture, then a checkered dance floor and additional bar towards the back.  The club is definitely geared towards bottle service, but chilled out drinks at the bar include specialty cocktails like the Army & Navy, Moscow Mule, and Diamond Merchant.  Oh yeah, and they only serve one beer: Radeberger.  We were there on the early side, so it wasn’t busy yet, but the crowd was cool, the door seemed strict, and the bartenders were hot.

Brought to us by the same people from The Beatrice, which we all loved so much and miss even more, I think The Bunker Club shows high hopes of becoming our next favorite smoke filled you-know-what-infused late night party spot.

Doors open at 10.

BY: LAUREN BROWN

6th Street Kitchen

507 East 6th Street (Between A and B) 212-477-4649

Earlier this week my girlfriend Jamie and I tried for the first time 6th Street Kitchen, which opened in March, replacing its Pan-Asian predecessor, O.G. Owned by Chris Genoversa, Kitchen is an open, airy, and semi-elegant for the East Village. The fare is multi-cultural, small plated comfort food ranging from baba ghannouj to homemade meatballs.

Jamie and I shared the daily special of heirloom tomatoes served with avocado sorbet, meatballs, chorizo sliders, and glazed carrots. Avocado sorbet: you know, I think this is one of those things that sounds weird but since it sounds weird it’s New York and it’s probably fabulous… We were wrong, it was just weird. But the tomatoes themselves were ok, kind of tiny for $12 though.  The chorizo sliders and fries were our favorite.  They are fairly spicy and an interesting twist on a traditional menu item. The cooked carrots were a bit unnecessarily glazed if you ask me and the meatballs were fine.

Our server, Brad was really great and we did like the atmosphere at Kitchen. It looks really cute from the outside and the open-air kitchen is always a nice touch. In total, our bill was around $80 for dinner and a glass of wine each, fairly reasonable.

Overall I give the food a C+. There are so many other great places in the neighborhood, I’m not sure I will be running back to Kitchen any time soon.   As you can see by my brevity, in my untrained opinion, Kitchen is just not much to write home about. However, all may not be lost… they do have gravy and biscuits for $13 on their brunch menu…

BY: LAUREN BROWN

Abe and Arthur’s

409 West 14^th Street

New York, NY 10014

646-289-3930

Last night I had the pleasure of dining at the meatpacking district’s new hotspot Abe and Arthur’s.  Not officially open yet, last night was friends and family night and I was the guest of my best friend Jamie Dunn, who is bartending at the restaurant.  I went with her boyfriend Peter and it was pretty cool the way they did it.  We started at the bar and Jamie served us up a couple really tasty “Hemmingways,” the signature cocktail of the night.  Then when we sat down the menu had been pre-highlighted with menu items they wanted us to eat… The chef had done it this way so that the kitchen could practice making everything at different times and also so that we could have a variety of foods we wouldn’t normally choose.  On our menu: Kobe beef sliders, goat cheese salad, branzino, filet mignon, zucchini fries, corn and bacon salad, and PB & J desert… PRETTY SWEET!!!

Peter and I shared everything and it was all very good, cooked well and served in a trendy way. We thought the most interesting thing was the PB & J dessert, which was bread pudding with raspberry sorbet and a peanut sauce on the side… It really tasted like the sandwich we all loved so much when we were 5!  We thought it was such a clever idea for a desert.  The servers were all very friendly and knowledgeable and I know from Jamie that they have all been having intense training and tastings for the past few weeks now in preparation for opening. Owners Mark Birnbaum and Eugene Remm have done a good job done a kind of American bistro menu the fancy way, which is pretty fitting for this trendy neighborhood.  It was so nice to go there and have a complimentary meal; the vibe is just all around good.

The space itself is very cool also.  Abe and Arthur’s is in the space that we used to know and love as Lotus and has been completely redesigned.  Everything is very modern but with an old world classy feel.  Everything is top tier, from the marble floors to the gold engraved $5,000 front door.  Downstairs is the main dining room, with about 20 tables and huge glass encased fabric panels lining 3 of the walls.  We snuck a peek upstairs, where there are more dining tables, an additional bar, and plenty of room for a private party.

The prices at Abe and Arthur’s are pretty expected for the neighborhood.  Not outrageous, but I think for a meal and drinks it would be hard to get out for under $80/person.  And you want to have drinks… my hot best friend is making them and once you start getting saucy you will definitely want to meander your way into the new “SL” (Simyone Lounge) club downstairs…

Abe and Arthur’s officially opens next Thursday, October 1^st.

Another suggestion:  get there early and take a stroll on Manhattan’s new Highline… Peter and I checked it out for the first time and it’s pretty nice… Romantic sunset walk with my best friend’s boyfriend… score!

BY: LAUREN BROWN