Velvet on Tenth Avenue, Bar CC Comes to West Chelsea
Bar CC brings caviar chips, a thousand bottles, and a walk-in only door to West Chelsea
There will be no reservations. That is the first rule of Bar CC, the new room at Tenth Avenue and 16th Street that Patch reports is set to open on September 25. Seats will go to walk-ins, first come, first served. In a city where so much of the night gets planned ahead, that alone makes it a different kind of proposition.
The bar is taking over the former Mel's space in the historic 85 Tenth building in West Chelsea. It comes from chef Melissa Rodriguez and restaurateur Jeff Katz, working with beverage director Harrison Ginsberg and Tao Group Hospitality. The Infatuation calls it a sister bar to Crane Club, the Tao restaurant at the same address. Grub Street called it a velvet-lined nook. The word nook is doing modest work. Patch puts the space at 3,000 square feet.
A Room Built for Staying
According to Patch's first look inside, the design goes all in on old money comfort. The woodwork is walnut. The walls are dressed in velvet. Curtains fall the full height of the room. There is brass throughout, and the light comes from Venetian sconces. One piece carries its own history, a mirror more than a hundred years old that was found in Paris.
The count is precise. Room for 64 guests in total, with 25 of them at the main bar. Patch says the rest will be split between a private wine room and a back room. That is small enough to feel like a secret and large enough to hold a proper crowd on a Friday.
The hours tell you who the room is for. Tuesday and Wednesday it is scheduled to run from 6 p.m. to midnight. Thursday through Saturday it will stay open until 2 a.m. A 2 a.m. close points past dinner, to the stretch of the night when the plan has dissolved and nobody wants to go home yet.
Seats will go to walk-ins, first come, first served.
The Names Behind the Bar
The people involved carry weight. Grub Street credits Ginsberg with helping turn Overstory, the Financial District cocktail bar, into one of the buzziest bars in the world. Katz was a co-owner there. Bar CC puts them back together, and Grub Street framed the move as Ginsberg returning to street level. Earlier this week, in a Bon Appétit story on why nonalcoholic cocktails cost what they do, Ginsberg made the case for taking zero-proof drinks seriously. "We wouldn't serve the nonalcoholic drinks we make to a kid," he told the magazine. "They're developed for a sophisticated palate."
Rodriguez handles the food. Patch describes a short menu built on caviar, live-fire cooking, and small plates. The highlights read like a late night wish list. A Baby Burger. A Chicken Medianoche. A Trumpet Mushroom. And Fancy Chips, which come with Osetra caviar. Grub Street also mentioned a chicken skin dish that nods to poutine.
The wine list is the quiet giant. More than 1,000 bottles, overseen by wine director Abe Zarate. That is a serious cellar for a bar with 25 seats at the counter, and the private wine room gives those bottles a place to be poured away from the main room.
Chelsea After Dark
This corner sits where West Chelsea meets the Meatpacking District, and The Infatuation files the bar under Meatpacking. A room like Bar CC stakes a claim on the middle ground. On paper it is dressier than a neighborhood bar and quieter than a club, and it plans to stay open late enough to catch both the dinner crowd and the people who are not ready to call it.
The walk-in policy is the interesting bet. It rewards the people who live nearby and the people who are already out. It punishes nobody for failing to plan, which is refreshing, but it does mean the door will matter. With 25 bar seats and 64 places in all, a late Thursday could fill the room fast. Arriving early may be the safest move.
A 2 a.m. close points past dinner, to the stretch of the night when the plan has dissolved and nobody wants to go home yet.
There is a long tradition in this city of bars that exist to extend a restaurant's evening. The hotel bar. The lounge off the dining room. The back room where the regulars go. Bar CC borrows from all of them, then adds a caviar habit and a wine list big enough to get lost in. We have written before about what it costs to run a room people wait outside of. A room with no reservations is a bet that the right crowd will show up on its own.
The Infatuation's early note on the place kept things simple. Caviar, velvet walls, and cocktails from the Overstory bar director. That is the pitch in one line, and it is a good one. Whether the room can hold its mood on a packed Saturday at 1:30 a.m. is the real test, and it begins once the doors open.
For now the details are enough to justify the walk to Tenth Avenue. A century-old mirror to check your reflection in. A velvet wall to lean against. A burger small enough to call a snack and caviar that arrives with a potato chip. And a closing time that lets the night run long.
Bar CC is at 85 Tenth Avenue at 16th Street. Per Patch, it will be open Tuesday and Wednesday from 6 p.m. to midnight and Thursday through Saturday from 6 p.m. to 2 a.m. Walk-ins only.
