Ella
9 Avenue A at Houston St
Nightlife entrepreneurs Darin Rubell, Josh Boyd and Jordan Boyd (whose other “Lower East Village” collabs include GalleryBar and Plan B) are the brains behind Ella, a bi-level piano bar and cocktail lounge channeling the glamour of 1920s Hollywood. And fittingly so: The space was designed by Joan Crawford's own interior designer, Carleton Varney. According to Rubell (cousin of the late, great Steve), “It’ll be very old-school, with a lot of silver, black and lipstick red. There’ll be large Warhol perfume bottle prints on the wall, and display cases with antique perfume bottles.” Upstairs, the emphasis will be on cocktails (like the $12 Plum Gin Fizz: muddled sour plum, gin, simple syrup and lemon juice), and the downstairs piano bar will sport a 40-seat performance space. Servers will be decked in ‘20s garb—“sexy but not costume-y,” Rubell notes—and the music will start in the ‘20s but stray toward the present. (September)
Village Pourhouse
982 Amsterdam Ave. Between 108th and 109th Sts.
Get ready for Pourhouse 2.0: The Village beer behemoth replicates itself uptown with more than 100 beers (including 24 on tap like the monk-made Trappist brews), a menu of American bar food and four party rooms—each with a different variation on “It’s beer-and-TV time!” (and with 20 TV screens combined). Expect the same beer-centric events as downtown, as well as a Pourhouse-to-Pourhouse bar crawls (eek, five miles of beer!) and an NYU-Columbia mixer during opening week (ish). Just in time for school and football. (September)
Apothéke
9 Doyers St.at Pell St.
From self-proclaimed "bar chef/apotheker" Albert Trummer (and partners Heather and Christopher Tierney, of Burger Shoppe) comes Apothéke, a bar inspired by 19th-century Parisian absinthe dens and dedicated to the art of the culinary cocktail, where more than 250 drinks are “prescribed” to address a variety of concerns—from beauty to libido to flagging vitality. Expect a mini chemistry lab (apothecary) of booze-related beakers and burners, rare herbs, and elaborate recipes, in a marble-lined Austrian-opera-house atmosphere. All of which will be bathed in a mysterious and specially concocted “transporting” scent. Drink to your health, hopefully. (September)
The Bell House
149 Seventh St. between Third and Fourth Aves, Gowanus
Testing the waters (not literally) in Gowanus, The Bell House debuts as “an extension of Union Hall, but without bocce,” per a Bell House rep (both venues are owned by the same people). There’s a front lounge that’ll resemble Union Hall, but with a “more distressed, less bookshelf-y” look. A 300-seat performance space will be fully open, seven days a week, starting in 2009, featuring live indie rock, jazz, burlesque—“whatever the neighborhoods are into.” The booze menu will also be eclectic, highlighting seasonal beers and old-fashioned cocktails. (September)
Chestnut Bar
271 Smith St, at DeGraw St, Carroll Gardens
Chestnut, the Thumbelina-size gourmet American restaurant on Smith Street, expands its bar into the space next door. The new spot—the size of a cozy brownstone living room, seating 25—will serve specialty bites as well as cocktails emphasizing fresh and seasonal fruit, half a dozen beers and a much-expanded wine list. The décor is "salvaged and reworked," with blonde wood floors rescued from an old barn, exposed brick and pressed tin ceilings. Michael Connolly, who runs Chestnut's beverage program, is planning a Thursday night wine flight, where the price of a single glass would get you five tastes of rosé, or whatever's seasonally appropriate. (September)
Photo courtesy of Apothéke
