Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid have finally met their match. Well, they would have, at least, if 1969 had warped itself into a time-space continuum of monochromatic, retro-western hideouts filled with modish prep-sters drinking on daddy’s hard-earned 2008 tax-return dollar. Tom and Anthony Martignetti, two of New York City nightlife’s leading men, have created a gritty, underground lair out of Southside, their 1 Cleveland Place reinvention. For a night to remember (or to not remember), forget Chelsea, forget the Lower East Side; this SoHo bungalow is where it’s at, my friends.
Southside is every bit of cool that it has been made out to be. Down the stairs, past the coat check and into the lengthy corridor, lined with leafy-green, bamboo branches, a modest, black and white checkered dance floor awaits. The walls of the venue are covered in slightly kitschy, fauna-stamped wallpaper, adding an eye-catching contrast to the slick flooring. The vintage, burnished, brown leather banquettes which line the perimeter and are strangely reminiscent of my grandmother’s couches, add to the venue’s old school, down-home feel. The single, but entirely self-sufficient bar, sits beneath a row of dangling, green, light fixtures, the final touch to this minimalist, underground space.
However, the interior is not the only factor that completes this venue’s chill atmosphere. The close quarters allow for a rather intimate soiree, so expect to rub elbows with the slice of heaven standing across the room at least once. After countless glasses of champagne and a few drags from a bummed Parliament Light, they, girls and guys, alike, all start to look good, right? (For a more obvious and completely necessary Freudian slip…if you become bored with the selection, channel your ambitions, overlook the customers, and check out the staff. At this point of the evening, they are almost family, anyways.) The sultry beauties carrying cocktails in little black dresses and the men sporting collared white shirts and sexy foreign accents are the best in the industry.
Unfortunately girlies: don’t expect to show up with your ‘boy toy’ and walk straight through the velvet rope. It is definitely not that type of party; unless, of course, 6 of your female besties are in tow. But even then, it might be best to leave him at home. The door is difficult, but peculiarly kind. Southside is a New York nightclub; there will be a line but, it is definitely worth the wait. By the end of the night, you will leave entirely satisfied, plain and simple, like you hosted the year’s best party in the pleasant squalor that is your own basement.
