The best part about Cellar Bar is the oddly satisfying feeling that you’re not supposed to be there. Like some subterranean hideaway in the depths of the Vatican, this cathedral-like space is adorned with vaulted stone ceilings, stained glass windows and medieval chandeliers, lacking only cell phone reception and Robert Langdon’s curious footprints.
There is one thing, however, that brightens the dank, black feeling of this cathedral basement: it’s not located below a cathedral, but below The Bryant Park Hotel, where runway lights from New York Fashion Week and the energy of alcohol-infused 20-something socialites seem to liven the image of the otherwise dusty space. While Cellar Bar is a haven for private affairs and young New Yorkers with slicked-back hair and a wad of daddy’s cash, trendy midtown nine-to-fivers still flock to the depths of this cellar for a post-work bite to eat and Hotel-bar-priced martinis.
Cellar Bar opened to the public on Valentine’s Day 2001, nearly a full nine years ago, as part of the launch of the entire Bryant Park Hotel. The space was almost instantly deemed cool, and not just because of its below-ground location and chilly stone walls. Celebrities and fashion icons such as Lindsay Lohan, Rachel Zoe and Marc Jacobs have been seen in this space, likely drawn to the below-Bryant bar for exclusive events, but it’s the wait staff that draw attention on a nightly basis. Bartenders stir up swanky drinks like the Mango Mojito or the “Cellar Sling” while cocktail waitresses, draped in lingerie, dance on raised, domed alcoves behind the bar – perhaps in hopes of making this place look more like a nightclub than a crypt, or perhaps to distract the guys at the bar when paying their tabs.
Whatever the case may be, it’s working, and Cellar Bar continues to thrive in an era of upscale hotel bars with overpriced drinks and a unique underground location.
