Last year, I celebrated my birthday at the downstairs La Esquina. My guests and I had to walk through the door marked with an Employees Only sticker, down the stairs and past the kitchen to get to the dungeon-like setting of the restaurant. I had to reserve a table for thirteen pretty quickly with my credit card because the word had just gotten out about this “secret place.” I ended up throwing my party a day after Vogue did theirs.
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The demimonde of New York was abuzz. A buzz. A hidden restaurant had opened in a rundown basement, and the best thing was . . . you could not make reservations. You had to be known or know the right someone. Some publicist deserves a Oscar. Who wouldn't salivate to dine in a club that wouldn't have them as a member? To enter La Esquina, "The Corner," located a stone's throw from SoHo in Nolita (North of Little Italy), one passes through a guarded door, reading "Employees Only," leading to a walk through the busy kitchen and into an underground scene.
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We're suckers for not just great scenes, food, and drinks but also great marketing. And we fall hard for places that make it hard to get in, as long as the payoff is worth it. We learned about Esquina from our concierge at our hotel, Chambers. It was on their 'hot sheet' under 'secret' and 'ultra cool'. Secret? Sign us up!
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There are three parts to La Esquina, the new taqueria, café, and gothic, candle-strewn subterranean Mexican brasserie owned by a quartet of restaurant power-brokers: Serge Becker (the designer behind spots like Lure, Bowery Bar and Time Café), James Gersten (formerly of Ken Aretsky’s restaurant group, a restaurant consultant, and an owner of Pearson’s barbecue), Derek Saunders (an architect), and nightlife guru Cordell Lochin. Together, these guys have put together three spaces with fiercely cool scene, terrific food, and dynamic allure.
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LINK: http://www.blogsoop.com/nyc_rid_5342.html
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