Exclusive is "in"

This article talks about NYC clubs that are hard to find and hard to get into, which adds to their cachet.

A club that I visited in NYC years ago operated on that same principle and was great fun to visit because of it.

A friend, who was rich and lived in a penthouse that overlooked Central Park West, decided to we should go out because she was depressed and was about to break up with the boyfriend who owned the penthouse.

We went to Chelsea, where she took me into a small, kind of tacky, gift shop. We went to the back, pushed open a door, and found ourselves inside a tiny piano bar with an androgynous man exuberantly playing sing-along songs like "American Pie." Everyone there appeared to be having a great time. After we hung out for a few minutes, she led me to the back of that room, pushed through the door, and we found ourselves in a tiny charming restaurant overlooking a courtyard with rain streaming down the windows. It was a very romantic setting. We stayed for dinner. When we were finished, we went back to the piano bar, and she led me upstairs where there was yet another room, a darkly lit piano bar with a black guy playing blues, Gerswin, and Cole Porter standards.

With so many rooms, and so many different atmospheres, it was like a minature NYC Disneyland for adults. I picked up a printed matchbook which it said, "Chelsea Place. Tell only your best friends."

I returned a couple of nights later with another friend. And again a couple of nights after that with another friend. Each of them then went back with more friends.

One of the nights I was there, around midnight the limos with tall blonde models were showing up. The piano bar was packed with rich, good-looking professionals. It definitely had a "in place" vibe to it.

Come to Our Club. Or Not. Whatever. - New York Times, 1/14/07: "These cozy bars and clubby restaurants signal a retreat from the night-life largess of the meatpacking district and West Chelsea. Instead of V.I.P. seating, they rely on techniques, some from the speak-easy era, like obscure locations, secret (and oft-changed) reservation numbers and 'soft openings' that cater to insiders, to create the perception of exclusivity. While these are well-worn sleights of hand, a flurry of subtle arrivals suggests that small and quiet is back in vogue."

clubs
New York