Although downtown Manhattan has become a true hub of luxury in recent years, featuring plenty of upscale establishments where to burn cash, luckily the Lower East Side has retained much of its edgy character. However, being so close to the fully gentrified Nolita and Soho areas, upscale ventures are starting to spill over into the neighbourhood. The recently opened Canary Club is a good example, but its quirky hospitality format is in fact a perfect match for this part of town. Divided into three sections, Canary Club is owned by entrepreneurs Ryan Chadwick and Emily Frantz, and sees a restaurant on the ground floor, and below, a live music lounge and dance club. The husband-and-wife team are no strangers to the hospitality scene, managing the Grey Lady restaurant chain with outposts in New York City, Montauk and Aspen, collaborating on both the culinary concept and interior design as Frantz is a bonafide expert in the field.
Needless to say, the latter also designed the premises of Canary Club. The venue is situated on the ground floor and basement of a six-storey residential structure built in 1900, and features an interior design which takes cues from Wes Anderson‘s hailed movie aesthetics and blending in elements from the flamboyant 1980s Disco era. The settings are decidedly chic, but with a tongue-in-cheek twist, creating the just the right mix of authenticity and artsy playfulness to entice New York City‘s toughest nightlife crowd. The ground floor restaurant is headed by chef Tadd Johnson, formerly of The Standard East Village and The Smile, sees a bar, cabinets, walls, and carpentry in a soft green hue, paired with classic parquet flooring, and plenty of off-beat details to make it stand out. Interestingly, the concept of Canary Club came about after the owners paid a visit to New Orleans‘ historic downtown district, immersing themselves in local nightlife with its abundance of little bars and jazz clubs. That’s where the music lounge and dance club downstairs come in.
The setting here is completely different and understandably more nightclub-ish, featuring dark green walls, upholstered sofas in rich fabrics and embellishments and checkered marble flooring. The restaurant menu is very much New Orleans, listing an array of French Creole-inspired dishes and signature cocktails – a mezcal-based Surrealist Manifesto, anyone? For downstairs, a separate lounge menu is available, featuring a concise number of predominantly seafood bites. As said, Canary Club also revolves around music and on Thursday through Saturday the lounge hosts lively jazz, funk and instrumental gigs from well-known and up-and-coming artists. On the weekends, from around 1o.30pm until the wee little hours, it’ll be all about disco and dance music with a live band. And that’s not all, folks. The Canary Supper Club, situated right next door, is an equally stylish private dining room offering an array of tasty dishes.
Canary Club
303 Broome Street (Lower East Side)
New York, NY 10002
Telephone: +1 646 3558591
Tue-Thu 5pm-12am
Fri 5pm-3am
Sat 11am-3am
Sun 11am-3.30pm
Publishers Note
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