Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Report: Golden Cadillac will pay homage to the Lenox Lounge and Odessa Cafe

The New York Times has more on Golden Cadillac, the new bar-restuarant opening Thursday at 5 p.m. on First Avenue and East First Street.

The space is going for a 1970s vibe.

“Images of discos come to mind,” said Giuseppe Gonzalez, a bartender whose past posts include the cocktail bars Clover Club, Dutch Kills and Painkiller. “We’re going to try to make people think differently about the ‘70s.”

Mr. Gonzalez’s vision of that decade is all about the New York he grew up with. “The birth of punk music, birth of hip-hop,” he said. “Keith Haring moved here in 1978. Martin Scorsese made four films set in New York in the ‘70s. That’s what I wanted.”

And!

The interior, designed by Jeannette Kaczorowski of Crow Hill Design Studio, along with Fieldlines Architecture, pays homage to two recently vanished New York landmarks: the Lenox Lounge in Harlem and the Odessa Cafe in the East Village. “Jeanette said there were lots of layers in those bars,” Mr. Boehm said. “You started with Art Deco, and then it was built upon. Lots of oranges, burgundies and browns.” Another inspiration was the fictional Volpe Bar in Mr. Scorsese’s film “Mean Streets.”

The space was previously home to Boca Chica since 1989.

As for the Odessa Cafe and Bar ... as we noted last week, the Odessa will serve drinks in a cozy ambiance similar to the former Cafe and Bar in the back of the restaurant Wednesday through Saturday nights starting at 8.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Here's Golden Cadillac, the '70s-nostalgic bar' opening at the former Boca Chica space

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Further evidence our neighborhood is turning into Bourbon Street for "classic New York ambience".

Anonymous said...

I think it sounds good. I don't think they mean it in a theme parker way, Anon 5:04AM.

I think these guys seem to have a grasp on the neighborhood and NYC and history etc. and I'm going to check it out on a weekday when they open.

Anonymous said...

Pay homage to Lenox Lounge and Odessa. Both of these joints just recently closed. So, basically the formula is to kill or push out the original establishments, open up a new trendy bar that pays homage to these. It's like killing a celebrity so that one can impersonate and make money out of them.

bowboy said...

Who in their right mind would want to memorialize the 70s??? I hate that my best years were in the 70s. The 60s would exciting, and even the 80s were better. Actually, the 70s was the worst decade of the entire century. Next!

Anonymous said...

If they are really about recreating the '70s, how's about selling some 'ludes and blow and hosting a key party. I would go for that!

Anonymous said...

Sounds like it could be fun. My kinda music and artistic inspiration. I just hope it's not too precious or pretentious.

Ken from Ken's Kitchen said...

Nothing says Keith Haring and Martin Scorsese like tuna casserole, Long Island Iced Tea, and oranges, burgundies and browns. Don't they know they're gonna kill their sons?