Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy
The stylish restaurant takes its name from drag artist Ella Funt, back when the legendary Club 82 was the place to be seen in the basement of this address. (One of the performers from that era has been involved with planning the new cabaret — more on that in a moment.)
On a recent evening, I met co-owner Harry Nicolaou, whose family operates the classic Cinema Village on 12th Street between University and Fifth Avenue...
The staff was prepping for this evening's dinner service...
... another in-demand dish has been the raviolo with spinach and ricotta, garlic scapes and confit egg yolk ...
Management appreciates the space's history and is creating a cabaret-theater in the basement that pays homage to the original Club 82. (We hope to have images of the space and info on the plans later in the summer as it's still under construction downstairs.)
Marcus Jahmal painted the mural along the western wall in the dining room...
The most popular entree has been the whole fish (here was Dorado, but subject to change) with green-curry reduction and greens ...
The well-appointed space filled up quickly with an upbeat crowd...
The cabaret will be a nice addition to this Fourth Street corridor, which includes La Mama Experimental Theatre Club, the Duo Multicultural Arts Center, the Kraine Theater and the New York Theatre Workshop.
And from my personal collection... a postcard from the original Club 82...
Ella Funt is open Tuesday through Saturday from 5:30 p.m. to 1 a.m. Find more info here. And if you're on Instagram, you can follow their account here.
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Given that the owners are so keen on the history of the address... here's a little more about it...
In the early 1970s, Club 82 became a rock club featuring the New York Dolls, Teenage Lust, Suicide and Another Pretty Face.
The subsequent iterations of the space included a movie theater and an all-male strip club. Ron Wood of the Rolling Stones tried to make a go of it as a music club again in 1990 with Woody's. The basement space reopened as the Bijou Cinema around 1992, per Cinema Treasures, operating in different capacities until 2018.
Stillwater Bar & Grill was a ground-floor tenant, shutting down in the spring of 2019 after 15 years in service.
7 comments:
Can't even imagine how lit it was after the 2:30 am shows back in the day!
All beautiful smiles ;)
woody's! i was still underage when it opened but managed to get in and see my then local faves dashboard mary play! it felt very posh inside compared to cb's, lismar, pyramid etc.! i never knew club 82 was there; love the postcard! best of luck to ella funt!
So sad that such an interesting place like Bijou Cinema (most recent embodiment) closed years ago. There was no sign on the door nor was it advertised even in the gay/queer/msm circles but it operated as a second screening theater playing basically any type of film. To those who knew about it though it was a discreet gay cruising/hookup theater sans pornography which I always found so interesting. Felt like a somewhat vital establishment for those who were looking to explore queer male sexuality without having to signup for an app or join a club in an otherwise sex sanitized post-AIDS crisis gay New York.
This is where Lou Reed supposedly met Rachel, his tranny girlfriend, in the mid 70s who later became a heroin addict, contracted and died of HIV and was buried in Potters Field.
the basement was a dirty gay sex club (dirty as in not cleaned properly). but they had non sex movies playing. it was a great place to hang with friends and a 6 pack after the bars. a very mixed crowd. a few times women would show up to hang out. it was what it was.
Same…. Some great memories of seeing unexpected late night movies while having the choice to walk behind the screen to find hallways with about 15 private booths for manly pleasure. I miss the bad coffee and secretiveness when you paid and attention when you came through the noisy turnstile. I met two boyfriends there, while exploring lots of high time scenes. I’m sure there’s many others who have the same kinky memories. Hi to you all!
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