Employees Only

First printed in metro.pop magazine, I think in the March/April issue.

Considering the popularity it’s enjoyed from the day it opened its doors, Employees Only is far more welcoming than it has ever needed to be. On any given night, you can walk past the tarot card reader in the window, through the velvet curtains and find yourself in a thick and unusually tall crowd of thirty-something revelers, heavy with Carrie Bradshaw types. There’s always enough flaxen hair and lip gloss to make most of us normals feel short and matte.

But the restaurant/bar’s five co-owners have created a friendly, speakeasy atmosphere, from the Art Deco detailing to the spirit of Prohibition camaraderie. Even through the crowds, it’s easy to immediately see the glamour and appeal of the place – caramel lighting, mahogany wood, a curvy brass topped bar, handsome bartenders in chef whites, flames dancing in the fireplace, pretty waitresses in jaunty uniforms, and an astonishingly well stocked wall of liquor bottles.

A key to its success is its namesake – I’ve seen at least one, but usually two or three, of the five owners acting as employees every night I’ve been there, seating diners in the outdoor garden or tending the bar in the front of the house. And those gentlemen really know what they’re doing behind the bar. Their cocktails – and I’ve sampled more of them than I care to admit – are so delectable and potent, the menu should come with a warning.

The dangerous Mata Hari tastes as incredible as it looks – chai infused vermouth, Courvoisier VS and pomegranate juice are shaken up and poured into Employees Only’s signature old-school globular glasses, topped with three dried pink rosebuds.

For those who like their cocktails less sweet, there’s the refreshing Provencale – lavender infused gin stirred with herbs de provence vermouth, Cointreau, and an orange twist. It's a gin martini for an English rose. The expert bartenders can also turn out the classics with flair, like the well-balanced Manhattan, finished barside with a flame throwing burst from orange peel oil.

Once you’ve been properly prepped by the signature cocktails, you’ll want to stick around for dinner. Employees Only serves its seasonal trans-Atlantic fare til it closes nightly (or morning-ly) at 4 a.m. Before 11 p.m., the kitchen turns out robust plates of Italian-influenced dishes like caramelized, braised veal on a rich bed of polenta with spears of sweet roasted carrots and fennel. Moist roasted chicken comes with glazed whole baby carrots, crisp haricots verts, and rich mashed potatoes punctuated by silky bits of porcini mushroom. I rarely order pasta in a non-Italian restaurant, but their orecchiette is wonderful – thumbprint pasta “ears”generously topped with a meaty, ropy pork ragu.

The menu offers a wide variety of nibble plates if you’re just looking for a little nosh to keep you on your feet. The steak tartare is not for the squeamish, but it may be one of the finest examples of tartare in the city. It is definitely one of my favorite things to eat while imbibing -- hand-chopped filet mignon and roasted tomato,are mixed tableside with lemon, raw egg yolk, sea salt, chopped shallots, truffled capers, Dijon mustard, Worcestershire and a few (or more) dashes of house made hot sauce, served with a little pile of baguette chips.

Washington state oysters are also make for excellent slurping snacks,; they’re served with a subtle, tangy lime-chili granite. But the allure of the Serbian charcuterie platter escaped me – thick, tacky slices of pink pork pastrami, stiff lamb prosciutto and little cups of runny chicken liver pate and red pepper compote were unappealing, though the pillowy, sweet homemade flatbread accompaniment was lovely.

With consistently excellent eats and knockout cocktails, the only improvement I’d like to make at this classy joint is to add a few more bathrooms – the unisex single occupancy water closet will never be enough to accommodate the crowds of regulars. I’m sure that this is the kind of place that will defy trends and capricious buzz. Like Balthazar or Nobu, Employees Only is so New York that it feels like it was, is, and will always be part of the city landscape.

Employees Only
510 Hudson St.
212-242-3021