After a press embargo and its fair share of bureaucratic problems, New York’s hardest door, dubbed 1 Oak, has opened - to those, ahem, who have been deemed worthy of entrance. The boys behind 1 Oak - Richie Akiva and Scott Sartiano (who own Butter) - have apparently grown tired of New York’s repetitive club scene and are intent on creating a refined environment for the hippest urban influencers in the city. After all, those insipid, martini-swilling Manhattanites really do get to you after a while.

The West Chelsea area is all about the atmosphere. And, as with any impossible-to-enter spot, 1 Oak has atmosphere aplenty. Though the exterior is refreshingly free of inappropriate designer cant, 1 Oak’s interior (designed with leaden proficiency) embraces the noir angularity of patterns ripped out of a castle in the South of France.

A whopping 3 mil was spent renovating and outfitting the grand space with accouterments such as gold water faucets (because washing your hands in anything else would be sooo ‘80s), gold-plated handgun art (obviously), bullet art (appropriate), ostrich leather upholstery (cows are so ‘96) and Louis the XIV-inspired chairs (I would have gone with the XIII, but I guess XIV will do).

So, clearly this place isn’t courting the type of crowd who would have picked up their club attire at Wal-Mart. With a limited capacity of 250 people, earning a coveted spot inside will be tough little chore, so if you aren’t one of New York’s chicest socialites, don’t waste your time standing in line.

And yes - there is a menu. The fare at this lounge has been created by former Iron Chef judge, Alex Guarnaschelli (say that three times fast), and includes adventurous dishes like one shrimp cocktail and a cookie platter with milk - groundbreaking.