At one time speakeasies were illegal drinkings holes where cold-sober, prohibition-era drinkers went to drink. Speakeasies were secret because they had to be; if too many people discovered them they'd be shut down. Today, speakeasies, like Milk and Honey or Raines Law Room, are hush-hush to attract customers, or at least to acquire caché. Like a game of hide and seek, you feel you've won once you've found one of these phoneless, addressless spots. But the newest speakeasy to enter the New York club scene, Avenue has both and address and a phone number. So, how, gentle reader, do you think Avenue still has speakeasy-status? The answer is simple: No googleability.

You best believe that Noah Tepperberg, owner of the Strategic Group, an event production and promotion company, as well as Marquee, a ubiquitous Manhattan club, will not make his tactically named Avenue accessible to all. With over 250,000,000 hits when you attempt to google Avenue, it's a new genre of club altogether – the cyber-speakeasy.

But the fact that Avenue is all but invisible in the interactive sphere is not the only piece of cultural collateral that gives the New York bar its caché. Actually, Avenue is about to earn its place in the Manhattan zeitgeist through an offering that is strangely practical: food. The gastrolounge, as Tepperberg terms it, will offer a variety of small plates that a drunk muncher would be hard-pressed to pass up. It seems no menu can be constructed these days without the inclusion of a top-tier burger, Avenue stays on this well worn road by proffering up Kobe beef sliders on brioche. But the swanky lounge also offers the fancy burger's counter part - the pretzel dog, a premium beef frankfurter wrapped in pretzel dough and served with spicy brown mustard & sea salt. Highlights of the feed file also include waffle cut French fries, sprinkled with white truffle oil and parmesan, a satay of tomatoes, mozzarella, and basil, and charred angus filet of beef.

As for the cocktail list, expect upscale, up-priced and not necessarily original. But if you want to sip a Dom Perignon bellini in a club that was popular before it even opened – Tepperberg has compiled a permanent list – then head down the avenue to Avenue….Don't worry about spending too much money, you probably won't get in. – E.H