The Room
The room is the product.
Eight couches, three banquettes, a long bar, a back booth, a door that opens onto King Street North. Everything else is in service of how the room feels at 10pm on a Thursday.
The light
Three light sources, and nothing else.
The room runs on three light sources and nothing else. Sconces above the banquette, brass pendants over the bar, and a single line of LED tucked behind the back banquette. Every lamp is dimmable. By 9pm the room reads at about four percent of what an office would read at. You can still see your drink, your card, and the person across from you. Anything more than that pushes the room into a coffee shop, and anything less pushes it into a club. The space sits between the two on purpose.
The music
Seventy-five decibels at the back banquette.
There is no DJ Monday through Wednesday. The bar plays a selector list of soul, neo-soul, downtempo house, jazz from the 60s and 70s, and quiet hip-hop after midnight. Thursdays and Fridays a DJ plays from the booth in the back wall. Saturdays book a guest. The room is loud enough to feel alive and quiet enough to talk over. We measure it. The target is 75 decibels at the back banquette during peak service.
The seating
Couches, banquettes, the bar.
Couches
Eight low couches arranged in pairs along the south wall and the front window. Each couch fits two comfortably, three closely. The marble side tables sit at glass height. The couches are first to reserve and the room books out on couch from Thursday through Saturday.
Banquettes and tables
Three banquettes along the back wall, each seating four to six. Two free-standing four-tops in the middle of the room. Banquettes are the right call for a small group that wants the same vantage on the room.
The bar
Fourteen seats at a marble-topped bar running the length of the north wall. The bar is the right seat for one or for two, or for a walk-in on a Wednesday. It is also the best seat in the room for watching a drink get made.
A room is not a vibe. A room is a set of decisions, kept.
Walk through, then read the drinks.
Walk through the room, or read the drinks. Either is a fair next step.