Instead of announcing his name with neon signs, numerous bars and restaurants are hidden in New York. Uncertainty increases attraction.
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(Photo: AP)
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New York A phone booth in a sausage shop? There’s something behind that, thinks the attentive visitor to Crif Dogs in the East Village. Indeed: if you stick to the red phone and dial one, a door to a cocktail bar will open promptly. A young woman accepts reservations, waiting times of several hours are not unusual on weekends.
The name of the bar “PDT” is a mockery. The abbreviation stands for “Please Don`t Tell”. But nobody adheres to the instruction “Please do not pass on”. Anyone can read the instructions for the Secret Bar on the Internet. And if you get yourself a hot sausage and sit down at one of the tables, you will soon know.
Secret! It is a violation of the Basic Law of Advertising to advertise your services to as many people as possible. Instead of announcing his name with neon signs, numerous bars and restaurants are hidden in New York. Uncertainty increases the attraction, not only the flirt at the bar or the bouncer at dance shops know this.
The trend has been around in New York for many years. It all started with the cocktail bars, exactly with the legendary Milk and Honey in the Lower East Side. Disguised as a tailor shop, you only came in with a reservation, for which you had to know a specific telephone number. It was really a secret for a long time, until the Internet destroyed the game and everyone knew the extension number. The bar closed after many years in 2013, but there are new branches in the Flatiron District and in London.
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But if you want to trace the spirit of Milk and Honey, you’d better drink a Gold Rush in Attaboy. The excellent bar serves in the same rooms. It is also less secretive and elitist. Just ring the doorbell and leave your name and telephone number, there is often a seat after a few minutes.
The concept of hiding is copied by others, including restaurants. Anyone staying at the expensive Parker Hotel on 56th Street is easy to overlook a small sign with a hamburger sign. Another world opens up behind a curtain. Instead of sitting on chic marble and mahogany, the visitor stands in a shabby hamburger bar.
Virtually anyone can go to this burger joint, but it is next to impossible at other restaurants such as the Bohemian on Great Jones Street. Hidden behind a butcher’s shop, the expensive Japanese has been in great demand for many years. If you have managed to get the secret phone number and a recommendation from a previous guest, a small garden with a waterfall, tiny wooden temples, eclectic furniture awaits you.
By the way: Those who sit at the “PDT” counter can not only drink good cocktails – but of course also order the hot dogs from Crif Dogs. They are really not bad – but, please, everything has to stay between us.
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