Joining agave bar Mixteca and the primary New York City outpost of L.A. taqueria Tacos 1986, the subterranean cocktail bar Kees now completes One Cornelia, the multi-concept West Village hospitality scorching spot. Jeff Bell, proprietor of the pioneering hidden cocktail bar Please Don’t Tell (PDT), helms Kees, which attracts its moniker from the Dutch nickname for Cornelius (a nod to its location and Bell’s ancestry). Post Company—the visionary multidisciplinary design studio behind Raf’s, Fedora, INNESS, MOLLIE, and extra—not solely designed Kees, however One Cornelia’s different two ideas, as properly.
An understated glamour, knowledgeable by New York City’s historic resort bars and infused with “luxurious going out energy,” in response to Bell, clothes the area. “For me, the truly special aspect of Kees is its sense of intimacy and surprise,” Jou-Yie Chou, a founding associate of Post Company, tells Surface. “The concept itself—a destination cocktail bar tucked beneath a street-corner mezcalería and taco stand—is delightfully theatrical, while also serving as a subtle nod to the relationship to Please Don’t Tell.”
From classic armchairs to velvet banquettes, a chamfered stone bar beneath a customized ribbed-glass lightbox, veined marble, and sculpted Venetian plaster columns lend textured sophistication. The welcoming nature of wooden and patinated brass accents contribute to this. “What is perhaps most unexpected, however, is the atmosphere,” he provides. “Despite its dramatic premise, the room feels remarkably warm and inviting. It is a place designed to linger, with intimate nooks and tucked-away corner booths that encourage conversation and discovery.”
That feeling comes from each the dimensions of the area, with its dropped ceilings, and—in response to Chou—“its richly layered material palette: tapestry-clad walls, softly glowing hand-blown glass pendant lights, and tactile finishes that envelop guests in warmth. At its center, the bar radiates a gentle glow, its geometric metalwork drawing inspiration from Gothic ornament, while grounding the room with a quiet sense of permanence.” And but, regardless of the enveloping majesty, the bar program is delectably approachable.