[Attach elevations here.]

You can’t really see it in the picture, but the diner is attached at the northeast to a larger space called “Upstairs.” We mainly do events there: parties, receptions, awards dinners, fêtes, entirely removed from what we do “downstairs” in the diner.

During the day and on the nights that it’s empty we let one of the private schools in the area use it as a painting studio, and for lectures, plays and recitals and things like that. The rest of the time, Upstairs is set up like a dinner theater, with tables around the periphery on two levels. They’re all banquettes that seat 6 to 10, but we can move things around to get up to 20 people together comfortably. We can do separate parties on each level and another one on the main floor where the dance floor and stage area are. It can also be very intimate. We have rolling walls and up to thirty-foot high curtain stands, so we can divide it up any way people like.

We don’t use it every night, usually three or four nights a week, and we like to keep at least one night free every week because sometimes someone gets in the mood to perform. When that happens we bring everybody in the restaurant up there at the end of an evening. The people who come here love it when that happens—and it’s true that the people who come here expect things like that to happen—but for one reason or another, the room isn’t always available when somebody you’d love to hear sing or play or whatever gets in the mood, and more often than not, the real theater plays out down in the diner, anyway.

We can seat 190 people upstairs legally—which is where the garage comes in handy—but there have been times when I’ve seen closer to 400 in the house. That happened when Damon Albarn showed up for a “surprise” set a couple of years ago, but he brought something like 80 of his own people—which wasn’t exactly arranged beforehand. It was an amazing set, and really, everything went very smoothly that night. The Fire Department was on hand, but they didn’t empty the room (or even threaten to), and the crowd was great, good-looking and well-mannered, but I spent most of my evening imagining my place being destroyed (in many ways) by a crowd this size, and that’s why the only performances we book in advance here now are school plays.

Flavors:

• diner  •  dolce vita  •  name-dropping  •  To be deleted  •  Upstairs

Possibly related:

• Friends of Friends Policy [Revised] (June 1, 2011)
• Server Beware (May 17, 2011)
• Ossobuco Night! (September 27, 2010)
• Reminder to Kitchen-Staff #3 (Cold Table) (April 1, 2010)
• Now Welcoming Scenesters For Brunch! (March 1, 2010)