21 West 52nd Street
New York, NY 10019
Most interesting stories? Here are my favorite two:
To quote 21 directly, "1944: Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall celebrate their first date at Table 30. They first work together in To Have and Have Not, written by another '21' regular, Ernest Hemingway (who was caught making love to gangster Legs Diamond’s girlfriend in the '21' kitchen in 1931)."
When 21 first moved to their uptown location, the dress code of no pants for women and men must have jackets began. Allegedly, a famous actress showed up in pants with her date and unfortunately was denied access to 21. She politely asked to please use their bathroom and what happened next was amazing... she came back to the host stand PANTLESS and with only her shirt and a blazer on! Everyone shocked, she reiterated their policy of "no pants, blazer only". Since the cat had their tongue on this one, for the first and only time she was allowed in to dine dressed this way - since she was now following their rules. ;) Thata girl!
The hidden underground wine cellar (that you can rent out) was the former speakeasy, where New York City's infamous mayor use to frequent - Mr. Jimmy Walker. Using a massive brick wall as the door, the key hole unlocks with a wire as thin as a hanger wire and you would never guess it! Even today, you need to step over a half brick wall to enter the beautiful wine cellar - which you can see in the picture below.
Mentioned in many movies: How to Marry a Millionaire, the series finale of Breaking Bad, Sex and the City, Breakfast at Tiffany's and Sabrina (1954) with Audrey Hepburn as well as Rear Window with Grace Kelly.
21 Bar area, all the ceiling toys were gifts from regulars
Most interesting stories? Here are my favorite two:
To quote 21 directly, "1944: Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall celebrate their first date at Table 30. They first work together in To Have and Have Not, written by another '21' regular, Ernest Hemingway (who was caught making love to gangster Legs Diamond’s girlfriend in the '21' kitchen in 1931)."
When 21 first moved to their uptown location, the dress code of no pants for women and men must have jackets began. Allegedly, a famous actress showed up in pants with her date and unfortunately was denied access to 21. She politely asked to please use their bathroom and what happened next was amazing... she came back to the host stand PANTLESS and with only her shirt and a blazer on! Everyone shocked, she reiterated their policy of "no pants, blazer only". Since the cat had their tongue on this one, for the first and only time she was allowed in to dine dressed this way - since she was now following their rules. ;) Thata girl!
The faux pantry to throw off the cops when looking for entry to the speakeasy
The hidden underground wine cellar (that you can rent out) was the former speakeasy, where New York City's infamous mayor use to frequent - Mr. Jimmy Walker. Using a massive brick wall as the door, the key hole unlocks with a wire as thin as a hanger wire and you would never guess it! Even today, you need to step over a half brick wall to enter the beautiful wine cellar - which you can see in the picture below.
The "wine" hallway that leads to the wine cellar, you have to step over that grey pipe!
Vintage bottles safe in the underground wine cellar
Mentioned in many movies: How to Marry a Millionaire, the series finale of Breaking Bad, Sex and the City, Breakfast at Tiffany's and Sabrina (1954) with Audrey Hepburn as well as Rear Window with Grace Kelly.
Info from: 21club.com, wikipedia
