Hotel Indigo Atlanta Downtown opened in December. The 200-room hotel offers 2,500 square feet of meeting space with three rooms—Portman, Andrew, and Peachtree—that are named after the streets the rooms face. Its restaurant, JP Atlanta, serves American cuisine and craft cocktails.
BeetleCat, chef and restaurateur Ford Fry's 10th restaurant, opened in Inman Park in January. The two-floor cocktail lounge, which is named after a wooden sailboat, is inspired by 1970s and '80s East Coast beach style and boasts paneled walls, yacht flooring, and surf-inspired design elements. The restaurant has a Thai- and Vietnamese-influenced seafood menu and serves oceanfront bar-inspired cocktails. The 5,788-square-foot space seats 298 and is available for full buyouts of 70 seated upstairs and 24 downstairs.
American eatery the Mercury opened on the second floor of Ponce City Market's Central Food Hall in January. Inspired by mid-20th-century American culture, the venue serves classic American fare—highlighted by chops and steaks—from executive chef Mike Blydenstein and a full-service bar program curated by beverage director Julian Goglia. The 4,400-square-foot space seats 200 and offers large group reservations and private dining options.
Restaurateur Justin Anthony's Biltong Bar opened at Ponce City Market in February. The South African-inspired restaurant features an assortment of dried meats—which are also part of the space's decor—as well as savory pies, bar snacks, craft beer, and South African fruit sodas. The 1,200-square-foot space seats 32 or holds 75 for receptions.
Private event space 11th Frame opened at Midtown Bowl in August. The 600-square-foot venue has a full bar, catering options, and a media package that includes four flat-screen TVs, an audiovisual sound system, and a wireless microphone. The venue has its own event team but welcomes outside planners, designers, and caterers for events such as adult birthday parties, corporate meetings, office parties, and game-day screenings. The space seats 75 or holds 100 for receptions.
Multiuse co-working space and event venue Elevator Factory opened in Grant Park in January. The 6,000-square-foot member-based venue, which has free Wi-Fi and coffee from Octane next door, is available for event rental and offers spaces for everything from yoga classes to writers' workshops. The largest space, a 1,500-square-foot area called the Commons, holds 102 for receptions or seats 75 guests. There is also a bar called Container Bar.
Located on the 68th floor of 4 World Trade, WTC360 Riviera at the World Trade is a 34,000-square-foot private event space operated by Riviera Caterers. Offering a blank slate for event planners, the column-free space offers amenities such as 10-foot windows with sprawling views of lower Manhattan and the Hudson River, an in-house power source for audiovisual and lighting needs, and multiple high-speed elevators. Riviera is the in-house event producer and caterer at the venue, which opened in early December. It holds 440 for reception-style events.
One of the few fine-dining Chinese restaurants in New York is La Chine, which opened at the Waldorf Astoria New York in November. The noted Chinese chef Jereme Leung helped develop the menu of authentic regional Chinese cuisine, and a team from the restaurant visited several Chinese provinces to get inspiration on how to translate dishes and tastes for a New York audience. As indicated in the restaurant’s name, the menu also has French influences. The beverage service features Chinese wines and Asian spirits such as sake, shochu, and baijiu, as well as a selection of teas all sourced in China. Studio Gaia designed the elegant interiors, which use traditional Chinese motifs such as cherry blossoms and geometric screens as well as nod to the hotel’s original Art Deco design. Statement pieces like a three-tiered chandelier and a white travertine floor complete the look. The main dining room seats 125, and custom screens section off a semiprivate dining space. The restaurant also has a private lounge called Meng that holds 20 for receptions and a private dining room that seats 16.
Howl at the Moon, the chain of live music bars, opened its 17th location in the theater district. The vibe is upbeat and fun, and entertainers are available to set the scene, from light dinner music to a full band playing contemporary hit music. The venue spans both a main floor and mezzanine, and both levels can be used for private events, or the entire venue can be bought out for receptions of as many as 600 people or plated dinners for 400. The main floor holds 400 for cocktails or seats 200 for dinner. The space can be broken into two for smaller events. The mezzanine, with views of the stage and dance floor, holds 200 for cocktails or 150 for buffet dinners.
The Tribeca Grand hotel has a new name—the Roxy—and has opened new venues including Jack's Stir Brew Coffee and the Django, an underground jazz club. Designed with a vintage Parisian look, the space has red leather banquettes, arched ceilings, and a stage for live music. It seats 150 or holds 200 for receptions. The hotel also is renovating its 201 guest rooms, a project slated to finish this spring.
Vandal, an expansive restaurant and bar from TAO Group, opened in January on the Bowery. The 22,000-square-foot, 360-seat venue serves a global street fare-inspired menu and features art from seven famed street artists. For private dining, there is the Secret Garden room that offers nature-inspired design elements such as ceiling joists strewn with vines and string lights and glass globe lights filled with gold butterflies. The room also has two walls covered in applied wheat paste murals by Shepard Fairey. In temperate weather, a wall of glass garage doors can open onto the sidewalk while a row of tall planters still allow for privacy. The space seats 70 or holds 100 for cocktails. Another option is an elevated seating area in the back dining room partitioned off by expandable bronze screens. It seats 32 guests.
A second, larger location of the French bakery and café Maman has opened in TriBeCa in December. Serving seasonal South of France fare from Michelin-starred chef Armand Arnal in a 2,000-square-foot space with generous 160-foot ceilings. In the front is a casual room with counter service and cozy daybed-like seating.The back dining area, called the salle a manger, has its own bar and can be used for private events. The room has moveable communal tables that seat 40 altogether; the room holds 60 for cocktails. The look mixes vintage and French country styles with exposed whitewashed bricks, dark wood floors, and blue and white accents.
The cardio fitness studio 305 Fitness opened a second New York location in Midtown in January. The 5,000-square-foot space covers two floors and has amenities like sprung wood floors, an audio system, a DJ booth, and a lounge. The studio’s is known for its multisensory cardio workouts that feature a light show and music from a live DJ. Designer Robert Bloom created the light show using 150 LED lamps. The venue’s Studio B is available for private event rental and fits 25 people for receptions.
