Jaunted

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Sell Your Gold But You Still Won't Get Into Goldbar

Opened in 2007, New York City's GoldBar is literally a rich person's playground. John Mayer, who lives nearby, has taken Jennifer Aniston here for a nightcap, Diddy is a regular and "Gossip Girl"'s Leighton Meester will probably never be back after word got out she was allegedly smoking a joint there. But don't worry, you'll never find out if it's that good or totally overhyped, because you're not getting in there.

To begin with, the NoLIta hotspot looks more like a bunker from the outside, with wooden mansion doors and the ubiquitous velvet rope. The faux-aristocratic portraits on the walls give way to walls lined with gold-plated skulls which looked real enough to make us not want to venture any closer. A back lounge is separated from the bar area by a curtain of gold chains that shimmers in the low light. It's a comfortable place if you can forget that, dude, there's gold, like, everywhere.

Don't expect GoldBar to start relaxing its door policy now, though, just because we're in a downturn. Its co-owners are probably still smarting from the lumping in of their venture Cain, a 27th St. nightclub with a hunting lodge theme, with the bridge & tunnel reputation of west Chelsea's nightlife. By instructing its doormen to reinforce the door, investors can be sure the splendor isn't spoiled on the common people. And what better exemplifies the economic hard rain that does not fall equally on all than a nightclub literally decorated in gold?

Related Stories:
· GoldBar Finally Emerges from the Vault [NY Mag]
· Ms. Waldorf Has Her First Party Foul [Guest of a Guest]
· Why Socialista in the Jane Hotel Building was Shuttered [HC]

[Photo: Clayton Rochemont]