While strolling through New York’s West Village, you’ll find the neighborhood charming, with numerous high-end boutiques with high price tags. Along the quaint streets, you’ll also discover a plethora of restaurants. Some offer excellent dining experiences, while others may only have an appealing, Instagram-worthy interior with people clamoring for a reservation even with the price tag. Then there are the places that have a little bit of both – like Holiday Bar.
Holiday Bar comes under Kyle Hotchkiss Carone’s Grand Tour Hospitality umbrella, which also includes trendy spots like Saint Theo’s and American Bar. Unlike its relatives, who are described as veritable hot spots, Holiday Bar swaps the Italian and American-focused menu for one that celebrates the coastal seafood-centric cuisines of several destinations. The menu’s inspiration is what inspired its name ‘Holiday Bar.” The idea is to travel on holiday to Crete, Nice, Noto, Goa, Rio, or Montego Bay. Beyond the menu, the place gives a generous dose of sleek 1980s Hollywood glamour via its decor led by Hotchkiss.
Interior
Inspired by cinematic spaces including Babylon Club (Scarface), the Cell Block nightclub (Cocktail), and Gore Vidal’s Caligula, Holiday Bar pays homage to real-life, legendary establishments such as New York nightclub Paradise Garage and Wolfgang Puck’s Chinois on Main.
The main dining room is covered in beige banquettes with chrome detailing, a pink terrazzo floor inspired by Peggy Guggenheim’s Palazzo Venier dei Leoni in Venice, and custom steel light sculptures by Rafael Prieto of Marrow Studio. The walls have vintage Ikea sconces, casting a warm and welcoming glow, complemented by signed Alex Katz prints from the ’80s, adding an artistic touch that pays homage to modern and retro aesthetics. There is also a hidden side nook with black tiles and retro Calvin Klein colognes.
Industrial-style bar stools coated in black leather, and behind the bar, there’s a neon light of a dancing Narcissus from Fotis Evans, a London-based artist. This central piece is unmissable, inspired by the famous neon sign at Paradise Garage; this dancing art piece is meant to make you feel like you’re in a “Saturday Night Fever.”
Hotchkiss has successfully infused the space with a unique blend of sophistication and nostalgia, creating an ambiance that speaks the West Village’s trendy language; it gives slay or whatever the Gen Z term is for outstanding.
From the choice of seating, wall artwork like the dancing shirtless neon sign, the attention to detail in the design can be seen in every inch flowing through the restaurant. And yes, this includes the bathroom, a Louis Vuitton runway show or Scarface screens on a small video screen.
Food and Drinks
The culinary program is currently being overseen by Angelo Romano, Culinary Director at Grand Tour Hospitality. It draws inspiration from seafood-centric cuisines worldwide, including Southeast Asia, Latin America, the Middle East, Africa, and the Caribbean. Meanwhile, the drinks menu is deliberately sparse and created to achieve a superstar list that fits everyone’s tastes. Don’t pass up the deal on $10 martinis; dry, dirty or lychee. See below for standouts:
Spicy Tuna Crispy Rice $27
You know how something is incredible? You post it to Instagram and immediately get loads of likes and comments. This is one of those dishes. But more importantly, it will be liked by your tastebuds. The ratio of tuna to rice meshes super well.
Jerk Chicken $36
This rendition of jerk chicken dish may seem like it’s for a newer crowd and not a regular jerk chicken eater. But from a regular eater, it’s pretty decent. The chicken has a nice char on the outside and does not lack flavor. Roti, a nice heap of curried chickpeas, and hot sauce comes on the side.
Peanut Chicken Salad $27
Brussels sprouts, radishes, and carrots topped with peanut dressing and crunchy sesame sticks will round out your meal.
Baked Alaska
Listen to Alice in Wonderland’s Mad Hatter and sing yourself a very unhappy unbirthday by ordering this dessert. Unless it is your actual birthday. An igloo-shaped dessert meets a small sauce pan of dark rum meets a blowtorch. And boom. The chilled creamy masterpiece with meringue peaks oozing blue flames; you take pictures before the flame disappears and drop your phone for a spoon as the melting begins. You start scooping, seeing the ice cream melt in with the decadent chocolate. You tell yourself one last bite yet continue to scoop away.
Holiday Bar
10 Downing St, New York, NY 10014
