This boat is reeeeaaaaaal. In a city where privacy is all but extinct, New Yorkers relish being in on a secret, even if hundreds of other people are in on it too. The Bushwick Boat parties offer the same degree of clandestine exclusivity as PDT or Milk and Honey, which is to say not very much. more ›

For the first time ever the Museum of the City of New York is opening its "romantic sunset Terrace—overlooking Fifth Avenue and Central Park—for summer fun with a Prohibition Era-themed Speakeasy serving up classic cocktails and Roaring 20’s dancing music." The classy debauchery will take place every Wednesday evening from 6 to 9 p.m., starting next Wednesday the 15th. They've even renamed the joint, so if you're in the know you'll call it the Speakeasy at 1220 Fifth. Which sort of gives it away. Anyway, the $12 admission includes one free drink and access to current exhibitions. Food will also be available for purchase. Here's a list of other museums that get boozy after dark. more ›

In September, the bar Apothéke opened in an unmarked space on Doyers Street, a tiny alley in Chinatown that sort of plays hangnail to Worth Street's cuticle. Apothéke is one of those semi-private venues, a bar you can't get into; that it's close to a secret tunnel makes it all the more baroque. You half expect to find a minotaur preening in the bathroom mirror with a bottle of Binaca and a comb. The name Apothéke refers to the pharmaceutical-themed nature of its mixed drink menu. The idea is that the place raises the bar for bars, and that head chef (or lead apothéker, as it were) Albert Trummer is half-and-half supertaster and chef, and one part sage. His specially concocted, spiced-tinctures-botanical-elixirs might cure your woes, homesick blues, lovelorn heart, or gnostic turpitude, if you're into that kind of thing. more ›

Corton: One of the most anticipated openings of the season, this modern French restaurant, formerly Montrachet, is the love child of big shot restaurateur Drew Nieporent (Nobu) and chef Paul Liebrandt, who dreams of owning a cryogenic freezer "for freezing the cooks when they misbehave." Located in Tribeca, the 65-seat space serves a three-course prix fixe for $76 and a tasting menu for $110. What financial crisis? Appealing options for the not-broke-yet include Ocean Trout Ballotine (White Sturgeon Caviar, Konbu Consommé) and Scallops (Uni Crème, Radish, Marcona Almond). 239 West Broadway, (212) 219-2777 more ›

The "owner" of the super-exclusive secret club El Baño, who mailed us a much-appreciated roll of toilet paper last week to promote the joke lounge (accessed through a sliding door in the stall of a locked bodega bathroom), has sent us an email expressing outrage that a fake club has been "mocking" El Baño. This one, which has a website bearing a striking resemblance to El Baño's site, is called El Evator. You can guess where it's located. At this point, the parody of a parody of pretentious clubland is starting to wear a bit thin, but we do love that El Evator is opening for Administrative Assistant Week. Says El Baño's unidentified owner/prankster, "I guess when you're the best of the best you pick up haters along the way." more ›

The current global food crisis signifies many things, including waning tolerance for exclusive, speakeasy-style bars. The newest, most secretest Lower East Side club of all, called El Baño, has all of the trappings of Marcel Duchamp readymade, only more scatological. From a post on Down By The Hipster last week, quoting the club's reps:

El Baño is a secret club, and like all things secret it's only known by few. more ›

The dark and discreet cocktail lounge The Randolph at Broome was deemed one the top ten bars of 2007 by the nightlife editors at Citysearch. But co-owner Hari Kalyan wasn’t satisfied with all the buzz, so he shut down for renovations and reopened in May with an even darker, more mysterious aesthetic, livened by a piano player, DJs and an excellent specialty cocktail menu from Matty Gee, a bartender from the Milk & Honey school of high-end drinks. Gee recently answered our questions about what sets his cocktails at The Randolph apart, and also divulged one of his favorite drink recipes, the Strawberry Cucumber Fizz. Pictured after the jump, it does look appealing, but if you happen to stop by The Randolph don't miss The Gershwin – made with their signature cold gin, it's one fancy cocktail that manages to justify its steep price. more ›

Brooklyn musician Michael Leviton and his girlfriend Leah Hayes have put their own apartment at center stage, after declaring their old hang, The Sidewalk Cafe, so over. They moved the scene to their East Williamsburg apartment at the end of 2006, calling it The Apartment. Now it's no longer much of a secret, and it may also be so over (though for different reasons). more ›

AMNY ruined elitist drinkers’ fun today by outing some “secret” watering holes around town. One of them, The Back Room, is no secret, just a pain to find for first-timers. The capacious bar is tucked away at 102 Norfolk Street two doors down from a "Lower East Side Toys" sign; pass through a gate and down some steps to a narrow alley that leads to an unmarked door. Or just look for the bouncer standing... more ›