Celebrating New Year’s in August at a Secret Underground Supper Club
7:30pm
Heading out to Guess in Greenpoint’s “New Year’s Eve in August” dinner party. This is our fourth invite to a covert, DOH-skirting, underground feast in the last few months—confirming they’re officially the hottest thing to hit the DIY foodie scene since Smorgasburg stands, food trucks, and pop-ups. Definitely feeling the advertised vibe of this one—our last New Year’s Eve was kind of a bust. Effectively pressured the hubby into coming so I can finally get my kiss at midnight.
8:01pm
Despite best efforts to be fashionably late for the 8-9pm cocktail hour, we are painfully on time. Oh well—we park the car and begin to search for cellar doors lined with Christmas lights (rule #1 when holding an unlicensed event—always provide partygoers with the bare minimum of recriminating information). Considering the number of buildings on this Greenpoint block improbably flourished with holiday wreaths, it isn’t as simple an operation as one might think.
8:09pm
The inevitable awkward entrance to a party where you don’t know a soul, the expectations, or any of the rules. Should we pay someone (advertised price of admission, $65pp and a bottle of wine to share)? Give our names? In some way prove we’re not random crashers who’ve stumbled into the basement uninvited? No one seems bothered with any of the formalities, so we park our Pinot on top of the fridge, help ourselves to a lime and ginger cocktail from the makeshift bar, and poke around looking for someone to talk to.