Only Love Strangers, a new bi-level cocktail lounge and restaurant with nightly live jazz performances, opens from Only Love Strangers Hospitality, a newly-founded hospitality group helmed by the Director team of MáLà Project: Amelie Kang, Simona Petrovska, Christian Castillo, Irene Li, and Yishu He. The group’s eponymous debut venture brings a dinner-and-show experience to the Lower East Side, promising an immersive night of food, drink, and live music in a one-of-a-kind space.
Only Love Stranger’s cocktail program, developed by Beverage Director Fabrizio Argiolas (Obicà Mozzarella Bar), features a selection of specialty cocktails aptly named after various jazz styles. Highlights include the Bebop (Tequila, Green Apple, Red Beets, Pomegranate, Citrus), the New Orleans (Rye Whiskey, Cynar, Amaretto di Saronno, Rhubarb), the Bossa Nova (Mezcal, Pink Grapefruit, Yellow Pepper, Pineapple, Citrus), the Modern (Gin, Pear, Pomegranate, Cranberry, Citrus), and the Nu (Vodka, White Creme de Cacao, Frangelico, Espresso Ice Cube). Martini options include the Double Dirty (Kalamata + Sevillano Brine), the Pickled (House made Pickle Brine), and the Ouzo (Dry Anise Liqueur). Beer, wine, and N/A options are also available, along with a full list of spirits and amari.
Culinary Director Tabitha Yeh (Noma, Per Se) and Chef de Cuisine Alberto Gomez (Prohibition, The Williamsburg Hotel) collaborated on the seafood-driven menu, drawing inspiration from the Mediterranean coast and pulling influences from Spain, Italy, and Greece. To begin, start with shareable platters like the OLS Seafood Tower featuring Oysters, Little Neck Clams, Shrimp Cocktail, Salmon Rillette, Scallop Tartare, Razor Clams with Chorizo, and Gilda Pintxos and Assorted Mezzes (White Bean Hummus and Tomato, Beetroot Hummus and Pistachio Dukkah, Tzatziki) with Oregano Lavash and Crudites. Other highlights include Little Gem Lettuce with Lemon Parmesan, Black Olive, Sunchoke, and Pink Peppercorn; Osetra Caviar Cannoli with Potato and Sour Cream & Onion; Shrimp Kataifi with Calabrian Chili Aioli; Squid Ink Tagliatelle with Sea Urchin and Bottarga; and Branzino with Salsa Verde, Olives, and Dandelion Greens. For something sweet, a Baklava Sundae with Black Pepper Gelato, Caramelized Figs, and Pistacho. In the weeks following the opening, Only Love Strangers plans to launch weekend brunch service, as well as late night hours/offerings.
Brooklyn-based Studio Omar Aqeel designed the 6,300 square foot space to be a retro-futuristic oasis inspired by 1960’s/1970’s surrealism. Think: the bold simplicity of Alexander Calder meets the modern Mediterranean elegance of Eileen Gray’s iconic “E-1027” villa, combined with the meticulous futurism of Stanley Kubrik’s “Space Odyssey” – dotted throughout with vintage and custom pieces from New York-based artists and designers like Max Simon, Blue Green Works, Yuyu Shiratori, Nico Anon, Superabundance, Gregory Beson, Adriana Gallo, Ash Allen, and Lucas Willing Studios.
Guests are welcomed into a futuristic front entryway that features a cantilevered brushed aluminum host stand, juxtaposed against a vintage Goffredo Reggiani articulating wall light. Straight ahead, the adjoining bar room has floor-to-ceiling Cobalt blue tiles with blue grouting, anchored by the round-edged, wrap-around aluminum clad bar. Modern abstract banquettes upholstered with Verner Panton’s 1969 “Black and White Optik” textile provide seating for up to eight, with additional seating for seven at the bar. Moving through into the main dining space, Aqeel chose earthy limewash plastered walls and intermixed it with more brushed aluminum accents, Sottsass Grey tabletops, and banquette seating upholstered in kvadrat’s Cobalt blue new wool. Here, a voyeuristic egress allows guests to peek into the subterranean lounge, while domed dining niches with blue crescent-shaped booths provide a more intimate dining atmosphere. Seating is available for up to 24 guests in the main dining area. For a more private affair, the venue’s 10-person private dining room is a study on cohesive maximalism, adorned with a wall-to-wall, hand-painted mural inspired by the Bauhaus abstract grid. It features Ant chairs by Jacobsen for Fritz Hansen, a vintage Makio Hasuike for Seccose metro dining table, Maru pendant lighting by Ingo Maurer – and its very own exclusive entrance.
The 55-seat lower level lounge is dressed in Cobalt blue. This lower level lounge is a space for guests to enjoy dinner and drinks while listening to a rotating cast of nightly jazz performances. Upon opening, the line-up includes musicians like Michael Arenella & His Dreamland Orchestra, who is known within the city’s jazz circuit for leading the Jazz Age Lawn Party at Governors Island. Also expect performances from Charlie Roman Castelluzzo – a vintage Django Reinhardt-inspired guitarist and crooner – alongside some of the finest traditional jazz musicians in the city. Castelluzzo will also act as the Music Director for Only Love Strangers, bringing over a decade of experience and some of the best-in-show jazz talent the city has to offer. Performances will take place from 7:00PM to 9:30PM – but the team plans to expand to later in the night following the opening.
Only Love Strangers is located at 200 Allen Street, near East Houston, in New York City. It is open on Sunday through Thursday from 5:00PM to 11:30PM and on Fridays and Saturdays from 5:00PM to 1:30AM. It is closed on Tuesdays.
