An American Psycho bar learns the value of a quiet entrance
A bar named for Patrick Bateman has an obvious temptation: make everything a reference and hope the internet does the rest. Bateman’s took a quieter route.
In VinePair’s latest Buildout episode, co-founder Natasha Van Duser describes the East Village cocktail bar she created with Carlo Olcese. The inspiration was the world of American Psycho. The business strategy was less theatrical: open in a neighbourhood already attracting serious cocktail drinkers, and let curious people discover the room as they moved between other bars.
The idea developed during Covid, Van Duser tells the programme. Choosing the East Village was central rather than incidental. A dense drinking neighbourhood provides a pool of customers who are already out, already interested and willing to try another door. That is a different proposition from persuading the entire city to make one special journey.
The distinction is useful for anyone tired of venues that launch as content before they function as places. A cultural reference can establish a mood. It cannot, on its own, make somebody want a second drink or a return visit.
VinePair calls Bateman’s an “if you know, you know” bar. The interesting part is how deliberately that reputation was built: not by pretending to be impossible to find, but by letting the surrounding neighbourhood supply the introduction. American Psycho provides the name and the fictional atmosphere. The East Village provides the actual customer.
Source: VinePair
