The bar at Bemelmans in New York City.
Michelle Gross
Michelle Gross is a freelance writer based in New York. Recently, she spent a Friday night out at Bemelmans, the iconic bar at The Carlyle Hotel on the Upper East Side. Although reopened at only 50% capacity, Gross says the bar was bustling with music and a new drinks menu. See more stories on Insider’s business page.
In a city like New York, there’s no shortage of neighborhood bars. And while everyone has their favorite, for me, Bemelman’s Bar will always be emblematic of the quintessential New York City experience.
I recently spent a Friday night in late May at the iconic bar at The Carlyle, the Upper East Side hotel of choice for visiting celebrities and fashionable New Yorkers. Unlike most Friday nights over the past 14 months spent at home in my pajamas with my partner and two pugs, it’s now a post-COVID New York City, where donning my signature white tuxedo and going out for drinks and a little live music on the town felt novel and – dare I say? – normal.
As much a
