American Bar’s downtown location, c/o American Bar / Facebook
A popular West Village “Country Club / Clubhouse” is expanding to the UES.
Partners Jeff Kadish and Adil Fawzi (of Grand Tour Hospitality) attended this week’s Community Board 8 meeting to present their plans for the Upper East Side iteration of American Bar, which will be located at 1022 Lexington Avenue (on the corner of 73rd Street).
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Fawzi said they had been “looking for an Upper East Side location for over a year,” and that he himself has run restaurants in the neighborhood. He described this current venture as “a throwback 80s-inspired clubhouse, brass rail, American bistro”; a portrayal that is certainly in line with the West Village location.
Kadish opened that American Bar, with partners David Rabin and Kyle Hotchkiss Carrone, in February 2020 to a lot of fanfare. Located on Greenwich Ave, they quickly booked fashion week events and got the attention of the New York celeb scene. Architectural Digest called it “NYC’s Buzziest New Restaurant” and praised its recreation of a “1980s English members’ club.” They achieve that affect with green, leather-upholstered banquettes, rattan chairs, and soft yellow walls covered in custom poster art. Vogue described it as bringing “old world charm while staying clear of old world stuffiness.” Whatever it is, it works: reservations are reportedly almost impossible to get. Which is perhaps why they are opening an uptown outpost.
As Fawzi pointed out in the meeting, he and his partners have opened other restaurants in the city that have done just as well. Saint Theo’s, also in the West Village, is a Venetian-inspired Italian restaurant, which has cemented itself in the New York scene. Their most recent outing, Holiday Bar on Downing Street, is a nod to ’80s New York and has proven to be equally popular.
Jeff Kadish is abusive as an owner. He’s overbearing and often in the way during shifts, instead of trusting his seasoned waitstaff. Maybe he’s changed but more likely than not, he’s still too stubborn to listen to anyone else. Particularly the people doing the work. He talks to his staff in a tone reserved for disobedient children and he does this in front of paying customers whenever he’s ready to. We hated when he came in with his “pep talks” and stayed for the duration of the evening. One of the worst people I’ve encountered in my years working in fine dining.