The Cabin Down Below

Still “kind of secret”, this cozy East Village basement is done up like someone’s living room and draws “elite” rock ’n’ roll types and the models they run around with; the former entrance through an Avenue A pizzeria is closed, so it’s now accessed via a Seventh Street alleyway.

Since the bathrooms are located right next to the bar, that area tends to be crowded and it may be tough to figure out who's waiting for what.

Ubiquitous night owl Kirsten Dunst has been spotted partying here on several occasions.

Sticking a bar underneath a street-level pizza joint does two things, only one of which is intentional: hide the bar from tourists, hipsters, or worse, and ensure that drunk patrons with a hankering for pizza will lead a trail of sauce that gives the secret away. No longer so hidden, Cabin Down Below is coming across as a shots-and-straight-up kind of bar, and with a door policy that depends...

Pizza Shop may be gone, but basement speakeasy rocks on. Downstairs is all incandescence and glow. Ex-Strokes and the models who date them rub leather elbows with UK rockers who just hauled gear and a@s from the Mercury Lounge. The place is small (intimate), so expect a wait for space to open.

The Cabin Down Below follows the tried and true New York formula for attracting in-the-know hipsters: a hidden door, plus a subterranean space, plus dingy-chic decor, minus riffraff (thanks to that...