Just barely six months ago South Beach Ultra Lounge, originally called South Beach Pizza Bar, opened inside the Fisher Building. Without hardly any major publicity at all and without benefit of a standard weekly promoter to pull in crowds, the ultra-chic, ultra-refined Miami-style nightclub and gourmet pizzeria is a guaranteed hotspot every weekend, catering to vastly different clientele and popular amongst them all. The pizza is also supposed to be fabulous.
Now, there is Taste Pizza Bar. They just opened for business this past Friday, and--much like South Beach before it--have succeeded in drawing in enough buzz to fill the place without benefit of a promoter, a website, or any publicity whatsoever. I did not dine there yet but I did get a peak inside: on the second floor at 1431 Times Square, Taste Pizza Bar has nailed the trendy lounge look--dimly lit with stylish accent lighting, spacious and sleek, and with one full wall entirely made of windows, the décor is definitely on-point to make this a popular hangout for late-night dining and drinking in a comfortable yet chic lounge atmosphere.
And can I just say, I'm quite fond of this new "pizza-bar-cum-ultra-lounge" trend that Detroit seems to very much be on the forefront of (a trend that, by my best estimations, began in California and has yet to really hit in New York). For a city that is considered so desolate and so "behind" by so many, our nightlife is on par with what any other city might have to offer (just possibly not in the same quantity). The gourmet pizza lounge concept is on the cutting edge of new culinary/nightlife trends--think "sushi lounge" five years ago, a bandwagon which Detroit was also very much on, and from the very start I might add (Crave, Corner Bar, Ignite). Now sushi lounges abound and we're moving on to the next hip trend in high-class-nightlife-meets-reinvented-comfort-food.
All we need now is a restaurant like Beverly Hills' CUT, with gourmet kobe beef sliders, and we're at the forefront of all the trends. But wait--Toast seems to be headed in that direction, with their Sliders made with blue cheese, basil aoili, tomato jam, feta tapenade, sharp cheddar and carmelized onions. California--eat your heart out.
I really like the idea that now we can go to a trendy, chic venue and have food that is actually substantial, aside from picking at sushi rolls and really is there anything less attractive than watching someone eat sushi? It's about time these places started serving REAL food. But the main reason I love this trend: because I. Love. Pizza. And now I love pizza bars.
