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Inside the Up & Up, a Cocktail Den Tucked Away Beneath MacDougal Street

The floral wallpaper does all of the talking here.

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Barman Matt Piacentini's new bar The Up & Up is one of those bars you could easily walk right by it, unless you know what to look for — in this case a green and white sign hanging over head. The dark cocktail den from the former owner of The Beagle is a few steps downstairs, in what was once The Gaslight Cafe, the famed beatnik hangout of the 1960's. The design is simple, letting the floral wallpaper do most of the talking. Walls are lined with deep brown leather banquettes and decorated with just a handful of vintage posters. Behind one of those walls, Piacentini has hidden a fancy bottle of Scotch, which he hopes to bust out in a decade, or leave for a future owner to discover someday.

The Up & Up Menu

The Up & Up

116 Macdougal St, New York, NY 10012 (212) 260-3000 Visit Website

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