
The Rose Room lounge opens in a secret location at the Garden City Hotel

The Sidecar is one of the classic cocktails at the Garden City Hotel's new lounge, The Rose Room. Credit: Newsday / Erica Marcus
“Hidden” doesn’t begin to describe the location of the new lounge at the Garden City Hotel. To reach it, exit the hotel lobby, make a right and then another right until you see the entrance to the hotel’s loading dock. Walk down the ramp and you will see, projected on the concrete floor, the image of a wolf holding a rose in its teeth. To your left is a nondescript black door. Open it and ascend a flight of stairs, and you’ll find yourself in a dimly lit chamber. This is The Rose Room, which opened quietly for business on Thursday night.
What light there is comes from Edison bulbs and candles flickering in red glass globes. There’s a long bar flanked by a row of low tables and, in an even dimmer corner, sectional sofas. The vibe is distinctly un-Garden City Hotel-ish.
“We were trying to do something sexy, a little mysterious,” said Grady Colin, the hotel’s managing director. “And whatever goes on down here stays down here.”
Aside from chips and other snacks, no food is served at the Rose Room; the emphasis is decidedly on the drinks. Bartenders recruited from the hotel’s King Bar are having a grand time satisfying their wildest craft cocktail dreams with house-made bitters and orgeat (almond syrup) and rare spirits such as Whistlepig’s The Boss Hog V Rye Whiskey .
Signature cocktails include the Even Keel, in which a mixture of mezcal, port, Pimm’s and Cherry Heering gets a blast of applewood smoke, and the Mon Cheri, made with Hendrick’s gin, raspberries, Cherry Heering, lemon and, for froth, egg white. Among the more classic concoctions are the Sidecar and the Sazerac. Cocktails range from $18 to $22.
Right now the soundtrack is an eclectic mix of Sade, Chris Izaak, Tom Waits, Radiohead, Sly and the Family Stone. Colin said that in the near future, a DJ and a rock trio would be added to the mix.
The Rose Room is open Thursday to Saturday from 8 p.m. to “whenever.” Follow @theroseroom_gch on Instagram for directions.
The Garden City Hotel is at 45 7th St., Garden City, 516-747-3000, gardencityhotel.com.
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