First Responder: 1OAK

Reports are trickling in from 1OAK, the new Meatpacking spot that some said wouldn't open until January. A Little Birdy was there last Thursday for the opening event, that's a December Thursday mind you, and filed a lengthy and complete report on what the set up is

So I went to 1OAK on Thursday night because the hedge fund I work at uses Bass Trading as a broker. . . the group of guys inside was the biggest bunch of finance geeks, although they tried their hardest to bring in the hottest girls from their firm (HR girls, Investor Relations, Admins). I'm a complete architecture and design freak, and my girlfriend always gets mad at me becuase I point out that one designer was trying to reference Gehry's guggenheim in Bilbao and shit like that.

That being said, 1OAK is very well designed and I have no doubt it will be a huge success....it has some unique aspects, but it really takes the best features from the best places around the city. Richie and his crew clearly did their research.

You walk in from the outside (which has been photographed a ton) and there's a qhaki colored rug on the floor feels almost like a golf green. There's a desk in front for reservations and the curtains separate the first room from the next room where the coat check is (on your left.) Then you walk into the main room. To your left is the infamous wall of (gold, although they didn't look gold leafed (yet?)) which was a very cool effect. It looked like there were about 10 layers of letters tacked on top of each other, and below that is about 3 booths. The booths were half moon shaped and could easily hold 6-8 people, looked like suede tan/brown leather and very comfortable. To your right is the bar, which is a U-shape and looks like it pays homage to Death and Co. because it has cursive carvings in the bar, and also overhead. A cool feature of the bar (which I think has been reported) is that it looks like there are piano legs on the corners. If you walked straight with the lettered wall on your left, and the bar on your right there is an elevated area with a fireplace in the corner and some chairs and couches. The coolest part of the place (in my opinion) was clearly taken from Buddah Bar. If you walk onto the patio, which is directly off the room with the fireplace, there is an alley in the back which has been mirrored to make it appear larger. This is there solely for people to smoke without having to go outside, the patio couldn't have been more than 4 or 5 feet deep and 10-12 feet long, but feels very large because of the mirrors).

Mind you, this is just part I of III. Additional notes are on the way. But let it be known that 1OAK is ready to accept your hard earned ducats. It's going to be a big day.