Living It Up at Lily Pond

We sent our most trusted correspondent Nicolette from Nicolette and the City out east for the weekend to have a little looksee at some Hamptons night spots. On Saturday night, she checked out Lily Pond and lived to tell the details.


Summer 2008 started off with a wild Saturday night at Lilly Pond. We arrived at 11 and the valet was already full, with a crowd of at least 60 people trying to argue their way into the club. After finally finding parking on some side street, I walked along the side of the road in four inch heels back to the club. When we arrived, there were now about 100 people trying to fight their way in. Great. It was chaotic but about twenty minutes later we finally made it in with a little help from Kristian Laliberte, one of my hosts for the evening.

Once we got in we headed over to the Unruly Heir table, where UH creator Joey Goodwin and Kristian were holding court. They were there celebrating an event they held earlier in the day at Blue and Cream in East Hampton. Hanging next to their table was Whitney from The Hills and there was also a special performance by Estelle (unfortunately sans Kanye West), followed by DJ Berrie, who played mostly house with some random mixes of rock. The place was pretty small and insanely crowded; there were white and navy striped couches that served as bottle service areas in the middle of the “dance floor.” There were also banquettes along the side of the wall that served as posts for bottle service. There was an elevated stage at the back end of the club which had a few tables (ours and Whitney Port’s), which doubled as the stage and DJ booth.

The crowd was all twenty something’s that consisted of trendy Manhattan goers, a few socialites and models – think Tenjune on a Tuesday night except with all house music. There was one bar at the entrance of the club, which was impossible to get to and it took about twenty minutes to get a drink. Bottle service was a little slow here – they could use a little bit more staff, but I forgave them since it was Memorial Day Weekend. By 2:00 a.m. everyone was more than intoxicated and the place started to clear out. Overall, Lilly Pond went beyond my expectations. I didn’t expect this place to be anything great and I didn’t think anyone would show up – let alone Whitney Port (although she isn’t quite A-list) or a performance by Estelle. The party had everything you wanted - great music, booze, hot people, a few “celebrity” sightings and it wasn’t that far from their competition down in Southampton (on the way back we were by Pink Elephant 12 minutes after leaving Lilly Pond). I will definitely be going back.

On The Circuit: Nicolette Rocks With Ronson

There are just so many events going on right now, we can't possibly hit them all. Luckily, we have our #1 correspondent Nicolette from Nicolette and the City there to pick up the slack.Last night I went to the Charlotte Ronson and Chrissie Miller “Summer Lovin” event at Blue & Cream. I showed up fashionably late with my cousin James at 7:00 p.m. (the event started at 6). We walked in and the doorman (same guy from Antik) said the ice cream was outside (served from two Mister Softee trucks) and the vodka was inside.

We headed on over to the open bar and we had a choice between sponsored Svedka vodka with pineapple, orange juice, or a pink concoction mixed with lemon juice, vodka, and pink lemonade. I chose the pink concoction and yes I chose it because it was pink. But hey Vodka is Vodka.

After grabbing our drinks we started to socialize. I ran into the designer of the night, Charlotte Ronson. After chatting it up with Charlotte I then ran into the Unruly Heir crew (who I met at the Unruly Heir event at Bloomingdales last week). I spent some time socializing with Kristian Laliberte and Unruly Heir creator Joe Goodwin.

After a few photo ops we headed outside. I had vanilla ice cream with rainbow sprinkles ( wow did I feel 12 again) from the Mister Softee truck while James chose Vanilla ice cream with chocolate sprinkles. We sat on the yellow ottomans outside, enjoyed our ice cream, and headed back inside for a few more drinks, some socializing and surprisingly some shopping?!? James ended up buying two shirts from Blue & Cream. By eight I decided to call it a night and headed home. It was a fun laid back night, in the nice spring weather eating ice cream and drinking vodka. Could you ask for more?

Ding Dong! Nicolette Goes to Suzie Wong's

The results are unanimous. Our newest contributor Nicolette is a certified hit! One reader went so far to write, "I want more Nicolette and the City!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Well, we want it too. And finally, we have it. Nicolette checked out Suzie Wong's and then booked it to old standby, Pink Elephant. Without further ado. . .I arrived at Suzie Wong’s, the new sake lounge on West 27th street, fairly early – 11:30 p.m. There wasn’t a line which was great, and I walked right in. There are a lot of VIP tables here but none are roped off, and the place is pretty small – which I love. The smaller the place the better. There is only one bar and wherever there isn’t a table, or on top of the banquette, is the unofficial dance floor. Peter and his friends showed up around 12ish and we danced and mingled at their table. When they bring you bottles they also give you fortune cookies to go with their oriental theme. My friend Cristina’s fortune cookie read “Suzie Wong Says: Don’t be afraid to go to the bathroom with a stranger” and Sue’s read “Suzie Wong says: Kiss the person next to you passionately”. Pretty corny but kind of cute, and it does help with potential hooking up at 3:00 a.m. We had complimentary apple sake shots that aren’t strong so the price was right. DJ Nick Cohen spinned hip hop and rock (what else?) all night, and the crowd was 25 and under. A lot of fun, and I would definitely go back. But it cleared out early.

Since it was only 1:30, we went to Pink Elephant and met some friends who had a table. I love Pink Elephant! I always have the best time here! The only real competition this club has is Pink Elephant in The Hamptons, which makes Pink Elephant in Manhattan seem like an amateur’s night out.

We walked in and the place was packed. They play house, house with a few words in it and then some more house. Everyone was dancing, drinking, and going crazy, making Suzie Wong seem like an elementary school playground. There are always a lot of people here and most importantly - a lot of hot people. I’ve spotted a few celebs here before, and in the Hamptons I’ve hung out at John Legend’s table and danced next to Victoria’s Secret model Karolina Kurkova. Everyone here has money and the Euro scene is big, but not as big as it use to be. Don’t worry if you’ve never been to Europe or aren’t fluent in any other language - Drinking & Dancing is universal in any language in any city.

The night was the most fun I’ve had in awhile. Pink is still strict door, rude bouncers, and a little bit older (I’m 21, excluding the underage models, I was the youngest person here). But once you’re in, feel free to let loose because everyone is having fun- a lot of it.

Nicolette Gets Touch'd Up

As promised, brand new contributor Nicolette from Niolette and the City stops by Touch and lives to write about it.

My first mistake of the evening was showing up to Touch at 12:30 a.m. (11:30 p.m. would be ideal). There was a line, I don’t even know if you would call it that, of people arguing their way into the club. Having no patience for this I texted my friend who had a table inside to come walk me in. When I walked to the front of the line the doorman was reprimanding a group of 3 guys for breaking the club world rules- showing up without any girls and one guy was wearing sneakers. The doorman then gave them a 3 second ultimatum to buy a table or get off the line. When it was my turn I told the doorman my deal-whose guest list I was on, me plus 3 girls. He comped me (most likely because I didn’t waste his time, was a girl and knew the rules) but not my three friends who had to pay a $20 cover.

When you walk into Touch you can go to your right, a long narrow hallway or to your left where the bar is. Either way leads to the dance floor in the back of the club. My first choice was the long hallway to the dance floor. We stepped onto the dance floor and my initial thought – massive huge orgy without any air conditioning. Everyone was drunk, gyrating to the music and was going crazy. There were a few tables in the middle of the dance floor – not very “VIP” so skip it. Then there is an elevated stage that surrounds the dance floor against the wall with all VIP tables- and every single one was taken. The second floor is exclusive VIP with tables only and you need a bracelet to get upstairs. I did make it upstairs after a group of guys found me and my girls and invited us up for a drink. There I met DJ Omi who was spinning all night long – and is solely responsible for keeping me at Touch as long as I did (that and a few drinks). She played everything from Hip Hop to House to Rock. I would definitely see her spin again, she made the crowd go crazy and have so much energy.

Overall Touch wasn’t as bad as my first thoughts were when I walked into the club. The location isn’t my favorite - west 52nd street between Broadway and 8th avenue. Touch is as club as you get - not a bar and not a lounge/club so if that is not your scene you are going to hate it. Would I go back? Yea I most likely will. I would say go with a big group of friends, buy the table (you know they are going to make you), pregame…a lot, and have a good night.

Introducing Nicolette

Hey everyone. Meet Nicolette. She's relatively new to Manhattan and is having so much fun going out, she decided to start writing about it on her own site, Nicolette and the City. She is going to help us out by covering many places we just can't (or don't want to) get to. Please give her a warm welcome and stay tuned for her first post later today.