The team at Outpost is happy to introduce another weekly column for your fancy. our resident date-night expert, will be reporting on New York’s hottest spots to spark a conversation or, in her words, something a bit more.
From high-end martini joints to unassuming dive bars, here are the best places to take that hot date of yours—through her eyes.
Wild Cherry
Saturday evening I popped into the Wild Cherry, a discreet, virgin restaurant in the West Village. It was unveiled last month from behind a dark curtain hanging in the lobby of the Cherry Lane Theatre.
During a time before the West Village had rotating modern store fronts and unattainable reservations, it was a humble home to artists, actors, and writers. If you find yourself wandering the streets of the village, you can envision the starving dreamers who once resided here and feel the energy that once fed them.
As you patiently wait in the lobby of the Cherry Lane Theatre for the maître d to find room for you inside, you can’t help but busy yourself with the American theatre history perched on the walls. In 1924, Cherry Lane Theatre attracted plenty of buzz in Manhattan society by spotlighting “experimental, avant-garde” films. Throughout the years, its property deed has passed through the hands of poets, actresses, and screenwriters. Most recently the building fell into the hands of an indie film company that ventured to add a restaurant and birth the Wild Cherry.
The Wild Cherry feels like an American diner and a French restaurant made a baby out of their love for the West Village. Once you enter the intimate restaurant it’s a short walk to your table but it’s enough time to catch the aroma of french buttery, crispy frites.
Mr. Presley, the all-American King of rock and roll, is sweetly playing in the background to muffle the late night dinner chatter. We quickly got cozy with each other since Wild Cherry’s seating is made up of squishy green leather booths. They create a laid-back, “scoot over, partner” feeling, but the frog legs and steak tartare listed on the menu refine the experience. Their drink menu is made up of all classics which I deeply appreciated but each cocktail is marked with their unique twist. They swapped out the espresso martini for a Coffee Fizz which appears to be a proper adult milkshake.
There’s a pre-show buzz throughout the restaurant like the feeling you have when you’re rushing to grab a quick bite before the show starts. But, I was ready to offer my movie ticket to the next person who came through the curtain just to stay a little longer. Wild Cherry’s bartenders are warm and want you to hang around so you may feel as inclined as I did.
After wrapping up the closing scene and drawing the curtain on the evening, I exited stage left from my new restaurant crush, Wild Cherry, delighted I had popped in.
