Brennan in his new bar, The Flat.
You all know Lit Lounge in the East Village, which just celebrated ten years—now owner Max Brennan is bringing a new bar to Williamsburg. On March 23rd Brennan will open the doors to The Flat, located at 308 Hooper Street, between South 5th Street and Broadway.
Like its Manhattan sister Lit, The Flat will also bring in live music, but only from time to time. There is a small stage with a full PA to accommodate bands, but Brennan says they are more of a cozy lounge than a rock club—"we'll only do one late night band... maybe a late night experimental psych or Jazz band. I love that old vibe of the late night jazz jams—I'm not sure why that old scene died away." He adds that The Flat will be quite the opposite of Lit—"Lit is a rough dive, down and dirty rock club... It was time to do something different but keep the artistic bent, so The Flat is a swinging sixties type jazz club. I'm from London originally and I love some of the opulent clubs over their and in Paris. It looks like an old London Flat you might find in Kensington. Like a secret gentleman's club. The concept was Serge Gainsbourg meets David Lynch. Swinging but dark and mysterious with a hefty twist of Oscar Wilde extravagance." On some nights you may find the projector showing things like old Art Blakey videos and Godard films.
At the bar you'll find a fairly wide selection of craft beers on tap and in bottles, and they'll also have a mixologist on hand "who has designed an interesting cocktail and wine list unique to The Flat."
The space itself is 1500-square-feet, in a separate free standing one story building (no tenants to bother!). Brennan tells us, "The building looked so interesting from the outside I walked in with my partner Kristin Vincent of Home Sweet Home and we asked the bartender if they might be willing to sell. It was a run down Dominican coke den with crazy bling everywhere and we fell in love with it." After two years of negotiations, it was all theirs. After that, he says, "We kind of went all out on the decor. I asked my good friend Johnny Sierra of The Death Set to partner up with us after we finally secured the lease, and he and I would ride around the old vintage stores picking up old and creepy pictures," vintage couches and tables.
On March 23rd, opening night, head over there at 9 p.m. to check it out—there will be an open bar (for vodka drinkers, at least) and deejay sets from Spencer Product, XXX Change, Roxy Cottontail and a few other surprise guests.
