Editorial
Bars with celebrity regulars are different from celebrity-owned bars. These are the places where famous people go to drink because the bar is excellent — not because their name is above the door. The bartenders know the regulars' drinks, the booths offer discretion, and the quality justifies the attention. We tracked down the ones that qualify on both counts.
New York's best bars attract the full range of the city's talent — actors between shoots, musicians after late sets, writers on deadline extensions. The bars that hold this crowd do so because they operate on a strict code of discretion and consistent quality.
Los Angeles celebrity bar culture is distinct from New York's in one key way: the city's geography means most bars are neighbourhood-specific. The bars that attract celebrity regulars in LA are the ones that serve a particular neighbourhood's creative community rather than a general Hollywood crowd.
The best European celebrity bars are the ones that operate on an explicit policy of discretion. The room protects its regulars and the quality of the bar program justifies the protection. These are the European equivalents of Bemelmans — places where the famous can drink without becoming part of the evening's entertainment.
The bars with celebrity regulars that reward a visit are invariably the ones where the bar program is the primary draw. Bemelmans in New York is the safest recommendation — the Jazz, the Martinis, and the Carlyle Hotel's general atmosphere deliver something no amount of famous proximity can replicate on its own.
In Los Angeles, Tesse Wine Bar is the most consistent option. The Champagne program alone justifies an evening on the Sunset Strip, regardless of who is sitting two stools away.
Marcus has been covering the Los Angeles and New York entertainment industry bar scene for a decade, focusing on where the creative class actually drinks rather than where they are photographed drinking. He respects discretion and applies it.