X Factor
A Plush New Lounge on Kenmare

The fall of Rome was quite a party.

Wine flowed like water, indulgent feasts lasted all day, and there’s a reason it’s still called the Roman orgy.

Well, it’s only been 1,500 years, but we have a feeling Rome is finally ready to fall again...

Introducing XIX, a new lounge deep underneath Nolita Italian date spot Travertine, now open for select guests.

Like all the best dens of iniquity, the numerically named XIX is completely hidden from passersby. Yet once you suss out the unmarked door and descend the steep staircase, you’ll be surrounded by a dim, candlelit, plush little chamber decked with lipstick-red leather couches ringing the room and a series of 1,000-pound slabs of etched marble hanging on the walls. Each slab tells part of the story of a young Roman warrior, scorned by his love, who plunges into combat to prove himself to her. (Not unlike the story of your senior prom.)

Since no food is served here, you can’t actually have someone drop peeled grapes into your mouth (unless you supply the grapes and the grape-servant). So we’d advise focusing your attention instead on the wine, the DJ and finding the hidden room behind the red velvet curtain at the DJ booth, where young warriors can find other ways to prove themselves to their loves.

We’d start with grapes.