Velvet Goldmine
A Cupcake Bar for Your Arsenal

Today we'd like to topple some conventional wisdom.

It's been said we're now living in a post-cupcake world. But join us as we pry open the lid of the cupcake trend coffin and draw your attention to what may be its last dying yet dignified breath.

Introducing Red Velvet Lounge, opening Friday on the Lower East Side to facilitate the boozy cupcakes and opulent cocktail pairings you didn't know you needed.

First, you should know that Red Velvet will not be your new favorite local watering hole—it's best to think of it as a key addition to your date-spot arsenal, a long, narrow Alice in Wonderland–looking fantasyland adorned with intricate custom molding all over the wall, smoked mirrors and huge ceiling portraits of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette (of "let them eat cupcakes" fame).

So when the occasion arises, and your evening companion voices her innate thirst for cupcakes and martinis, quickly and quietly find your way to Red Velvet, where your Irish whiskey martini will show up with an entourage of tiny Jameson and espresso chocolate cupcakes. Likewise, a Pyrat–ginger beer cocktail will touch down on the bar with a cluster of sugary rum and ginger groupies.

Fair warning: Red Velvet is owned by the people who brought you haute lounge the Eldridge, so you can expect a little pomp, a little circumstance and plenty of tabletop dancing.

And the circle of cupcake life continues…