With New York City real estate at a premium, it can be difficult to find suitable places to introduce fresh nightlife hotspots. On the other hand, the ingenuity that’s required to carve out space for a new bar can produce some delightfully unexpected solutions that add to a destination’s eventual intrigue. Take, for instance, So&So’s — a New York piano bar in Hell’s Kitchen. To create a comfortable home for the new cocktail lounge, design firm Goodrich converted the former back-of-house areas of a 1960s hotel building (which now operates as the Romer Hell’s Kitchen). The result is a true hidden gem.

Mind you, while the bar’s location necessitates an unassuming side entrance cut out of a brick wall, Goodrich helps draw attention to this gateway with a blue door and a red light. Together, these elements provide clues into the sumptuous colour palette that awaits ahead, where guests enter a room defined by blue barstools and red banquettes. 

Other corners of the space flip the script, stationing blue leather seating against a wall upholstered with a red camo-like print. If the bar’s confident use of crimson calls to mind red theatre curtains, that’s no coincidence — So&So’s sits in close proximity to Broadway and the Theatre District, and it is designed to pick up on the area’s signature energy. Lighting along the bar’s walls drives this theme home, recreating the rows of bulbs that border backstage dressing room vanities.

As the firm explains in its project description, the name So&So’s is meant to evoke “the familiarity of a neighbourhood fixture — a place so ingrained in the local culture that people are on intimate terms with it.” The bar’s playful logo, modeled after the types of graffiti tags you might find around town, adds to its playful identity. Meanwhile, the custom carpet reinterprets the bar’s name in its own way, with an interlocking pattern of cursive “S”es and ampersands. Other accents establish a mix of high and low. While vinyl menu covers come straight from a restaurant supply store on Bowery, custom napkins bring an air of sophistication.

Even among all this captivating stage design, the true star of So&So’s is the upright piano (another bold pop of blue) that sits atop its raised platform, ready for live performances. The bar’s connections to the entertainment industry extends to its drinks menu, too. The list is developed by Phil Collins — who is not, in this case, a member of Genesis (or the dad of Emily in Paris) but is instead a former backup dancer for Rihanna who now works as the Director of Beverages at TableOne Hospitality. Cocktails, for their part, are references to notable Broadway productions, like the Piano Man. We’d expect nothing less from a venue that delivers both drinks and a show.