Former Bungalow 8 doorman Armin Amiri is still choosing a chef for the downstairs restaurant in his new lounge Socialista — “We should make a reality show,” he quips, “Who’s Going to Be the Next Socialista Chef” — but he expects it to open no later than July 9, at which time diners can chow down on light Cuban food with Spanish and Argentine touches, not to mention cocktails by a bar manager who was trained by Sascha Petraske when he worked at Double Seven. Seating will be on a first-come, first-serve basis, assuming you can get into Socialista in the first place via the secret reservation number (you may know it if you’re buddy-buddy with investors Sting and wife Trudie Styler or Harvey Weinstein, Giuseppe Cipriani, and Ben Silverman). Though Amiri says the furniture was salvaged from a forties Boston courthouse, he wasn’t going for anything too fancy. “The upstairs is a sophisticated, glamorous woman, and the downstairs is an older boxer who likes his red meat and gets into fights — hopefully one of these days he’ll clean up his act so he can meet the girl upstairs.” And hopefully one day you’ll clean up your act so you can get by the little-person doorman.
Socialista Downstairs, 505 West St., nr. Jane St.; 212-929-4303.
