New York’s Secret Japanese Whisky Lounge Is The Big Apple’s Most Exclusive Listening Bar

For a city that changes dramatically by the minute, New York City is a tricky beast for frequent travellers. Something new and notable is always opening in the Big Apple, which makes it hard to keep up for those who may get lost amongst the concrete chaos once every couple of years. And there’s plenty you should be across for your next trip to NYC, particularly a new hidden whiskey lounge, Beatbox, now open as a private extension of popular restaurant Kono.

Chef Atsushi “ATS” Kono has opened the 9.2-square-metre lounge as an exclusive space for the restaurant’s regulars and VIP guests, with a four-person capacity. So if you want to make it into Beatbox you’d need to have some sort of connection at the restaurant before you land. It sounds worth the effort. Beatbox is, as you may be able to tell from the imagery, essentially a listening bar.

Now, listening bars are still a nascent trend when it comes to anywhere outside of Japan. Sydney now has one or two and Beatbox is one of just a few dotted around the Big Apple. The purpose is obvious. It’s a place to sip on good drink and appreciate good music. In fact, Kono has used his personal record collection of 2,000 vinyls to build the bar, which was opened in collaboration with Beam Suntory and fellow autophile Selwyn Chan.

Kono, who used to be a DJ and b-boy with the Bronx’s formative Rock Steady Crew, seems very well-equipped to run such a bar. He’s kitted it out as a moody, soundproofed space lined with only Japanese whiskies – obviously from the Beam Suntory portfolio – and said 2,000 vinyl records.

The collection available at the exclusive NYC whiskey lounge favours jazz, funk and golden era hip-hop with featured selections hanging on the wall above a turntable. Any guest is able to pick their own vinyl to throw on while the whiskey highballs start pouring.

As above, you’d either need to be a regular at Kono to gain access to Beatbox, but you can also just request entry by emailing the restaurant or DM’ing them via a private Instagram account.