Ice & Instinct / ManhattanThe bar comes upstairs.
Penthouse dinners, terrace evenings, a dozen guests in a classic six. We bring private cocktail service to Manhattan apartments the way the buildings demand it - papered, punctual, and quiet about it.
From $650 USDFour tiers · Doorman buildings routine · COI on requestInquire for your evening
Half the evening is the building.
In Manhattan, a private evening starts long before the first pour. It starts with the doorman who needs the vendor list by Tuesday, the managing agent who wants a certificate of insurance with their exact wording, the freight elevator that is yours from four to five and not a minute longer. We have run this workflow enough times that it is routine: paperwork submitted ahead, the elevator window booked with the super, arrival confirmed with the front desk so no one at the door is surprised.
The rooms are their own discipline. A galley kitchen in an Upper East Side classic six, a parlor console in the West Village, six feet of marble in a Tribeca loft, a terrace bar twenty floors above the street - the station is designed for the space, not against it. The kit arrives padded and compact, on one cart. Nothing is staged in the hallway; nothing leans against a wall it should not touch.
And because a dinner party here ends on the building's schedule, not the host's, the close is engineered. Last call lands before quiet hours, breakdown is near-silent, and the kitchen is returned cleaner than we found it. Your neighbors learn about the party from the guests, not from the corridor.
Paperwork for the building. Craft for the room.
Upper East Side · Upper West Side · West Village · Tribeca · SoHo · Midtown
Service entrance to last call.
How a Manhattan evening actually runs - the workflow your building expects, handled without you having to explain it.
- 01
The paperwork
Your building's COI requirements go to the managing agent ahead of time, named exactly as they ask. Vendor details and arrival times sit with the front desk before the day, so the doorman waves the cart through.
- 02
The freight elevator
The elevator window is booked with the super and held. The kit is compact and padded - one cart up the service corridor, no marks on the walls, no waiting in the lobby.
- 03
The station
Built for the room it lands in: a galley kitchen, a console, a stretch of counter, a terrace ledge. Professional clear ice and full technique in whatever footprint the apartment offers - a standard outlet and running water cover nearly every setup.
- 04
The service
The same standard as every Ice & Instinct evening - thirteen signature cocktails refined in private service, the classics, and a zero-proof track poured with identical care. Led by Teimuraz Benidze, certified sommelier.
- 05
The close
Last call is set against the building's quiet hours. Breakdown is near-silent, the space is restored, and the cart goes down the way it came up - the corridor never knows there was a bar.
Four tiers. One standard.
Choose the rhythm that fits the room. Every tier scales with a full bar team for larger evenings, quoted on request. Spirits are not included: you provide them, or we purchase on your behalf at supplier cost.
A flat $500 deposit reserves your date - fully refundable until 14 days before the evening.
Marrying in a Manhattan loft venue, or hosting the firm above Madison Avenue? The same building discipline carries through our wedding service and corporate service. And when the night needs only a steady pair of hands behind the bar, the studio's vetted bench is on call - see Event Bartenders.
Manhattanquestions.
What hosts in doorman buildings ask, answered plainly.
Our building requires a COI and a freight elevator reservation. Do you handle that?
Yes, routinely. We send a certificate of insurance named to your managing agent's exact requirements, get on the vendor list, and book the freight elevator window with the super ahead of the date. You will not be chasing paperwork the week of your party.
Where does the bar go in a Manhattan apartment?
Wherever the room allows. A galley kitchen, a parlor console, six feet of counter, or a terrace ledge - the station is scaled to the footprint and needs only a standard outlet and access to running water. Professional clear ice and full technique come regardless of square footage.
How late can you serve in a residential building?
As late as your house rules allow. Most Manhattan buildings hold quiet hours from 10 or 11 pm; we set last call against them, break down near-silently, and leave the space restored - so the evening ends on your terms, not on a neighbor's.