New York Post

CLUB MED

Greek life on Madison Avenue means Botox, branzino and bandage dresses

- By DANA SCHUSTER

D OORS down from the Harmonie and Metropolit­an clubs, stuffy members-only bastions for olde New York right off of Fifth Avenue, sits the mammoth 17,000-square-foot restaurant Avra Madison — a different sort of club, for those who like their tsi

poura fillets with a side of scene, and where the dress code includes suits as well as keyhole bandage dresses.

Avra opened in early September and is already teeming with “Real Housewives,” media bigwigs and Hollywood players — Leonardo DiCaprio, Katie Holmes, Nicole Richie, Matt Lauer, Douglas Elliman honcho Howard Lorber, Charlie Rose and “Good Day New York’s” Rosanna Scotto, among them.

“I’ve seen everybody from Ivanka Trump to heads of various corporatio­ns waiting to get a table,” says Scotto.

The original Avra, which opened 16 years ago on East 48th Street, is a Midtown business-lunch staple, oozing rustic Grecian charm. The Madison Avenue location, meanwhile, boasts a bit more flash.

“The food is the same, but the crowd on Madison is a bit more diverse and younger,” says owner Peter Tsoulos. “People are coming to have fun.”

Ferraris and Porsches line the block at dinnertime. The golden-lit two-story venue has 207 seats, with three curtained back rooms on the ground floor for the few Avra patrons who actually don’t want to be ogled. In the less-coveted downstairs space there’s a reflecting pool — an homage to the now-shuttered Four Seasons Restaurant.

Smack in the middle of the restaurant is a gigantic seafood “market,” where waiters theatrical­ly escort guests to handpick their king tiger prawns ($53.95 per pound) and barbounia ($33.95 per pound) flown in from Portugal.

On any given weeknight, the bar is three-deep with private-equity bigwigs pontificat­ing on whether they’re too old for Burning Man and indetermin­ately aged women decked out in Van Cleef & Arpels diamonds. This is the type of eatery where the seats by the window face in toward the room.

“I live downtown. I eat uptown,” says 38-year-old Brian Roth, who lives in Gramercy and works in the credit card business. “Avra’s sophistica­ted. It’s the Peach Pit [from the original “Beverly Hills, 90210”]. It’s the go-to place.”

“His favorite thing to order here is a brunette,” 51year-old real estate developer Harry Dubin interjects on his friend’s behalf.

Hedge-funder Kristina Briglio, 31, is a brunette, but she’s safely ensconced in a booth with her two girlfriend­s, Bicé Grobstein, the founder of Concierge Redefined, and Shawn Modell. “Like Modell sports,” she says when asked to repeat her last name. “I’m that Modell.”

“I was here last week and tonight I’ve run into five people I saw then,” says Briglio, who is single.

Hope-Noelle Daven- port, 35, who founded the designer-clothing swap site HauteTrade­r.com, says Avra is a bit of an older scene, “but that’s a good thing.”

She’s already been on two dates to the Upper East Side spot.

“I selected the restaurant,” she says. “I like it when he likes what I like.”

Plus, Davenport adds, “If the date doesn’t go well, there are other options here.”

 ??  ?? Harry Dubin and Ramona Singer, of “Real Housewives of New York,” (foreground) join the throngs at Avra Madison (14 E. 60th St.), which have included many celebs since opening last month.
Harry Dubin and Ramona Singer, of “Real Housewives of New York,” (foreground) join the throngs at Avra Madison (14 E. 60th St.), which have included many celebs since opening last month.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United States