The world feels increasingly sterile and uninspired. As AI-curated bars (and kinda everything) grow and fill the drinking world with lackluster vibes, it’s getting harder to walk into a space and feel something new.
Don’t get me wrong—I get why using AI to generate decor, drink menus and even themes for bars is growing in popularity: It’s much easier than the alternative, which is to have a vision, put yourself out there, and take a risk on yourself and your point of view—with the hope that others will feel the same way you do.
In Midtown, behind Bibo Coffee and Gelato, there is a shack, a funky little shack, that feels equal parts familiar and new: The Matchbox. This new bar gives me the feeling I had when I first sat down for coffee at the legendary but sadly closed Deux Gros Nez, as if I were in a secret club I’d just found. When you walk up to The Matchbox from the street, you are already making a choice to peek into a new world: A secret garden greets you as you peer around the corner to a clubhouse of cocktails…