The First Saturday At Silencio

What’s important to understand about going to Silencio — the famed Parisian nightclub that recently opened in New York — is that there’s another similar establishment a few doors down. The lines outside are very different, shall we say, but it’s too cold to dawdle or, worse, join the wrong one — especially when you’ve come all this way to Columbus Circle.

Designed by Harry Nuriev of Crosby Studios, this slinky new iteration of David Lynch’s original location (named after the fictional club in Mulholland Drive) feels more intimate, like being in a Venetian red-velvet-lined fishbowl. The venue has already received guests like Swizz Beats (in celebration of his and Alicia Keys’ Dean Collection exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum), but on Feb. 17, its first Saturday open to the public, Silencio put on a Twin Peaks-themed evening hosted by Nuriev himself.

I pulled up after midnight with a few pals to find a friendly face at the door: Jonah Almost, whom you might recognize from Outer Heaven. To enter, we went through a door, then another door that led to an open-air walkway that finally extended into the club space. Clarisa Kimskii was already spinning (straight fire) as we did a lap of the cozy room, which is flanked by separate molten-gold antechambers for taking breaks and people-watching. Between the four of us, we spotted Ty Gaskins, editors from L’Officiel and Business of Fashion, a former college roommate, and a past hookup (successfully dodged).

Drinks in hand — note that a 20% tip is automatically applied — we hit the dance floor, where, apart from two gentlemen engaged in some sort of avian-inspired mating ritual, most guests stuck to conservative swaying under the plasma-globe-like light fixture. Say what you will about carpeting in an environment full of jolly people handling full cocktail glasses, but it’s certainly gentler on millennial knees, especially when those knees are creaking atop Bettina Vermillion platforms. Heels, mostly point-toe, did seem to be the footwear of choice, styled with more logos than you might see at the average fashion party — including one that was the unlikely cause of some consternation. “I can’t believe another guy is wearing Canada Goose tonight,” said a guy wearing Canada Goose, sounding genuinely upset.

But Canada Goose Guy 2 eventually wandered off, Fashion got in the booth, and the mood settled back into reserved carousing. In the toilets, groups of giggling women took photos in the mirrored stall doors as an attendant doled out tri-fold paper towels. We are all equal in the club washroom, but if there’s one person you should get to know at Silencio, it’s her. Not just because she’s the keeper of the lollipops and mint Life Savers, but because, when you figure out that the cell service there is spotty at best, she can give you the Wi-Fi password — if you ask nicely.