Tres prive
| Andrew Harnik/Examiner |
There’s a new club in town, aiming to be “exclusive” and “refined” and “upscale” (you may have heard this one before).
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L2 is in Cady’s Alley in Georgetown, the elite new home-decor district created by developer Anthony Lanier, where shoppers order $10,000 sofas. Lanier is also the mastermind behind L2.
Sources tell Yeas & Nays that there are roughly 150 members so far, and one employee recently told a Yeas & Nays spy that membership runs $2,500 a year. And once inside, drinks aren’t cheap either: We recently tried L2’s elaborate Hemingway drink, and both the drink — and its price — were stiff (not that we didn’t have another). Of course, Lanier, who ownsthe real estate development firm EastBanc, can afford to be choosy, select his clientele and wait for the money to come in. (Lanier held EastBanc’s holiday party at L2.)
But will this club succeed where so many other clubs have failed? Namely, can you create a successful, New York City-style club in Washington that truly is exclusive (instead of just calling itself that), and yet which also brings in enough members to both generate buzz and make it more than a money-draining vanity project? If it does, it will be one of the first clubs to do so since the Pisces Club ruled Georgetown in the 1980s.
As for whether it actually feels like an upscale lounge, the answer is a resounding yes: The exposed brick walls (the place used to be a warehouse) give L2 a nice vibe, and the entire lounge — from the decor’s sharp corners to the top-shelf materials to the polite bathroom attendant — reeks of quality. “I’m pretty impressed with the place,” said one young source who recently visited L2.
Lanier & Co. are purposely keeping the club under the radar in hopes of building buzz in a more grassroots fashion (oops, sorry guys!), which explains why the place might feel empty if you stop by soon, why the phone number is unlisted, why there’s no public Web site, why you need a fancy black card to gain entrance and why Lanier didn’t return phone calls for this piece. But you’ll likely hear more about it in the months ahead.
Oh, and it also has a “rule book.”
“Do not bring anyone unless you would leave that person alone in your home.” “Chances are you will not always get your way. Need to deal with it.” “It’s D.C., but keep politics to a minimum.” “No cameras or other recording equipment.” “No drugs, but what you do on your own time is not our business.”
