A LOVELY DAY TODAY: Ella’s Lounge debuted with the grand reopening of the Brooklyn Paramount in New York in March. (Evan Joseph)
Best Refurbished Space
Ella’s at The Brooklyn Paramount
“Our opening night, St. Vincent DJ’d the room and it was incredible,” says Andy Yates, Live Nation’s head of food and beverage, of Ella’s, the new premium club space located in the Brooklyn Paramount Theatre.
The venue reopened in March after the building underwent a multimillion-dollar renovation (the cost was initially estimated at $50 million in 2015 when Forest City Ratner and former Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov won the development contract before Live Nation took over in 2021).
The premium space, with a capacity of 125, is opulent yet warm and cozy and takes its decor cues from the building’s storied history, which include its namesake, jazz legend Ella Fitzgerald.
Originally opened in Nov 4, 1928 and designed in a grandiose French Baroque revival style by Rapp & Rapp Architects, the Paramount first entered the market with the advent of “talkies” and was billed as “America’s first movie theater built for sound.” The many live performers who came to take advantage of its audio capabilities, included its premium space namesake Fitzgerald and other music luminaries, including Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Chuck Berry, the Supremes, Bing Crosby, Ray Charles and Frank Sinatra.
Walking into the space, sponsored by Citi, one is greeted by a concierge at a desk, who guides members, VIPs and those with ticket add-ons to its luxe interior complete with velvet seating, warm lighting, palm trees, an assemblage of mirror balls on the ceiling and archival photos from the Jazz age, many with Fitzgerald’s comely visage lining the back room. There’s also a small stage with a piano and vintage microphone, where St. Vincent (aka DJ a.c. LOCO performed). The space’s interior was led by Live Nation’s in-house design team, Blueprint Studio, and helmed by David Codiga.
The menu’s artisanal drink menu includes both vintage spirits and locally sourced libations, including Brooklyn’s Fort Hamilton Distillery and Van Brunt Whiskey. Elaborate bespoke cocktails include Ella’s Smoked Vintage Manhattan, using a 1950s-era bourbon, Carpano Antica Vermouth, Angostura Bitters and cedar wood that is smoked in front you; Love & Kisses is a foamed vodka drink with raspberry ginger syrup, fresh lemon juice, egg white, and a picture of Fitzgerald on rice paper floating on top; and Ella in Japan 1964 is a low-ABV (alcohol by volume) cocktail made with MUJEN Shochu, lemongrass syrup, and soda referencing the singer’s live album in Tokyo.
“Our cocktail list was designed by Sean Kenyon, who’s our mixologist,” Yates said. “He was named best bartender, two consecutive years, and has recently been named as the best mentor in the bar industry.” Kenyon is based in Denver where he operates his own bar, named Williams & Graham.
The Ella’s menu also offers a Bavarian pretzel, a pretzel-wrapped hotdog and popcorn should you need a nosh.
Membership packages start at $2,500, with pricing varying based on seating type and other factors.
Show add-ons granting access to Ella’s are reasonable. The price to hang out at Ella’s during a gig by Brooklyn rock band Diiv on Aug, 7, for example, was $30. The same add-on for Iron & Wine’s Aug. 14 show was $25.
Asked if the Ella’s concept could be a prototype for other Live Nation venues, Yates says it’s possible.
“The space has the ability to raise the bar and really lean into its environment; you could take that experience and put it in other places,” Yates said. “The Ella’s portion of what we’ve done here speaks to the building and I think it’s important we keep it true to the spaces where we would want to put it. So if there’s another venue that we do of a similar nature where we’ve taken it back to its roots and where it’s come from, you absolutely could do something very similar.”
