The Citiblog

Photos: Cititour.com

SEE VIDEO OF OUR INTERVIEW HERE

Adrien Gallo is turning Midtown's Number 1 Train station into a major dining and drinks destination with the openings of Nothing Really Matters Cocktail Bar, See No Evil Pizza, and Tiny Dancer Coffee. We recently sat down with Gallo to discuss his vision.

CITITOUR: How did all of this get started?

ADRIEN GALLO: This all started actually, I was looking for a space for a cocktail bar. Most of my places have been predominantly downtown. A friend of mine was talking to a broker and he said I have this really weird space in midtown, in Times Suare area, do you want to see it? I said why not.

This was Duane Reade’s storage space. It was literally white walls and boxes of stuff, all uneven floors, there really wasn’t anything here. So, when I walked in and they told me the price. We went back and forth a bit. And I said I’ll take it. They said, What do you mean - I’ll take it? Well, I think it would be a really cool cocktail bar.

One of the biggest reasons I took it was, back in 1999 there was a bar called Siberia Bar that was in this train station. The entrance was actually in the restaurant (next door) and it kind of bled over to this space. So knowing that there was a liquor license on record, even though it expired by two decades ago, I new that the SLA had precedent for a liquor license in this space, so in the back of my mind I was thinking that should be so big of a hurdle.

Now it came down to what’s the concept, the design and everything. I wanted to create space that was nicer than it should be. I could have opened up a dive bar. But I didn’t want to open up a dive bar.

When we first took over this space it was a pretty neglected subway stop. It wasn’t very clean. It was graffitied everywhere. Lots of closed up shops and stuff like that. So, I was like, why not elevate everything so when someone walks past it’s almost like an oasis. When people walk in, they’re like what? I mean, I get plenty of ‘holy s**t’ what is this place. Can I say that? And that’s why during Happy Hour we keep the door open for the after-work crowd. I want people to come in. I’m a New Yorker. I created a cocktail bar in the middle of New York underground in Times Square. Everyone should come and visit.

CITITOUR: You kinda forget your are underground. It kind of gives you a speakeasy-esque feel.

ADRIEN GALLO: Speakeasies are purposely hidden, right. So, we’re just hidden by address, by default. Would I consider us a complete speakeasy? No. If people want to call us a speakeasy, I’m all for it. It has that vibe. It’s supposed to. Where you’re not supposed to know what time it is outside.

CITITOUR: How did you come up with the name – “Nothing Really Matters?”

ADRIEN GALLO: When you’re naming a cocktail bar, a restaurant, or coffee shop you go through so many iterations. It’s like naming a child right. Are they going to make fun of it? You know, how an uncle or aunt, someone in the family, always makes fun of your child’s name no matter what. So in that aspect of thinking that way, what are the reviewers going to say? You know, if you name your place Happy Go Lucky and it’s a miserable experience they will eviscerate you.

It was also a moment in time. We opened up New Year’s Eve 2021-22. It was right during the omicron surge, the pandemic was happening still and they were trying to see what they could do in Times Square, so I made it a point that I have to open up this place. Nothing Really Matters is also a reference to Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody. It’s a beautiful moment in that song. It was also a time when the world was basically on fire to an extent. We were all as humanity going through something that we had no idea how it was going to come out, so I wanted to create an oasis where nothing really mattered. Once you were in these walls, all that mattered were your friends, yourself, your cocktail and your enjoyment for that hour. You may have been struggling, you may have been dealing with all of this s**t that was going on during that time, but when you come in here it all wipes away. That was the idea anyway.

CITITIOUR: Has it been challenging?

ADRIEN GALLO: It was insane. I almost walked away from this project like four different times. You invest a certain amount of money, and thankfully my landlord in this building, they are wonderful people. They understood what all of their tenants were going through. So, they were really supporting and they really wanted me to succeed. Starting out, it’s such a DIY situation. So, we wanted to make sure that we were on the right side of victory and not the wrong side, which is failure and closure. It was really important for us, but it was also really important for New Yorkers to see things open up.

CITITOUR: Who is your clientele?

ADRIEN GALLO: We get a good amount of after-work. We open at 4 o’clock, so it’s an earlier time. We get a good amount of pre-theater. Now we’ve developed definitely as a local hangout. It’s wonderful to see people support small businesses. I’m surrounded by Applebee’s, Junior’s and all of these huge places, but we’re a small team. We have a beautiful space and we want to make sure you are having the best cocktail you can have.

CITITOUR: Do you own all of the businesses down here?

ADRIEN GALLO: Yes. It was definitely a little bit crazy. I bit off a lot. I started with this and we were the only thing down here. The coffee shop (Tiny Dancer) used to be an old bodega, and then the space next door that is now the restaurant, See No Evil, was a Duncan Donuts that had shuttered during the pandemic. It was a little scary, because if a Duncan Donuts can’t make it, it’s a little like oh s**t what’s going to happen. Duncan Donuts, they’re professionals. They put a lot of money into that space. Unfortunately, they couldn’t make it.

When I opened this space, Nothing Really Matters, we were here all the time. So, you are constantly looking at empty storefronts or boarded up storefronts. That led to the coffee bar. There are all of these beautiful espresso bars in Rome and Florence, and they are all in little corners of neighborhoods. So, a walk-up espresso bar was in the back of my mind. When we gutted the space there were five or six layers of sheetrock on the walls. I took it all out. All of the tile in the coffee shop is original tile from the 1950s. I did some research and it used to be a Nedick’s, which was an historic hot dog and juice chain from the 1950s and ‘60s. I was like that’s awesome. It’s wonderful. I love having it.

CITITOUR: Is the strategy working?

ADRIEN GALLO: So faaaar. To be honest, the bar has been doing well. It’s afforded me to be able to open up the coffee shop and the pizzeria. The pizzeria is only six months old and we got so much great press in the beginning and there was such great moment. But unfortunately, the second month, the MTA closed the subway stop for a month because they were doing track work. Unfortunately, we didn’t get much notice and we kind of waited it out. The problem when you open up anything new, you also need people walking by you. You need to be in the back of people’s minds. You know, there’s that place, I’m going to try that one of these days. And that just stopped. So, we had to reorganize a bit and now we’re doing well.

We’re really excited with the product we’re putting out. It’s definitely the best pizza in midtown, 100 percent. I will place bets on it. And the product we use is absolutely beautiful. And my partner, the executive chef, his name is Ed Carew (formerly of Gramercy Tavern), he’s absolutely fantastic. The flavor profiles are amazing. We go to the market every week. We get all of the fresh produce and it’s just a wonderful experience. So, I’m excited! September, we’re going to hit the ground running and I’m really excited about that!

CITITOUR: Finally, how did you come up with the name, See No Evil?

ADRIEN GALLO: The chef and I, we really enjoy punk rock. We really enjoy that kind of music. And I wanted each place to have a distinct vibe, atmosphere. So, we wanted to do something a little more punk rock over there. There is this New York punk band called Television and the title track on one of their albums was See No Evil. Now, we've turned it into a modern New York pizzeria.

Gallo isn’t new to the hospitality game having once operated such spots as Double Happiness in Chinatown, Happy Ending on Broome St, Orchard Bar, and was also one of the founders of Grand Banks, the popular oyster bar aboard a schooner docked at Pier 25. What’s next for Gallo? Stay tuned!

SEE VIDEO OF OUR INTERVIEW HERE