November 21, 2025 • 34 mins
A Musical Journey Through One of New York’s Most Storied Rooms
Step into the timeless elegance of Bemelmans Bar at The Carlyle Hotel, where jazz, cabaret, and American musical history come alive beneath the iconic Ludwig Bemelmans murals. In this episode of Takin’ a Walk, host Buzz Knight explores the rich legacy of this legendary Upper East Side destination—a room that has welcomed everyone from presidents to pop stars since 1947.
Featuring intimate conversations with Rita Wilson, the acclaimed actress, singer, and songwriter, Hamilton Leithauser, the celebrated vocalist known for his work with The Walkmen and his acclaimed solo career; and the masterful Earl Rose, whose piano artistry has defined the Bemelmans sound for years.
Bemelmans Bar has been graced over the years by performances from everyone from the one and only classic musician Bobby Short, to Miley Cyrus. Even the legendary actor/comedian Bill Murray stopped by for an impromptu performance.
Dimitrios Michalopoulos, General Manager of The Carlyle (a Rosewood Hotel), offers a behind-the-scenes look at preserving this cultural landmark while keeping its musical tradition vibrant and relevant.
Discover the stories behind the whimsical Madeline-inspired murals, learn why this intimate cabaret room remains a crown jewel of New York nightlife, and hear how these artists connect with audiences in one of Manhattan’s most magical settings.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Walk.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
There are places in this city, New York City, hidden
like jewels, where time doesn't march forward, it's saunters elegantly.
Today we take a walk, not down a crowded New
York avenue, but through a velvet curtain into a different era,
(00:22):
a place where golden sconces flicker against hand painted murals,
where the martinis are cold, the music is live, and
every corner whispers a story. This is not just a bar.
This is Bemelman's, named for Ludwig Bemelmans, the beloved illustrator
(00:45):
behind Madeline. This Manhattan institution inside the Carlisle Hotel has
played host to legends from Sinatra to Capodi, from Hollywood
Royalty to uptown regular just chasing the perfect nightcap. So
pull up a leather sofa, settle in beneath those whimsical walls,
(01:08):
and let's slip into the city's most timeless saloon, where art,
music and memory are always on the menu. I'm Buzznight,
you're host of the Taking a Walk podcast, and let's
walk into the magic of Bemelman's Bar.
Speaker 1 (01:30):
Taking a Walk.
Speaker 3 (01:31):
So my name is Demitrios Mihelloblos. I'm from Greece. I'm
the general manager at Bemelon's Bar at the Carlisle Hotel.
It seems twenty twenty one I became general Malazer.
Speaker 4 (01:44):
So, Demetrius, you have described Bememans as a place that
changes you, but in a good way. Can you share
how working at Bemoman's has shaped your approach to hospitality
and life.
Speaker 3 (02:01):
Of course, bars, so Bemonons has a weight of teaching
you passians and elegance and presence. So every night we
welcome a mix of celebrities, neighborhood regulars and international travelers,
and expectations are always the same perfection. So working here
(02:22):
has saved my philosophy that hospitality isn't just about serving drinks,
It's about creating a memory, a sense of belonging. Also,
I would say it taught me that consistency, respect, and
genuine warmth are what key people coming back. And those
lessons extend far beyond the bar into how I live
(02:44):
my own life now.
Speaker 4 (02:46):
So the bar is famous for its classic cocktails, and certainly,
as you just said, consistency. What is the secret to
maintaining these incredible high standards night after night?
Speaker 5 (03:01):
That's the great question. Actually, it's not easy to do that.
But I would say our secret is mainly discipline combined
with passion.
Speaker 3 (03:10):
So that's combination, it's what it works for us. Every
detail matters, from the sign of the glassware to the
precision of a martini poor. But it's not just about
the technical execution or instill a sense of pride in
the team. So every cocktail feels like a performance with balance,
(03:30):
additional with innovation making sure drinks remain timeless while still
finding ways to surprise guests. Ultimately, it's about never getting
you know, the routine you usually have day by day
to become a routine, and that's what's treating every guest
and every drink like is the first of the night.
And it's that's what I believe. It's the vibe too,
(03:52):
the energy. It's all about that. You walk into the
space so many times and it's always good. You know,
you feel you have a nice of good energy.
Speaker 2 (04:02):
So Bemaman has hosted everyone from the celebrities to neighborhood
regulars to folks from out of town like me.
Speaker 4 (04:11):
Can you share maybe a memorable story or encounter that
captures the true spirit of the bar?
Speaker 3 (04:20):
Yes, there are many, to be honest, but one I
would like to share with you. It's which is one
of my favorite moments was when a very well known
actor came in quietly just wanted to enjoy the piano
and martini without without anybody noticing him.
Speaker 6 (04:39):
You know.
Speaker 3 (04:39):
It was kind of a moment that you see somebody
that everybody knows walking into a busy bar and sitting
at the bar having the head down, try to enjoy
a drink without to be without want to be seen,
let's say, all right.
Speaker 5 (04:57):
At the same time, it was another guest from the neighborhood.
Speaker 3 (05:00):
It was a regular guest who had no idea who
the famous person was. Uh, they start having a conversation
about the murals. The two end up talking like for hours.
Completely emerged in the magic of the room forgetting who
they were outside.
Speaker 5 (05:17):
To me, that's the spirit of Bemelmans.
Speaker 3 (05:19):
No matter who you are, when you visit here with
with the drinking hand, you're part of the same story.
It was also good for the other guests to see
these two people talking for hours and uh, yeah, it
was a great moment.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
I'm trying to guess who that could have been.
Speaker 5 (05:40):
I can't tell you of flying.
Speaker 4 (05:42):
Yes, thank you the murals by Ludwig Bemelman's are iconic.
How do you see their amazing presence influencing the atmosphere
and the guest experience?
Speaker 3 (05:58):
Yes, I mean to me, the murals are more than decoration.
Speaker 5 (06:03):
They are our heartbeat, our identity. Who we are mostly.
Speaker 3 (06:09):
Just often find themselves lost in the in the murals
of Motherlines and the New York scene from a Central Park,
the four Seasons paid into the walls.
Speaker 5 (06:20):
It sets the tone. You are not just in a bar,
You are in a living piece of art.
Speaker 3 (06:25):
They remind us that while our cocktails and music may
change with the times, there is always this ancle of
timeless beauty that makes the Bemments experience so unique. It's
kind of a magic. What's going on with these murals?
Speaker 4 (06:42):
Do you recall the first time you walked into Bemments
and what was that experience like for you.
Speaker 5 (06:51):
The first time?
Speaker 3 (06:52):
Yes, so I will tell you that the first time
it was when I did the they walkthrough in the
hotel when they hired me. That was I believe it
was July eleven, twenty sixteen. But I was impressed back
then too, But it was too many information in my
(07:13):
too much information in my head. The first day saw
the first time I realized about this room, it was
when I was doing something in the hotel. I used
to walk in room dining and I had to go
outside from Madison to do something from the Madison entrance,
and then I came back and I opened the side
door we have at Bemelman's as you're working from Madison
(07:36):
to the left, and you know, it was so bright outside, sunshine,
a beautiful day, and I opened the door and I
see Bemmont's Bar with the Muels.
Speaker 5 (07:47):
It was like I was working in a different world.
It was unbelievable.
Speaker 3 (07:51):
And I believe that was the moment I literally got
hooked with this place, and I said, Wow, this place
is magical. And that's how the passion and the love
started about Bemono's Bar and.
Speaker 4 (08:05):
Me, it's amazing. It really is a special place. Lastly,
Demetrius or two last things. I always feel that if
you are somebody, me, anybody, and you're having a.
Speaker 2 (08:22):
Rough day, the day is not exactly the way you planned.
You're not necessarily in a great mood, and then.
Speaker 4 (08:31):
You head up to Bemman's for a nice cocktail and
for some music and for the vibe. I promise you
that you end up leaving in a good mood. Would
you agree with that statement?
Speaker 7 (08:44):
Absolutely absolutely?
Speaker 5 (08:46):
And that works also for myself too.
Speaker 3 (08:49):
There are days, there are very nice days for me.
Speaker 5 (08:54):
You know, I'm a family man and I have to
you have to run the bar.
Speaker 3 (08:58):
I have to run my family as well, with the
big help of my wife, of course. But the moment
I stepped into Bemelman's, and also my job is very demanding,
and before I step into Benmans, I have to check
my mails, organize for the day, organized for the next day,
and do several things. And it's not always pleasant what
(09:21):
you see at work or what's happening in your life.
But the moment I stepping into Bemlma's, I kind of
wearing a costume, let's say, and I start performing. So
I try to empty my brain and just focus on
what I have to do for the night, including having fun,
(09:43):
because that's what it basically is. At Bemonmont's. I feel
that joy from the guests and that transfers to me,
and I believe it's amazing. Yes, many people that come crampy,
you know, very kind of not very happy, and at
the end of the night they find somebody something happens
(10:04):
the music, silly thing, you know, something.
Speaker 5 (10:08):
Nice, and they change their mood and they.
Speaker 3 (10:12):
Start socializing more, they start having fun, they start having
more drinks, but you know, in the console way, in
a responsible way, and that change their evening.
Speaker 5 (10:24):
And that's sayings their mood is.
Speaker 7 (10:27):
It's like a.
Speaker 3 (10:28):
Therapy, you know, unofficial theory. That's what happened. That's what
I believe. It's a good way to describe it.
Speaker 2 (10:37):
Oh, it's that's very well put. Demetrius. Thank you so much.
I really appreciate it. My pleasure very much, Thanks Demetrius.
Speaker 5 (10:45):
Thank you, boys and seems.
Speaker 2 (10:49):
Earl Rose is one of the most celebrated pianists in
New York City and an icon at Bemment's Bar. I
caught up with him in between sets and he told
me what Emleman's means to him.
Speaker 8 (11:02):
It's just always feels good to know that live music
is touching people and they respond to classic American songbook
Cole Porter, Gershwin, Jerome Kern, Duke Ellington, and these are
all songs that I love and love to share them
with audiences that come to Bemman's. Of old ages, these
songs are timeless, the great American Songbook. All these composers,
(11:27):
they wrote songs that can be interpreted in so many
different ways, and each generation of whatever contemporary artist is
popular at the time, eventually we'll probably do an album
or pay tribute to some of these songwriters because the
songwriters are again are like classic and there's something that
(11:47):
even newest artists want to be associated with that. I mean,
perfect example is John Batiste has come in numerous times
and there's a particular song, Memories of You that you
be Break Blake wrote, He comes and perform it together.
And so it's it's just these songs are timeless and
(12:09):
and artists who are really good artists know that, and
so they and audiences know it too when they hear
all the people that have performed here in Bembleman's Bar,
I mean some of the great jazz pianists.
Speaker 7 (12:21):
Barbara Carroll performed here.
Speaker 8 (12:23):
Mary McPartland actually performed here before her, and she of
course one of the great jazz pianists. And and so
it's it's it's always, uh, you know, you keep that
in mind when you're playing here to hopefully do your best.
You got to do your best all the time.
Speaker 7 (12:40):
Thank you for listening.
Speaker 1 (12:41):
All right, we'll be right back with more of the
Taken a Walk Podcast. Welcome back to the Taking a
Walk Podcast.
Speaker 7 (12:53):
My name's Charlie Kaplan. I was born and raised in
New York City in an area quote Stuvesant Town that
stretches from Fourteenth Street to twenty Street in Manhattan on
First Avenue and for First Avenue to the River. I
grew up in New York and for the past forty
five years I've been practicing law in New York. The
(13:16):
reason that I ended up spending a number of evenings
at Dumberman's Bar is that I live in Westchester County,
north of New York City, and often when I worked
late as a lawyer, on my way home, I'd stop
off of Bettlemans to have a drink and sometimes to
listen to the wonderful music and just to unwind a
little before continuing on my journey up north to southern
(13:39):
Westchester County. Part of my perspective of Dumbloman's, of course,
is not simply as being a nice place on the
Upper east Side, but as a native New Yorker who
grew up in the city, grew up in Manhattan, it's
been part of the fabric of the city my entire life,
and I could have gone a number of places after
I got out of law school, but I thought that
I really wanted to go back to New York, not
(14:00):
only because family was there, but that's always been my
home and I really loved the city. And one of
the great things about New York City if you have
a lot of wonderful places, including uh, you know the
Carlisle Hotel in Ben Woman's Bar, which is in the Carlisle.
Speaker 4 (14:14):
So do you recall the first moment you walked in
and how it really just captured your heart immediately.
Speaker 7 (14:23):
Yeah. And it was interesting because I wasn't really planning to,
you know, to go to Benel Bins, but I was.
I was driving, and I was driving from the office
I had because always knew I was going to be
working late. I'd driven into U my office in Midtown Manhattan,
and I was driving home and uh, I decided, hey,
I should stop because I needed to use the restroom.
(14:46):
And I and you and us in New York it's
hard to find restrooms in Manhattan, but generally, you know,
you could find them most easily in a hotel. And
I saw all of there's the Carlisles. I pulled over
and I asked someone where the restroom was, and it's
if not that far from the entrance to be moments, uh,
for the interiors just to be moments. And I heard
(15:07):
the piano and I went up the stairs and I
had never been there, even though I was a native
New Yorker, uh, And it was just terrific. You know,
you have those wonderful murals by Ludwick Bettelman's who you know,
did those children's illustrations, and it's just it was just
a terrific ambiance. And of course I'd read about it,
(15:27):
but you know, uh, you know, and I've heard of
people like Bobby Short and read about that, but I
never I'd never really been there. I was never really
a guy who went and hung out at bars, you know,
as a Jewish kid from New York, you know, like
the bar experience really wasn't part of my growing up.
But I really enjoyed it. And it was just a
very nice crowd of people. It was very eclectic. You
(15:49):
had native even you had New Yorkers like myself, and
then you had people from all over and also the uh,
the staff of the matro D at the time, and
also the the guys at the bar were just terrific,
and so I ended up going there a good number
of times over over many years, with really the only
(16:10):
great being the hiatus during COVID when Belmomin's and lots
of other places unfortunately had a close.
Speaker 4 (16:16):
And there's something about the place that I guarantee in
my view, and I want to see if you agree.
If you're in a mood maybe and you've had a
rough day and you're a little bit pattered and not
in a great mood, isn't it true that when you
go to Bemoman's you're guaranteed to leave in a good mood.
Speaker 7 (16:37):
Yeah, I think that's really the case, and I should
tell you because I'm driving and I could continue driving.
I generally don't have a drink in a sense of
hard liquor. Everyone wants sometimes to have a beer, but
often I'll just have a diet coke. But it's just
so pleasant and you know, particularly but both the music
(16:58):
and also the people, it's a very It's a nice
crowd and they're always interesting people you meet.
Speaker 1 (17:04):
You know.
Speaker 7 (17:04):
Of course, they are famous people who go there, and
I've met a couple of famous people, either in Benlins
itself or right next to it, where the Carlisle has
a bunch of has a restaurant and and the stairway
into Bemlin's from its interior from that from the hotel
has out there a number of seats for people in
(17:25):
the restaurant there, so they meet very interesting people there.
But it's just a very pleasant I think. I think
a big part of it is the music, which is
just terrific. There's a rotating group of performers, uh you know,
you know, trios, quartets with a pianist, you know, maybe
you know, sometimes the pianists may be singing. Sometimes it's
(17:48):
just music without singing. But it's just terrific and it's
a real ambiance and you can see why people why
people go there, and why it's become a place where
tourists go, because it's really it's really one of those
unique New York experiences.
Speaker 2 (18:04):
Who were some of the folks you might share that
were particularly unique that you ran into there.
Speaker 7 (18:11):
Well, I met one person who I remembered from my youth,
but I hadn't seen them too much in the on television.
A fellow named David Steinberg, who was a comedian sure
from Canada who back in the I think the sixties
and seventies, was on Johnny Carson a lot, and I
(18:35):
later he and I had a great conversation. He and
his wife were sitting at a table right before you
and walked into or could go up the stairs into Bellman's,
like three or four stairs you have to go up
to because it's at a higher level. It's the street level,
and the restaurant is sort of at a sunken level.
I noticed this fellow when he looked really familiar, and
(18:57):
I said, excuse me, and you don't like to bother
somebody when they're having dinner, but you know, are you
David Seinberg? And he was very gracious, and his wife
was very gracious, and we started. He said, he asked
me to join them, and we sat down and I
mentioned to him that, you know that it was exciting
to meet a comedian, But that was something that wasn't
(19:19):
unique in my family because my wife was from Wakegan, Illinois,
and her grandmother who grew up in Wakegan, her father
was from Okeen, and her father's mother was from Workegan.
Her grandmother grew up in Wakegan with a fellow named
Benny Kubelski, who later became Jack. Benny and Wakegan had
(19:41):
a very small Jewish community, and they were basically the
two Jewish kids in the school that they were in
in Wakegan, so it wasn't just a passing acquaintance. They
really knew each other. That that prompted David to start
talking about spending time with Jack Benny and a bunch
of other comedians at Hillcrost Country Club in Los Angeles.
(20:03):
One story after another. It was just amazing, and and
I asked him what he'd been doing, and he was
very modest. But then when I went home and I
googled him, he's had a very successful career as a director.
He directed a lot of the episodes of Seinfeld. He's
directed other episodes, and he's still as funny as you
(20:24):
can think. I mean, I I just anybody you know
go to YouTube, you know, search David Steinberg and you're
going to seem to see some routines. I mean, he
had a routine in which he plays a reform rabbi
giving a sermon, and it's just it kills you. He
talks about well and he says, now we're going to
(20:45):
speak about Jonah and Jonah's relationship with God who who
you may remember for my last sermon, you know, just
just hilarious and just just a incredibly talented die. And
then of course he's had this really terrific career behind
the camera with some of the top comedians, as I said,
you know, for example Jerry Seinfeld and others. So that
(21:09):
was a really interesting conversation. Another person who was very
interesting was I was having the sandwich and there were
two late, very elderly ladies sitting next to me, and
we started to talk. One of them said that she
used to come there with her late husband, Ben Gazzara,
(21:29):
and right away I said, you know, I have a
connection with Ben Gazzara, you know, and my connection with
Ben Gazzara as I went to the same high school
Stavesan High School in New York City and Manhattan that
Ben Gazzara went to, which, by the way, is high school.
Were a number of other people who were very famous
in the entertainment world, probably the most famous being James Cagney,
(21:51):
who got out of Stuyvesant, I believe in nineteen eighteen,
but others more recent ones include two Robins and Lucy
Lou but Ben Gazzarro was a Stayvelshant graduate, and Missus
Gazarre just just telling me wonderful stories about Ben and
(22:13):
you know, various other actors. She spoke. Actually it was
quite movie. She said that in one of his last
pictures when he was not well, Ben had worked with
Paul Servino, who passed away recently, but I think it
was you or two, and that Paul had been so
kind he really looked after Ben because he knew that
Ben Ben's health was challenging, and just what a kind
(22:38):
and nice person Servino had been. It was really it
was just a wonderful conversation. And one of the nice
things about growing up in a place like New York
is that even if you don't know people, often you
know people who know people, or you have various connections
and with people who know people, because even though it's
a big city, like a lot of other big city,
(23:00):
it's also in some ways a small town. So that's
one of the really great things about Bell Moments. You
meet all kinds of different people, people in business, people
in the arts. It's really a terrific place.
Speaker 2 (23:15):
So in closing, why.
Speaker 4 (23:18):
Do you think in the last I think five to
seven years bem Woman's has turned from this place that
on a Wednesday night you could walk in and you
might have to wait a little bit to get a
seat at the bar, and then you finally get a
seat at the bar.
Speaker 2 (23:34):
Now Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, it's packed. You gotta wait
even longer.
Speaker 4 (23:44):
It's nice if you can hold your hand up and
maybe get waved in because you're a semi regular. But
it's really found a new generation of people. I think
that has created it to be more of a must
be placed.
Speaker 2 (24:00):
Why do you think that is?
Speaker 7 (24:03):
I think it's probably because of the Internet. I think
that back before the I think really the the change
occurred after the pandemic. Before the pandemic, it was primarily
in an older crowd. You know, I've been practicing the
lower for forty five years, so clearly I'm not a youngster.
(24:24):
And there were lots of micing temporaries people older, sometimes
younger people, but there weren't a lot of college kids
or you know, early kid that in the early twenties.
After the pandemic, I think, I really think it moves
was social media a lot more a lot, It was
a much bigger draw and at least for a while,
you know, there'd be a line. Bemblements has a street
(24:47):
level entrance, but that's closed. And then there's another entrance
right off the entrance into the Carlisle on Madison Avenue,
and that generally and that's you can leave that. You
really don't go in there. But they'd always there be
a line down into the restaurant and they wouldn't. And
where there's some stairs, they would basically sign up and
then wait and then eventually when people left. Because I
(25:10):
was for fire coat and other reasons, they let so
many people into the bar at a time. But I
think it's the Internet, and I think and also I
think a number of people who younger people follow have
gone there and have sometimes played there or can be
seen there. So you know, it's sure, it's great to
(25:31):
see Paul mccartty, but Paul mccartty is someboy who's older
than me. But when somebody you know, like a Miley
Cyrus or someone, the younger people are much more interested
and and and you know, and you'll see you'll you'll
you're run into them there now sometimes.
Speaker 2 (25:45):
Charles, it's so great to catch up with you, and
thanks for sharing and dishing on Bellman's Bar, you know, and.
Speaker 7 (25:53):
I should I should know probably the close that the
way we know each other is one day when you
hit the bar and double and So's eye and that's
how we met and we've been in touch ever since.
Speaker 4 (26:01):
That's right, Yeah, And that's what's so beautiful about the place.
It's like you said, it's a great connector to people,
all different types of people. Always an interesting tale, always
great music, and I always leave happy and ready to
come back the next time.
Speaker 7 (26:19):
Well, it's been wonderful speaking with you as well, Buzz,
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (26:21):
Charles Hamilton Lighthouser is an American indie rock musician known
as the lead vocalist of The Walkman, who now has
a successful solo career on Glass Note Records. Hamilton has
played at the Cafe Carlisle and has often spent some
time at Bemman's Bar. So, Hamilton, what's your earliest memory
(26:45):
of visiting Bemlman's Bar? What drew you to it? Initially?
Speaker 6 (26:50):
Earliest in life would be when I was about ten
years old. I'm from Washington, DC, and I was up
in New York visiting, I don't know why, and my
uncle took me and my cousins and my aunt to
Benelman's for a drink. I had like a coke, and
(27:10):
I just remember that was so expensive that he was
I think.
Speaker 7 (27:16):
He got the bill and he was kind of like
never a thing.
Speaker 6 (27:21):
So that was literally my first memory. And also that
I saw Ross Perrault.
Speaker 7 (27:24):
He was there.
Speaker 2 (27:26):
Oh my god, that's a that's that's the people watching moment, right.
Speaker 7 (27:30):
Yeah, yeah, it was.
Speaker 6 (27:31):
It was really big and I hadn't, you know, seen
very many celebrities in my life at that point, so
it was really exciting for us kids.
Speaker 2 (27:38):
So how does it feel to to perform or spend
time at such a storied New York institution.
Speaker 6 (27:46):
Well, I perform at Kathok Carlisle, which is across the hall,
very similar vibe, but uh it's you know, it's for
performance and dinner space, and Bellman's is more of just
like a bar. They have a but it's there. They're
playing jazz standards and they're in the middle of the room.
Well as you probably know. And so I go to
(28:08):
Bellman's afterwards for a drink a lot of nights, and uh,
it's just you know, like another world being in there.
Speaker 7 (28:16):
It's like you when I.
Speaker 6 (28:17):
Play a Cave Carlisle, and then I go up to
my room and rest up, and then I go down
to Bellman's. Uh, and I haven't even left the building.
It's pretty. It's surreal. It's like I'm living in like
a spaceship or something, and and everything, every possible thing
you could want is right there. And and you know,
(28:39):
there's no windows in either of those rooms, so you
don't you forget what time of year it is. It
always feels like it's sort of like a blessy winter
night outside when you're in there, because it's just very
cozy and dark.
Speaker 2 (28:51):
Can you describe the atmosphere of Bemmeleman's Bar for someone
maybe who's who's never been there.
Speaker 6 (28:59):
Yes, it has brescos all all the way around. Three
hundred and sixty degrees are on the wall, drawn by
Ludwig Bemmelman's who also who drew Madeline, the children's book
famously and then also did all the prescoes in Cafe Carlisle.
So it's the style similar to the buck Madeline that
(29:19):
they're beautiful. They go all the way around. There's like
a sort of gold low ceiling that's wallpapered and the
very it's beautiful, actually gold, And there's a big grand
piano right in the middle where a jazz band performs,
and there's leather booths all the way around, and small,
(29:39):
dimly lit tables with little cafe lights on them, and
a big bar that just makes insanely good drinks, and
all my friends always coming. It's their big night on
there every night. But it's their big night. They're just
having a great time.
Speaker 2 (29:55):
Is it fair to say that if one were in
a bad mood and they went up to Bemmeleman's and
hung out, the good mood suddenly replaces the bad.
Speaker 7 (30:06):
Mood, you're gonna be feeling better.
Speaker 2 (30:09):
Yeah, automatically, Yeah you are.
Speaker 4 (30:14):
If you could choose one song that captures the spirit
of Bemmelemans.
Speaker 2 (30:18):
What would it be?
Speaker 6 (30:19):
And why, Well, there's that band I can't remember whether,
I can't remember the guy's name that plays all the time,
and they do all. He was asking me for requests
last year. I was requesting some Fats Waller songs because
I love the way Fats Waller plays the piano. When
they got it, was such a good piano player. So
something like Honeysuckle Rose is one of my favorite Fats
(30:39):
Waller songs until the real thing comes along, something like
that very New York, old New York song great Melodies.
Speaker 2 (30:47):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (30:48):
Well, lastly, so why do you think Bembleman's has maintained
its status as a cultural landmark for so many decades?
Speaker 6 (30:57):
Well, you know what's incredible about that is that I
started playing there about eight years ago, and.
Speaker 5 (31:07):
I could after the show, I would.
Speaker 6 (31:09):
Go in there and to Bellman's and have a drink
and there would be people, but it wasn't necessarily jammed.
And in the last five years, maybe after COVID something
like that, I'll come out of my show. I probably
end around ten thirty eleven, something like that. And if
it's a Tuesday night, if it's a Wednesday night, if
(31:31):
it's a weekend, forget about it. There will be a
line of people or young people much shnger than me
out the door, through the tea room, all the way
on the hall out onto Madison Avenue, waiting patiently for
god knows how long they're going to be waiting late
at night. And it's so much more popular than it
(31:52):
was eight years ago. And I don't know, I know
why it's maintained because it's beautiful and it's the only
place like it in the world, and that's why people
go back, and that's why people know what it is.
But I don't know why it's suddenly so much more popular.
I want to think it's because I started playing there.
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (32:12):
Thank you, Hanle that that's great. Rita Wilson.
Speaker 4 (32:17):
If you are in a bad mood and you go
into the Cafe Carlisle or to Bemomins to listen to music,
to listen to who's playing there, I promise you you
leave in a good mood.
Speaker 2 (32:31):
Do you agree with that?
Speaker 9 (32:33):
I agree wholeheartedly. And I also would have to say
that I think music in general puts you in a
fantastic mood. So if you're in a bad mood, just
put on some music. It will transport you to a
better state of mind. But yeah, I love those places.
There's something to be said about these old venues like
the Rhyme and like the Cafe Carlisle or bellm Woman's
(32:56):
or the Troubadour or you know. I went to the
Blue Note when I was in New York recently, and
there's something to be set. It's like the walls, the
paint the air those molecules have been They're just the
same molecules that have always been there, and you feel them,
(33:18):
and that's what it's like. You sense the people that
have come before, that have played, the people that have
listened there. You know. I always think when I do
a show there and the Carlisle is very intimate, but
I kind of feel this way generally. You just have
to make every place feel intimate. Is that there is
always somebody in that room that needs to hear what
(33:41):
you're singing and what you're saying. And if there was
just one person in every one of these spaces and
I had to perform, it would be the same performance
because I would know that they were there for a reason.
And there's something about the intimacy of those places where
people can actually talk back to you, and sometimes or
(34:02):
they shot at you with nutshot, but they talk to
you in the audience and I like that.
Speaker 6 (34:07):
I think it's great.
Speaker 2 (34:08):
It's not heckling.
Speaker 9 (34:09):
It's actually like they're part of it. The audience is
as much a part of the show as the performer is.
Speaker 2 (34:16):
Thanks for listening to this. Take it a Walk love
Letter episode to Bemman's Bar at the Carlisle Hotel on
Madison Avenue between seventy sixth and seventy seventh on Manhattan's
Upper east Side. The hotel a Rosewood Hotel and special
thanks to the folks at the Rosewood and also Demetrius
(34:38):
and his team at Bemman's Bar. Check that place out
sometime when you're in New York City. And thanks for listening.
Walk.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
There are places in this city, New York City, hidden
like jewels, where time doesn't march forward, it's saunters elegantly.
Today we take a walk, not down a crowded New
York avenue, but through a velvet curtain into a different era,
(00:22):
a place where golden sconces flicker against hand painted murals,
where the martinis are cold, the music is live, and
every corner whispers a story. This is not just a bar.
This is Bemelman's, named for Ludwig Bemelmans, the beloved illustrator
(00:45):
behind Madeline. This Manhattan institution inside the Carlisle Hotel has
played host to legends from Sinatra to Capodi, from Hollywood
Royalty to uptown regular just chasing the perfect nightcap. So
pull up a leather sofa, settle in beneath those whimsical walls,
(01:08):
and let's slip into the city's most timeless saloon, where art,
music and memory are always on the menu. I'm Buzznight,
you're host of the Taking a Walk podcast, and let's
walk into the magic of Bemelman's Bar.
Speaker 1 (01:30):
Taking a Walk.
Speaker 3 (01:31):
So my name is Demitrios Mihelloblos. I'm from Greece. I'm
the general manager at Bemelon's Bar at the Carlisle Hotel.
It seems twenty twenty one I became general Malazer.
Speaker 4 (01:44):
So, Demetrius, you have described Bememans as a place that
changes you, but in a good way. Can you share
how working at Bemoman's has shaped your approach to hospitality
and life.
Speaker 3 (02:01):
Of course, bars, so Bemonons has a weight of teaching
you passians and elegance and presence. So every night we
welcome a mix of celebrities, neighborhood regulars and international travelers,
and expectations are always the same perfection. So working here
(02:22):
has saved my philosophy that hospitality isn't just about serving drinks,
It's about creating a memory, a sense of belonging. Also,
I would say it taught me that consistency, respect, and
genuine warmth are what key people coming back. And those
lessons extend far beyond the bar into how I live
(02:44):
my own life now.
Speaker 4 (02:46):
So the bar is famous for its classic cocktails, and certainly,
as you just said, consistency. What is the secret to
maintaining these incredible high standards night after night?
Speaker 5 (03:01):
That's the great question. Actually, it's not easy to do that.
But I would say our secret is mainly discipline combined
with passion.
Speaker 3 (03:10):
So that's combination, it's what it works for us. Every
detail matters, from the sign of the glassware to the
precision of a martini poor. But it's not just about
the technical execution or instill a sense of pride in
the team. So every cocktail feels like a performance with balance,
(03:30):
additional with innovation making sure drinks remain timeless while still
finding ways to surprise guests. Ultimately, it's about never getting
you know, the routine you usually have day by day
to become a routine, and that's what's treating every guest
and every drink like is the first of the night.
And it's that's what I believe. It's the vibe too,
(03:52):
the energy. It's all about that. You walk into the
space so many times and it's always good. You know,
you feel you have a nice of good energy.
Speaker 2 (04:02):
So Bemaman has hosted everyone from the celebrities to neighborhood
regulars to folks from out of town like me.
Speaker 4 (04:11):
Can you share maybe a memorable story or encounter that
captures the true spirit of the bar?
Speaker 3 (04:20):
Yes, there are many, to be honest, but one I
would like to share with you. It's which is one
of my favorite moments was when a very well known
actor came in quietly just wanted to enjoy the piano
and martini without without anybody noticing him.
Speaker 6 (04:39):
You know.
Speaker 3 (04:39):
It was kind of a moment that you see somebody
that everybody knows walking into a busy bar and sitting
at the bar having the head down, try to enjoy
a drink without to be without want to be seen,
let's say, all right.
Speaker 5 (04:57):
At the same time, it was another guest from the neighborhood.
Speaker 3 (05:00):
It was a regular guest who had no idea who
the famous person was. Uh, they start having a conversation
about the murals. The two end up talking like for hours.
Completely emerged in the magic of the room forgetting who
they were outside.
Speaker 5 (05:17):
To me, that's the spirit of Bemelmans.
Speaker 3 (05:19):
No matter who you are, when you visit here with
with the drinking hand, you're part of the same story.
It was also good for the other guests to see
these two people talking for hours and uh, yeah, it
was a great moment.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
I'm trying to guess who that could have been.
Speaker 5 (05:40):
I can't tell you of flying.
Speaker 4 (05:42):
Yes, thank you the murals by Ludwig Bemelman's are iconic.
How do you see their amazing presence influencing the atmosphere
and the guest experience?
Speaker 3 (05:58):
Yes, I mean to me, the murals are more than decoration.
Speaker 5 (06:03):
They are our heartbeat, our identity. Who we are mostly.
Speaker 3 (06:09):
Just often find themselves lost in the in the murals
of Motherlines and the New York scene from a Central Park,
the four Seasons paid into the walls.
Speaker 5 (06:20):
It sets the tone. You are not just in a bar,
You are in a living piece of art.
Speaker 3 (06:25):
They remind us that while our cocktails and music may
change with the times, there is always this ancle of
timeless beauty that makes the Bemments experience so unique. It's
kind of a magic. What's going on with these murals?
Speaker 4 (06:42):
Do you recall the first time you walked into Bemments
and what was that experience like for you.
Speaker 5 (06:51):
The first time?
Speaker 3 (06:52):
Yes, so I will tell you that the first time
it was when I did the they walkthrough in the
hotel when they hired me. That was I believe it
was July eleven, twenty sixteen. But I was impressed back
then too, But it was too many information in my
(07:13):
too much information in my head. The first day saw
the first time I realized about this room, it was
when I was doing something in the hotel. I used
to walk in room dining and I had to go
outside from Madison to do something from the Madison entrance,
and then I came back and I opened the side
door we have at Bemelman's as you're working from Madison
(07:36):
to the left, and you know, it was so bright outside, sunshine,
a beautiful day, and I opened the door and I
see Bemmont's Bar with the Muels.
Speaker 5 (07:47):
It was like I was working in a different world.
It was unbelievable.
Speaker 3 (07:51):
And I believe that was the moment I literally got
hooked with this place, and I said, Wow, this place
is magical. And that's how the passion and the love
started about Bemono's Bar and.
Speaker 4 (08:05):
Me, it's amazing. It really is a special place. Lastly,
Demetrius or two last things. I always feel that if
you are somebody, me, anybody, and you're having a.
Speaker 2 (08:22):
Rough day, the day is not exactly the way you planned.
You're not necessarily in a great mood, and then.
Speaker 4 (08:31):
You head up to Bemman's for a nice cocktail and
for some music and for the vibe. I promise you
that you end up leaving in a good mood. Would
you agree with that statement?
Speaker 7 (08:44):
Absolutely absolutely?
Speaker 5 (08:46):
And that works also for myself too.
Speaker 3 (08:49):
There are days, there are very nice days for me.
Speaker 5 (08:54):
You know, I'm a family man and I have to
you have to run the bar.
Speaker 3 (08:58):
I have to run my family as well, with the
big help of my wife, of course. But the moment
I stepped into Bemelman's, and also my job is very demanding,
and before I step into Benmans, I have to check
my mails, organize for the day, organized for the next day,
and do several things. And it's not always pleasant what
(09:21):
you see at work or what's happening in your life.
But the moment I stepping into Bemlma's, I kind of
wearing a costume, let's say, and I start performing. So
I try to empty my brain and just focus on
what I have to do for the night, including having fun,
(09:43):
because that's what it basically is. At Bemonmont's. I feel
that joy from the guests and that transfers to me,
and I believe it's amazing. Yes, many people that come crampy,
you know, very kind of not very happy, and at
the end of the night they find somebody something happens
(10:04):
the music, silly thing, you know, something.
Speaker 5 (10:08):
Nice, and they change their mood and they.
Speaker 3 (10:12):
Start socializing more, they start having fun, they start having
more drinks, but you know, in the console way, in
a responsible way, and that change their evening.
Speaker 5 (10:24):
And that's sayings their mood is.
Speaker 7 (10:27):
It's like a.
Speaker 3 (10:28):
Therapy, you know, unofficial theory. That's what happened. That's what
I believe. It's a good way to describe it.
Speaker 2 (10:37):
Oh, it's that's very well put. Demetrius. Thank you so much.
I really appreciate it. My pleasure very much, Thanks Demetrius.
Speaker 5 (10:45):
Thank you, boys and seems.
Speaker 2 (10:49):
Earl Rose is one of the most celebrated pianists in
New York City and an icon at Bemment's Bar. I
caught up with him in between sets and he told
me what Emleman's means to him.
Speaker 8 (11:02):
It's just always feels good to know that live music
is touching people and they respond to classic American songbook
Cole Porter, Gershwin, Jerome Kern, Duke Ellington, and these are
all songs that I love and love to share them
with audiences that come to Bemman's. Of old ages, these
songs are timeless, the great American Songbook. All these composers,
(11:27):
they wrote songs that can be interpreted in so many
different ways, and each generation of whatever contemporary artist is
popular at the time, eventually we'll probably do an album
or pay tribute to some of these songwriters because the
songwriters are again are like classic and there's something that
(11:47):
even newest artists want to be associated with that. I mean,
perfect example is John Batiste has come in numerous times
and there's a particular song, Memories of You that you
be Break Blake wrote, He comes and perform it together.
And so it's it's just these songs are timeless and
(12:09):
and artists who are really good artists know that, and
so they and audiences know it too when they hear
all the people that have performed here in Bembleman's Bar,
I mean some of the great jazz pianists.
Speaker 7 (12:21):
Barbara Carroll performed here.
Speaker 8 (12:23):
Mary McPartland actually performed here before her, and she of
course one of the great jazz pianists. And and so
it's it's it's always, uh, you know, you keep that
in mind when you're playing here to hopefully do your best.
You got to do your best all the time.
Speaker 7 (12:40):
Thank you for listening.
Speaker 1 (12:41):
All right, we'll be right back with more of the
Taken a Walk Podcast. Welcome back to the Taking a
Walk Podcast.
Speaker 7 (12:53):
My name's Charlie Kaplan. I was born and raised in
New York City in an area quote Stuvesant Town that
stretches from Fourteenth Street to twenty Street in Manhattan on
First Avenue and for First Avenue to the River. I
grew up in New York and for the past forty
five years I've been practicing law in New York. The
(13:16):
reason that I ended up spending a number of evenings
at Dumberman's Bar is that I live in Westchester County,
north of New York City, and often when I worked
late as a lawyer, on my way home, I'd stop
off of Bettlemans to have a drink and sometimes to
listen to the wonderful music and just to unwind a
little before continuing on my journey up north to southern
(13:39):
Westchester County. Part of my perspective of Dumbloman's, of course,
is not simply as being a nice place on the
Upper east Side, but as a native New Yorker who
grew up in the city, grew up in Manhattan, it's
been part of the fabric of the city my entire life,
and I could have gone a number of places after
I got out of law school, but I thought that
I really wanted to go back to New York, not
(14:00):
only because family was there, but that's always been my
home and I really loved the city. And one of
the great things about New York City if you have
a lot of wonderful places, including uh, you know the
Carlisle Hotel in Ben Woman's Bar, which is in the Carlisle.
Speaker 4 (14:14):
So do you recall the first moment you walked in
and how it really just captured your heart immediately.
Speaker 7 (14:23):
Yeah. And it was interesting because I wasn't really planning to,
you know, to go to Benel Bins, but I was.
I was driving, and I was driving from the office
I had because always knew I was going to be
working late. I'd driven into U my office in Midtown Manhattan,
and I was driving home and uh, I decided, hey,
I should stop because I needed to use the restroom.
(14:46):
And I and you and us in New York it's
hard to find restrooms in Manhattan, but generally, you know,
you could find them most easily in a hotel. And
I saw all of there's the Carlisles. I pulled over
and I asked someone where the restroom was, and it's
if not that far from the entrance to be moments, uh,
for the interiors just to be moments. And I heard
(15:07):
the piano and I went up the stairs and I
had never been there, even though I was a native
New Yorker, uh, And it was just terrific. You know,
you have those wonderful murals by Ludwick Bettelman's who you know,
did those children's illustrations, and it's just it was just
a terrific ambiance. And of course I'd read about it,
(15:27):
but you know, uh, you know, and I've heard of
people like Bobby Short and read about that, but I
never I'd never really been there. I was never really
a guy who went and hung out at bars, you know,
as a Jewish kid from New York, you know, like
the bar experience really wasn't part of my growing up.
But I really enjoyed it. And it was just a
very nice crowd of people. It was very eclectic. You
(15:49):
had native even you had New Yorkers like myself, and
then you had people from all over and also the uh,
the staff of the matro D at the time, and
also the the guys at the bar were just terrific,
and so I ended up going there a good number
of times over over many years, with really the only
(16:10):
great being the hiatus during COVID when Belmomin's and lots
of other places unfortunately had a close.
Speaker 4 (16:16):
And there's something about the place that I guarantee in
my view, and I want to see if you agree.
If you're in a mood maybe and you've had a
rough day and you're a little bit pattered and not
in a great mood, isn't it true that when you
go to Bemoman's you're guaranteed to leave in a good mood.
Speaker 7 (16:37):
Yeah, I think that's really the case, and I should
tell you because I'm driving and I could continue driving.
I generally don't have a drink in a sense of
hard liquor. Everyone wants sometimes to have a beer, but
often I'll just have a diet coke. But it's just
so pleasant and you know, particularly but both the music
(16:58):
and also the people, it's a very It's a nice
crowd and they're always interesting people you meet.
Speaker 1 (17:04):
You know.
Speaker 7 (17:04):
Of course, they are famous people who go there, and
I've met a couple of famous people, either in Benlins
itself or right next to it, where the Carlisle has
a bunch of has a restaurant and and the stairway
into Bemlin's from its interior from that from the hotel
has out there a number of seats for people in
(17:25):
the restaurant there, so they meet very interesting people there.
But it's just a very pleasant I think. I think
a big part of it is the music, which is
just terrific. There's a rotating group of performers, uh you know,
you know, trios, quartets with a pianist, you know, maybe
you know, sometimes the pianists may be singing. Sometimes it's
(17:48):
just music without singing. But it's just terrific and it's
a real ambiance and you can see why people why
people go there, and why it's become a place where
tourists go, because it's really it's really one of those
unique New York experiences.
Speaker 2 (18:04):
Who were some of the folks you might share that
were particularly unique that you ran into there.
Speaker 7 (18:11):
Well, I met one person who I remembered from my youth,
but I hadn't seen them too much in the on television.
A fellow named David Steinberg, who was a comedian sure
from Canada who back in the I think the sixties
and seventies, was on Johnny Carson a lot, and I
(18:35):
later he and I had a great conversation. He and
his wife were sitting at a table right before you
and walked into or could go up the stairs into Bellman's,
like three or four stairs you have to go up
to because it's at a higher level. It's the street level,
and the restaurant is sort of at a sunken level.
I noticed this fellow when he looked really familiar, and
(18:57):
I said, excuse me, and you don't like to bother
somebody when they're having dinner, but you know, are you
David Seinberg? And he was very gracious, and his wife
was very gracious, and we started. He said, he asked
me to join them, and we sat down and I
mentioned to him that, you know that it was exciting
to meet a comedian, But that was something that wasn't
(19:19):
unique in my family because my wife was from Wakegan, Illinois,
and her grandmother who grew up in Wakegan, her father
was from Okeen, and her father's mother was from Workegan.
Her grandmother grew up in Wakegan with a fellow named
Benny Kubelski, who later became Jack. Benny and Wakegan had
(19:41):
a very small Jewish community, and they were basically the
two Jewish kids in the school that they were in
in Wakegan, so it wasn't just a passing acquaintance. They
really knew each other. That that prompted David to start
talking about spending time with Jack Benny and a bunch
of other comedians at Hillcrost Country Club in Los Angeles.
(20:03):
One story after another. It was just amazing, and and
I asked him what he'd been doing, and he was
very modest. But then when I went home and I
googled him, he's had a very successful career as a director.
He directed a lot of the episodes of Seinfeld. He's
directed other episodes, and he's still as funny as you
(20:24):
can think. I mean, I I just anybody you know
go to YouTube, you know, search David Steinberg and you're
going to seem to see some routines. I mean, he
had a routine in which he plays a reform rabbi
giving a sermon, and it's just it kills you. He
talks about well and he says, now we're going to
(20:45):
speak about Jonah and Jonah's relationship with God who who
you may remember for my last sermon, you know, just
just hilarious and just just a incredibly talented die. And
then of course he's had this really terrific career behind
the camera with some of the top comedians, as I said,
you know, for example Jerry Seinfeld and others. So that
(21:09):
was a really interesting conversation. Another person who was very
interesting was I was having the sandwich and there were
two late, very elderly ladies sitting next to me, and
we started to talk. One of them said that she
used to come there with her late husband, Ben Gazzara,
(21:29):
and right away I said, you know, I have a
connection with Ben Gazzara, you know, and my connection with
Ben Gazzara as I went to the same high school
Stavesan High School in New York City and Manhattan that
Ben Gazzara went to, which, by the way, is high school.
Were a number of other people who were very famous
in the entertainment world, probably the most famous being James Cagney,
(21:51):
who got out of Stuyvesant, I believe in nineteen eighteen,
but others more recent ones include two Robins and Lucy
Lou but Ben Gazzarro was a Stayvelshant graduate, and Missus
Gazarre just just telling me wonderful stories about Ben and
(22:13):
you know, various other actors. She spoke. Actually it was
quite movie. She said that in one of his last
pictures when he was not well, Ben had worked with
Paul Servino, who passed away recently, but I think it
was you or two, and that Paul had been so
kind he really looked after Ben because he knew that
Ben Ben's health was challenging, and just what a kind
(22:38):
and nice person Servino had been. It was really it
was just a wonderful conversation. And one of the nice
things about growing up in a place like New York
is that even if you don't know people, often you
know people who know people, or you have various connections
and with people who know people, because even though it's
a big city, like a lot of other big city,
(23:00):
it's also in some ways a small town. So that's
one of the really great things about Bell Moments. You
meet all kinds of different people, people in business, people
in the arts. It's really a terrific place.
Speaker 2 (23:15):
So in closing, why.
Speaker 4 (23:18):
Do you think in the last I think five to
seven years bem Woman's has turned from this place that
on a Wednesday night you could walk in and you
might have to wait a little bit to get a
seat at the bar, and then you finally get a
seat at the bar.
Speaker 2 (23:34):
Now Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, it's packed. You gotta wait
even longer.
Speaker 4 (23:44):
It's nice if you can hold your hand up and
maybe get waved in because you're a semi regular. But
it's really found a new generation of people. I think
that has created it to be more of a must
be placed.
Speaker 2 (24:00):
Why do you think that is?
Speaker 7 (24:03):
I think it's probably because of the Internet. I think
that back before the I think really the the change
occurred after the pandemic. Before the pandemic, it was primarily
in an older crowd. You know, I've been practicing the
lower for forty five years, so clearly I'm not a youngster.
(24:24):
And there were lots of micing temporaries people older, sometimes
younger people, but there weren't a lot of college kids
or you know, early kid that in the early twenties.
After the pandemic, I think, I really think it moves
was social media a lot more a lot, It was
a much bigger draw and at least for a while,
you know, there'd be a line. Bemblements has a street
(24:47):
level entrance, but that's closed. And then there's another entrance
right off the entrance into the Carlisle on Madison Avenue,
and that generally and that's you can leave that. You
really don't go in there. But they'd always there be
a line down into the restaurant and they wouldn't. And
where there's some stairs, they would basically sign up and
then wait and then eventually when people left. Because I
(25:10):
was for fire coat and other reasons, they let so
many people into the bar at a time. But I
think it's the Internet, and I think and also I
think a number of people who younger people follow have
gone there and have sometimes played there or can be
seen there. So you know, it's sure, it's great to
(25:31):
see Paul mccartty, but Paul mccartty is someboy who's older
than me. But when somebody you know, like a Miley
Cyrus or someone, the younger people are much more interested
and and and you know, and you'll see you'll you'll
you're run into them there now sometimes.
Speaker 2 (25:45):
Charles, it's so great to catch up with you, and
thanks for sharing and dishing on Bellman's Bar, you know, and.
Speaker 7 (25:53):
I should I should know probably the close that the
way we know each other is one day when you
hit the bar and double and So's eye and that's
how we met and we've been in touch ever since.
Speaker 4 (26:01):
That's right, Yeah, And that's what's so beautiful about the place.
It's like you said, it's a great connector to people,
all different types of people. Always an interesting tale, always
great music, and I always leave happy and ready to
come back the next time.
Speaker 7 (26:19):
Well, it's been wonderful speaking with you as well, Buzz,
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (26:21):
Charles Hamilton Lighthouser is an American indie rock musician known
as the lead vocalist of The Walkman, who now has
a successful solo career on Glass Note Records. Hamilton has
played at the Cafe Carlisle and has often spent some
time at Bemman's Bar. So, Hamilton, what's your earliest memory
(26:45):
of visiting Bemlman's Bar? What drew you to it? Initially?
Speaker 6 (26:50):
Earliest in life would be when I was about ten
years old. I'm from Washington, DC, and I was up
in New York visiting, I don't know why, and my
uncle took me and my cousins and my aunt to
Benelman's for a drink. I had like a coke, and
(27:10):
I just remember that was so expensive that he was
I think.
Speaker 7 (27:16):
He got the bill and he was kind of like
never a thing.
Speaker 6 (27:21):
So that was literally my first memory. And also that
I saw Ross Perrault.
Speaker 7 (27:24):
He was there.
Speaker 2 (27:26):
Oh my god, that's a that's that's the people watching moment, right.
Speaker 7 (27:30):
Yeah, yeah, it was.
Speaker 6 (27:31):
It was really big and I hadn't, you know, seen
very many celebrities in my life at that point, so
it was really exciting for us kids.
Speaker 2 (27:38):
So how does it feel to to perform or spend
time at such a storied New York institution.
Speaker 6 (27:46):
Well, I perform at Kathok Carlisle, which is across the hall,
very similar vibe, but uh it's you know, it's for
performance and dinner space, and Bellman's is more of just
like a bar. They have a but it's there. They're
playing jazz standards and they're in the middle of the room.
Well as you probably know. And so I go to
(28:08):
Bellman's afterwards for a drink a lot of nights, and uh,
it's just you know, like another world being in there.
Speaker 7 (28:16):
It's like you when I.
Speaker 6 (28:17):
Play a Cave Carlisle, and then I go up to
my room and rest up, and then I go down
to Bellman's. Uh, and I haven't even left the building.
It's pretty. It's surreal. It's like I'm living in like
a spaceship or something, and and everything, every possible thing
you could want is right there. And and you know,
(28:39):
there's no windows in either of those rooms, so you
don't you forget what time of year it is. It
always feels like it's sort of like a blessy winter
night outside when you're in there, because it's just very
cozy and dark.
Speaker 2 (28:51):
Can you describe the atmosphere of Bemmeleman's Bar for someone
maybe who's who's never been there.
Speaker 6 (28:59):
Yes, it has brescos all all the way around. Three
hundred and sixty degrees are on the wall, drawn by
Ludwig Bemmelman's who also who drew Madeline, the children's book
famously and then also did all the prescoes in Cafe Carlisle.
So it's the style similar to the buck Madeline that
(29:19):
they're beautiful. They go all the way around. There's like
a sort of gold low ceiling that's wallpapered and the
very it's beautiful, actually gold, And there's a big grand
piano right in the middle where a jazz band performs,
and there's leather booths all the way around, and small,
(29:39):
dimly lit tables with little cafe lights on them, and
a big bar that just makes insanely good drinks, and
all my friends always coming. It's their big night on
there every night. But it's their big night. They're just
having a great time.
Speaker 2 (29:55):
Is it fair to say that if one were in
a bad mood and they went up to Bemmeleman's and
hung out, the good mood suddenly replaces the bad.
Speaker 7 (30:06):
Mood, you're gonna be feeling better.
Speaker 2 (30:09):
Yeah, automatically, Yeah you are.
Speaker 4 (30:14):
If you could choose one song that captures the spirit
of Bemmelemans.
Speaker 2 (30:18):
What would it be?
Speaker 6 (30:19):
And why, Well, there's that band I can't remember whether,
I can't remember the guy's name that plays all the time,
and they do all. He was asking me for requests
last year. I was requesting some Fats Waller songs because
I love the way Fats Waller plays the piano. When
they got it, was such a good piano player. So
something like Honeysuckle Rose is one of my favorite Fats
(30:39):
Waller songs until the real thing comes along, something like
that very New York, old New York song great Melodies.
Speaker 2 (30:47):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (30:48):
Well, lastly, so why do you think Bembleman's has maintained
its status as a cultural landmark for so many decades?
Speaker 6 (30:57):
Well, you know what's incredible about that is that I
started playing there about eight years ago, and.
Speaker 5 (31:07):
I could after the show, I would.
Speaker 6 (31:09):
Go in there and to Bellman's and have a drink
and there would be people, but it wasn't necessarily jammed.
And in the last five years, maybe after COVID something
like that, I'll come out of my show. I probably
end around ten thirty eleven, something like that. And if
it's a Tuesday night, if it's a Wednesday night, if
(31:31):
it's a weekend, forget about it. There will be a
line of people or young people much shnger than me
out the door, through the tea room, all the way
on the hall out onto Madison Avenue, waiting patiently for
god knows how long they're going to be waiting late
at night. And it's so much more popular than it
(31:52):
was eight years ago. And I don't know, I know
why it's maintained because it's beautiful and it's the only
place like it in the world, and that's why people
go back, and that's why people know what it is.
But I don't know why it's suddenly so much more popular.
I want to think it's because I started playing there.
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (32:12):
Thank you, Hanle that that's great. Rita Wilson.
Speaker 4 (32:17):
If you are in a bad mood and you go
into the Cafe Carlisle or to Bemomins to listen to music,
to listen to who's playing there, I promise you you
leave in a good mood.
Speaker 2 (32:31):
Do you agree with that?
Speaker 9 (32:33):
I agree wholeheartedly. And I also would have to say
that I think music in general puts you in a
fantastic mood. So if you're in a bad mood, just
put on some music. It will transport you to a
better state of mind. But yeah, I love those places.
There's something to be said about these old venues like
the Rhyme and like the Cafe Carlisle or bellm Woman's
(32:56):
or the Troubadour or you know. I went to the
Blue Note when I was in New York recently, and
there's something to be set. It's like the walls, the
paint the air those molecules have been They're just the
same molecules that have always been there, and you feel them,
(33:18):
and that's what it's like. You sense the people that
have come before, that have played, the people that have
listened there. You know. I always think when I do
a show there and the Carlisle is very intimate, but
I kind of feel this way generally. You just have
to make every place feel intimate. Is that there is
always somebody in that room that needs to hear what
(33:41):
you're singing and what you're saying. And if there was
just one person in every one of these spaces and
I had to perform, it would be the same performance
because I would know that they were there for a reason.
And there's something about the intimacy of those places where
people can actually talk back to you, and sometimes or
(34:02):
they shot at you with nutshot, but they talk to
you in the audience and I like that.
Speaker 6 (34:07):
I think it's great.
Speaker 2 (34:08):
It's not heckling.
Speaker 9 (34:09):
It's actually like they're part of it. The audience is
as much a part of the show as the performer is.
Speaker 2 (34:16):
Thanks for listening to this. Take it a Walk love
Letter episode to Bemman's Bar at the Carlisle Hotel on
Madison Avenue between seventy sixth and seventy seventh on Manhattan's
Upper east Side. The hotel a Rosewood Hotel and special
thanks to the folks at the Rosewood and also Demetrius
(34:38):
and his team at Bemman's Bar. Check that place out
sometime when you're in New York City. And thanks for listening.
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