harlot

harlot is a new hot spot that recently opened in the soma-financial district area on natoma between 1st and 2nd street.

danna and i attended an event at harlot last month hosted by french tuesdays, a guest list only private party that has LA pretentiousness written all over it. strict dress code, very european, and you can smell money in the air (or monopoly money perhaps).

harlot's interior is quite interesting: dark and gothic with a taboo twist. excellent attention to detail i must say. the bar is well stocked and carries a lot of top shelf bottles, ones that you don't see in your typical sf dive bar. the bartenders, in keeping with the theme, all wear corsets. nice touch.

the 2nd floor boasts a small lounge and secondary bar swathed in glowing white fabrics and plastics, a breathtaking break from the dark, cavernous dancefloor visible from its gleaming balcony rails. as hokey as it sounds, it reminded me of a heaven and hell play on design. unfortunately i didn't get a picture here. perhaps this helped inspired french tuesday's theme for the nite, black and white.

guests were encouraged to wear all black, white, or both.

yes we obliged.

while i can't say this was the best time i've had at a bar -- people were rude, traffic flow was poor, and they stopped serving the laurent perrier champagne at midnite -- i did feel somewhat exclusive having gained vip access to harlot before it was open to the public. i think we all like feeling "above the know" sometimes, don't we?