We’ve all got at least one friend who refuses to try a dating app. They want to meet someone “in real life.”
Not that bars (“You mean spending $70 on rosé just to find out she’s married?”) are any better.
But what if there were a place where NYC’s most eligible bachelors and bachelorettes occasionally gathered for drinks, conversation and a little spirited revelry?
A place like Social Concierge, the London-based private dating club offering just that.
Consider it a shortcut through the jungle of big-city dating … assuming, of course, you can get on the list. The application process is pretty straightforward: name, age, college, job and, yes, you have to upload a picture. The good news is there is no pressure to write any tawdry boilerplate to sell yourself. And should you be among the rigid 20% that Social Concierge accepts, you’ll gain access to 2-3 parties each month for just $40.
Here are the five things we can tell you from the inside.
1. People are attractive, but not in an intimidating way. This isn’t Raya in real time, frequented exclusively by models and hedge funders. Looks matter, but it’s not all that matters.
2. The fella-to-lady ratio is solid, and competitive vibes are kept to a minimum.
3. Everyone is in the same boat. Translation: You’re not going to spend 20 minutes talking to a woman only to have her boyfriend pop up behind her shoulder. That makes it light years easier to approach one another.
4. That being said, people have definitely forgotten how to talk to one another. Thanks for nothing, Tinder. But Social Concierge employs a team of “mixologists” to help move things along. Think of them as professional wingmen or wingwomen, there to introduce people to people and then fade off into the distance when the time is right.
5. It’s fun, and it works. Consider it a new-school approach to an old-school art, streamlined.
Social Concierge’s next soiree is coming up Friday, May 4th — a Studio 54 night at Esther & Caroll. Better yet, the evening has a “Just Friends” format, wherein you can register a platonic friend of the opposite sex so you don’t have to embark on the mission solo.
Get crackin’ on that application here.
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