If the above description warrants 5 stars, it would only be fair to credit the true Discotheque experience with a very average 2 and a half. Answering to the name Hush, just months ago, today this midsize, Flatiron nightclub bears a title a la mode, however possesses few other features that follow suit.

After the promoters have clogged your E-mail inbox with over 40 party announcements that week, you finally venture to check the place out. With Valentino in hand, standing on your Prada's and wearing that slinky vintage frock you step from the cab onto the queue. When it becomes your turn, you reveal to the doorman that your name is on the guest list, at which time he moves you onto another line. Here you wait as the bouncer with an apparent Napoleon complex tells you that your fee has been reduced to an economical $15.00 from the admission valued at $20.00. As if he is doing you a favor, he sends you on in.

Feeling like you just walked onto the Broadway stage of CATS or into another like smoky street setting; you only faintly make out the faces of the figures around you, where the tables begin and where the dancefloor ends. The floor is packed with bodies, but "with whom?" you wonder. The smoke machines are in full effect and the lights are set low.

The men begin to touch and talk, and stand a bit too close in jeans tighter than those of the recent NYU grads making out on the couches in the corner. The voices ring with remnants of life in Staten Island, Russia, France, Israel, Brooklyn, Italy, Persia and anywhere else from which a bridge, tunnel or flight from Europe would have to have been taken to transact such an appearance. The music is a voluminous mix of soulful house, hip hop and radio-prone dance tracks inspiring an impressive groove scene that doesn't quite slow until the doors close in early hours.

The venue itself is pretty large compared to recent nightlife newcomers. Though it is hard to make out through the musty air, a long bright bar stands against the far east wall of the grand ball room, making its way to the back corner where a small raised VIP lounge sits. A secret passage back will take you into the larger curtained off VIP room where there exists another bar and several low lounge tables. Lofty ceiling held by large columns umbrella the club, in which design details of oversized, cropped, pixellated face renderings and faux painted bookshelves decorate walls and tabletops.

The energy at this nightspot is high, however, hopes of holding a conversation in this way-to-smoky, scantily lit singles spot is just about out of the question. Unflattering lighting and a frigid atmosphere inspire little romance and a not-so-much comfort factor. If you are in it clearly for the no frills dance, however, Discotheque might just be your spot. DISCOTHEQUE - 17 WEST 19TH STREET AT FIFTH AVENUE NEW YORK, NY

by Jodi Lin Wiener

QUICK REVIEW
Dress	Drink Prices
upscale	$35 for one round

Decor	Size	Atmosphere
classy	mid-size	friendy
WARNINGS
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