Post Company Completes One Cornelia with Kees Cocktail Bar

Kees, a subterranean cocktail bar, has opened at One Cornelia in New York's West Village, completing the multi-concept hospitality venue. The bar joins agave bar Mixteca and the first NYC outpost of LA taqueria Tacos 1986. Jeff Bell, owner of hidden cocktail bar Please Don't Tell (PDT), helms Kees, named after the Dutch nickname for Cornelius, referencing the location and Bell's ancestry. Post Company, the multidisciplinary design studio behind Raf's, Fedora, INNESS, and MOLLIE, designed all three concepts. The interior features vintage armchairs, velvet banquettes, a chamfered stone bar under a custom ribbed-glass lightbox, veined marble, sculpted Venetian plaster columns, wood, and patinated brass. Jou-Yie Chou, founding partner of Post Company, describes the space as intimate and surprising, with a theatrical concept that nods to PDT. The bar program is approachable despite the luxurious setting.