Celebrities frequently sip and schmooze in the private nooks and crannies of New York City’s dreamy restaurant the Golden Swan.
Owner Matthew Abramcyk and general manager Marquis James took Page Six on an exclusive tour of the chic spot tucked inside the historic two-story West Village townhouse, where notable regulars include Helena Christensen and Henrik Lundqvist.
“It’s almost like a Woody Allen kind of frame of New York,” Abramcyk, the restaurateur behind Tribeca’s Smith & Mills and Tiny’s & the Bar Upstairs, said of the hotspot’s ambiance.
“You just have these conversations that, you know, relate to normal things in settings that are sort of rarefied by their New York-ish-ness, which I think we’ve really tried to do here with some architecture and menu and staff.”
Originally established in Greenwich Village during the turn of the 19th century, the Golden Swan was frequented by artists and thieves alike, including Hudson Dusters gang member Thomas Wallace. In 2023, decades after the watering hole was knocked down to make way for the West 4th Street subway station, Abramcyk re-opened the storied establishment in the building once home to the shuttered Spotted Pig.
The reimagined eatery’s lower-level bistro-style space, sentimentally named after Wallace, has been the backdrop for many of Christensen’s cocktail-infused girls’ nights with fellow models like Claudia Schiffer, Cindy Crawford and Kaia Gerber.
The stylish jet-black wooden bar, illuminated by a green brick wall backing, encapsulates a Gatsby-era glamour infused with an old-money timelessness.
We’re told the bartenders — known for their show-stopping rosemary-smoked old fashioned cocktail — stirred up numerous extra-dirty martinis for Lorde and a pal one unfettered evening, while Crawford and her gaggle of catwalkers sipped on the eatery’s special Golden Swan martinis. Talking Heads frontman David Byrne and his wife, Adelle Lutz, also enjoyed glasses of wine while seated on studded stools.
Propped beside the bar is a portrait of the boxer Gene Tunney painted by Interpol’s lead singer, Paul Banks.
“This is an incredible painting. People come here every night and admire it,” Abramcyk, a longtime friend to Banks, said.
An extension of the main bar area, dubbed the Rear Wallace Room, is curtained off for VIP guests seeking a delicious meal without any prying eyes. Behind the velvet drapes, Sam Smith dined under the radar, Bradley Cooper ordered several mocktails and Jude Law teamed up with Jason Bateman for a boys’ night.
Italian architect and designer Carlo Scarpa inspired the marble Moroccan tile floor, and hanging on the wall is an exact replica of Charles Demuth’s “The Golden Swan” painting, which once hung in the original saloon.
“I love this room because it relays the same kind of bar design that we have in our main bar room, but it’s kind of like a ‘Peaky Blinders’ small room off the side of the bar,” Abramcyk said.
Off the Rear Wallace Room is an unassuming door used by celebrities as a secret entrance to thwart fans and paparazzi. The door, marked with a “No Guest Access” sign, leads to a grungy hallway with stairs to the main dining room as well as an escape route to the side street.
Cooper and Jake Gyllenhaal are just a few notables to use the secret back door as an evasive maneuver.
The upstairs main dining room — accessible from both the secret staircase and the front flight of stairs — has mirror-lined walls and large windows allowing for natural light to stream in during the day and charming views of downtown to be admired at night.
“We have the most comfortable possible environment for a dinner,” Abramcyk said of the dining room. “We have a beautiful room with all sorts of design accouterment meant to make the lighting and color and ambiance in here feel like you’re in a glowing — [a] snow globe kind of a feel.
“The reason we’re called the Golden Swan is because of the golden light that comes in at sunset, right off the water here,” he continued, referring to the Hudson River. “It’s one of the most beautiful dining experiences in the world.”
The intimate 40-seat space was famously the setting of Shaun White’s surprise proposal to Nina Dobrev in October 2024.
“For the engagement, we cleared out all the tables. Sean put up a big arch of flowers … roses lined the floors, [we] candle-lit the entire space,” Abramcyk said. “They loved it.”
James added that the proposal was “very intimate [and] very private.”
While each candlelit table offers a cozy yet stylish sanctuary, Table 76 is the most sought-after setup and exclusively reserved for the restaurant’s VIP clientele.
“A lot of fabulous people have dined here at Table 76,” Abramcyk said. “A lot of people request the table, but it’s just not accessible [to everyone]. We have a lot of VIP requests for the table, and we really reserve it, and we hold it to a high standard for all of our VIPs.”
Kate Hudson was once seated at Table 76 with her mom, Goldie Hawn, and the “First Wives Club” star’s longtime partner, Kurt Russell. We hear the group ate the eatery’s famous Dover sole dish, which is prepared with a meunière sauce and capers.
Besties Sarah Jessica Parker and Andy Cohen also enjoyed an evening out on the town while seated at Table 76.
“Those two personalities, when they’re together, it’s just laughing all night, jokes all night,” James said.
We’re told Naomi Watts, Reese Witherspoon, Jennifer Lawrence, Glenn Close and Meg Ryan have all graced the coveted booth and indulged in executive chef Doug Brixton’s eponymous burger with balsamic onions and Gruyère cheese on a pain au lait bun served with duck fat fries or his sticky toffee pudding with a side of crème fraîche ice cream topped with a cocoa feuilletine crumble.
Off the main dining room is a semi-private alcove frequented by Naomi Campbell and Blake Lively.
“[Stars] like dining here because it’s a semi-private feel,” James explained. “You’re still in the restaurant, you’re still in the mix, but you also have the private entrance that they can utilize at their convenience to go in and out.”
Jill Biden was one of the elite customers to sit in the partly restricted area for a ladies’ dinner with her granddaughter Finnegan Biden.
“We see a bunch of Secret Service agents pull up — they shut down the block. Jill Biden walks in the front door,” James remembered. “[Secret Service agents] were wanding everyone who came in, doing security checks. And also we had security stationed in several parts of the restaurant as well for our safety.”
We hear the former first lady “made it a point” to dine amongst the public because she “wanted to feel [like] a regular customer” and “blend in and just enjoy the New York experience.”
A stone’s throw away is the ultra-private snug hideaway called the Swan Room. A black curtain conceals the room where 15 people can be seated at sexy red velvet banquets that appear to melt into the gold-textured walls.
“Like good New York restaurant folks, we bought a $200 roll of swan wallpaper on Amazon, and our good friend Kevin McCormick painted this beautiful room over the wallpaper,” Abramcyk shared. “It has so much patina, so much texture and depth. It’s the perfect place for an intimate dinner for a couple of people.”
Inside the Swan Room, we’re told Suki Waterhouse threw Robert Pattinson a birthday party, and Jane Fonda shared a meal with Sally Field.
David and Victoria Beckham also used the mini oasis as a place of reprieve while throwing a holiday party in the main dining room for her clothing company. When paparazzi flooded the streets to capture their exit, James came to the rescue and drove them home himself.
“Victoria and David Beckham were wrapping up their night. It was time for them to leave. Unfortunately, they generated a lot of paparazzi and interest outside,” James recalled. “So I escorted them through the back entrance, through the private entrance into my car.”
James said he drove the pair to their New York residence while their personal chauffeur steered their vehicle in the opposite direction to thwart the shutterbugs.
“Escape strategies are not too much for the Golden Swan to handle,” Abramcyk added.