Z!nk

Yeah, I'd never heard of it either. But when Manu got an invitation to go to the March cover release party for Z!nk magazine, I agreed to be his plus one without hesitation. I'd never been to a magazine cover release party, and I figured it would be worth seeing.

I was absolutely right. The party started at 10:00 on a Tuesday and ended at midnight. We arrived at the club (called 1OAK, for 1 Of A Kind...) half an hour late. There was a line to get in and we had to give our names, which were checked against the guest list before a security guard unhooked a red velvet rope to let us in. It was loud, dim, and absolutely packed inside. After checking our coats and bags for $4 an item (!) we squeezed up to the bar. Ally, Manu's friend, ordered a club soda and I ordered a vodka soda. The bartender yelled that my drink was free and that Ally's was $6, then added, in case we were wondering, that beer was $10 and all other drinks were $25. Ally realized that tap water was what she really wanted, and Manu decided that what I was drinking looked pretty good after all.

We ran into Lisa, Manu's friend who was responsible for the party, a few minutes later. She was able to demystify the drink prices - "We only gave them vodka," she explained - but Manu said she seemed stressed out and so we wandered away after paying her our compliments.

I was perfectly happy to just stare at the other party-goers, which was a good thing because conversation was nearly impossible over the music. Our companions were an interesting mixture of hipsters, fashionistas, run-of-the-mill night-clubbers, and people who looked like they'd just come from a costume party. A guy in a black fishnet shirt snuggled with a girl wearing a colorful turban in a booth. A blonde guy with a glittery star painted around his left eye posed for a picture with a girl in knee-high boots and a short faux-fur coat. We counted at least two pairs of sunglasses, a truly noble ode to fashion since it was so dim I could hardly see even without shades. Plaid hunting jackets and horn-rimmed glasses mingled comfortably with miniskirts and sequins. A true equal-opportunity party.

This is what 1OAK must have looked like before the party started.

We yelled back and forth for a bit, refreshed our drinks, and watched the colorful tights, open shirts, fedoras, and impossible platform heels surge around us. At one point a huge guy in a suit who looked like he worked security for Al Capone squeezed behind me on his way somewhere, putting his hands around my waist so that I thought for a minute he was going to lift me out of the way. "'Scuse me, baby," he said. I excused him.

The crowd started to thin just before midnight. I thought it was because the party was ending, but a visit to the bar revealed the real reason: the gratis vodka from the magazine had run out and the bar's normal drink prices were in effect. Time to leave. We collected our coats and collected cool canvas gift bags on the way out, which contained ridiculous plastic sunglasses, a fun bracelet, some pamphlets and coupons, and the March issue of the magazine. I can't say that I love Z!nk's style - it's a bit adventurous for me - but they throw one hell of a party.