As if New York wasn’t becoming enough like South Beach (particularly the meatpacking district), the city is about to experience one of Florida’s less civilized innovations—horizontal dining. An outpost of the Miami restaurant Bed will open in October on West 27th Street and Tenth Avenue. In lieu of tables there will be 29 zebra-wood beds (most seating eight to ten) with 400-thread-count cotton sheets. Food is served on a tray, so guests can lean forward to eat, or back, against pillows, King Herod–style. “The Miami place has more of a club feel. This is a fine dining establishment,” says Dirk van Stockum, one of Bed’s owners. That said, “We do encourage pillow fights, and making out is fine. They’re also great for hugging parties, which are all the rage.”
Due this month is Duvet on West 21st Street, with 25 beds that hold up to eight—plus five private bedrooms. “The mattresses are quite firm, so you can jump on them and things won’t spill, or you can lie down to eat,” says owner Sabina Belkin.
“There’s something exciting about eating in a bed,” says Supakorn Chaikasemchok, manager of Highline, a Thai restaurant with king-size beds that opened in June on Washington Street. “It’s a dining journey, like traveling overnight.”
“Eating in bed is admittedly weird, because you don’t know how often they change the linens,” says Jeffrey Chodorow, who nonetheless is putting outdoor beds in Ono, opening in the Hotel Gansevoort in October. “My wife and I went to Bed in Miami, and we had to share a bed, so we left. I don’t want to lie down on someone’s lamb-chop grease. At Ono, at least we’ll be serving bite-size food like sushi.”
Van Stockum assures would-be diners that Bed will change the sheets after every seating, and that any unpleasant stains will be tagged. He admits, though, that some serving adjustments have to be made: “Soups are a problem.”