History

Introduction | About the Jockeys | About the Toys  | Secret Wine Cellar | Timeline | 21 Trivia Challenge

On a warm summer evening in June 1932, during the height of America's Prohibition Era, ten federal agents knock on the door of the most famous speakeasy in New York, '21'. Jimmy, the doorman, squints through the peephole and, seeing the officers, activates a secret alarm that alerts the management that a raid is imminent.

Seconds later, federal officers burst in, and ransack the building looking for liquor. After hours of searching the premises - closets, rooms, attic, basement - law enforcement agents admit defeat and leave without finding the two thousand cases of contraband hidden downstairs.

Years later, the great mystery as to why the agents never found the liquor was revealed - '21's secret Wine Cellar!

Perhaps the most elaborately disguised vault in New York City, '21's Wine Cellar was built to be invisible. Behind several smoked hams that hung from the basement ceiling and a shelved wall filled with canned goods, stood a perfectly camouflaged 2 1/2 ton door that appeared to be part of the wall.  Opened only by inserting a slender 18" meat skewer through one of many cracks in the cement wall, the secret door silently slid back to reveal '21's most coveted treasure: two thousand cases of wine.

As a matter of record, '21's Wine Cellar was, and still is, in 19 West 52nd Street. During Prohibition, '21' did not own the building at 19 West 52nd Street, they just rented the cellar. Because of this, when employees were asked by Federal agents if there was liquor on the premises, they could truthfully answer "No, sir!" 

Today, '21's Wine Cellar still evokes memories of those colorful days. The massive door, which must still be unlocked with that peculiar 18" wire, opens to reveal a series of rooms filled with the world's finest wines and liquors - Montrachet 1898, Romanee-Conti 1880, Chateau Lafite-Rothschild.

In addition to housing the restaurant's collection of vintage wines and rare liquors, '21' also stores the private collections of some of the restaurant's most famous patrons, both past and present, including Presidents Gerald Ford and Richard Nixon, Elizabeth Taylor, Hugh Carey, Ivan Boesky, Eva Gabor, Aristotle Onasis and Sammy Davis Jr.

Another cherished tradition of '21's Wine Cellar history is the "laying down" of a bottle of cognac or champagne when a child was born to a long-time patron. On the child's 21st birthday - and not a day sooner - the bottle is opened and savored with family and friends. 

While the spirit of '21's Wine Cellar has remained unchanged over the decades, it has been remodeled to afford patrons an opportunity to dine in an atmosphere steeped in history. Upon the remodeling, a section of the Wine Cellar was turned into an elegant private dining room that seats 20 patrons. Amidst wine racks, diners can enjoy a seven-course Tasting Menu with specially paired wines.

Perhaps the inspiration for the dining room sprang from another story in '21's colorful past. During Prohibition, Jimmy Walker, Mayor of New York, had a private booth in a corner of the cellar. Legend has it that the Mayor would go to '21's Wine Cellar to have a cocktail in peace as federal agents were raiding the premises above for contraband. Mayor Walker's booth has been preserved, and can be viewed today by revelers under decidedly more favorable circumstances.