With New Yorkers facing a heat wave, it's the optimal time for the city's first ice bar to open in the New York Hilton Midtown on Sixth Avenue, according to NBC News.
The entire bar is made of ice, and with admission of $20, it isn't cheap. The admission includes Eskimo-style gloves and a parka to drink in the literally freezing bar, Minus5 Ice Bar.
When you walk in the door, two hostesses, called "party starters," wearing bustiers walk you to a meat-locker style door. Once inside, the drinks continue the ice theme, with clear cocktails that are mostly vodka-based and served in custom-designed glasses made from artesian water.
"The walls, everything, the chairs you're sitting on, the glass you're drinking out of, even the light above your head is made of ice," Chris Eldridge, the manager, told NBC.
The ice is a special type made for carvers that comes from Canada, Philadelphia, Las Vegas and Minneapolis, though promoters say it's "100 percent Canadian ice."
The bar uses 350 ice blocks, each weighing up to 100 pounds in a room that is kept at 23 degrees Fahrenheit, which converts to minus-five degrees Celsius, the origin of the bar's name.
To maintain the low temperature and prevent melting, any devices that emit heat, such as cell phones, must be left in temperature-proof lockers by the door.
"An experience that will chill you to your bones!" the website for the company proclaims. The concept was started in New Zealand by Craig Ling, who then tested it as a pop-up bar shaped as an igloo at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.
An ice carver will change the bar and sculptures every few months, with ice creations that reflect the season, location, wildlife or corporate logos and products for private events.
The bar doesn't only cater to the nightlife crowd, but to children and families from 2-7 p.m.
"The timing couldn't have been better for us to open here, with temperatures in the 90s," Noel Bowman, the director of operations for Minus5, said.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
