Haven Nº 006 — North America › United States › New York › New York City · Tables & Bars
Bemelmans Bar
The man who drew Madeline painted these walls. The piano starts at 5:30, and so does the cover.
Bemelmans Bar, inside The Carlyle on New York's Upper East Side, is the room Ludwig Bemelmans painted. Come at half past four, take a stool under the murals, and order before the pianist sits down.
4:30 p.m. · First round
Before the piano
At 5:30 p.m. a pianist sits down at Bemelmans Bar, and the cover charge starts with the first set. The bar is inside The Carlyle, on East 76th Street on New York’s Upper East Side, a block from Central Park, and its walls were painted by Ludwig Bemelmans, the man who wrote and drew Madeline. It opens at noon.
So come at half past four. Take a stool at the counter, under the mural that runs behind the bottles, and order the drink the house teaches in its own lessons: a classic martini. The bartenders wear red jackets. Watch the first one made before you decide anything else. If you are hungry, the menu has half a dozen Blue Point oysters, $43, or a shrimp cocktail, $38.
The walls
Look for the rabbits
Behind the bar, an angel stands on top of a fountain. Rabbits row a boat across the pond beside it, another rabbit takes aim with a rifle, and a man in a top hat is half out of the frame. Under it all stand rows of glasses.
On the wall by the banquettes, a mustached man in a bowler leans down to hand a bunch of balloons to a small boy. The banquettes are tufted brown leather, the lamps have painted shades, and the ceiling glows gold above them.
Bemelmans was born in the Austrian Tirol in 1898 and came to the United States in 1914. Besides Madeline, first published in 1939, he wrote for adults about the subjects he knew best: hotels, travel and Hollywood.
The menu knows its author. The first martini on the list is Madeline’s Vesper. The second is Ludwig’s Brush. The drinks without alcohol are called Two Straight Lines, after the twelve little girls of the first book, $26, and Pepito “The Bad Hat,” $28.
5:30 p.m. · Second round
The cover, and what it buys
At 5:30 the first pianist opens the evening. The resident artists are Earl Rose, Bryan Eng, Tony DeSare, David Budway, Billy Stritch and Jim Caruso. Rose, an Emmy winner, plays the Great American Songbook.
From now on, your seat has a price. The cover runs $20 to $25 a person at the bar and $25 to $35 at a table, depending on who is playing. The counter is the better deal, and you already have it. At the counter you face the mural and the bartenders; on a banquette you face the room. If you came as four, a table along the banquettes is worth the difference.
Order the second round from the house list. Madeline’s Vesper is gin, vodka and Cocchi Americano, $32, served in a coupe with a twist of lemon printed with the bar’s name. Bobby’s Manhattan, $34, is built on rum and cherry liqueur. The martini list runs from the Mezcalini, $31, to The Gibson, $43. Ask for the prime beef sliders, $34, so the second martini has company; if the evening calls for more, 50 grams of Kaviari Osciètre Prestige is $305.
9 p.m. · Last round
The trio
At nine the piano hands over to a jazz trio. The bar keeps pouring until midnight on Sundays and Mondays, 12:30 a.m. from Tuesday to Thursday, and 1 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.
For the last round, the menu stays on theme. The JFK Daiquiri is Mount Gay XO rum, falernum and lime, $30. The Jackie O is vodka, passion fruit and Moët on top, $35. One of them, then the walk out along 76th Street. Budget for the evening as the menu does: New York’s 8.875 percent tax is added to every line, and the cover is charged per person.
Getting in
How to get a seat
The bar first took reservations in the spring of 2021. Until then, every seat was first come, first served.
For almost seventy-five years, nobody could book a table at Bemelmans.
Today you can book online through the link on the bar’s page, write to [email protected], or call +1 212 570 7120. Book if you want a table during the music. When booking opened, the house said walk-ins remained welcome, and the early hour is the time to try.
Dress for the room. The house asks for no athletic or casual wear: no hoodies, sweatpants, shorts, tank tops, baseball caps or athletic sneakers. It may suggest you change, or come back another time.
For a private lesson, one of the red-jacketed bartenders teaches a 45-minute martini class: $495 a couple, tax and tip included. It is the way to learn the drink the room is built around.
If you arrive too early, the hotel’s Gallery, a room the designer Renzo Mongiardino drew after the Topkapi Palace, serves afternoon tea. And if one martini becomes a night, The Carlyle has 100 rooms and 92 suites upstairs.
The key
- Arrive before 5:30 p.m.: the pianist starts then, and so does the cover.
- Take a stool at the counter if the cover matters: $20–25 a person there, $25–35 at a table.
- Order a classic martini first, Madeline's Vesper ($32) second, and the sliders with it.
- Book through the bar's page or [email protected], and dress for it: no athletic sneakers, no caps.
The dossier · Haven Nº 006
- Where
- The Carlyle, 35 East 76th Street, New York
- Open
- Daily from noon · to midnight Sun–Mon · 12:30 a.m. Tue–Thu · 1 a.m. Fri–Sat
- Music
- Pianist from 5:30 p.m. · jazz trio from 9 p.m.
- Cover, from 5:30
- Bar $20–25 · table $25–35, per person
- Martinis
- $31–43 (November 2026)
- Dress
- No athletic or casual wear
- Book
- Online · [email protected] · +1 212 570 7120
- Lesson
- Martini class · 45 min · $495 a couple, tax and tip included
- Walls
- Murals by Ludwig Bemelmans
Our verdict
Two drinks, one on each side of 5:30. The walls are worth the trip uptown on their own, and the first notes from the piano are worth the cover.
Not for you if you want a quiet drink late in the evening, or a bill without a cover charge once the music starts.
Before you go
Is there a cover charge at Bemelmans Bar?
Yes, from 5:30 p.m., when the pianist starts: $20–25 a person at the bar and $25–35 at a table, depending on the artist. Before 5:30 there is no music, and no cover.
What is the dress code at Bemelmans Bar?
No athletic or casual wear: no hoodies, sweatpants, shorts, tank tops, baseball caps or athletic sneakers. Staff may ask you to change or to come back another time.
Do you need a reservation at Bemelmans Bar?
Book if you want a table during the music. Reservations are taken online through the link on the bar's page, at [email protected] or at +1 212 570 7120.
What time does the music start at Bemelmans Bar?
A pianist opens at 5:30 p.m., and a jazz trio plays from 9 p.m.
Who painted the murals at Bemelmans Bar?
Ludwig Bemelmans (1898–1962), the author and illustrator of Madeline, first published in 1939.
Bemelmans Bar, official page. We earn nothing on this link. Images: courtesy of The Carlyle, A Rosewood Hotel.
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