You’re in a tweed suit, inside an underground mahogany room with your loudest friends, smoking a cigarette and probably drinking something strong, like a martini or a scotch on the rocks. You’re a Wall Street somebody, the room that you’ve been escorted to is a private poker room, and the laws are fuzzy. But you don’t care, you’ve got cash to burn and drinks to down. The year is 1993…wait no, it’s 2021.
Even though it may sound like a romanticised scene in a vintage mob film, this entirely exclusive experience is now able to be lived out (minus the smoking inside), at Sydney’s beloved The Gidley.
Parent company Liquid & Larder (The Gidley, Wild Rover, Bistecca and Grama’s) came up with this luxurious idea towards the end of 2020’s lockdown era. They met up weekly, drank wine, played cards and discussed the things they’d like to do in a post-lockdown world. Shockingly, given their activities of choice, they decided to create this secret poker room underneath The Gildey’s dining space, calling it “The Library”.
The space was previously used as a private dining room, but has now been transformed into its new mahogany glory. A custom-made tournament-quality poker table lies beneath an 8-seater American Oak dining table, just waiting to be transformed after you finish your Spinalis steak and bottle of rich red wine.
The concept of The Library was inspired by the Mayfair Club, one of New York’s most renowned clubrooms. Knowing that, it’s easy to draw comparisons to the locations of the famous rooms and the new secret addition to The Gidley. The Mayfair was hidden in a basement of an apartment complex in Gramercy, while The Library is hidden in a basement on Sydney’s King Street.
It honestly sounds like such a thrill. What a great excuse to dress up in your best seductress or business chic attire and hustle your friends down to play a real-life game of poker, in a setting that feels as though you’re a part of history.
The Library is available for private hire only, from Tuesday – Saturday (daytime) and Monday – Sunday (evenings).
Find all the information here.
“The smarter you play, the luckier you’ll be.” – Mark Pilarski