When the 21 Club announced that it was yet another casualty of Covid-19, I thought about that special lunch in August of 2018 when Flo and I - with several other Gotham members - enjoyed the rare experience of eating in the restaurant’s once secret underground dining room.
During the years of Prohibition, the “privileged” of New York could still partake with their meals in the safety of the 21 Club’s special dining room.
We met by the bar and were taken through the kitchen and down a narrow staircase. A few twists and turns through narrow passageways led to a small doorway.  You had to step over a drainage pipe and duck to get through the door. When closed, the doorway was camouflaged and unrecognizable.
Inside, the single table took up the entire room which was surrounded by walls of wine racks. Wines of years and years ago.
A sense of history engulfed us. When the door was closed, you had the sense that you could remain undetected for years — precisely what was intended.
As we enjoyed the meal and compnay,  I had the sense that the experience was very special. A rare opportunity made possible by Gotham’s Fred and Nancy.
Oftentimes, I would have let an opportunity like this pass me by - confident that it would present itself again.
With last month's announcement by the 21 Club, I am happy that I didn’t let that one get away.