On November 13, we speculated that 1 Oak--the new club from Butter owners Richie Akiva and Scott Sartiano--would open in roughly four to six weeks, after a construction worker we spoke with estimated that it would be ready in two. Well, as fate would have it, this week (exactly one month later) several different sources (from New York Magazine to Down By The Hipster to The Gluttoness ) reported that the long-awaited Chelsea hot spot would finally host its first event, One Model Management's holiday party, last night.

Seeing as how our fancy offices at the IAC building are just two blocks away from 1 Oak, I did a quick walk-by after work last night and snapped the above photo. Granted, it was early (around 7pm), but from what little I could glean, the first guests to christen the new bar were, well, dudes--and not male model dudes, but like average, unglamorous, finance-type of dudes. Maybe the models were stuck in traffic, or maybe I just happened to walk by just as One Model Management's accounting department was arriving--you know, so they could get in before the door became selective. Lucky for them, at least this early in the evening, it was not.

But when 1 Oak opens to the "public" (supposedly sometime in January), Richie and Scott, bless their hearts, won't be letting bankers in just because they'll drop cash on a bottle--no, as Mr. Sartiano told the New York Times, they intend to save New York nightlife, and at 1 Oak, "First you need to get in. Then you need to be cool enough to get a table. Then you can get bottles." So, for the guys whose social status depends solely on the size of their bankroll, take note: That might fly over at Marquee, but it ain't gonna get you in the door at 1 Oak. But if you are one of the select few that can prove first that you're worthy of sitting at a banquette, and then that you deserve to drop several hundred dollars on a bottle of Goose, then perhaps this place won't be a massive disappointment after all.