CC’s Ember Club is an homage to the glory days of the lounge club, where people came to eat, drink, and be seen, and be entertained. A real night out, a classy occasion that’s accessible to (almost) everyone.
The small foyer/entryway leads to a hostess stand and small seating area with couches. There is a side table with a few nibbles on it and carafes of infused ice water available while you wait. When your table is ready, you’re led by staff members who look like they could fit comfortably into the 1960’s mod era to your booth or table.
Once seated, the menus are offered and drink orders taken. This is a mid-sized venue. Soft jazz, blues, and torch songs play through the professional sound system built into the walls; there is performance space at one end of the room, and a small dancing area before it. The tables are meant to show off those seated there, let them see and be seen; the more numerous booths tend to be secluded, shadowed, and private.
In the main lounge room, the lighting is low, intimate; candles and electric bulbs shaded by what seem like hand-made shades that evoke stained-glass flames; the few windows at the front of the club echo this theme. There is a skylight; a beautiful woman with dark hair and green eyes is illuminated and casts her image on the wall just above the glass sign on the wall reading “CC’s Ember Club” in flickering letters lit from within.
There is an oversized, more-than-full-length mirror set, forgotten-like, into one wall in the back corner; it is not lit, but the bottom of the glass carries the coals and flickering flame motif found throughout the glass in the club.
The club floor and ceiling are dark wood beams, and the walls are a deep green. Complimenting green curtains offer shade around the booths and baffle conversation within them. The upholstery throughout the club is dark brown (often leather) or rich green (usually fabric). The table surfaces are marble. Along the walls are attention-grabbing portraits of Peggy Lee, Frank Sinatra, and other lounge performers from the heyday of the style.
A small balcony level, accessible via a spiral staircase, offers stools and small, round, high tables for cocktails, snacks, and people watching.
There are other doors set around the room; a second, smaller space available on select evenings to the public and otherwise for private affairs. Back offices. The kitchen. A staff area.
The dress code is sophisticated, inclusive, diverse, classic; suitable wraps and jackets are available for those who require them. There is a cover charge on some nights, and on others there isn’t even a minimum drink requirement. There is nightly live music; jazz, blues, lounge and torch songs. The club also offers art for sale along the walls (enquire of your waiter) and open mic nights, occasionally, for those who wish to perform.
