Atlanta's 'King of Clubs' Goes Underground

By A. Scott Walton
Some night, some how, some poor soul is going to make her way to the alleyway door of the hottest new "hush-hush" night spot in Atlanta and here that dreaded refrain from the DJ Lil' Louis classic, "Lonely People".
Miss Thing (snap), there IS no guest list tonight!
At the new Parlour _ in the basement of the Midtown club Door 44 _ there's an odd "don't ask, don't tell" policy in effect. For now at least, it's an "invitation only" affair down there.
This demented twist of the velvet rope restricts anyone from the main venue upstairs from entering The Parlour; and its access is through a secluded back door.
The Parlour employs mixologists who have the time to painstakingly prepare the sort of made-to-order drinks that would cripple the bar upstairs. And a separate deejay's task is to cater as exactly as possible to the tastes of the 50 or so invitees the space can hold.
Only after conducting a sneak preview interview with EyeSeeStyle before The Parlour welcomes its first guests did co-owner Pablo Henderson reveal that there's an aspect of reverse psychology in play.
"This is a space designed for our crowd," he confided. "People who wouldn't normally set foot in your average Midtown club because they think it's all generic music and generic drinks."
"But if you're down here," he added, "you can go upstairs and discover, 'Hey, it's not so bad', and come back down when you want."