Velvet Dog celebrates 15 years this weekend

The Velvet Dog, Martini Corner’s flagship establishment, will celebrate its crystal anniversary this weekend. I sat down with Chris Seferyn, owner of the VD (400 East 31st St.) and Mint Ultra Lounge (334 East 31st St.), to discuss what it takes to keep things rollin’ in Midtown for 5,475 days.

​The Pitch: So what’s been your secret to keeping the business going for 15 years?

Chris Seferyn: I believe that a good bar is a community service and every town needs good bars. And it’s up to people like myself to pay attention to what’s going on, listen to people and figure out how to design something that people will enjoy so when they go out, they have places to go.

I noticed you don’t book any bands or have any regularly scheduled entertainment. Is there a reason for that?

The Velvet Dog is a lounge. A lounge could be a lot of things. It could be a torch singer. It could be a jazz band. It could be a DJ. Anything. The Dog was never really about live music, per se. The first five to seven years we were open, all the other people that played music at all the other places, hung out here when they weren’t performing. It’s just a chill spot with really good music, eclectic vibe, retro feel. It’s not necessarily about entertainment, although we do have some DJs, and I’m going to start expanding the flow and make the Dog more of a DJ lounge. Part of this anniversary party is kind of the end of the old Dog and the beginning of the new Dog.