On Wednesday night, New York’s Up & Down nightclub played host to Nick Jonas and a crowd of music executives buzzed by Kosher wine. A celebration for the singer’s headphone collaboration with Altec Lansing had been blessed by rabbis, who actively meandered the room with vigilant purpose — kashrut supervision.
“They made us take half the bar away, I’ve never seen this at a party before,” said an Up & Down bartender. While the club regularly hosts Drake, it’s not exactly a popular Bar Mitzvah venue. The owners of Altec Lansing, it became known, are Kosher-abiding.
“We have no sweet vermouth, no Triple Sec, no Ciroc,” the bartender warned of his placated offering, placing concerned emphasis on the latter spirit’s absence. Those requesting Champagne were slyly slipped flutes of Moscato — Cuveé’s Manischewitz equivalent.
Never a crew to shy away from the Meatpacking District, Victoria’s Secret Angels Martha Hunt and Sara Sampaio were in attendance, as well as actor Alex Pettyfer.
Jonas, who was also celebrating the release of his new album “Last Year Was Complicated,” said of his headphone tie-up: “I was blown away by clarity of the product and wanted to make it my own.”