Last week, Olivia Salomone did something out of character. She went to a bar on a Tuesday. Ms. Salomone, 28, was scheduled to teach back-to-back Pilates classes the next morning, beginning at 6:30 a.m. But she got dressed, walked over to the East Village bistro Ella Funt and drank a Naked and Famous cocktail anyway, all in pursuit of the elusive promise of “Sit at the Bar September.”
Earlier this month, the elder influencer Laurie Cooper, whose Instagram bio reads “I am an icon, everyone knows who I am,” posted a video outlining her latest dating communiqué: Ditch the apps, and go sit at the bar this September to meet someone. Her plea has amassed more than 700,000 views across TikTok and Instagram. Ms. Cooper goes out seven nights a week trawling for new recommendations for her followers, like the Standard in the meatpacking district (“Wow, does that hop”) and Felix in SoHo (“Buckle up girls, this place is a wild ride!”).
But her Sit at the Bar September missive has catalyzed a movement, with restaurants capitalizing on the phrase to market their cocktails and singles flocking to bar stools in droves.
“A vast majority of us just haven’t had the confidence to execute it,” said Mikaela Phillips, 28, a producer in Los Angeles. “Now it’s become acceptable: Head out and give this a shot. Hopefully the men are catching on and open to it just as much.”
For Ms. Salomone, who was sent Ms. Cooper’s video by her mother (and several of her mother’s friends), it worked. A man she met on Tuesday at Ella Funt surprised her the next morning by showing up to take her Pilates class — and then took Ms. Salomone out for smoothies. The two have already gone on a second date.
Ms. Cooper, a real estate agent from Brooklyn, began doling out recommendations on social media last year after a memorable stint on “The Real Housewives of New York” signaled her potential for online fame. Giving advice felt natural, she said, and she thrills to followers who reach back out to say that her tips worked. Ms. Cooper, who declined to confirm her age, works with her son Michael, 48, on her videos. (He is single.)
“I’m a New York icon,” said Ms. Cooper, whose advice is intended for people of any gender, age or sexual orientation. “It was natural for me to go into being a social internet queen because I know everything about this city. I’m a real person.”
Meaghan Dorman, the bar director and a partner of Dear Irving and the Raines Law Room in Manhattan, said she is leaning into Sit at the Bar September, encouraging employees in preshift meetings to “leave some room for magic.” “I have seen dating app users line up multiple dates in one night, and I always think if you’re focused on what’s next, how are you really giving this present date a chance?” Ms. Dorman said.
Benjamin Czerwinsky, a bartender at Jean’s in NoHo, has noticed an uptick in “beautiful girls” at the bar on recent evenings. Perhaps it is because of Ms. Cooper’s influence, though he can’t say for sure. “I try to wingman,” he said. “The word needs to spread to the guys. Spread the gospel.”
At a moment when finding a romantic partner feels like trying to cool off beside a dumpster fire in Dante’s “Inferno,” some report that sit at a bar September has reinvigorated them.
Last week, Liv Bartfield, who works in public relations, brought a dystopian novel about dating to Chelsea Living Room in Manhattan for Sit at the Bar September. Over pickle martinis, she met a prospective love interest.
“That romantic New York City, my-life-is-a-movie vibe — taking yourself out, being open to chance encounters and meeting people who you wouldn’t meet on an app — is something that’s been refreshing for me,” said Ms. Bartfield, 28. While she came away from the evening with only a new friend, she was reminded of “the whole charm of living in a city like this.”
Aparna Brielle, 31, an actress in Los Angeles, has long known the romantic potential of sitting at the bar, and these days takes herself out as often as once a week. A real life meet-cute is not only more efficient in scouting for chemistry, she said, but it also feels “infinitely more rewarding, like I hunted and foraged for it myself.”
Many have plans to champion this crusade well beyond Sept. 30. Ms. Cooper approves, calling it a year-round philosophy: “September, October, just get out there, girls! Girls meaning everyone,” she said.
Ms. Cooper’s influence has been helpful in rallying friends to join Ms. Salomone, the Pilates instructor: She practiced Sit at the Bar September a second night in a row after her success at Ella Funt.
“Now we have a slogan for it,” she said. “When you don’t have a plan, you can be like, ‘OK, let’s go Sit at the Bar September.’”
Ms. Cooper, who lost her husband to Covid, channels Sit at the Bar September to make friends. “Sit at the bar, talk to people, cross your legs.”
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