Proper Bar Opens With Elevated Bistro Fare, Caviar, and Cocktails in Mount Vernon Triangle

"In November 2012, Hurricane Sandy tore through lower Manhattan, flooding subway tunnels and knocking out power across the city. A transformer explosion darkened much of downtown, including their new Tribeca bar. "It was a kind of baptism by fire," Strozier says. "Even though it was hard, I'm thankful for that, because it really did prepare us for what the worst-case scenario could be.""

"Over the next decade, the pair built a small empire of "Proper" venues, opening eight businesses together, including five restaurants across New York and Washington. When the pandemic hit, they shuttered their New York restaurants and spent the next few years focused on stabilizing their DC operations- Proper 21 and Proper 21 K Street -before turning their attention to what came next."

Rob Zahn and Will Strozier opened their first New York bar, Manhattan Proper, three months before Hurricane Sandy struck lower Manhattan in November 2012, flooding subway tunnels and knocking out power. A transformer explosion darkened downtown, including their Tribeca bar. Over the next decade they opened eight Proper venues, including five restaurants across New York and Washington. The pandemic prompted closure of the New York sites while they stabilized DC operations at Proper 21 and Proper 21 K Street. Nearly five years after their last opening they launched Proper Bar, a 5,500-square-foot restaurant and cocktail lounge in Mount Vernon Triangle offering elevated American bistro fare with shareable plates, pastas ($24–$28), caviar service, Ora King salmon, and a $195 32-ounce dry-aged tomahawk steak.

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