You’ve heard the hype, read the hate on the message boards, now it's time to see The Eldridge for yourself. What, you didn’t get your laser-engraved membership card? Then it’s to the back of the line for you, plebian! Behind a faux used bookstore façade, a 13-table lounge is ready to pamper all of your self-indulgent needs, should you be recession-proof and in need of a $32 drink. We’ve taken a quick glance inside and can confidently say this is the best $650,000 wall of Armand de Brignac among the tenements of the Lower East Side. The gold-speckled floors and Chesterfield leather banquettes are just crying out for an endurance test by new Prada spike heels. The first bar opened by 26-year-old Matt Levine, the designer behind menswear label Steelo and a reality TV contestant (VH1’s Glam Gods), he’s banking on self-promotion and some A-list connections (Lydia Hearst, Kate Moss) to keep the lines long. He’s been called a douchebag by just about everyone on the blogosphere (except for Steve Lewis, who butters him up by saying he is “respectful, honest, and … enthusiastic.”) In his defense, Levine says he’s been misquoted and misrepresented—he just wants to offer a new experience in NYC nightlife, one where “hipster meets Vogue.” Whether actual hipsters will get past the rope remains to be seen.