Zach Macklovitch has spent more than a decade opening rooms built for volume: Suwu, Apt. 200, Doubles. Marilyn's runs the other way. Set in a former private dining room in the basement of Mare, the Novantuno Group restaurant, it holds roughly 55 people and operates on a membership model, with entry either through the restaurant or a doorbell in the back alley.

The design, developed with architect Marie-Philippe Bergeron, works in red carpet, marble bar tops and plush banquettes, with a geometric bar front of mirrored triangles and the building's original stone foundation left exposed behind the bottles. Soul, funk and R&B play at conversational volume; cards and board games sit on the tables.

Drinks run to a signature cocktail list and a short wine program, while food splits between snacks, including a caviar-topped chicken burger, and the full kitchen upstairs. The name nods to Mare, and to Macklovitch's mother, whose handwriting became the logo.