by Mira Poling
Daily Lobo
Electronic music lovers have a new venue in Albuquerque where novel concepts reside in an old setting, rich in family culture and tradition.
Jason Stephens, great-grandson of the New Chinatown Restaurant's founder, is keeping the family business fresh by turning it into an 18 and over "music and sound venue" on weekend nights from 11p.m. to 5 a.m. A full bar is open until 2 a.m. to those of age and people can order from the food menu until 4 a.m. or later.
"It's Albuquerque's only legal after-hours party," Stephens said.
If you are a native New Mexican, then you, your parents or even great-grandparents have known the New Chinatown Restaurant. The name has been around for 53 years. The building at 5001 Central Ave. NE has housed it since 1976, and the same family has owned and operated it for four generations.
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The New Chinatown Restaurant has been recognized for its abundance of character in dÇcor, entertainment, staff and specialized drinks that make patrons feel far from Albuquerque.
Stephens graduated with a degree in biology from UNM last semester. Along with a few friends, he was looking for a place to throw a huge graduation party but was stumped by the prices of the venues around town. So he asked his grandmother Kitty Ong, who has worked at the restaurant since she was nine years old, if he could rent it for the night. She agreed.
They rented sound and lighting, hired DJs and security and passed out 250 fliers.
"Over 600 people showed," Stephens said.
Ong was impressed by the success of the party and asked if he would want to do it weekly. Together with friend John Scott, they decided to take Grandma's offer and start a club together. They opened a few weeks later under the name Dragon's Empire. That was five months ago.
"It's evolved so much since then," Stephens said.
For instance, they are currently changing the name to Play and a third partner was brought into the project. Stephen Baine was originally helping as an on-sight sound technician, but has moved on to be partner and overall designer of the sound and lighting concepts. He also designs the actual dance rooms.
"You come in one week and it looks one way and the next it looks totally different," Baine said. "We're bringing you to another world every time you come out. You can go hiking around the different rooms and discover new things, then you come in again and start exploring it all over."
It is an experience which involves all of the senses - a state of the art intelligent sound and lighting system, a full bar until 2 a.m. and Chinese food until 4 a.m. or later. Local and national artists play the latest in underground and clubby dance music. The visual stimuli evolves on a weekly basis.
The main room features high-energy house, trance and "clubby" dance music by rotating local DJs AJ Garcia, Jon-E-Rockit, Leo Matthew, Lorraine and Fugi.
"Everything made here comes back into it," Baine said. "We didn't have $450,000 to open with, we didn't hire designers from New York, but that's not bad. We have a 'get-on-the-floor-and-scrub-it-on-hands-and-knees' attitude. Everything was built by us. They all know us at Home Depot."
The event is free for people 21 and over. Underage guests pay $5 until 1 a.m. Tickets are $7 for everyone after 1 a.m.
