Private Events at AYZA: Venue, Packages and Planning

Private dining NYC searches usually end in one of two places: a hotel function room that feels like a conference, or a restaurant that will give you a corner table and call it private. AYZA Wine & Chocolate Bar sits between the two. It is a working restaurant at 11 West 31st Street with two distinct spaces, and both can be booked for a group.

This page covers the rooms, the capacities, what a package includes, what it costs and how the booking process actually runs.

The two spaces

The indoor dining room

The room sits beneath 33 handmade iridescent glass lights created by artist Sinem Disli, hung at varying heights so the ceiling reads as a night sky rather than a lighting scheme. It is warm without being dark, which matters for an event where people need to see menus, name tags and each other. It is also the space with the energy of the bar attached, which suits a celebration more than a client dinner.

The heated garden

Behind the dining room there is an outdoor garden, filled with flowers and heated, so it stays usable well into the colder months. It is quieter and more contained, which makes it the better room for a speech, a proposal or a conversation that has to be heard. Book it with an agreed weather fallback in writing, because outdoors in New York is always a conditional booking.

Capacity and layout options

The gap between 20 seated and 40 standing is the decision most groups have to make. Thirty guests can have a reception here comfortably; thirty guests cannot all sit down to dinner. If everyone must be seated, twenty is the working number.

What a package includes

Private events start at $69 per person and are fully customisable, so the starting figure covers a baseline rather than a fixed offer. Final pricing depends on the menu you choose, the drinks arrangement, décor and any additional services. Downloadable package documents for wine tasting classes, cocktail parties, corporate and conference events are available on the site.

Two things to build into your number from the start. A service charge, commonly 20 percent in New York, and tax. Ask for both as separate lines on the proposal rather than as a single total, so you can see what you are approving. There are also weekly extras worth asking about: on Sunday and Monday an additional hour of dining or drinks valued at $30 per person, and on Tuesday a complimentary upgrade from wine or beer to hard liquor valued at $20 per person. Full details are on the private events page.

Food and drink

Menus are built from the same kitchen that runs the à la carte service, so the reference point is the dinner menu: boards for two at $35 and $39, White Truffle Pizza at $16, Braised Short Rib at $33, Pici Cacio e Pepe at $24, Roasted Chicken at $27 and Cauliflower with Wild Mushrooms at $25. Vegan, vegetarian and gluten free accommodations are available across the menu.

On drinks, wine and cocktail curation is offered as part of the planning. The list runs $13 to $21 by the glass with a New York section that includes Finger Lakes Riesling, Grüner Veltliner and Cabernet Franc, alongside French, Italian and Californian bottles on the cocktails and wines menu. Chocolate Martinis are the house signature at $19, and two mocktails at $14 cover guests who are not drinking. Decide in advance whether the bar is open, limited or on a consumption tab; that single decision controls most of the variance in the final bill.

Adding a wine and chocolate tasting

The most useful thing you can add to a private booking is a structured hour at the start. A guided tasting gives an event a beginning, which stops it drifting, and gives guests who do not know each other something to talk about that is not their job title.

Three formats run one hour with an AYZA wine expert: Wine and Chocolate at $59 per person with a minimum of eight guests, Wine and Cheese at $79 with a minimum of six, and the combined session at $89. Semi private tastings hold up to 35 guests on site, and off site catering has no guest limit. Details are on the wine tasting events page. The short film below gives a sense of how the room looks set up for a group.

What you can bring in

• Décor. Bring your own or use in house services. Agree access time and who removes it.
• A DJ or entertainment. Permitted with advance coordination. Confirm power, space and sound levels.
• Photography and videography. Allowed. Tell your photographer the lighting is warm and low, so they plan for it.
• Printed material. Menus, place cards or name tags. Check the table sizes before you design anything.

The booking process

1. Send the date, format and a guest count range, and ask for a written proposal with every charge itemised.
2. Book a private tour by appointment and walk the room before you sign.
3. Confirm layout, timings and the weather fallback for the garden in writing.
4. Pay the deposit and lock any outside vendors to the same date and access times.
5. Send the final guest count and dietary requirements by name a week before.

Three to four weeks ahead is the recommended lead time, and considerably earlier for peak seasons and weekends. Between October and December, enquire in September.

Occasions this room suits

A room that seats twenty and holds forty is not the right shape for every event, and it is worth being honest about that. It suits milestone birthdays, engagement parties, intimate wedding dinners, anniversary celebrations, baby showers, client dinners, team events and product launches at the smaller end.

It is not the right room for a hundred person conference or a wedding reception with a dance floor. If your list is over forty, the honest answer is a different venue, and any events team worth working with will tell you that at the enquiry stage rather than after the deposit.

Private dining NYC: FAQ

Enquire about a date

Send a date, a format and a guest count range, and ask for the proposal itemised. For private dining NYC groups of up to forty, that is the whole first step.

If guests are travelling in, the official visitor site NYC Tourism is the simplest place to point them for transport and hotels.

Capacities, starting prices, weekly extras and policies were checked against ayzanyc.com on September 9, 2026. Confirm current terms with the events team.