Mistress Natalie Photo by Monica © 1999 NY Rock

The restaurant, which adopted the S&M theme about a year and a half ago, is mostly a tourist haven where the suburban-looking clientele come to watch rubber and leather cladded mistresses and masters beat the stuffing out of the brave few who cough up the $20 fare for the service. Located at 206 West 23rd Street in NYC's Chelsea district, the room is bathed in a sensual red light. Chains dangle from the ceiling. A wooden rack, where slaves are handcuffed and whipped, greets you at the entrance. The cuisine is French but, of course, the food takes a clear back seat to the entertainment.

I dropped in on a Saturday night to witness the proceedings first hand and to speak with the management and staff of La Maison. Our waitress, Mistress Bjanca, is a raven-haired beauty whose rubber mini-dress revealed a figure that's enough to knock any man out cold without her having to even lift a finger. She gave me a rundown of her clothing strategy: "If I walk in wearing Prada or Versace, people will just see a beautiful woman. If I walk in wearing rubber and high heels, they all fall on their knees."

Mistress Melissa, Winding Up Photo by Monica © 1999 NY Rock

Shortly into our meal, the first customer is led to the rack. He is dressed in woman's garb, complete with wig and gown and is yanked along via a leash by Mistress Hillary, a sharp looking, well-shaped gal with a crop of short black hair. The mistress strips the fellow down to his skivvies, blindfolds him, and begins to apply a paddle, and then whip, to his rear end.

"Keep your head down," she instructs him, as she pushes the back of his crown until he is bent forward into prime paddling position. Mistress Hillary smacks his butt with a bit more force than I would have anticipated. She is obviously a healthy women who enjoys her job. I'm duly impressed – she really works him over. FWAP! FWAP! FWAP! goes the sound of leather against flesh. Now, if that doesn't get your appetite up, I don't know what will.

I spoke with manager Margaret about the restaurant. "We're doing fairly well, actually," she said with a laugh that made her youthful Asian-American demeanor appear all the more pretty. "A lot of tourists come in for things they don't see in the Midwest. For $20 they can be tied up to the rack and spanked, humiliated."

Mistress Bjanca Photo by Monica © 1999 NY Rock

Now that's something you don't get at Planet Hollywood. But are there any logistic problems running a place like La Maison de Sade? "We have to worry about the authorities," Margaret explained. "About the way people dress, the things that go on in here. What is considered proper, improper. We have to define the lines of when something is considered nudity or indecent exposure, a beating and not just a show of it. We have to keep an eye out on it. It's a specialized restaurant and a lot of people in the community are not as open-minded as us yet."

As the evening progressed, the public flogging continued, conducted mostly by Mistress Hillary, a true professional obviously devoted to the pursuit of public service. A couple of beatings were also conducted by Mistress Natalie, Mistress Melissa and Master Aramis, a well-built and handsome fellow who was apparently brewed from some kind of master Latin race. (He was particularly popular with a bachelorette party that the restaurant was hosting at the time.) As Mistress Hillary continued to perform her handiwork, I noticed that my wife Pumpkin was observing her the way a bush-league batter might look upon a major slugger for tips. This is when I decided to ask for the check.

As we left, the coat check girl, Mistress Jessica asked why I didn't participate in the festivities. I gave my usual response about being there solely for journalistic purposes. She gave me a skeptical glance which prompted me to add that my wife beats me daily for free. She seemed far more accepting of this explanation and offered a cordial good-bye as we made our way from the restaurant to the first cab uptown.

More S&M on NY Rock:

• Interview with Erotic Photographer, Misa Martin.
• Interview with Mistress Dakota: Some People Call Us Goddesses.
• Photo of Mistress Dakota (© Misa Martin) featured on our July '99 cover.
• Review of the SMack party in New York City, including photo of Mistress Dakota (© Misa Martin).
• A Chat with Mistress Raven of Pandora's Box.
• The Erotica Expo at the Jacob Javits Center in NYC.
• Review of Fetishes, Nick Broomfield's documentary on Pandora's Box.
• Photo of Mistress Katie featured on our December '98 cover.

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