Hidden in the nightlife no man's land between the Saint Paul Quarter and the East End is Club NV (123 Liberty Pole Way, 454-7230), Rochester's best-kept secret - if you're me, anyway. Everyone else at the club, easily in the hundreds, seemed to know about it long before I stopped by last weekend.

Owner Chaundu Carey says that Club NV thrives because of its music. Some of Rochester's best DJs spin at the club's different theme nights. Thursdays feature DJ Massive D from Imperial Sound playing reggae; Fridays are hip-hop, reggae, and R & B night with DJ Big Reg; and Saturday nights DJ Gilly and Bobby Bass host Latin music.

The club's new music focus offers something unique, Carey says, especially drawing Rochester's black and Hispanic communities. "I think we basically get more people that actually live in the city of Rochester coming downtown and enjoying themselves," says Carey. "Everybody's catering to different types of crowds: the East End is basically catering to the suburban kids that come downtown. St. Paul St. a mixture of an older 40s crowd at some of the clubs and younger clientele. I basically cater to the middle area, the 21- to 35-year-old."

Club NV gives the post-industrial neighborhood a big-city feel. Inside, the split bar/dance floor makes the large space seems almost homey. The front area, lined with TVs and a track-lit bar, fills with chatting couples and friends, while the dance floor on the other side is neither cavernously awkward nor elbow-to-elbow cramped.

Showing up early, usually between 10-11p.m., will get you drink specials and a discounted cover charge. And don't let the security guards in front scare you away. "It's a deterrent. I'd rather be safe than sorry," says Carey. "I know a lot of people try to skimp on security and then when a fight gets out of control they can't control it."

The night I went I found the crowd to be much more inclusive than many other clubs I've been to.

Meanwhile in the East End, another nightspot with its sights set on shaking up Rochester after-hours, One (1 Ryan Alley, 546-1010), is getting ready for its preview night Thursday, September 6, and its grand opening Friday, September 7. General Manager/Chef Jay Cohen says that One aims to offer "complete entertainment all the way around," pitting its high-end food against a live DJ and a late-night club atmosphere. Spinning from the booth will be resident TiLT DJ and music director Jon Herbert.

"We're bending the perception of what a nightclub is and what a restaurant is... I think we're giving Rochester something it hasn't had before," says Cohen.