WTF?!
This just in via Facebook® from Salman Rushdie: "Facebook deactivated my account because they thought I wasn’t me. Now they insist I call myself by the first name I have never used. What a bunch of morons…
As I don’t and will never recognize myself as ‘Ahmed Rushdie’ I will be reducing FB activities to just about zero and cutting back my list of friends to actual friends or at least acquaintances, just to keep in touch. I’m done." – Ahmed Rushdie née Salman Rushdie
Now, part of me is really pretty scared that Salman Rushdie will un-friend me for publicizing his sorta private Facebook® status update (even though obviously, I’ve done it before), but the other part of me can’t help but think this whole thing is seriously ridiculous— but I think if I had asked him first, he likely wouldn’t have allowed me to make a fuss about it or anything. It’s kinda like that time awhile back I saw the cocktail waitress at Marquee shoo Maxwell and his friends away from a table in an entirely empty room, because he didn’t want to buy a whole bottle. Maxwell decided to leave rather than assert himself, he said he didn’t “want to read about it” on like Page Six or whatever the next day.
But I mean, rilly? Salman effin Rushdie can’t just call Mark Zuckerberg to straighten this mess out, but Julia fucking Allison can use her connection to his sister to be the only person ever allowed to convert her friends to "fans" without their knowledge/permission?
(Sigh, this is just another reason why Facebook® kinda sucks, even though I do actually like it for a bunch of other reasons.)
And, it isn’t exactly a secret that Salman Rushdie is diggin on the Twitter® now. Not so long ago he asked his Facebook® friends to join him on Twitter® should they be so inclined, and then a bit afterward remarked how not many at all had done so. Myself included; sorry, I just don’t twit, it’s not my thing.
Now Salman Rushdie is threatening to leave Facebook® altogether. Whaaat? No more poems, no more limericks, no more jokes, no more updates about his new projects and awesome travels and lovely family and whanot? NOOOOoooooo!
Oh dear Zuck, if you can hear me— please don’t screw up whatever reverence your minions have mustered for you, mostly due to a probably fictitious but totally awesome couple lines in The Social Network.
Please please pleeease fix this. And then all will be right with the universe, please lord, thank you, amen.
(Also, I don’t want to have to contend with this when I’m finally famous. I aint calling myself "Mary" for nobody, fuck that.)
UPDATE (2 hours later): Oh. Well, that was quick. Evidently it’s fixed, and Salman Rushdie is “Salman Rushdie” again. Apparently he didn’t mind asserting himself after all; he started talking smack about Facebook® on Twitter®, eheee.
Well, he’s happy so that’s good.
* * * * *
Have you heard?
Until the release of PX Me – The Sequel to PX This (Spring 2012), this website will henceforth be updated only intermittently (approximately once or twice a week).
Abbe Diaz’s new (daily) blog is now at: abbediaz.com
"… I later purchased an Apple computer, and it was with that machine and others that I used to create everything I’ve done since then. Yes, they were more expensive, but greatness has a cost. If it weren’t for the innovations of Steve Jobs, much of the last 16 years for me may never have happened in the way they did. I honor and respect a legend, someone who will go down in history as one of the greatest inventors the world has ever known. Like every technology executive, Steve Jobs inspired me to lead, but to also be firm with your beliefs. What I will miss the most are those stories of a decision maker whose instinct shaped the world we know today." – my friend (and inspiration), Tony Zeoli, founder: netmix.com
"and this is how i roll." – abbe diaz, commercial artist / designer / author ; pxthis.com / abbediaz.com / geld-iaz.com
* * * * *
Have you heard?
Until the release of PX Me (Spring 2012), this website will henceforth be updated only intermittently (approximately once or twice a week).
Abbe Diaz’s new (daily) blog is now at: abbediaz.com
"… Rest peacefully, my Brother, I just came back from a 3 yr long assignment in Iraq, and I dare to say that Justice has been served. Farewell, my Friend, Farewell…" – Damir [Palladium, Tunnel, Club USA]
The following is an excerpt from PX This:
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2001. 12:15PM
We got terrible news. A friend that B used to work with, “Big Keith,” is missing.
Such a nice guy, big and friendly and cute and good natured and happy. He’s a firefighter and I think nearly his entire squad is gone.
The last time I saw Big Keith was at Sugar in December, and I remember I asked him if he was still thinking about joining the fire department and he replied “I’m IN the fire department!”— so we chatted like wow how fast time flies, the last time I had seen him he was just talking about thinking about joining.
And he bought me a cup of coffee another night too and I felt weird, I wasn’t sure which was more insulting— to offer him money for it or not. I didn’t know the protocol, back at the Gatien’s nobody offered money, they just went and got it the next time.
Big Keith was in the movie The Professional and he was great in it really, even though it was a small role. He played Benny (one of the corrupt cops) and he has one awesome scene where he is standing in the hallway with his gun drawn, nervous and shaking and sweating.
Actually he is so remarkable I mentioned him in “The Ministry of Speed” too, and I guess it’s silly but I liked to imagine my film would actually get made one day and Keith could play one of the doormen and it would actually be the real him they were referring to in the dialogue. Something like that.
I remember one time Keith and I were chatting outside Naked Lunch and I was recounting to him how I’d taped The Professional on the VCR and then I realized “oh whoops you probably don’t want to hear that do you?” thinking it was bad I had videotaped it instead of paying to see it in a theatre. And eeheee he was cute he insisted “No! HBO is good, I’ll take HBO!”
And B says his wife is in denial like she just expects him to come walking in the door any second and my God who can blame her? Because he was just so big and able and strong it seemed like nothing could ever take him down.
Oh my God knock on wood but if something like that were to happen to B, I would be the exact same way, I would have to see it with my own two eyes.
It’s just not the way things are supposed to be.
B was really upset when he told me.
I remember all the funny stories he used to tell about working the door at Naked Lunch, how Keith would just make him laugh and laugh all night long.
Even though B hated doorkeeping so much I know he looks back fondly and proudly because of all the good guys he knows because of it.
And even though I don’t really want to share this with those people, I feel like I want to say something to the Project Greenlighters, all those movie lovers, like they should go out and buy The Professional and tell all their friends, I just want everyone to know when they watch that movie they should look out for him and they can see how great he was and be proud for him he is such a hero.
But I am afraid it will just come out stupid or corny or something.
OMG, did you feel that?! The earth moved, the walls trembled, the chandeliers swayed… it was an earthquake! Here, in New York City! Wow.
We mean, on the one hand, it’s a little scary. On the other, it’s a relief, because we thought maybe we were going crazy— we looked out the window, and nobody out on the street even seemed to notice a thing. And on the third hand (just roll with it), we thought maybe watching this first episode of Brosephs was JUST. THAT. GOOD. It rocked our world, literally!
Har har aharr. Ready for even more laughs?
Then watch it.
:)
Hilarious, wasn’t it? It was co-written by awesomely talented F&B superstar, Kevin Coyle. Does he, uhh— look familiar, by any chance? (Aside from his numerous big television commercials and whatnot, we mean.) Well, soon you’ll be seeing even more of him, so stay tuned. Yay!
** See also (earlier): Introducing: Brosephs
PX Me. (How I Became a Published Author, Got Micro-Famous, and Married a Millionaire)
When Abbe Diaz published her journal, PX This – Diary of the "Maître d’ to the Stars" [née Diary of the Potted Plant] in 2004, she’d had no idea what she was in for. Sure, she expected the process would be difficult and she might never work in the fine dining restaurant industry ever again, but she never imagined the truth could be so controversial— in a book that’s essentially about HAVING DINNER.
Despite PX This being lauded by most of her colleagues (and some of the most illustrious names in the business) as "the bible of the [NYC] industry," Diaz soon learned the politics of Food and/or "Culture" Media & PR is a game that’s dirtier than last night’s dishes. Finding herself under unjustified fire from various vastly popular and influential periodicals, news blogs, food press, online foodie communities, and other professional and aspiring writers, Diaz (a textbook Scorpio/Monkey) quickly realized [again] there were two things in her life she would never be willing to do: 1) Take unmerited bullshit, and 2) Kiss spiteful pretentious ass.
As you can probably imagine, that went over reeeally well. Mistruths, mudslinging, manipulation, misappropriation, corruption, censorship, and the tarnishing of her character— as well as the livelihoods of her friends and loved ones— are just some of the things she subsequently endured.
This is that story.
"This writing stuff is HARD." – Salman Rushdie (to friends on Facebook®)
"If you think the writing is hard, wait ’til you try the selling part. Oh, wait…" – Abbe Diaz (in response to friend, Salman Rushdie, on Facebook®)
PX Me – The Sequel to PX This
(How I Became a Published Author, Got Micro-Famous,
and Married a Millionaire)
- COMING SOON IN THE SPRING OF 2012 -
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Abbe Diaz is a freelance commercial-artist, designer/dressmaker, and restaurant consultant. She has worked in the restaurant/bar industry for nearly 25 years, with numerous stints throughout the New York dining/party scene that include: Limelight, Palladium, Tunnel, Club USA, Coffee Shop, Spy, Cafe Tabac, The Strand (Miami Beach), Mercer Kitchen, Ilo, Lotus, and Theo. She served as the opening maître d’ for The Park, Smith, and 66.
She is proud to have had the opportunity to work under such nightlife arbiters as: Jean-Georges Vongerichten, Brian McNally, Jonathan Morr, Peter Gatien, Eric Goode, and Sean Macpherson.
Diaz gained a B.A. in Economics from Rutgers College, Rutgers University – New Brunswick. She was further educated as a non-matriculate Design student at the Fashion Institute of Technology, in NYC, where she currently resides.
• “The New York service industry’s Norma Rae, Abbe Diaz… the Service Industry’s Nikke Finke…” – BlackBook
• “…pure unbridled crazy batshitness…” – gawker.com
For more information about PX This – Diary of the "Maître d’ to the Stars" visit http://pxthis.com/thebook
* * * * *
Have you heard?
Until the release of PX Me – The Sequel to PX This (Spring 2012), this website will henceforth be updated only intermittently (approximately once or twice a week).
Abbe Diaz’s new (daily) blog is now at: abbediaz.com
• This just in: The awesome team behind Miss Lily’s has beaten Subway® Sandwiches to the punch, and have taken over the corner storefront next door. The commodious adjacent space will house an extension of Miss Lily’s fresh juice bar, a record store, and Miss Lily’s To-Go. It is expected to be in operation by late Summer / early Autumn of this year.
• Longtime F&Bulous operator Jean-Marc Houmard (Indochine, Bond St, Kittichai, Republic) has joined forces with former BlackBook magazine publisher and Black Book List author Evan L. Schindler to open a new eatery in the former Acme Bar & Grill location at 9 Great Jones St just west of Lafayette St.
We’d tell you more, but then we’d have to… oh for fuck’s sake you know how it goes. I dunno— maybe try checking the The Post tomorrow or something.
Let’s just leave it at: we know all about the food (not Italian, thank gawd), the tentative name (not complicated/exotic), and the anticipated opening (not until maybe at least the Fall) but as usual, we’re not allowed to say anything about it. Why mention it all then, you ask? Ha ha aha hah duh, are you kidding? P X THIS 4 EVA BITCHEZ
(Sigh, now we’re in trouble.)
• Here’s a blind item for you: What "very private" hospitality executive allegedly very quietly gave birth to her second child at 3AM on a weekend morning at The Standard Hotel? Sssh, you didn’t hear that from us.
Following relatively recent news of shakeups at The Box, EMM, and Bagatelle, PX This has learned that Managing Director Ian Nicholson is the latest executive to decamp The Standard Hotel here in NYC. Following the earlier but unrelated departure of F&B Director of Operations Lana Trevisan (currently GM of soon-to-open Hotel Americano), Nicholson resigned from Hotels AB to forge a partnership deal with hotelier Alan Faena, most notably of Philippe Starck designed Faena Hotel+Universe in Buenos Aires.
Prospective projects of Faena and Nicholson include the somewhat beleaguered Cipriani Ocean Resort & Club location at 3201 Collins Ave in Miami Beach, as well as a future NYC site, currently still in its early stages of development. They are backed by Russian-American billionaire, Len Blavatnik who also, mere weeks ago, purchased Warner Music Group for a reported $3.3 billion.
Nicholson has served as The Standard’s Managing Director since May 2007 and as Vice President – Hotel Operations of Andre Balazs Properties since January 2010. Prior, he maintained the General Manager position at The SoHo Grand, Tribeca Grand, and The Hudson Hotel.
"… Rest peacefully, my Brother, I just came back from a 3 yr long assignment in Iraq, and I dare to say that Justice has been served. Farewell, my Friend, Farewell…" – Damir [Palladium, Tunnel, Club USA]
The following is an excerpt from PX This:
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2001. 12:15PM
We got terrible news. A friend that B used to work with, “Big Keith,” is missing.
Such a nice guy, big and friendly and cute and good natured and happy. He’s a firefighter and I think nearly his entire squad is gone.
The last time I saw Big Keith was at Sugar in December, and I remember I asked him if he was still thinking about joining the fire department and he replied “I’m IN the fire department!”— so we chatted like wow how fast time flies, the last time I had seen him he was just talking about thinking about joining.
And he bought me a cup of coffee another night too and I felt weird, I wasn’t sure which was more insulting— to offer him money for it or not. I didn’t know the protocol, back at the Gatien’s nobody offered money, they just went and got it the next time.
Big Keith was in the movie The Professional and he was great in it really, even though it was a small role. He played Benny (one of the corrupt cops) and he has one awesome scene where he is standing in the hallway with his gun drawn, nervous and shaking and sweating.
Actually he is so remarkable I mentioned him in “The Ministry of Speed” too, and I guess it’s silly but I liked to imagine my film would actually get made one day and Keith could play one of the doormen and it would actually be the real him they were referring to in the dialogue. Something like that.
I remember one time Keith and I were chatting outside Naked Lunch and I was recounting to him how I’d taped The Professional on the VCR and then I realized “oh whoops you probably don’t want to hear that do you?” thinking it was bad I had videotaped it instead of paying to see it in a theatre. And eeheee he was cute he insisted “No! HBO is good, I’ll take HBO!”
And B says his wife is in denial like she just expects him to come walking in the door any second and my God who can blame her? Because he was just so big and able and strong it seemed like nothing could ever take him down.
Oh my God knock on wood but if something like that were to happen to B, I would be the exact same way, I would have to see it with my own two eyes.
It’s just not the way things are supposed to be.
B was really upset when he told me.
I remember all the funny stories he used to tell about working the door at Naked Lunch how Keith would just make him laugh and laugh all night long.
Even though B hated doorkeeping so much I know he looks back fondly and proudly because of all the good guys he knows because of it.
And even though I don’t really want to share this with those people, I feel like I want to say something to the Project Greenlighters, all those movie lovers, like they should go out and buy The Professional and tell all their friends, I just want everyone to know when they watch that movie they should look out for him and they can see how great he was and be proud for him he is such a hero.
But I am afraid it will just come out stupid or corny or something.
GREATEST HITS: PX This [The Blahg]
Hi! Thank you for your "search"!
This website is currently undergoing changes as it continually progresses, so the entry for which you are seeking has likely been archived within "The Greatest Hits – PX This [The Blahg]". It was removed from its original location in preparation for the upcoming release of PX Me (The Sequel to PX This). If you would like more information and/or further clarification on this particular narrative, please read PX This – The Revised Edition and/or PX Me (coming soon).
And so without further ado— by popular (search engine) demand, we proudly present THE GREATEST HITS of PX This [The Blahg]
[*** warning: Eats, Shoots and Ladders Leaves freaks, please CLICK HERE* and HERE before reading any further. then take that favorite book of yours and stick it up your ass. thank you! ***]
"John Gulager, Project Greenlight"
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2005. 11:48AM:
last night i went and had drinks with GUESS WHO
JOHN effing GULAGER! yay!
… and of course i could tell all sorts of interesting things i learned from him about the filmie business and hollywoodie stuffs and afflecks and weinsteins and moores [oh my]—
but i shan’t. because john-gulager very distinctly said to me: "don’t go writing any of this up on that thingie of yours now."
(mind you he said "now," so i guess you’ll just have to wait for PX Me to come out, eheee.)
oh and in case you’re wondering, john-gulager’s wifey diane-goldner loooves her totally fierce geld-iaz Feast Premiere dress. actually she told me she probably would have rocked it last week at the Emmy’s instead, had she and john-gulager not been invited like "sooo last minute." stupid hollywood.
anyhoo. john-gulager actually read PX This, can you believe it?! he said he "started in the middle and then continued to the end and then started at the beginning" whatever the hells that means. something about my book not giving him the impression it absolutely needed to be read chronologically (even though hellooo, the fucking thing is like totally chronological, no?).
whatever.
i only mention it at all because other peoples have said the same sort of thing to me too and i must say it kinda makes me a little nuts.
oh but john-gulager did call me "the truman-capote of the restaurant industry" so that was great! [i guess?] and eeheee he even called himself "the BIG johnny-g" ha ha ha ahaa haaa.
anyways. here’s a picture of john-gulager saying "hi there!"
he was talking to marcus-dunstan [co-screenwriter of Feast] right at that moment and he even handed me his cellie to say hello, isn’t that sweet? marcus-dunstan was really nice on the phone, i said congratulations on "the bestest Project Greenlight season ever!" and he replied "wow, thank you so much!"
…anyhoo. yay! GO GULAGER!
MONDAY OCTOBER 2, 2006. 10:18AM:
… check it, it’s diane-goldner [john-gulager's wifey. remember them?] in her fierce geld-iaz dress!
if you click that little photo then it will take you to the special WireImage page, where you will also see a picture of my beloved ben-affleck right smack up there!
so basically my dress was at the Feast premiere with ben-affleck— where i’m sure at some point in the night he must have been forced to gaze upon my beautiful geld-iaz creation and admire it in all its exceptional splendor. heee, okay now tell me that’s not trippy in some bizarro cosmic way…
*********************************************************************
pxthis.com archives
This is an abbreviated version of Abbe Diaz’s diary/blog entry on September 26, 2005 and October 2, 2006, for archival purposes only. A far more detailed, thorough, and incisive account is to be included in Diaz’s upcoming second book, PX Me (The Sequel to PX This) – Coming Soon in the Autumn of 2011
* "…The intellectual community, as usual, showed itself to be timid and divided, and even the most unexpected graphologists engaged in controversies regarding their inconsistent analyses of my handwriting. It was they who divided opinions, overheated the polemic, and made nostalgia popular…. Make no mistake: peaceful madmen are ahead of the future." – Gabriel García Márquez
* * * * *
Have you heard?
Until the release of PX Me (Autumn 2011), this website will henceforth be updated only intermittently (approximately once or twice a week).
Abbe Diaz’s new (daily) blog is now at: abbediaz.com
This just in: Nightlife impresario and Calvin Klein play pal, Nick Rytting, has decamped from The Box, where until last week he retained the title of General Manager. He currently joins co-owners and (longtime F&Bulous operatives) Larry Poston and Johnny Swet at Hotel Griffou.
The move is a logical one for Rytting, some of whose friends and followers within the industry raised eyebrows and expressed skepticism when Rytting departed F&B for Nightlife’s notoriously tumultuous Team Hammerstein, following his years-long stint at La Esquina.
Hotel Griffou, which recently replaced original beleaguered chef Jason Giordano with Bouley and Per Se alum David Santos, now seems perfectly poised to reclaim its initial über-hot status, as Poston (formerly of The Waverly Inn and Pastis), Swet (formerly of Freemans and The Park), and Rytting must surely constitute downtown’s F&B Power-Pulchritudinous A-Gay trifecta.
Stay tuned.
This has been a PX This PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT
See also (earlier): On Nick Rytting
photo by Kristin Brown
* * * * *
Have you heard?
Until the release of PX Me (Summer 2011), this website will henceforth be updated only intermittently (approximately once or twice a week).
Abbe Diaz’s new (daily) blog is now at: abbediaz.com
PX This presents THE F&F REVIEW
Hey, sorry we couldn’t make it to "Friends&Family," we were out of town/ had to work/ not invited. We’re really glad we finally managed to come by, though— it’s so nice to see you!
What’s that? You would still like us to take the time to fill out the F&F survey, because you’d love to take advantage of all our vast experience, knowledge, insight, and expertise as long as we’re already here? Because you invited 75 people to F&F, and afterward all you got was 41 "Congrats[es]!" 22 "Awesome[s]!" 3 "Ciao[s]!" and 9 "Best of luck[s]!" ?
Of course, we’d be honored. Oh ha, yesss, we’ll be honest— brutally honest even, ha ha! After all, that’s what friends & family are for!
No no please, don’t send anything more, we’re stuffed, we can’t breathe, you’ll have to roll us out of here, ha ha ha… !
What was your first impression?
Huh, somehow it looks bigger than Le Gamin…
Please rate the Bar:
Cute. Small, (about six seats) but cute. Love the colorful fruit baskets.
Please rate the drinks/ cocktails/ wine:
Smart. No ABC license— due to their unfortunate location between the church and the devil— so they’re forced to make due with beer, wine, and spirits. Great job, though— inventive recipes, fresh ingredients, and palatable prices make the hard stuff not so easy to miss.
Please rate the Dining Room:
Like I said, bigger than I expected. And typically appealing and hip— oh it’s very Serge Becker all right.
Please rate the BOH:
Sorta N/A— the BOH is smack in the middle of the FOH. And it’s really verrry good.
How was the staff?
Fabulous. Of course. Come on, it’s everybody you already know and adore. What’s not to love?
What did you eat?/ How was the food?
Codfish fritters : Good. A little chewy though, sat in ‘the window’ just a minute too long, and they might want to double check that oil temperature. Just sayin’.
Smoked mackerel salad: Nice. Fresh, tasty, love the textures. And big too.
Oxtail stew : Very good. Hearty— don’t forget the hot sauce. Delicious.
Jerk chicken : Ohhh yeah. Tender, succulent, perfectly cooked. And that "chef made" jerk sauce is not messin around. It means business— and after that plate landed in front of me, so did I. Even the rice is good.
Banana Pudding: Mmmmm… simple, light, and natural, but creamy, rich, and flavorful. Love it.
What did you like?
Pretty much everything.
What did you dislike?
The tables are kinda cramped, but I get it. And I’ll live.
What was your last impression?
Yay! (It’s so close by, you see.)
Would you come back?
Ha ha aha get serious.
Thank you, and hope to see you soon!
No nooo, thank yooou! Especially for that special "reservation" e-mail address.
:)
* * * * *
Have you heard?
Until the release of PX Me (Summer 2011), this website will henceforth be updated only intermittently (approximately once or twice a week).
Abbe Diaz’s new (daily) blog is now at: abbediaz.com
Ohh, so you wanna know a little bit more about Nick Rytting, you say? Well, far be it for PX This, your expert in everything F&Bulous in New York City, to deny you by failing to satiate your intense curiosity. (You’re welcome!)
This is Nick Rytting, currently the General Manager of The Box and the former manager of longtime über-hotspot La Esquina.
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 |
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Nick is 20-something years old, with medium-to-dark brown hair and hazel eyes. He primarily plays for Team Rainbow, but has been known to date girls on occasion, when they helplessly succumb to his irresistibility by throwing themselves at him mercilessly. He was born in East Someplace, Utah but considers New York City his "other" home. He likes vegetables, good wine, designer clothes, kind "geniune" people, Mariah Carey, and references to his uncanny resemblance to Hunter Parrish. His dislikes include meat, possessiveness, insidiousness, the cost of airfare, and arriving at the party "on time."
In short, we absolutely adore Nick Rytting, and we’re sure you would too.
:)
This has been a PX This PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT
* Black and White photo of Nick Rytting by Kristin Brown
Hey, remember a few weeks ago when we referred to Armin Amiri‘s new enterprise but didn’t want to give away all the details because we were trying to be respectful, and then Eater graciously picked up our tidbit and then the very next day The New York Post shadily ran with the story without crediting us, as usual, because they’re lame shystery fuckers, and then supposedly Amy Sacco got pretty upset and then maybe may or may not have thrown a wee bit of a tantrum that Amiri is riding her coat tails straight over her head now that he’s getting all these big new deals in New York (hey New York Post, did you happen to hear about the other project Amiri’s been fervently eyeing for months now?) and she’s not?
Yeah well, that place is called Mr H, and it soft-opened to "friends and family" as a complimentary "preview" last week on Friday night for "only thirty invited guests," in a practice run before the Prabal Gurung and Derek Lam parties over the weekend. We have a few photos even though technically we weren’t allowed to take pictures, so we’ll show you some because clearly there’s no point in trying to be respectful. However, we will endeavor to remain somewhat courteous and just give you a sneak peek, because apparently Mr H is currently in the unfortunate position of having to honor Fashion Week bookings made months in advance despite being behind development schedule and "not fully prepared." Evidently, its current state is "temporary"; Mr H will re-close after Fashion Week to undergo further renovations.
That is all for now. Try checking The Post tomorrow— maybe they’ll make some calls today in an attempt to score some kind of awesome indignant quote from Amy Sacco or something.
* * * * *
Have you heard?
Until the release of PX Me (Summer 2011), this website will henceforth be updated only intermittently (approximately once or twice a week).
Abbe Diaz’s new (daily) blog is now at: abbediaz.com
Salon 403: Love is…
Congratulations to Lelaine Lau of Salon 403 for another wonderful and successful event last night, "Love is…"
Love is one of those things that is nearly impossible to quantify or describe, and difficult to define beyond "a strong affection for". And yet we know it when we see it or feel it, receive it or give it. It’s also an energy and a visceral feeling. It’s positive and uplifting and healthy. It encompasses so much more than just romance, and yet that is the first thing most people think of when they hear the word. So what is love to you?
Love Is is a celebration of love of all kinds as told through the stories of my presenters. Love Is is meant to be an expression of the various ways that love manifests. Love Is is a storytelling event and an interactive art project.
Please join me at the next 403, where presenters including chanteuse, French punk, and cult icon EDWIGE BELMORE, singer/songwriter DAVID RALEIGH, writer and cartoonist ANTHONY HADEN-GUEST, Super Sprowtz founder RADHA AGRAWAL, purveyor of love KATIA TALLARICO, lifestyle consultant WILSON MESA, model and muse PETEY WRIGHT, and other members of the 403 community will share what love is to them.
French painter, poet and conceptual artist JULIEN ISORE will also present his LOVE project – an experimental and interactive international art work and "advertising campaign" for LOVE. The aim of the campaign is to combine materiality and immateriality and transform humanity into a work of art. Julien’s work explores theoretical questions about metaphorical thought and the process of imaginary, and his campaign has captured the hearts of people all over the world from Lisbon, Paris, Shanghai, Brussels, Los Angeles, Geneva, Bogota, Stockholm and Bombay. This is his first LOVE campaign in New York City.
Love Is will feature the cuisine of CAMILLE BECERRA, a NYC-based chef and restaurateur known for incorporating the Latin spices of her heritage and her dedication to the farm-to-table movement. A top graduate of the Academy of Culinary Arts, she went on to open the popular Paloma in Greenpoint, which lasted 3 years before being shuttered by fire, and she competed in Season 3 of Top Chef. Most recently she held a series of wildly successful pop-up restaurants called The Hunger, which drew raves from the likes of Tom Colicchio and Todd English.
To see more photographs of this fantastic evening, you know where to go…
We’re sure the tantalizing trailer for "My Brother Nancy" wasn’t enough to satiate your immense appetite for the totally awesome fantastic-ness that is Michele Brilliant. Don’t worry! We got more. (And it also includes a healthy dose of supermodel Jenny Shimizu! Yay!)
Check it out. You know you want to.
You’re welcome!
:)
PX This presents THE F&F REVIEW
Hey, sorry we couldn’t make it to "Friends&Family," we were out of town/ had to work/ not invited. We’re really glad we finally managed to come by, though— it’s so nice to see you!
What’s that? You would still like us to take the time to fill out the F&F survey, because you’d love to take advantage of all our vast experience, knowledge, insight, and expertise as long as we’re already here? Because you invited 75 people to F&F, and afterward all you got was 41 "Congrats[es]!" 22 "Awesome[s]!" 3 "Ciao[s]!" and 9 "Best of luck[s]!" ?
Of course, we’d be honored. Oh ha, yesss, we’ll be honest— brutally honest even, ha ha! After all, that’s what friends & family are for!
No no please, don’t send anything more, we’re stuffed, we can’t breathe, you’ll have to roll us out of here, ha ha ha… !
What was your first impression?
Huh. Well… it’s certainly no Juliet, ha ha ahaa.
Please rate the Bar:
Nice. Big, welcoming, commodious.
Please rate the drinks/ cocktails/ wine:
They’re still in soft-open mode, so they haven’t quite settled in yet. But they have Belvedere! And fat juicy olives. What more do you need?
Oh but, my certified-sommelier friend hated her sauvignon blanc by the glass, so hopefully they’re working on that. I’m just sayin’.
Please rate the Dining Room:
Larger than you’d expect. There’s actually an anteroom, then a dining room, then a private dining room (seats about 20), then apparently another private private dining room beyond the first private dining room (still in the works).
Please rate the BOH:
Good. Simple but straightforward gastropubby type menu. Appetizers and entrees for now— bar menu, daily specials, and dessert "coming soon."
How was the staff?
Decent. Proficient and conscientious, but with just a dash of ennui. Ya know, hip and confident— imported from downtown.
What did you eat?/ How was the food?
Artichoke dip : Very good. Rich and delicious. A+
Burger : Top-notch. Perfectly cooked, hearty, juicy, and flavorful. Great presentation. Excellent fries (Sysco?).
Fish and Chips : Tasty. Crisp but fluffy. Not too greasy. Perfect portion. Same great fries.
Steamed mussels : Tender and succulent, but why such a congested little bowl? More broth, please!
Chicken wings : Eh, okay. Typical "buffalo" style. Sorry, but once you go Korean, there’s no coming back. (Generous serving, though.)
What did you like?
That dip was pretty slammin.
What did you dislike?
Nothing really. Oh wait sorry, my friend really did not like that wine.
What was your last impression?
Ha haa, seriously— I’m kinda curious what the story is here. Anyone who knows Artan Gjoni (and that’s just about everyone who’s anyone, yea?) knows that boy is impossible to talk to.
Would you come back?
Even though it’s kinda out of the way… probably.
Thank you, and hope to see you soon!
Thanks, Artan! It was nice seeing you too.
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For more on Artan Gjoni, read PX Me – The Sequel to PX This. Coming soon in the Summer of 2011.
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Have you heard?
Until the release of PX Me (Summer 2011), this website will henceforth be updated only intermittently (approximately once or twice a week).
Abbe Diaz’s new (daily) blog is now at:
= "personne extraordinaire"