Lotus Spinoff Nabs Star Mixologist
Celeb-dissing partner offers to resign in shame.
When the owners of Lotus open their new boîte on 14th Street later this spring, expect the cocktail standards to be as high as the prices: They hired Sasha Petraske, the co-owner of the Lower East Side’s Milk & Honey, to create the drink menu and train the staff. “A pineapple-ginger-and-rum drink will come with one big chunk of ice so the ice doesn’t melt and dilute the drink,” says co-owner David Rabin, speaking for the professionally shy Petraske, who had the right to duck the press written into his contract. One thing that won’t change is that Jeffrey Jah—the unprofessionally unshy Lotus partner who mouthed off to a Brazilian magazine about how Sean Combs doesn’t like to pay his bill and about the drinking habits of Paris Hilton (and this was before Petraske trained the bartenders!)—is still around. “He offered to resign,” says Rabin. “But we came to feel he was too important a part of our team, and he apologized with great sincerity to all.”
—Deborah Schoeneman

EDITED BY CARL SWANSON

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