Akhtar Nawab to *NOT* Leave E.U., Will Open New RestaurantAkhtar Nawab, the talented chef who turned around E.U.’s fortunes, is expecting to leave, Grub Street has learned. “We’re planning something, and we are looking at a space,” Nawab told us. The new restaurant, which Nawab will open with Dani operating partner Noel Cruz, will be on West 8th Street. The menu will reflect casual but sophisticated Mediterranean food “something like the original Craftbar,” Nawab explained. (This style is in contrast to earlier rumors, which aligned the new venture with Nawab’s more upscale Allen and Delancey model before he parted from that project.) Nawab was reluctant to present any sort of timeline; he will leave E.U.“soon,” but the new restaurant likely won’t open until late winter or spring.
UPDATE: We spoke to Nawab yesterday and misunderstood. Though he will open a new restaurant, he plans to stay on at E.U. Grub Street regrets the error, our bad, etc.
Related: Allen and Delancey Tripped at the Finish Line, Won’t Open
NewsFeed
Psilakis Isn’t the Only Chef Who Knows GreekMichael Psilakis’s Michelin star (and other honors) is raising the profile of Greek cooking in New York, but other restaurants are looking to catch up. Ethos, a big, popular place in both its Manhattan and Astoria locations, is getting a classically trained new chef who vows to take the places to the next level. (A third Ethos, meanwhile, is slated to open in Great Neck at the end of the month.)
Broken HipsterAngela Boatwright is “still not able to mentally deal with” the fact that her roommate, musician and artist Meagan Alwood, broke her pelvis back in late September when, “after a fun night” she fell through a gap in the spiral staircase in their Lower East Side apartment, down three stories onto a concrete floor. Naturally, she didn’t have health insurance. (Who does?) But according to Boatwright, friends are supposed to “take care of each other.” Which is why she, along with other friends and fellow scenesters — Shelly Zander-Baker, a fit model for Marc Jacobs; photographer Alain Levitt; Brody Baker; and Kama Geary — got a few of their famous artist friends contribute to an art auction at Max Fish to raise funds for Alwood’s medical bills. Kenneth Capello, Dash Snow, Leo Fitzpatrick, and Spike Jonze were among the 40 who contributed photos, and not half-assed Polaroids either — good ones featuring Mafiosos with guns and famous people like Björk and Rachel Weisz. Raffle tickets went for $5 to $10 dollars for Marc Jacobs bags and tattoos — again, not the crappy kind, two hours’ worth of ink. “You could get your whole back for that!” marveled one attendee. In celebration of its not being broken, perhaps. “She’s lucky to be alive,” photographer Mike Schreiber said. He had donated an image he took of Old Dirty Bastard: “The only one where he looked like he was human,” he said. ODB was always good to the ladies. —Janine Armin
Where Is the Outrage Over Sasha Frere-Jones’s New Column?This week’s issue of The New Yorker has been on newsstands for almost twelve hours, which means that anyone who started reading Sasha Frere-Jones’s column this morning has probably almost finished by now.
in other news
‘Post’ and ‘Daily News’ to Face Off Over Tenth Avenue?
The Observer reports today that News Corp. has thrown its name into the hat to compete for the right to build over the Hudson Yards. That pits them against Condé Nast, which is also fighting for the use of the space to build an office tower. As Gawker notes, that will be a battle royale. But we think it will be nothing compared to the endless skirmishes that will go on if News Corp. (and developer Related) move in there and all Post workers are faced with commuting to work with all of the Daily News employees who work right next door. Mort Zuckerman’s Boston Properties owns the only private building that already straddles the Hudson Yards, on Tenth Avenue between 31st and 33rd. It houses the News, the Associated Press, and Channel 13. If News Corp. develops the rest of the Hudson Yards, they’ll sit right across Tenth Avenue. Since Murdoch is fond of putting up hilariously competitive billboards (this month’s giant “Six Appeal” advertisement shills for the tab’s Page Six Magazine) in that terrain for News employees to enjoy on their walk to work, we can only imagine how things will escalate. Though Zuckerman employees can look forward to one thing that’s guaranteed, at least: The neighborhood would finally get a decent bar!
Murdoch and Newhouse Battle for West Side [NYO]
NewsFeed
Ever Work at Heartland Brewery? Time to Sue!If you’ve worked an hourly job at Heartland Brewery’s six locations (including Spanky’s BBQ) in the past three years, start checking your mailbox. You won’t get an invite to the company Christmas party, but your presence is requested for a class-action lawsuit about minimum wage and overtime. A judge has ruled that attorney Maimon Kirschenbaum can send out the notice, which he’s taking as a positive sign: “The court bought into the fact that corruption, if there, applied equally to everyone at every location.” So if you feel ripped off, join eighteen of your former colleagues and place your order with the American legal system.
Memorandum & Order: Peter Fasanelli v. Heartland Brewery [PDF]
Earlier: Legal Battle on Tap for Heartland Brewery