Katie Couric: ‘America Is Giving Me the Hillary Clinton Treatment’The CBS anchor identifies with the former presidential candidate. Plus, why it’s not looking good for Wall Street bonuses, or the doorman who won $5 million on a scratch ticket a couple of months ago, and more, in our daily rundown of New York media, finance, real-estate, and law news.
Elaine’s Turns 45; Chefs Cursing Too $&#*$@% MuchLiterary hangout Elaine’s turned 45 on Sunday, Tom Colicchio doesn’t think profane language is appropriate for chefs, and “Big Lou” Elrose enjoys his moment in the sun and smoke.
Room Service? Get Me Geoffrey Zakarian!There was never any doubt the Water Club, the $800 million hotel-casino being put up by the Borgata in Atlantic City, was going to have a high-end food pedigree. The Borgata’s a class act! But they did especially well in hiring Geoffrey Zakarian of Town and Country. We’ve had a close look at his menu, and it’s a cut above the usual institutional food: Room-service entrées include filet of bison, braised lamb shank with basmati rice and pomegranate (a nod to Zakarian’s Armenian heritage), and, for when you really don’t want to leave the room, a rib-eye center-cut dry-aged beef chop on the bone with potato purée and field mushrooms. Even the breakfast menu’s four options are hipper than you would expect, among them “The Manhattan” (coffee, bagel, New York Times); the “Long Night” (hanger steak and eggs, grilled tomato, Emergen-C vitamin powder, coffee, water), and, inevitably, “Still Awake From Yesterday” (Philly cheesesteak, French fries, Coca-Cola.) There are 800 other things on Zakarian’s menu, but we somehow doubt we could stay long enough to try them out. In fact, it will be a miracle if we can afford to stay there at all.
NewsFeed
Noel Ashman to Film Life Story, Open Clubs in NYC and A.C.To the canon of classic NYC party movies you might soon be able to add the story of promoter turned club owner Noel Ashman. He tells us that his production company, Co.Op, which he runs with Jeffrey Tambor, Amy Redford, and others, has done two treatments for an as-yet-untitled film loosely based on his life’s story, which involves getting kicked out at the age of 13, having to throw parties to pay his rent, and eventually becoming the owner of clubs such as the second incarnation of Studio 54, Veruka, NA, and most recently the Plumm. Ashman is doing the movie with music producer Che Vicious — it will be set in the mid-to-late eighties in and around the Plumm’s predecessor Nell’s, where Ashman promoted, and may star Plumm investor Jesse Bradford. Meanwhile, back in the real world, Ashman tells us he’s looking at opening new clubs in Manhattan (possibly east of the Plumm) and — trend alert! — Atlantic City.
NewsFeed
Beatrice Owners to Open New Club in … Jersey?At one point Smith and Mills owner Matt Abramcyk was toying with the idea of opening a Skee-Ball bar in the financial district, but now it looks like he has a bigger project on the horizon — in Atlantic City! The Times reports that he and his Beatrice Inn partner, Paul “brother of the actress Chloë” Sevigny, are teaming with Curtis Bashaw, a developer of the Mondrian in Soho, to turn a former Atlantic City Howard Johnson into the Chelsea, a boutique hotel with a Stephen Starr restaurant. A spokesman for the project tells the Times that the Beatrice team is “going to be in charge of celebrity wrangling, including bringing Paul’s sister’s friends down” to a fifth-floor lounge. Chloë has gone to AC for a Morrissey concert, so it’s not beyond the realm of possibility. Our favorite part of the story? When the Times reporter gripes about getting turned away from the Beatrice.
SoHo Meets HoJo In Atlantic City [NYT]
The New York Diet
‘Good Day New York’ Anchor Ron Corning Eats Mahimahi Dinners at 4:30Inside Weather Up.Photo: Melissa Hom
Good Day New York anchor Ron Corning is used to odd hours— when he worked the gravenight shift as co-anchor of ABC’s World News Now, he found it hard to keep track of his meals and gained “the overnight 15.” Since starting the early shift at Fox about a year and a half ago, he has lost six of those pounds, and to drop the rest he has started eating “dinner” at 4:30 a.m. and “breakfast” at 7 p.m. Corning still manages to eat out, but he says he has only once used his clout to score a table (a manager at Gramercy Tavern called to offer his services after Corning half-jokingly complained on the air about how hard it was to book a resy). We asked him how he navigated his “insane” eating schedule this week.
it just happened
Atlantic City Mayor Bob Levy Resigns, Has Only Been Missing for About Two WeeksAt last, peace is restored to the anarchy-ravaged Atlantic City. Mayor Robert “Bob” Levy, MIA for over two weeks, has officially resigned, CNN tells us. The exact reasons for Levy’s abrupt vanishing act are still unclear, but everyone can agree on the big picture: Not only did the mayor get caught in a huge lie about his supposed Green Beret past, he’s also under federal investigation for receiving fraudulent benefits for the fictional stint. As we’ve already noted, Levy will fit right in with the rogue’s gallery of Atlantic City mayors: Two out of the last five people to hold the job ended up in jail, and Bob looks like a strong contender to be the third. Of course, they’ll need to find the dude first. Levy is still nowhere to be seen; the news of the resignation came via his attorney, Edwin Jacobs, who clearly has a few interesting weeks ahead of him.
Lawyer: Mayor Resigns After Disappearance [CNN]
Earlier: Anarchy in the A.C.: A Brief History of Atlantic City Mayoral Malfeasance
in other news
Anarchy in the A.C.: A Brief History of Atlantic City Mayoral Malfeasance
1985: Mayor Michael Matthews gets fifteen years for extortion.
1989: Mayor James Usry is arrested and charged with bribery, conspiracy, official misconduct, and accepting unlawful gifts.
2007: Mayor Bob Levy walks off the job, gets into his car, and apparently skips town after being caught in a massive lie. His supposed stint in the Green Berets, which he constantly mentioned during his 2005 campaign, turned out to be a total fiction. Levy’s family and lawyer insist he’s in a hospital but won’t say which one; Dominic Cappella, A.C.’s business administrator, stages a kind of coup by declaring that Levy left him in charge — except his only proof is a self-penned memo. At present, Atlantic City appears ripe for the taking. Your move, Mr. Trump!
Politics Dicey in Atlantic City After the Mayor Goes Missing [NYDN]
Foodievents
Flay to Battle Morimoto in Atlantic CitySaturday’s “Women in Wine” event at the Borgata in Atlantic City would be worth going to just for the wine (23 female vintners from around the country) and the chefs (the Borgata’s resident all-star team, featuring Bobby Flay, Michael Mina, Wolfgang Puck, Susanna Foo, and in-house celebrity chef Luke Palladino). But the real draw is something you’ll never see on television: two of the Food Network’s Iron Chefs, Flay and Masaharu Morimoto, going head to head to see whose cuisine reigns supreme. (Normally, Iron Chefs only compete against guest challengers.) The event, which will cost $195 to attend, benefits Living Beyond Breast Cancer and the Atlantic County Women’s Center in New Jersey. Tickets can be purchased here or by calling 866-900-4849.
Women in Wine, Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa, Atlantic City, N.J.
Saturday, November 11
What a Drag It Is Getting Old: Mick Jagger Sued Over Alleged Sore ThroatPlaintiffs:Rosalee Margolis Druyan, individually and as a class representative of ticket purchasers
Defendants: Mick Jagger; the Rolling Stones; Ticketmaster; Live Nation; “John Doe” Promoter
Accusation: Pissed off Rolling Stones fans are fighting mad and fighting back against Mick Jagger, the Stones, and Ticketmaster after a much-ballyhooed October 27 concert in Atlantic City was canceled. They don’t buy Mick’s sore-throat-and-doc-won’t-let-me-perform excuse — and they want more than $50 million for their troubles.
intel
Mick Jagger Cancels A.C. Gig, Causes Press Corps’ Nineteenth Nervous Breakdown
Tonight was supposed to be the coming-out party for a revitalized Atlantic City: a Rolling Stones concert at Boardwalk Hall followed by a “rocker chic” Halloween party at the Borgata’s new nightclub mur.mur D.J.-ed by — who else? — MisShapes. The New York press corps was being trucked in, as were Gisele, Eva Mendes, Naveen Andrews from Lost, and those second-tier Sopranos cast members who’ll show up to anything. But there’s a problem. Just a few minutes ago, Mick Jagger called in sick. The only explanation: sore throat, doctor’s orders. Now people with tickets to the sold-out concert — not to mention the in-progress New York caravan, a member of which called us from the road to bitch — can’t get no satisfaction. Now there’ll be an after-party that isn’t after anything — plus a night at the Borgata, gambling and shopping tomorrow, opening-night dinner at Buddakan Atlantic City tomorrow night, and three simultaneous Halloween parties after dinner. (It’s so hard to be an entertainment reporter, eh?) The concert has been tentatively rescheduled for November 17. No word if Gisele will show. One certainly hopes Mick will.
— Jada Yuan
