Cheap Lobsters, Dancing Girls Join Gordon Ramsay As Harbingers of DoomSigns that a seafood restaurant may be in trouble, in order of severity: adding a $20 whole lobster to the menu; adding a free burlesque show; having Gordon Ramsay come into your restaurant to torment you for his reality-TV show, Kitchen Nightmares. We knew about number three, but now it turns out, via Metromix, that symptoms one and two have appeared at Black Pearl, the troubled seafood restaurant across from Hill Country. And you know what? Conditions sound pretty damn entertaining. As long as Ramsay, the burlesque show, and the lobster aren’t physically connected in any way.
Black Pearl Lobster & Burlesque Tuesdays [Metromix NY]
Related: Gordon Ramsay to Inflict ‘Kitchen Nightmare’ on Black Pearl
NewsFeed
Gordon Ramsay to Inflict ‘Kitchen Nightmare’ on Black PearlGordon Ramsay, apparently in the belief that New York will never tire of his angry-man shtick, has chosen to subject the Black Pearl clam bar to the patented humiliation of his Kitchen Nightmares series. Though we’d heard that Black Pearl was a candidate for the Ramsey treatment, recent word said the restaurant’s improvement had commuted the sentence. Guess not! Now there are trailers along 26th Street and managers at Hill Country (across the street) are both feeding the crew and being interviewed for background on Black Pearl. We never thought Black Pearl was such a disaster, though it was in a bad location for a clam bar. But then we don’t go around absorbing other people’s suffering as a way to feed our Galactus-like appetite for fame. At least, most of the time we don’t.
Related: Gordon Ramsay Even a Jerk on Other People’s TV Shows
Back of the House
Casual Is the New Snooty — But Chefs Are Still Better Than YouChefs are imperious demigods who impose endless indignities on diners, Bruni says; also admits the possibility that critics may be partially to blame. [NYT]
What’s life like for big-shot chefs, anyway? How much money do they make, and where does it come from? Flay, Batali, and a number of lesser beings spill the beans. [NYT]
According to annonymous sources, Rachel Ray apparently had a few racially insensitive words to say about her new patron Oprah Winfrey two years ago. [TMZ]