Today’s Primaries Could Change the Game, MaybeWhat will likely matter after tonight is how hard Clinton is willing to fight, and of course, whatever is going on in the heads of the undeclared superdelegates.
gossipmonger
Your Apartment Hunt: Now With Supermodels!Petra Nemcova is trying her hand at selling real estate, and Howard Stern and Jay-Z split over the Democratic presidential candidates. That and more in our daily gossip roundup.
real estate porn
Today in Class Envy: Brooke Astor’s Park Avenue Floor PlanHow DO you fit five bedrooms, three maids rooms, six bathrooms, six terraces, a library, a sitting room, a dining room, several walk-in closets, and a private gallery all in one apartment? We know you were wondering…
Ashton Kutcher, Fashion CyborgAshton Kutcher quite literally comes apart for Mario Testino on the cover of V mag’s spring issue, on stands today. Inside, he further opens up in an article interestingly titled “I’m Not Real.” Some choice highlights:
retail therapy
Bra-llelujah! Spanx Bras Hide Back FatHave Spanx done wonderful things for your bum? Well, they must do wonderful things for boobs, too, because their new bras are flying off the racks.
NewsFeed
The La Palapa Party Bus Starts Rolling TodayEast Village Mexican eatery La Palapa will not let a week’s worth of renovations slow down the fiesta. Instead, they’ve hired a party bus and D.J. Juan Carlos to shuttle dinner patrons back and forth to their West Village location. On the way over they’ll be serving antojitos like chile-and-lime-roasted peanuts and chicharrones with salsa valentina. Not good enough? A bartender dressed like Frida Kahlo will be serving complimentary margaritas, Cosmopolitans à la rosa, and Palomas (tequila and Mexican grapefruit soda). Bus trips start at 5 p.m. on Monday and will continue through the week. It all sounds a little uncomfortably like the start of our spring-break trip to Rosarito. We just hope for the sake of our T-shirts that it ends better. –Lauren Salazar
Mob Allowed Giuliani to Live, Wear Leather VestsThis bit of today’s news will undoubtedly be welcome in the Giuliani campaign HQ: Yesterday, a witness at a trial mentioned a mob-boss summit in the fall of 1986 where a hit on Rudy Giuliani was seriously discussed. The Gambinos wanted the pesky prosecutor dead; the Bonannos demurred. Giuliani lived to milk his landmark Mafia investigation all the way to City Hall — and now he can easily squeeze it for an additional bio-burnishing PR tidbit as a presidential … sorry, what were we saying? We can’t concentrate because we’re staring at the bewildering photo of ‘86-era Rudy that accompanies the story. What’s that look he’s going for? It’s like … a leather-daddy Woody Allen with Paul Simon’s hair. Forget the crime-fighting cred: Rudy better hope this story doesn’t get any traction.
Court Told Mob Bosses Voted on Whacking Giuliani In ‘86 [NYDN]
overnights
‘The Closer’: We Will Not Be Sated by a Shower SceneNote to The Closer’s writers: Just because you finally dropped the early-menopause bomb and delivered a super-gory episode last week doesn’t mean you should hand things over to the interns and go out for cocktails.
in other news
O.J.’s Book Set to Drag Us Through the Whole Mess Again, AgainIn a discomfiting turn of events, the family of murder victim Ron Goldman has decided to publish O.J. Simpson’s book If I Did It, the fictionalized tell-all from Simpson’s perspective about what happened the night Goldman and Nicole Brown Simpson were killed. We’ve been waiting all day to hear which New York publishing company will reap the benefits, but thus far, no announcement. Last month, the Goldmans were awarded the rights to the book by a federal judge, since they are owed $33.5 million in damages by the former football star. It will be published with “commentary” from the family. The book’s agent is Sharlene Martin, who made a name for herself by repping celebrity tell-alls like You’ll Never Nanny in This Town Again (by Michael Ovtiz’s angry former nanny) and the unsold This Used to Be My Playground (by Madonna’s angry former nanny). Whatever publishing house prints the book should hire Martin, because she understood what Judith Regan never did: You can’t write books about killing people unless the surviving families get in on the deal. Duh.
New York Company to Publish O.J. Simpson Book [Reuters]
VideoFeed
Fabiola Beracasa Gets Us Into the Gramercy Park Hotel’s Roof Club
How do you get to the Roof Club and Landscaped Garden of the Gramercy Park Hotel? Just take the elevator. Thing is, you’re going to need a private membership card to key it — and that’s why we suggest you set aside any ambition of seeing the place’s Damien Hirst paintings and amazing view in person and simply let Fabiola Beracasa give you the video tour. Chances are, even if you have $545 for a room or the wherewithal to gain admittance, you’re not going to have a drinking companion as lovely as Fab.
Openings
Restaurant Vets Take Refuge in Chill New East Side Eatery
When Nish went under earlier this week, partner Joe Scalice didn’t have to look far for his next home: He simply walked two blocks over and took up residence as general manager at Solace, a one-week-old “American seasonal” restaurant created by David Regueiro of Aureole, Metrazur, and most recently the Water Club. (Given what Salice just went through at the late Nish, and Regueiro’s years under famously demanding taskmasters like Charlie Palmer and Michael “Buzzy” O’Keefe, Solace would seem to be just what the two men are seeking.) “We wanted to create a space where people would feel comfortable, with food they could understand,” the chef says. We can certainly see standards like salt cod and gnocchi ragout, butter braised lobster, and eggplant, goat cheese, and tomato terrine hitting the spot on a quiet night in the garden (open till 11 p.m.), with our own bottle in tow (Solace is still waiting on its liquor license).
Solace, 406 E. 64th St., at First Ave.; 212-750-0434.
Solace menu
Earlier: Nish, Felled by Its Own Best Efforts
NewsFeed
Behind the Scenes at the Conant-Cannon DivorceAs with Brad and Jennifer or England Dan and John Ford Coley, the professional marriage of Chris Cannon and Scott Conant at Alto and L’Impero seemed perfect to the world until the day it broke up. Both men tell Grub Street that they have oodles of respect and love for the other, but in speaking to both, we were able to gather a basic time line of what happened. Some time in the last year, Conant talked to Cannon about new and ambitious plans outside the restaurant, which we gather are still in play but which Cannon wanted no part of. (Conant is doing a little casual consulting for Il Tutto Giorno, a friend’s tiny, 30-seat restaurant in Sag Harbor, but by Conant’s account, that is a minor, separate affair, and he is certainly not to be the chef there.) “There are things I wanted to do, and he wasn’t necessarily on the same page with that,” Conant says. “I need to achieve my potential. The restaurant business is changing, becoming more fluid, and I need to evolve with it.”
in other news
How Stella Got Her Offensive Stream of Vitriol BackSince leading homophobe Isaiah Washington is stuck in a rehab facility for the time being, best-selling author Terry McMillan has gamely stepped up to the gay-bashing plate. As Galleycat reports, McMillan’s contribution to the new anthology The Honeymoon’s Over: True Stories of Love, Marriage, and Divorce is a list of 100 questions for the ex-husband who left her after he realized he was gay. (Readers will recall the man in question was also the model for the hot young lover in How Stella Got Her Groove Back, which may put a slight damper on those royalty checks.) What did she want to know?