Nightlife Honcho Steve Lewis Becomes a Blogger, Says Mansion Will Save Clubland
At one point, club operator turned designer Steve Lewis was the guy to get if you were opening a new venue. We’ve been wondering what happened to him ever since he worked on Amalia, but now he has resurfaced as — what else? — a blogger! We’re not going to lie: His interview with the owners of Mansion is silly shilly (“New York needs Mansion just as we need Alex Rodriguez, Johan Santana, and Lincoln Center”) and includes a lot of familiar bellyaching about the state of nightlife (promoters, bottle service, and bankers turned owners have hijacked the business; every club in the last six years has been a knockoff; there’s no personal service anymore), but we got a kick out of Miami-based Mansion partner Eric Milon’s dismissive survey of his competition.
Celebrity Settings
Jennifer Garner Likes the Food at Fiamma More than Padma Did
The week’s most exciting celebrity sighting was that of beer-sippin’ McLovin at Diner. No other celebs were busted getting their underage drink on, but there were other surprises: Rachael Ray rolled into the Orchard with a posse bigger than Diddy’s, and Jennifer Garner liked the food at Fiamma so much she slipped into the kitchen to beg Fabio Trabocchi for recipes. We figure that makes up for supposedly getting dissed by Padma Lakshmi a couple weeks ago. (And yes, there a Padma sighting this week, too…)
Celebrity Settings
Ben Stiller Crashes a Party at Fiamma, Penélope Cruz Makes Out at
Every Friday a notable New Yorker tells us where they’ve been eating, but where are the rest of them chowing down? Starting this week we’ll sort through the gossip columns à la Ils Vont (RIP) to tell you who’s been seen where (casual sightings only — boring galas, vodka launches, and pluggy appearances don’t count). We’ll eventually compile a ranking of restaurants most often visited by celebs. Not that you care about that sort of thing! Oh, but if you do, won’t you please leave your own sightings in the comments?
NewsFeed
Roller-Skating May Return to the Roxy, Crobar Takeover Looking LikelyNews cameras galore may have been trained on Ivan Kane’s appearance at last night’s contentious CB2 meeting, but uptown an equally compelling drama unfolded as CB4’s business committee pondered the liquor-license renewals of the Roxy, Pacha, Crobar and Pink Elephant, and Sol — oh, just about every megaclub in the city!