Gansevoort Assures Us, ‘The Hotel Is Not Anti-Semitic’
A couple of days ago we linked to a “Page Six” item that claimed that staffers at the Hotel Gansevoort’s G-Spa taunted a clubgoer for wearing a yarmulke, eventually booting him and his friend from the club and spitting in the friend’s face. The Gansevoort has now issued a statement telling their side of the story, and we’re not at all surprised that it involves Kid Rock.
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
Dave Chappelle Tiffs With the Wife at Coffee Shop, ‘Entourage’-ers
This week’s juiciest bit of celeb-sighting gossip was, of course, the Post’s report that after a performer dumped a drink on Demi and Ashton, Box honcho Simon Hammerstein sent an e-mail to his partner and a GM saying, “I can’t stand those two” — apparently because they’re “so far up their own arses” and “don’t spend anything” — “and I applaud whoever spilt a drink on them.” We’re thinking Kid Rock got kinder treatment when he went to Southern Hospitality, or there would’ve been a Tommy Lee–style throwdown.
Neighborhood Watch
La Esquina Laying Breakfast Eggs on Little ItalyEast Village: If you’re a police officer, a nurse, or another kind of emergency service responder, S’MAC will give you a 15 percent discount on your order now through Labor Day. [S’MAC]
Flatiron: The name of the new Gansevoort coming to Park Avenue will be … Gansevoort Park. [Down by the Hipster]
Harlem: More mega-chain fast food coming soon. [Uptown Flavor]
Little Italy: La Esquina now serves breakfast. [Eat for Victory/VV]
Midtown East: Tonight at the Mercedes Benz showroom, Adirondack Creamery and Chinatown Ice Cream Factory will dole out green-tea, kulfi-pistachio-cardamom, and almond-cookie ice creams (among other flavors) to ticket holders supporting Asian Women in Business. [AWIB]
Midtown West: On August 23, former Maya chef de cuisine Julian Medina is opening his own nouveau Mexican restaurant called Toloache at 251 West 50th Street. [Grub Street]
Mediavore
Restaurant I.D.-Theft Ring Exposed; Ted Nugent–Influenced CuisineWaiters in 40 restaurants formed a huge identity-theft ring, recording credit-card numbers and making $3 million in purchases. [Fox NY]
Donald Trump gets a sweetheart deal from the state to build Trump on the Ocean, a huge restaurant and banquet hall, on Jones Beach. [Newsday]
Chef J.J. Rachou is still feeling the sting from his Department of Health closure and can’t bring himself to reopen Brasserie LCB yet. “If you lift every can, you find a cockroach,” he says. [NYT]
gossipmonger
Rich Little, Not So Funny! Who Knew?Karl Rove got into a fight with Sheryl Crow and Laurie David at the White House Correspondents Association dinner Saturday night. Also at the dinner: Eliot Spitzer got Sanjaya Malakar’s autograph, and host Richard Little bombed. And Antonin Scalia chatted up blogger Ana Marie Cox at Christopher Hitchens’s after-party. James Carville owns several guns. Chevy Chase was mentally and physically abused as a child, according to an upcoming biography. Keith McNally is still at his street campaign against the giant Hotel Gansevoort billboard. Cynthia Nixon is still holding out hope for a Sex and the City movie. The widow of Dr. Robert Atkins is trying to remove trustees of his estate because they sued her for back pay.
Mediavore
San Gennaro Still Hanging; Power to the Deliverymen!The San Gennaro festival is still facing serious opposition from the local community board, which recommends refusing it a permit. [NYT]
The Chinese deliveryman revolution is spreading; it’s a legitimate movement driven by “sheer numbers and … some forceful advocacy groups.” [NYT]
Related: The Heartening Backstory of the Deliveryman Rebellion
One of the Gansevoort Hotel’s co-owners is found to have run a business with ties to a Russian assassin and gang leader. [NYP]
Mediavore
Gansevoort Owner Apologizes for Sign He’s Not About to Take Down; FDAThe owner of the Hotel Gansevoort abjectly apologizes for its monstrous sign but says that the lease has been signed and that there’s no way out of it. Whether this satisfies Keith McNally and other opponents remains to be seen. [NYP]
Rachael Ray conquers yet another swath of America, becoming the official “spokes-chef” for Dunkin’ Donuts. She will develop a line of dishes for the chain. [Nation’s Restaurant News (registration required)]
The FDA allowing factory farm veterinarians to use cattle antibiotics which may lead to resistant microbes and eventually endanger humans. The Times is not down. [NYT]
