PX This.

GREATEST HITS: theForum@px.this

PX This hereby presents The Forum’s Greatest Hits, a thread-by-thread archive of the most fascinating discussions from "theForum@px.this" — our online F&B oriented community IP.Board (founded in 2007) made virtually obsolete by the re-launch of theBlahg, pxthis.com, on August 31, 2009.

[theForum@px.this will be fully and permanently dismantled upon the definitive completion of its archive.]

Jean Georges Enterprises: Shit, meet Fan. Fan, Meet Shit [Part 2]:
Started: July 27, 2007. 11:50AM by *MoneyMan* • Closed: August 5, 2010 11:17AM • Archived at 40,980 Views

… CONTINUED from Jean Georges Enterprises: Shit, meet Fan. Fan, meet Shit. [Part 1]

PRIMARY SUBJECT : Jean-Georges Enterprises LLC

ADJUNCT SUBJECTS : Jean-Georges Vongerichten, Director of Operations Lois Freedman, Attorney Caroline Richmond, Starwood Capital, W Hotels, Spice Market

GIST OF TOPIC : "Famed N.Y. Chef Sued for Skimpy Wages…" etc.

SIGNIFICANCE: When we last visited this topic, New York magazine was pulling the figurative foot out its mouth and Jean-Georges Enterprises was pulling the figurative foot out its ass.

The discussion continues to speculate on subsequent events, most notably the irrationality of Jean-Georges Enterprsises official release of some kind of half-assed statement admitting to "no wrongdoing."
Ha ha ahaa OK, did you catch that? The company was sued three times for essentially the same offense against the laws set forth by Department of Labor, but they, despite settling the suits in a cumulative amount totalling somewhere in the millions of dollars, "admit to no wrongdoing."

Oh, but it starts to get really good when evidently, some attorney named Caroline Richmond implies the workers of the industry from whom their wages were stolen should drop their lawsuits attempting to get their rightfully earned money back, because this really awful economy will force all those poor poor multimillion dollar restaurants to close down, and then all these workers will lose their jobs anyway. Behold!:

"All these people that have stolen from the employees all live in multi-million dollar homes, and now they want to bitch about how getting sued over money that they had no right to take in the first place is going to hurt their businesses? Boo hoo hoo.
These assholes never gave a shit that FOH’ers were living in tiny shoeboxes with roommates all this time. I’m pretty sure that in these ‘uncertain economic times’ that these people need the $3300 more than you do, you greedy fucking bitch….

Not to mention the fact that if it had been in reverse, and an FOH’er had been caught stealing money from the house, that person would have been fired on the spot. But her argument is that the FOH should shut up and stop upholding the laws, because they’ll lose their jobs…
The workers are suing to get money that they earned, back. The owners never had a right to that money in the first place. So if anyone should be giving up anything in these ‘uncertain economic times,’ it’s the lawyers that should be giving up their fees, if they’re so worried about these businesses failing."

Told ya! We "strange, strange world"— we so smart. We even make lawyers look like jackasses!
Especially when the discussion thread progresses over several months to eventually reveal how all these poor poor restaurants that can barely afford to stay in business after giving all the money they don’t admit to stealing back to the workers— are opening new multiple ventures. All over the world.

With earnings estimated at somewhere near the "$100M" mark. <— By the way, you’ll recall we only know that amount because it comes to us via this gem: "While JG marches his way to $100M, you’ll still be standing there holding your tired basket of gripes and getting old."

Ooooh, so right. Look, here we are! Just holding our basket.

RATING: ★★★★★

WHAT THE STARS MEAN: Ratings range from zero to five stars and reflect the discussion’s entertainment value, from amusing to hilarious, with edification taken into consideration. Hyperlinks contained within are subject to change.

The archives of theForum@px.this have been edited for the sake of clarity, brevity, and squeakiness. [If you require an original unedited copy of the discussion, please e-mail px.this@gmail.com]

***********************************************

** See also :

• Jean Georges Enterprises… [UPDATE] <--- Verrry interesting discussion going on in the comments section here!

• Jean Georges Enterprises: Shit, meet Fan. Fan, meet Shit. [Part 1]
• GrubStreet (& Gridskipper): Ignorant (& Stupid)
• “Mercer… Lobby… Screaming” starring Lois Freedman

For more on this subject, read PX Me – The Sequel to PX This – Coming Soon in the Spring of 2012

GREATEST HITS: theForum@px.this

PX This hereby presents The Forum’s Greatest Hits, a thread-by-thread archive of the most fascinating discussions from "theForum@px.this" — our online F&B oriented community IP.Board (founded in 2007) made virtually obsolete by the re-launch of theBlahg, pxthis.com, on August 31, 2009.

[theForum@px.this will be fully and permanently dismantled upon the definitive completion of its archive.]

Jean Georges Enterprises: Shit, meet Fan. Fan, Meet Shit [Part I]:
Started: July 27, 2007. 11:50AM by *MoneyMan* • Closed: August 5, 2010 11:17AM • Archived at 40,980 Views

PRIMARY SUBJECT : Jean-Georges Enterprises LLC

ADJUNCT SUBJECTS : Jean-Georges Vongerichten, Director of Operations Lois Freedman, Jay McInerney, Herve Descottes, Starwood Capital, Catterton Partners, W Hotels, Spice Market

GIST OF TOPIC : "Famed N.Y. Chef Sued for Skimpy Wages…"

SIGNIFICANCE: In 2004 Abbe Diaz publishes (the original) PX This, chronicling four years of her employment in the NYC Food & Beverage Industry. Not long afterward, Jay McInerney pens a "sycophantic five-page article" in New York magazine rhapsodizing about Jean-Georges Vongerichten and refuting several key issues raised in PX This, without ever actually mentioning PX This. Hysterical. (No, really— the apparent attempt at "damage control" is so camp, if you read PX This and then read the article, you’ll totally LOL! and squirt like coffee out your nose or whatever.)

Soon after, the NY Post reports: "Restaurateur Jean-Georges Vongerichten is so annoyed by the success of his former Maitre D’ Abbe Diaz’s new tell-all book, he is forcing his employees to sign confidentiality agreements. They were also banned from discussing [the book] at work." Huh! Weird, right? Kinda makes you wonder what’s in that thing, doesn’t it?

Fast forward a little while later, and Abbe Diaz just happens to get thrown out of Jean Georges restaurant. Riveting!

Then another "sycophantic" item suddenly appears in New York magazine, comparing Abbe Diaz’s writing to "text messages tapped out by the jittery, manicured thumbnails of an ex-model at Rose Bar at 4 a.m." whatever the hell that means. Also, there’s something about the workers of the NYC Fine Dining Food & Beverage Industry being a "strange, strange world." Imagine that.

Hilariously, subsequently New York magazine is then compelled to report that Jean-Georges Vongerichten and his restaurant group have agreed to settle a class-action lawsuit filed by employees of eight of his eateries for the misappropriation of tip wages earned by staff— to the tune of $1.75 million.

In any case, all of that is discussed herein— by a bunch of people who seemingly used to work for Jean-Georges, duh. Oh, plus there’s some really fascinating big money corporate Gordon Gekko kind of talk, if you’re into that sort of thing. Ooooh, we "strange strange world." We so smart.

The discussion gets so long and elaborate, we had to split it into two parts. Part 2 forthcoming…

RATING: ★★★★★

WHAT THE STARS MEAN: Ratings range from zero to five stars and reflect the discussion’s entertainment value, from amusing to hilarious, with edification taken into consideration. Hyperlinks contained within are subject to change.

The archives of theForum@px.this have been edited for the sake of clarity, brevity, and squeakiness. [If you require an original unedited copy of the discussion, please e-mail px.this@gmail.com]

***********************************************

** See also :

• Jean Georges Enterprises… [UPDATE] <--- Verrry interesting discussion going on in the comments section here!

• GrubStreet (& Gridskipper): Ignorant (& Stupid)
• Jean Georges Enterprises: Shit, meet Fan. Fan, meet Shit [Part2]
• “Mercer… Lobby… Screaming” starring Lois Freedman

For more on this subject, read PX Me – The Sequel to PX This – Coming Soon in the Spring of 2012

• Thursday, July 29, 2010 6:00PM: Stellan Skarsgård standing outside the Ralph Lauren Rugby store on University Place conversing with friends.

• Sunday, July 25, 2010 4:30PM: Dave Chapelle walking alone (sporting a backpack) on Thompson St in Greenwich Village.

• Tuesday, July 6, 2010 8:30PM: Anderson Cooper dining with friend at Gusto Ristorante e Bar Americano in the West Villlage.

• Tuesday, July 20, 2010 7:30PM: Grace Coddington dining with friend at Sant Ambroeus in the West Village.

PX This presents THE F&F REVIEW

Hey, sorry we couldn’t make it to "Friends&Family," we were out of town/ had to work/ not invited. We’re really glad we finally managed to come by, though— it’s so nice to see you!
What’s that? You would still like us to take the time to fill out the F&F survey, because you’d love to take advantage of all our vast experience, knowledge, insight, and expertise as long as we’re already here? Because you invited 75 people to F&F, and afterward all you got was 41 "Congrats[es]!" 22 "Awesome[s]!" 3 "Ciao[s]!" and 9 "Best of luck[s]!" ?
Of course, we’d be honored. Oh ha, yesss, we’ll be honest— brutally honest even, ha ha! After all, that’s what friends & family are for!
No no please, don’t send anything more, we’re stuffed, we can’t breathe, you’ll have to roll us out of here, ha ha ha… !

Aria Wine Bar

What was your first impression?
Cute.

Please rate the Bar:
Fine. Spacious, welcoming, comfortable, clean. And the bartender is affable and enthusiastic enough, if not exactly meticulous.

Please rate the drinks/ cocktails/ wine:
Good. Decent assortment of wine, unless you take seriously into account the vintners "are all women" (their first names even appear on the list alongside the description of their offerings). Not quite sure how those women feel about their wines being served in rocks glasses, but I guess you’ll have to ask them. Drink prices by the glass are "tasting" size; bottle prices are fair-ish, all relatively square in the mid-range. A bit more diversity would have been nice (especially for a "wine bar"), but the good bones are there; maybe they’ll expand eventually.
The cocktail list (not on the menu but on the wall behind you) is all classics, but the execution is proficient.

Please rate the Dining Room:
Also cute. Imaginative and creative. Nice use of spare square footage. Cozy and casual but not cramped.

Please rate the BOH:
N/A; technically the BOH is in the FOH.
And uh, it’s… uh… "not a restaurant," remember? Definitely keep that in mind.

How was the staff?
Satisfactory. Both of them. Ha ha.

What did you eat?/ How was the food?
San Daniele with homemade breadsticks : OK. Personally, I’m not a particularly huge fan of the San Daniele, but it’s adequate enough. Great for nibbling/drinking.
Melanzane with Goat Cheese : Not bad. Is it made in a toaster oven? That would be kind of impressive I suppose.
Polpette : Uhh… yeah. This one needs a re-think. And they know why, come on now. If I say any more than that, I would need a consultation fee.
But just an illustration, I no longer have any confidence/interest in ordering the crab cakes or vegetable lasagna, both of which I had been considering. Next time (if there’s a next time), I’ll likely stick to the cheese and salumi.

What did you like?
The location. The ambience. And the wine (I tried four varietals) was pretty good.

What did you dislike?
Oi, those meatballs…

What was your last impression?
… and what’s with the music?

Would you come back?
Sigh. Maybe…

Thank you, and hope to see you soon!
Thanks and best of luck.

There seems to be a bit of controversy lately over our recent recommendation of La Esquina as the place at "the top of [the] list" to dine as a "hip and savvy local," should one happen to have a single night’s visit to NYC. It seems that the latest "changes" at La Esquina may not exactly be for the best (despite The NY Post’s rumination / elaboration-of-our-story over the speculative liability of "former" partner Serge Becker‘s “incorrectly reported” involvement).

Whew! That was a mouthful!

In any case, while we ponder the significance of the ongoing developments at La Esquina and the prospect of updating our suggestions, might I suggest you watch Antoine Fuqua‘s Brooklyn’s Finest. Sure, the plot may be a little tedious and slightly convoluted, but who wouldn’t want to behold La Esquina in all its fictional fabulosity? (Also, Wass Stevens is in it.)

Yeah, that’s the ticket.