PX Me. (How I Became a Published Author, Got Micro-Famous, and Married a Millionaire)
When Abbe Diaz published her journal, PX This – Diary of the "Maître d’ to the Stars" [née Diary of the Potted Plant] in 2004, she’d had no idea Read more…
PX Me. (How I Became a Published Author, Got Micro-Famous, and Married a Millionaire)
When Abbe Diaz published her journal, PX This – Diary of the "Maître d’ to the Stars" [née Diary of the Potted Plant] in 2004, she’d had no idea what she was in for. Sure, she expected the process would be difficult and she might never work in the fine dining restaurant industry ever again, but she never imagined the truth could be so controversial— in a book that’s essentially about HAVING DINNER.
Despite PX This being lauded by most of her colleagues (and some of the most illustrious names in the business) as "the bible of the [NYC] industry," Diaz soon learned the politics of Food and/or "Culture" Media & PR is a game that’s dirtier than last night’s dishes. Finding herself under unjustified fire from various vastly popular and influential periodicals, news blogs, food press, online foodie communities, and other professional and aspiring writers, Diaz (a textbook Scorpio/Monkey) quickly realized [again] there were two things in her life she would never be willing to do: 1) Take unmerited bullshit, and 2) Kiss spiteful pretentious ass.
As you can probably imagine, that went over reeeally well. Mistruths, mudslinging, manipulation, misappropriation, corruption, censorship, and the tarnishing of her character— as well as the livelihoods of her friends and loved ones— are just some of the things she subsequently endured.
This is that story.
"This writing stuff is HARD." – Salman Rushdie (to friends on Facebook®)
"If you think the writing is hard, wait ’til you try the selling part. Oh, wait…" – Abbe Diaz (in response to friend, Salman Rushdie, on Facebook®)
PX Me – The Sequel to PX This
(How I Became a Published Author, Got Micro-Famous,
and Married a Millionaire)
- COMING SOON IN THE SPRING OF 2012 -
DP/Videographer: Jim Turner
Composer: Amir Salem aka Azeem
Production Assistant: Eric S. Smith
Voiceover: Brad Aldous
New Blogger: Kevin Coyle
Friend: Katina Carrao
Head Honcho: Brady Bryson
Co-Worker: Amir Salem
With cameos: Gabriel Snyder, Emily Gould, Josh Ozersky, Choire Sicha, Joshua David Stein, Ben Leventhal
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Abbe Diaz is a freelance commercial-artist, designer/dressmaker, and restaurant consultant. She has worked in the restaurant/bar industry for nearly 25 years, with numerous stints throughout the New York dining/party scene that include: Limelight, Palladium, Tunnel, Club USA, Coffee Shop, Spy, Cafe Tabac, The Strand (Miami Beach), Mercer Kitchen, Ilo, Lotus, and Theo. She served as the opening maître d’ for The Park, Smith, and 66.
She is proud to have had the opportunity to work under such nightlife arbiters as: Jean-Georges Vongerichten, Brian McNally, Jonathan Morr, Peter Gatien, Eric Goode, and Sean Macpherson.
Diaz gained a B.A. in Economics from Rutgers College, Rutgers University – New Brunswick. She was further educated as a non-matriculate Design student at the Fashion Institute of Technology, in NYC, where she currently resides.
• “The New York service industry’s Norma Rae, Abbe Diaz… the Service Industry’s Nikke Finke…” – BlackBook
• “…pure unbridled crazy batshitness…” – gawker.com
• “That is genius.” – Joel Stein, Time
For more information about PX This – Diary of the "Maître d’ to the Stars" visit http://pxthis.com/thebook
* * * * *
Have you heard?
Until the release of PX Me – The Sequel to PX This (Spring 2012), this website will henceforth be updated only intermittently (approximately once or twice a week).
Abbe Diaz’s new (daily) blog is now at: abbediaz.com
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.]
GAWKER.COM (Addressing its Deep-Seated, Misguided, Sad, Twisted Jellussy)
Started: March 29, 2007. 5:33 PM by *Bartender* • Closed: October 27, 2010 4:37PM • Archived at 21,018 Views
PRIMARY SUBJECT : gawker.com
ADJUNCT SUBJECTS : Former Managing Editor Gabriel Snyder, Former Gawker blogger Joshua David Stein, Former Gawker blogger Emily Gould, Gawker blogger Hamilton Nolan, Former Gawker blogger Sheila McClear, Top Chef contestant Leah Cohen
GIST OF TOPIC : How most of the former Gawker bloggers (as well as its former Managing Editor) were sooo intimidated by Abbe Diaz, they disparaged her, engaged in blatant breaches of journalistic integrity, and then effectively censored her by banning her from commenting (twice!) without just cause or provocation, in a manner completely contradictory to the rules they themselves set forth for all "future" commentators.
(Not to mention their prior treatment of her under the previous Managing Editor, Choire Sicha— wherein it basically looks like they tried to misappropriate the subject matter in Diaz’s book, PX This, for their own glorification and/or personal gain.)
Yeah! We got some reeeal winners here.
SIGNIFICANCE: Oh, where do we even begin? Seriously, it’s a lot to absorb. So much so as a matter of fact, that Diaz’s second book, PX Me – The Sequel to PX This, is comprised largely of Diaz’s delineation of Gawker’s mind-boggling sordidness.
This long and fascinating discussion, as it unfolded, is (to some extent) its "real-time" counterpart.
Its overall sentiment can perhaps be best summarized thusly, in a comment made on Gawker’s website by PX This contributing-writer/editor *VanillaIce* aka *TrollaiLlama* aka *clue4sale* right before his (and Diaz’s) commenting privileges at Gawker were revoked :
"I suppose this is the part where we’re supposed to smile, and pat you on the head and say, ‘Good little troll. Now, be on your way.’
Was there some part of ‘I’m tired of seeing her being called crazy’ that you didn’t understand?
From what I can tell, Abbe has never directly addressed you (or any other troll here) at all, except to respond to one of your unfoundedly rude, obnoxious comments toward her. And yet you continue to follow her around, in some kind of desperate attempt to gain whatever attention you feel you’re lacking.
You call her batshit, you’ve called her a drunk, you’ve implied she’s of the mental state to commit sucide, you’ve accused her of wanting to ‘fellate’ a man she’s never met, without a single fact to back up your disgusting libelous statements.
Your half-hearted backpedaling doesn’t impress me. It’s as pathetic as Josh Stein’s cowardice, a so-called journalist who persistently wrote pejorative things about Abbe, but interestingly, has never had the balls to face her as she taunts him comment after comment. In contrast, Abbe lives, works and socializes in NY, amongst the veritable titans of their field that she has boldly exposed as the conniving, thieving, manipulative, backstabbing, spoiled cretins they are.
I dare you to back up your claims about Abbe’s craziness. I dare you and Josh Stein both.
I double dog dare you."
To this day, neither Gawker nor Joshua David Stein have ever retracted/updated their erroneous assertions. Former Managing Editor Choire Sicha has failed to explain his iniquitous actions. Former Managing Editor Gabriel Snyder has never justified his injudicious behavior in censoring Abbe Diaz.
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]
***********************************************
**pictured: Official Gawker Mascot, Julia Allison – gawker.com
** See also:
• The Hostess Diaries Conspiracy
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.]
THE HOSTESS DIARIES CONSPIRACY
Started: May 27, 2008. 12:47 PM by (Forum Administrator) *jo* • Closed: June 22, 2010 11:56PM • Archived at 15,935 Views
PRIMARY SUBJECT : New York Times article "My Year at a Hotspot" by Coco Henson Scales, July 11, 2004
ADJUNCT SUBJECTS : Former gawker.com Managing Editor Choire Sicha, Former New York Times food critic Frank Bruni, Former Hue hostess Coco Henson Scales (and friend, William Diggs)
GIST OF TOPIC : Did Choire Sicha and/or Coco Scales (along with Frank Bruni) "conspire" to misappropriate the subject matter in PX This for their own glorification and/or personal gain?
SIGNIFICANCE: In June of 2004, Abbe Diaz purchases a short-running advertising spot within gawker.com to help publicize her book, PX This (Diary of the "Maitre d’ to the Stars"). Within several weeks of that advertisement, the aforementioned article in question, “My Year at a Hotspot,” appears in The New York Times, ostensibly written by former (prominent PX This "character" Karim Amatullah‘s) Hue hostess, Coco Henson Scales.
Gawker Editor Choire Sicha declares the article the "best celebrity venality exposé ever!" and goes on to exhort, "if Gawker had a required reading syllabus, it would consist entirely of this article." He then further exalts the article by declaring Coco Scales "The People’s Hero" on his personal blog as well, choiresicha.com (now semi-defunct).
Within hours, "fans" of PX This ("anywhere from 15 to 35 people") send e-mails to Sicha drawing attention to Diaz’s book, with at least one pointing out Diaz’s status as a former Gawker advertiser. Diaz herself forwards a mention of her book in the Daily News to Sicha. Sicha responds via e-mail to Diaz (and at least one "enthusiast") but, despite referring to himself as a “big fan,” fails to publicly acknowledge the existence of Diaz’s book in any way.
It is later discovered the climax of Scales’s riveting narrative is completely fictional.
Upon speculation as to how a fictional essay (by a previously unknown/unpublished writer) could possibly appear in the New York Times as a non-fictional feature in the first place, it is discovered Choire Sicha "dated Times restaurant critic Frank Bruni for a few months."
Scales has written nothing since.
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]
* * * * *
*Pictured (from boston.com): Choire Sicha, Former Gawker blogger, Emily Gould
** See also:
• GAWKER.COM
• Gawker Loses "Ignorasshole"
• Nick Denton vs Leigh Haber
• Freelance Writer Wanted (for investigative piece on The Hostess Diaries Conspiracy)
For more on this subject, read PX Me – The Sequel to PX This – Coming Soon in the Spring of 2012
• Here’s at least one benefit of the recession. According to a 25-year professional Waste Management veteran, the dramatic increase in businesses closing (and employees losing their jobs) has resulted in less waste. He approximates his routes alone collect about "20,000 less tons of trash " per week.
• Idiohack Ben Leventhal attempts to instruct restaurant patrons on "How to be a Regular." Unfortunately, his advice is a load of crap. Oh ha, "crap" ha! There’s a joke about trying to be "regular" somewhere in there! Probably. - Vanilla Ice
• Steve Lewis updates us on his feud with Todd English (wherein he "pulled an Abbe Diaz" (!) – his words). - Inkslinger
• Famke Janssen was spotted twice this week (because she’s a total stalker). First on Bleecker and 6th Ave (walking by the fountain) looking cute in trendy casual cargo shorts and a lovely jaunty fedora. Homegirl must be a bit of a klutz though, constantly bumping into low furnitures and whatnot, seeing as her (long! thin!) legs were looking a wee bit bruised and purply.
Our second encounter found her dining at MeKong with a diminutive female friend. Ms. Janssen didn’t seem to mind at all that the air conditioner above her head was dripping all over the table (which we had just abandoned prior, specifically for that reason). She also really loves her dog. He’s an adorable stout puggish slightly overweight nearly cross-eyed little thing, but Ms. Janssen reached down and scooped up all 15 or so pounds of him, and dined with him ensconced in her lap for the entire rest of her meal. Aww.
And if that scarf and handbag she was rockin are really actually from a street vendor like they purport, well— go on with yer bad self, Famke.
You look fabulous!
• Idiohack Ben Leventhal (characteristically) swings joyously from Keith McNally’s testicles as he announces the news McNally will team with Nate Appleman on their new soon-to-open pizzeria project. - Dick Johnson
• Our intrepid heroine takes on (Idiohack Wonder Twins) Joshua David Stein and Josh Ozersky — where else? — in the comment section of New York Magazine’s GrubStreet. A Must Read! You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, it’s better than Moby Dick. - Dick Johnson
• Anna Wintour offspring, Bee Shaffer with dad, David Shaffer — spotted walking into "the phone store" on 6th Ave (where everrrrybody fabulous buys/services their cellular phones) to inquire about — what else? — new cellular phones.
Oh, WHICH "phone store" you ask?
Well, if you have to ask, you must not be fabulous? In which case, Mike the phone store owner responds, "Puhleese. I have enough [overbearing, annoying, demanding, rich luddite moron] customers on my hands. Thanks, but no thanks." Evidently, Mike pays mucho moola in rent for his tiny store in its swanky location. He doesn’t mind the trickle — a flood he definitely doesn’t need. If you require his services, you’ll find him.
• Blogger Choire Sicha breaks the news about (his former boyfriend) Frank Bruni’s replacement at The New York Times. Aww….(?).
Heh, jerkfaced Gawker commentators who typically swing from Sicha’s testicles (since he used to blog for Gawker) didn’t even know Choire Sicha once dated Frank Bruni! Because, despite all their pretensions, a lot of Gawker commentators are just ignorant fucking idiots. - Vanilla Ice
• Adam Platt files his review of Graydon Carter’s Monkey Bar.
"… ‘I’m not supposed to say,’ the waiter whispered, before explaining, with a conspiratorial grin, that the front-room staff at Mr. Carter’s restaurant had been asked to sign confidentiality agreements when taking their jobs…."
Thanks a lot, Abbe. I guess other aspiring waiter cum memoirists are just shit outta luck, huh? - Vanilla Ice
= "personne extraordinaire"