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 lucks[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… !
What was your first impression?
well it certainly looks like a "real" restaurant ?
Please rate the Bar:
good. spacious, clean, comfortable. and the bartenders seem very good too— but okay, in all honesty, we did get "made" as soon as we walked through the door, so you know how that is.
Please rate the drinks/ cocktails/ wine:
fine. brief, but eclectic enough. purposeful— in a way. umm… a decidedly "west village/soho" way actually, is what i’m kinda tempted to say. but of course, this isn’t exactly the west village or soho. but i guess that’s besides the point anyways. right?
Please rate the Dining Room:
nice. purposeful— in a way. umm… a decidedly "west village/soho" way actually, is what i’m kinda tempted to say. but of course, this isn’t exactly the west village or soho. but i guess that’s besides the point anyways. right?
Please rate the BOH:
better than i expected. oh who am i kidding— much better than i’d expected, especially considering i’ve been hearing some pretty awful things; one person even went so far as to call it "inedible." and i also heard another party on a different night waited a lifetime for food but still left unfed and starving.
but we didn’t experience any of those things. everyone (and everything) is quite professional as a matter of fact, so i guess whatever happened during Kenmare’s brief hiatus is evidently all for the best.
How was the staff?
great! it’s everybody you already know, so what’s not to love about that?
What did you eat?/ How was the food?
i tried damned near every appetizer on the menu, two side dishes, the rice pudding "arancini," and the dulce de leche layer cake. and everything was very good. even the The Little Owl meatball slider— which, for some reason, in my experience, wasn’t as good at theLittleOwl, but is perfectly satisfactory here.
the food is simple (the desserts are bit more elaborate) but well-prepared. fresh and clean, without a lot of fancy fuss or overbearing sauces/spices. the lobster&shrimp spagehtti "fra diavolo" was my favorite of all. the sardine fillet was also quite appealing, although i’m not so sure why there’s all this fascination with cauliflower on this menu (to each his own i guess). oh and the pickled cucumbers and radishes are really delicious.
i did, however, intentionally steer clear of the "inedible" tuna carpaccio— and when i saw it land in front of a customer two seats over, i’m kinda glad i did. i’m just sayin.
What did you like?
i guess everything, but especially the staff. i hope everybody appreciates the effort even a fraction as much as i do. and the bathroom wall tiles are so beautiful.
What did you dislike?
wellll uhh ugh… truth be told— i’m maybe not quite feelin Kenmare’s umm PR tactics? if this is really truly supposed to be a "real" restaurant, then God bless them and best of luck. i hope they keep it real, because the Beatrice/Waverly wannabee shit is just sooo tired already. and no, i’m not just saying that because i "can’t get in," jackasses. i’m saying that because the SHIT IS FUCKING TIRED. i swear i have never before heard of a restaurant more universally reviled before the first "official" dinner has even landed on a fucking plate. and in this city, that’s really saying a lot.
so i guess what i’m sayin is: i hope i didn’t just waste all this time and energy lauding a restaurant that turns out eventually to not even be a fucking restaurant. christ.
What was your last impression?
oh yah. i guess: see above.
Would you come back?
oh fucking hell. i don’t know. if i "can get in" i guess ?
Thank you, and hope to see you soon!
thank you. it was lovely. really truly, we enjoyed it very much.
sigh— but what can i say. except: welcome to PX This, sweetie. we’re not like The New York Post; we’re too sexy for your hype.
**See also (earlier):
• Kenmare (née Civetta) – UPDATE
• Civetta Closing – "New Concept" to Come
• MORE on Sevigny & Khan…
Underground parties land cool new Nolita club Kenmare in hot water [the Daily News]
"New A-list hot spot Kenmare wound up in hot water after State Liquor Authority officials read about underground parties there in the gossip pages, the Daily News has learned… But that’s not how the owners of Kenmare portrayed the spot to the State Liquor Authority when it was granted a liquor license in early February… ‘We are paying close attention to them,’ said SLA Deputy Chief Executive Officer Michael Jones. ‘They are supposed to be operating as a restaurant.’ …Kenmare could face penalties as severe as losing its liquor license."
Huh. Is that right?
Well, hmm— what was that you said again, Gawker? Something about our original breaking coverage on the transformation of the former Civetta being "not true," right after you misquoted us and incorrectly paraphrased our bulletin?
Oh but wait, we do admit perhaps we were somewhat remiss when we later mused, "…what does ‘the new Beatrice’ even mean?" and subsequently suggested you were "narrow-minded, short-sighted… ignorant" and "asinine" for creating such a nonsensical description of Kenmare née Civetta in the first place.
I guess we should apologize. We kinda totally ‘get it’ now.
Gee, it looks like Kenmare may very well be "the new Beatrice" after all.
**See also (earlier):
• Civetta Closing – "New Concept" to Come
MORE on Sevigny & Khan (& Civetta. Sort of.)
When we broke the story on Civetta’s closing, little did we realize it would become the *Nightlife Bloggers’ SAT on Reading Comprehension. Or maybe that’s more like the Jellus Bloggers’ SAT on Integrity and Pettiness? Whatever! We digress.
This just in from a tipster: "Did you see your old buddy Steve [Lewis]’s column today? Funny how Nur [Khan] supposedly denies working with Paul [Sevigny]… from what I hear, they maybe are looking into a space in SoHo together, and Brad Zipper is their money guy… I don’t know how (or if) he fits into Civetta, though."
Another source adds: "…I have seen Brad [Zipper] at Civetta a couple times — he does live around the corner and is quite friendly with the staff… but I wouldn’t say that he’s involved in Civetta…"
And yet a third ‘insider’ speculates: "If I had to make a semi-educated guess, I’d say it could be possible there are two deals in the works? If the so-called SoHo space with Zipper is a go, it might still be a ways off… the Civetta thing would be a way for them to start up now, get their feet wet, then move along to the next project once that’s in the swing of things…"
*By the way, what does "the new Beatrice" even mean? As far as we know, The Beatrice Inn is closed, indefinitely— just as we predicted (despite various uninformed opinions throughout the blogosphere contrary to our deduction). When Eric Goode & Co opened MK, did they call it "the new" Area? When Peter Gatien built Club USA, was it called "the new" Limelight? Hmm, perhaps they were— by those who were narrow-minded, shortsighted and ignorant.
The Beatrice Inn was the name of the space at 258 W 12th St, long before Matt Abramcyk and Paul Sevigny took over. For anyone to take that very same name and apply it to another location would, in short, be asinine.
Might we suggest pulling your head out of your navel for a change, and try some real erudition on for size. You might be amazed at what you can learn about reality and our industry if you just freed your hands from that circle jerk, and say (for example)— picked up a book every once in a while.
This just in from a tipster: Civetta has abruptly laid off most of its staff and is closing for one month to make way for a new concept that will tentatively be manned "…by Nur Khan and Paul Sevigny." The termination comes as quite a surprise to the majority of those involved, as Civetta was just building its mostly-word-of-mouth reputation as a "pretty darned good restaurant."
Apparently, an unnamed very deep-pocketed "investor" with "ties to several projects in downtown" Manhattan, including possible "involvements" with such high-profile operators as "Andre Balazs and Serge Becker," is the primary impetus behind Civetta’s sudden shift in momentum.
Civetta will close its doors next week on December 1st.
Gee, and we hadn’t even had the chance to try it yet.
Oh well, maybe next concept.
**See our UPDATE for more information on Khan, Sevigny and Civetta.**
= "personne extraordinaire"