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]
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** 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
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.]
New York Magazine’s GRUBSTREET and Gawker’s GRIDSKIPPER
(Addressing Their Remarkable Ignorance and Outright Stupidity):
Started: February 21, 2008. 11:44AM by *Dick Johnson* • Closed: June 28, 2010 11:17AM • Archived at 84,619 Views
PRIMARY SUBJECT : GrubStreet’s Former Managing Editor, Josh Ozersky
ADJUNCT SUBJECTS : Former GridSkipper Blogger, Chris-Mohney. Chef/Restaurateur Jean-Georges Vongerichten.
GIST OF TOPIC : Josh Ozersky is a biased, unethical, sycophantic tool. (This discussion thread essentially proves it. Lots of quotes, hyperlinks, etc. contained within.)
SIGNIFICANCE: In February of 2008, Abbe Diaz was asked to leave the bar at Jean Georges restaurant’s Nougatine before she could even finish her drink. That story itself is pretty entertaining.
However, it gets downright hysterical after GrubStreet’s Josh Ozersky chooses to recount the anecdote thusly:
Ungrammatical Forum Poster Tossed From Jean Georges, Gets Revenge in Ungrammatical Forum Post
We’re always leery of the strange, strange world of Abbe Diaz and her online forum, PX This, but a media alert titled Blogger Tossed From Jean Georges was difficult to resist. As you might expect, Diaz a former maitre d’ at Jean Georges who wrote a dishy book about her experiences in the business was in fact the blogger tossed, a cringe-inducing event publicized by the pilloried herself. (All of Diaz’s entries on PX This read like interminable text messages tapped out by the jittery, manicured thumbnails of an ex-model at Rose Bar at 4 a.m.) We include it here entirely for purposes of education: Remember, if you dog someone you worked for in a book, don’t go to his restaurant unless you know he won’t be around.
Abbe Diaz promptly responds in the comments section of that item:
How flattering! I would much rather sound like an ex-model at Rose Bar than a sycophantic journalist who gets all his information from press releases, any day of the week.
Here’s another "educational" tip for you: Don’t mistreat your staff members (or people in general, for that matter), because there’s such a thing in the universe called "karma," and its faces are plentiful and powerful.
Cheers,
abbe diaz
PX This.
p.s. Dear "Bookseller": Grub Street gives me a link, because right now I happen to be the most prominent voice of "the little people."
Y’know, the ones without whom the Industry to which Grub Street pays soooo much attention, wouldn’t even exist. *
*Note: For unknown reasons, Abbe Diaz’s comment in rebuttal to Josh Ozersky has since been removed from New York magazine’s website.
Good thing we saved it here! (And a whole lotta other fun stuff, too!)
Anyway— luckily, the Daily News also chooses to write their own account of the incident in a far more objective manner, and seeing as lots and lots and lots more people read the Daily News than Grubstreet, that was oodles of fun and cause for much celebration amongst Diaz’s "strange, strange world."
The discussion thread progresses over several months until it is eventually revealed that New York magazine will not renew Josh Ozersky’s contract as Managing Editor, and he is leaving GrubStreet to become Blog Editor for CitySearch. This, of course, would have been of little or no relevance to us (the NYC Food & Beverage industry professionals) had Josh Ozersky not made such a glaring jackass of his ignorant self prior. As it turns out, it was instead utterly priceless.
A few more weeks progress, and then it is revealed 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.
Again, this revelation would likely have been satisfying at best, but thanks to Josh Ozersky’s misplaced sycophantic contretemps, it ends up knee-slappingly uproarious to us, the "strange, strange world" of NYC’s Food & Beverage industry professionals.
The discussion finally culminates several months later, with the announcement of Josh Ozersky’s departure from CitySearch and the demise of his own personal unsuccessful "Feedbag" blog, created after his egress from GrubStreet.
Fascinating.
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: Anton Ego, food writer, Ratatouille
** See also :
• NEWSFLASH: Josh Ozersky is Unethical (and/or "Dumb")
• NEWSFLASH: Josh Ozersky is a Dweeb
For more on this subject, read PX This Too – The Sequel to PX This – Coming Soon in the Autumn of 2010
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.]
Started: October 1, 2007. 3:49 PM by *Ferret-n-Chicken!* • Closed: June 24, 2010 11:28AM • Archived at 17,670 Views
PRIMARY SUBJECT : Who would play the "lead character" in the TV/Cable/Web extravaganza PX This – The Series ?
ADJUNCT SUBJECTS : Actress Marja Allen Vongerichten, Thandie Newton, Gary Dourdan, Michelle Malkin, eater.com
GIST OF TOPIC : "DANG. DAT BE A LITTER A’ FINE BITCHEZ! WORD."
SIGNIFICANCE: "DANG. DAT BE A LITTER A’ FINE BITCHEZ! WORD."
Also: PX This – The Revised Edition is about (among other things)… a certain chef, see. Who just happens to have this wife. Who just happens to be an actress. Who just happens to look a lot like Abbe Diaz.
Do you seeee the possibilities? Freaky.
Oh, and also: Who would play YOU ? Mwuahahahahahahahahahaaaa
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: Abbe Diaz, Marja Allen Vongerichten, Thandie Newton
** See also (earlier): Abbe Diaz gets Personal
For more on this subject, read PX Me – The Sequel to PX This – Coming Soon in the Spring of 2012
* * * * *
Have you heard?
Until the release of PX Me (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.]
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
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.]
Started: Nov 21 2007, 01:58 PM by *what’s anorexia?* • Closed: February 17, 2010 12:10PM • Archived at 44,539 Views
PRIMARY SUBJECT : Former gawker.com blogger Joshua David Stein aka "the ignorasshole"
ADJUNCT SUBJECTS : Former gawker.com blogger Emily Gould. Gawker owner/publisher Nick Denton. Former NY Post journalist and gawker.com blogger Ian Spiegelman. Former Gawker managing editor Gabriel Snyder. Former Grubstreet blogger Josh Ozersky. Brian Grazer.
GIST OF TOPIC : Joshua David Stein is an ignorant asshole. Also, a hypocrite. And apparently, a bit of a horntoad who slept with his co-worker. Lots of links and quotes and whatnot provided. Some jabs at gawker.com too, because "they suck" in general.
And then everyone at Gawker who was ever a jerkface suddenly quits or gets fired. Riveting.
SIGNIFICANCE: Abbe Diaz and Joshua David Stein have serious beef from way back (Sept 2007). The guy is a tool; this thread pretty much proves it.
Also, *abbe* randomly drops a comment in a Gawker item, and houses owner Nick Denton’s ass. Fun times.
Gawker bans Abbe Diaz from commenting at Gawker [weak sauce!] because they’re immensely intimidated by her. Twice.
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]
***********************************************
For more on this subject, read PX This Too – The Sequel to PX This – Coming Soon in the Autumn of 2010
• Which nightlife impresario is being "forced" to keep "embellishing" the truth? Rampant speculation has pushed him and his team into a corner, and creative storytelling is the only way to keep the dream hype alive. The truth is: despite multiple gestures and promises by a prospective deep-pocketed investor, the money simply hasn’t been delivered.
• Which well-known chef just got busted cheating on his wife again? Word on the street is his long "suffering" wife is so used to it, she doesn’t even care anymore. Refreshingly, her consistent gracious and courteous demeanor has softened the edges on sharp, snake-like forked tongues. Despite all his money and authority, it’s she who’s captured the hearts of the minions. Unfortunately, she can’t stop the tongues from wagging, but maybe she can at least take some comfort in knowing the mongering often ends, "… but she’s sooo nice… I really like her."
• Let’s play PX This – Mad Libs! From the Members Only forum (fill in the blanks):
"Now that the big day is drawing near and the hype is starting to build, can we place our bets on how long __________ and __________ are going to last with each other? Two notorious ________ under one roof yet again. This could be more fun to watch than ____________ at ____________." [Answers revealed to Members here.]
welcome to the "soft launch" of the new pxthis.com —
sometime over the next couple of days, the official http://pxthis.com URL will kick in and be directed to this new site. the current URL for The Forum @ PX This (http://pxthis.invisionzone.com) will remain in effect and will not change.
forthcoming updates may proceed slowly over the next several weeks, as everybody acclimates themselves to their new undertakings (people can be so unreliable when you only pay them in liquor). also: evidently, everyone has weddings and travels and other responsibilities and whatnot planned over the coming months so— you know how that is.
sorry, but your Forum logins will NOT be carried over to this new format, so if you wish to comment on any topics, it will require you re-register via the login module effective here, which is accessible within any entry. in an attempt to avoid "spam," your first comment will require "validation" by an administrator (which may take some time), after which your comments should appear immediately after they are posted.
as usual, all rules, guidelines, and disclaimers are in effect, with the exception of the Forum’s tiered membership system (which will remain in effect for the Forum only).
thank you so much for all your encouragement, enthusiasm, and support.
enough of this gobbledygook LET’S DANCE, BITCHES!
= "personne extraordinaire"