• omg! remember when i spotted kelly-killoren.bensimmon outside CafeSelect? look! here’s the outfit she was wearing— it was on last week’s episode of Real Housewives of NYC.
i recall thinking at the the time it was quite eye-catching, but since it was particularly sunny and warm that day, it seemed rather an odd choice for the weather.
and even though she walks southwardly away from CafeSelect at the end of scene, in real reality she must have gone back cuz by the time i saw her, there were no cameras around at all. and evidently they had already "finished filming."
• yah so word on the interwebs is "the boom boom" may be going "members only."
YAY!
• the renovation of iTreMerli on west broadway is almost finished! and it looks pretty smokin. they even have a wood! burning! oven!
you know what that means: pizza.
but— do you remember back in the day when iTreMerli was totally the jumpoff? wellll… this could be fun.
• yah so, apparently LosDados is closed. again.
:(
i’m just sayin.
omg i just found my newest favorite website everrr!
actually, i’m not entirely sure what they do really— frankly they could simply blog "all work and no play makes jack a dull boy" over and over and over again but it would still be my favorite website ever. just cuz of the title and "logo."
but now i’m scared cuz the last time i named my favorite blog everrr, they promptly turned idiotarded like practically overnight. also i’m deathly afraid these anonymous bloggers are just former gawker ignorassholes or some shit, looking for their next book deal, like This is Why You’re Stupid or Postcards From Your Asshole or whatever those bloggetty books are called. (it’s on tumblr, see. that’s the official gawker ignorasshole blog server— most likely cuz it’s free, and we alls know that despite all their arrogance and pretentiousness, gaaahwkers are actually broke as shit. i mean— if ShutUpFoodie is actually any good, i’ll give them the fucking $40 it takes to run a real website, for fuck’s sake.)
anyways. yah. it’s awesome.
i’m just sayin.
Hot Pot at Kittichai!
no, there is no stolen marijuana anywheres, silly— try not to get too excited. but it’s still pretty awesome nonetheless!
yah so last night i got to try the new "thai fondue" night (mondays) at Kittichai. and it was so good. basically, for a choice of either the "unlimited" selection ($45 per person / 2 person minimum) or the "a la carte" (about $9 and up per serving / $22 minimum) you too can enjoy the new steamy hot pot "fondue," which includes such mouthwatering offerings as shrimp, salmon, marinated beef strips, tender slivers of pork loin, lobster, scallops, sea bass, tofu "skin," taro root, bok choy, etc etc etc in a "tableside" tom yum broth (plus it comes with a shredded mango and green papaya salad to start).
and then after all that scrumptiousness, they take the broth from your "hot pot" and pour it over thin "angel hair" style noodles in a bowl with shrimp. holy cow so delicious.
i know you want to run over there and try if for yourself right now, but don’t forget, it’s only on mondays. oh! speaking of weekly stuff, did you even realize that sunday brunch at Kittichai is totally the jumpoff now? seriously, no joke.
i’m just sayin.
yay Kittichai!
:)
abbe diaz says:
Oh rilly, Sietsema? Well, I’m kinda irked by you both.
I’m no fan of A.A.Gill; lots of people more au courant than you already know this. And I don’t generally make of habit of reading you or other writers of your "genre"– (so, no offense) primarily because you’re all kinda a little full of it. (But that’s okay, cuz I’m pretty sure yalls don’t "read" me either, yah?)
I guess what I’m wondering is why you’re so many days late and quite a few dollars short. Cuz I mean like, for example, even I personally covered this angle eons ago. It just seems rather odd to me that when Graydon Carter hired A.A.Gill for his notorious "takedown" of Jean-Georges’s 66 six years ago, nobody really gave a shit (except maybe The Observer). And let’s bear in mind— that multimillion dollar restaurant no longer exists. (Coincidence? Perhaps. But certainly Vanity Fair didn’t help matters much, did it?)
So, is your article supposed to inspire me to indignation now? Sorry, to me it just comes off as kinda a little laughable. And irksome. Oh right, I already mentioned that.
I’m just sayin. (This is the "comment section," right?)
P.S. PX This – The Revised Edition and PX This, Too. ** Coming soon in the Spring of 2010!** Bitches.
*See also (earlier):
• "i’m going in…"
Fashion Week is over? OMG, did I sleep through it completely?! Goddammit.
OK, so I’m a little late – shoot me. (Or pay me to blog, so I’m more punctual. Whichever!) In any case, I was supposed to post this awesome excerpt from PX This – The Revised Edition. Coming soon in the Spring of 2010
[*warning: Eats, Shoots and Ladders Leaves freaks please CLICK HERE and HERE before reading any further. then take that favorite book of yours and stick it up your ass. thank you!]
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2003. 7:01AM
… ann-demeulmeester looked taken aback, perhaps she was surprised i speak english. the assistant looked totally amused though, she snickered in her nostrils and everything.
oh but the highlight of the trip! was azzedine-alaïa again this time he fed us omelettes and salad. he is sooo cute i just want to scrunch him up and swallow him like a dumpling.
marc told mr.alaïa i made my long chocolate geld-iaz wool halter mock wrap dress— which, by the way, was so smokin, caroline the head big cheese for alaïa and some other random buyer-lady there inquired how they could buy it. and mr.alaïa flashed me a BIG SMILE and said: “ohhh ah-beeee! tres biennnn!” i tell you i could have dropped dead ecstatic right there.
then the next big highlight! was marc and i going to the RitzCarlton to meet some fancy Lady-ofSomeplace from england she was phoning and leaving messages for marc all week long asking to meet him we have no idea why.
so marc and i get there and she and her super cute 20something daughter are sitting having afternoon tea with some dude he was very sweet and funny he made jokes about KFC and krispy-creme how he can’t live without them and how he “owns one of each” because he has given them so much money.
the next thing you know he is saying oh! he is a shop owner too just like marc! he has a little boutique in london ahah haha ahahaa “have you heard of Harrods?” he asks. i mean can you fucking imagine. then here comes the maiterdee with business cards for him and the shop owner dude hands one to marc as he is scolding him for not staying at theRitz.
it was MOHAMED AL FAYED.
i mean. when did life become like this exactly can i ask you
mr.al-fayed touched me warmly on the shoulder as he stood up to leave so i concentrated really hard to suck all his luck if he suddenly gets hits by a speeding bus you’ll know why.
see. things like this you can tell peoples and i think they just wouldn’t believe you ahahahaha imagine me dropping this story on the piglets.
finally last but not least was big highlight#3 marc and i went to a dinner with the big willies from Valentino. it was at Davé and i actually got to meet davé he is the restaurateur that was in isaac-mizrahi’s Unzipped in the scene where isaac is chillin with galliano and leon.talley and they are mocking on donna-karan.
anyhoo so graziano the president of ValentinoUSA was a gigantic sweetie pie and he was in looove with me he admired my dress and told me i am “beautiful” and “elegant!” okay can we back up for a second i said the PRESIDENT of VALENTINO admired my dress. all the way from the other end of the table he halted ALL CONVERSATION to say “i’m sorry but i just haaave to ask who makes your dress?”
by the way i had the seat right next to the new head designer of Valentino he was a cutie face his name is damiano (“dum YAHno”). see i do not even know their last names. how is it even comprehensible i am on a first name basis only with a president and head designer of Valentino? i told damiano how azzedine-alaïa complimented that very same dress and if that was not the moment to be feelin oneself i tell you maybe there never is.
the only thing that ruined it was Chicken, Ferret’s wife…
***For more on this story, read PX This – The Revised Edition and PX This Too – Coming soon in the Spring of 2010***
Dick Johnson: Knock knock.
abbe diaz: just get on with it.
DJ: LOL. Sorry! Just trying to lighten the mood… OK, so you saw the Crain’s article?
ad: yah
DJ: What, no rampage in the Crain’s comments section from "Crazypants"? Your fan club must be so disappointed.
ad: what is there to "rampage" about? did you read the article? i thought it was good. it’s nice to see a bit of true, impartial news for a change. there’s nothing for me to refute.
DJ: Eater dotcom commenters are calling for your rebuttal. Or at least, one comment says it’s "surprised" you haven’t denied it on PX This.
ad: yah, i saw it. whatever. i only deny what ISN’T TRUE, duh.
DJ: So, you’re not going to comment? Enquiring minds want to know…
ad: want to know what? nobody asked me any questions.
DJ: OK, fine. I’m asking you.
ad: and i really appreciate that, thanks. but i still don’t see a question.
DJ: What’s going on with Mangia 57th and Centro Vinoteca’s filing for Chapter 11?
ad: is that what i’m supposed to comment on? i’m not their publicist you know. and i have neither the inclination nor the authority to discuss their business with anyone.
are you asking me my personal opinion? because that’s a different story.
DJ: But, by your own admission, you do consult with them occasionally. Word on the internet is you get "highly paid" to do so, right?
ad: Mangia and Centro, obviously, as a company, have plenty of attorneys and advisors. my advice wasn’t sought on this matter, but if it had been, i would have said i wholeheartedly agree with their latest course of action. hypothetically speaking.
DJ: Yes! Let’s play "Hypothetically Speaking"! This should be fun.
ad: loads.
DJ: Hypothetically Speaking: Restaurant Enterprise-101
ad: probably more like RestaurantEnterprise:410, but whatever.
DJ: Hypothetically speaking, what are your thoughts on a company like Mangia57th filing Chapter 11?
ad: ooh. really? what a nice question! hmm, well let’s see—
first of all, let’s assume it’s a company juuust like Mangia57. well, according to the Crain’s article, it would "[owe] creditors less than $10 million."
okay, well let’s say— if i were simply an objective observer and not just some dumb idiot creepface looking to gleefully tapdance on somebody’s grave, i would say that seems like an awful little amount to file over. under $10M total? (i actually very much like how the Crain’s article almost seems to be scratching its head over this one, as well.)
i mean, i would think this would be relatively easy to confirm, but i would assume a company like Mangia takes in about $1M per WEEK.
also— a debt of $335,000 to the landlord and (a disputable) $260,000 to the state? that’s less than $600,000.
i mean… for example, i know of another company juuust like Mangia, and last year their BANK FEES ALONE were about $600,000.
which! brings me to another point.
hey did you see how some of the banks have been rahrah’ing lately because they’re apparently about to pay back billions of dollars in bailout money collected from unsuspecting taxpayers? isn’t it amazing how they were able to raise all that profit so quickly?
oh wait— maybe not so amazing? cuz peoples all over the country are complaining about how their fees have skyrocketed and how the banks do creepy things like intentionally approve all your debit purchases and withdraw monthly fees at random intervals so that when you happen to spend over your available balance because you had no cash on you but you bought a pack of gum at the deli, now suddenly that gum costs you $35 in overdraft fees?
and dumbass that you are, you also went to Kinko’s for your boss and charged another $3.00 on your debit card for copies (expecting to be reimbursed), but now the transaction for those copies have just cost you ANOTHER $35 overdraft fee? so now you just spent $70 on $3 worth of copies and a pack of gum?
now— if last year those banks made that kind of money off the average broke-assed citizen, what exactly do you think is happening to big companies like Mangia?
i mean, imagine instead of say your monthly $15 checking fee they automatically debited (which you thought you still had in your account and that’s why you bought the pack of gum at the deli and charged the copies at Kinko’s in the first place)— that monthly fee was ohhh like $40,000.00?
do you see how that could occasionally be kinda problematic?
now let’s say you went to the bank and you waited on line and you finally got to sit and talk to one of those peoples in the little desk cubicle thingies—
and you said, "hey banker dude. i’ve been your banking customer for dozens of years now and we’ve never had a problem like this before. why do i owe you $70 for a pack of gum and $3 worth of copies from Kinko’s? if you hadn’t taken out that $15 monthly fee… what’s that? it’s $25 now? that’s outrageous!… well you didn’t tell me the price went up and that it would be withdrawn so randomly… how do you expect me to pay an additional $80 in fees for a pack of gum and Kinko’s copies?"
and the bank dude replied, "yesssss, thank you so much for your patronage over the years. suck it. we have bailout funds to pay back cuz president-obama won’t let us get our multimillion dollar bonuses."
hmm.
i don’t know bout you, but if i had another option (and lots of attorneys and advisors!), i’d be damned if i’m paying that $80. i’m just sayin.
that was fun! next question?
DJ: LOL. I’m glad you asked, because I do have another question. What about Centro Vinoteca filing Chapter 11? Oh sorry, I mean HYPOTHETICALLY, what about a company LIKE Centro Vinoteca filing Chapter 11?
ad: wow. another great question!
well, HYPOTHETICALLY, let me ask you this. how does one prove, exactly, you know something?
DJ: Beg pardon? You’re not making sense.
ad: yah exactly, thank you.
okay
how about— let’s just say… i lost… an umbrella, for example. and then i said to you, "hey dick-johnson. where’s my umbrella?"
and you reply, "i don’t know." and i say, "yes you do." and you say, "no, i don’t." and i rebut, "but i told you where i left it." and you retort, "no you didn’t, are you smoking crack or something?" and i respond, "yes i told you where it was." and you insist, "no, you did not." and i dispute, "yes i did. well, at least, i told willie-wang where i put the umbrella and i’m sure he told you." and you assert, "willie-wang didn’t tell me shit. i don’t know where your stupid umbrella is."
and so i tell you, "well, i’m sure i told willie-wang to tell you where the umbrella is and now i can’t find it, so now you have to buy me a new umbrella."
and you answer, "what? i never knew where your jackassed umbrella was. i never saw it, i never touched it, you never told me where you put it, and willie-wang never said anything to me about it. period end of story."
and i say, "well, i don’t care what you say, you’re still buying me a new umbrella."
so you ask, "i had nothing to do with you losing your umbrella. why should i buy you a new umbrella?"
and i respond: "cuz it was a really really fancy expensive umbrella and YOU are the only one who can afford it."
i wonder— would you buy me a new umbrella or would you tell me to go fuck myself?
DJ: Oh, I would definitely tell you to go fuck yourself.
ad: i thought so. next question?
DJ: So, are you saying Leah Cohen didn’t leave Centro Vinoteca because of cashflow problems?
ad: as far as i know, she’s on her way to southeast asia and she’ll be traveling for nine months. does that sound like somebody who wasn’t making money to you? better yet, why don’t you just ask her.
DJ: Is the Gusto Ristorante townhouse for sale? Can I buy it?
ad: i think the only way to answer that question is to MAKE AN OFFER ALREADY. be sure to bring along a certified check.
DJ: OK, one last question. Can I blog about the you-know-what now? Seeing as the cat’s… kind of out of the bag and all?
ad: frankly my dear i don’t give a shit.
= "personne extraordinaire"