PX This.

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… !

Miss Lily’s

What was your first impression?
Huh, somehow it looks bigger than Le Gamin…

Please rate the Bar:
Cute. Small, (about six seats) but cute. Love the colorful fruit baskets.

Please rate the drinks/ cocktails/ wine:
Smart. No ABC license— due to their unfortunate location between the church and the devil— so they’re forced to make due with beer, wine, and spirits. Great job, though— inventive recipes, fresh ingredients, and palatable prices make the hard stuff not so easy to miss.

Please rate the Dining Room:
Like I said, bigger than I expected. And typically appealing and hip— oh it’s very Serge Becker all right.

Please rate the BOH:
Sorta N/A— the BOH is smack in the middle of the FOH. And it’s really verrry good.

How was the staff?
Fabulous. Of course. Come on, it’s everybody you already know and adore. What’s not to love?

What did you eat?/ How was the food?
Codfish fritters : Good. A little chewy though, sat in ‘the window’ just a minute too long, and they might want to double check that oil temperature. Just sayin’.
Smoked mackerel salad: Nice. Fresh, tasty, love the textures. And big too.
Oxtail stew : Very good. Hearty— don’t forget the hot sauce. Delicious.
Jerk chicken : Ohhh yeah. Tender, succulent, perfectly cooked. And that "chef made" jerk sauce is not messin around. It means business— and after that plate landed in front of me, so did I. Even the rice is good.
Banana Pudding: Mmmmm… simple, light, and natural, but creamy, rich, and flavorful. Love it.

What did you like?
Pretty much everything.

What did you dislike?
The tables are kinda cramped, but I get it. And I’ll live.

What was your last impression?
Yay! (It’s so close by, you see.)

Would you come back?
Ha ha aha get serious.

Thank you, and hope to see you soon!
No nooo, thank yooou! Especially for that special "reservation" e-mail address.
:)

* * * * *

Have you heard?
Until the release of PX Me (Summer 2011), 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

The Curious Case of Gwendolyn Butler

OK, I don’t actually know if Boston’s notorious "$3M Bartender" Gwen Butler was really christened Gwendolyn at some point in her life, but I just thought it sounded better in the title.

Anyhoo! PX This hereby presents the following NEWSFLASH: Gwen Butler’s recent appointment as General Manager of La Esquina has been terminated. We repeat: GWEN BUTLER HAS LEFT THE BUILDING.

Fascinating, isn’t it?

No? Why should you actually care, you ask? Who gives a goddamn, you inquire?

Well, New York magazine’s Grubstreet cares! So nyeah. And frankly, we here at PX This care too. And YOU— curious, sagacious, cognizant, voracious, zealous associate of the NYC Food & Beverage industry— maybe you should care too. Think of it as an compelling case study!

You may recall Boston’s scandalous "$3M Bartender"/"Full Comp"-blogger first made her big splash in NYC as anonymous-writer/Keith-McNally-pillorer "Sympathy for the Restaurant Industry."
She trundled through various undertakings, searing her mountainous brand upon the backsides of venues across the great island of Manhattan— Bubby’s, Daydream, Thunder Jacksons, etc— all culminating in an unprecedented and uproarious smackdown with Wonder Douche dumb chef, Ryan Skeen.*
Still, she managed to emerge triumphant, landing her "dream job" as GM of longtime über-hotspot, La Esquina.

Unfortunately, despite her entrusted duty-bound title, it wasn’t long at all before Butler was up to her old shenanigans, unable to resist the siren call of glorious foodie-blog superstardom. It seems that under Butler’s deft Deep-Throat email-wielding hands, La Esquina soon came under befuddled stupefied scrutiny, and avid supporters of "co-owner" Serge Becker were suddenly left scratching their heads wondering if they should take their patronage elsewhere.

Apparently, this didn’t bode well for La Esquina’s bottom line; "an insider" from the restaurant approximates it may even have possibly diminished the nightly cover estimate by as much as "30 percent," as the cool crowd moved their party up the street, to fellow chronic cool-dude Nur Khan‘s Kenmare.

However, another "La Esquina insider" tells us that doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface of Butler’s "wackadoo" tenure. As early as July 30, 2010 (mere weeks into Butler’s regime) the staff had already organized a mass email campaign to owner Derek Sanders, imploring the ejection of the newly-instated Butler.
Truth be told, we here at PX This have been fielding the plenitudinous grumblings ever since.

That surprises you, doesn’t it? I mean, after all, the whooole "blogger world" (whoever the hell that’s supposed to be) considers us to be "the La Esquina shit-talkers" (whatever the hell that’s supposed to mean)—
don’t they, dear?
[Please, by all means, hit that "La Esquina" tag-link, and just revel in all the "shit" we've been talking. While you're at it, try the "Gwen Butler" tag-link too, and then maybe you can figure out what we've ever done to have Ms Butler trying to unofficially "blacklist" us from La Esquina for weeks now. According to a "La Esquina insider" (or two, or four, or more) that is.]

Oh waaait, never mind, I got it. It’s this comment here by our chieftain, isn’t it?

Well— you certainly can’t say she never told you so.

*Yeh, don’t think we didn’t catch that snide ignorant little dig on your Twitter page before you deleted it, Ryan Skeen.

Viva La Esquina!

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For more on this story, read PX Me – The Sequel to PX This Coming in the Spring of 2011

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.

As news spreads about Anna Wintour‘s apprehension over Serge Becker’s latest enterprise (New York Post‘s "Page Six" has confirmation from Ms. Wintour’s office), comments and suggestions have been pouring into our inbox. (Thank you!)

Several have asserted we were perhaps remiss in neglecting to divulge the name and/or location of said enterprise, which was, in fact, intentional. As it has come to our attention these details are hardly a "secret" (many of the e-mails received contained the particulars within), we no longer find it necessary to maintain our initial furtiveness.

The aforementioned entity is said to be dba Miss Lily’s and is located at 132 West Houston St (contrary to further speculation).

Thank you for your kind support and advocacy.

:)

**Miss Lily’s graphic design logo by Carmen Montt

***See also (earlier):

• The Blabber in the Trenches [Volume 3]

The Devil Eats Jerk Pork. NOT.

The latest captivating chatter in and amongst the industry has Anna Wintour rumored to have already slapped Serge Becker‘s latest not-yet-open downtown "café" with a preliminary smackdown. As you may recall, one of Becker’s other establishments, La Esquina, was recently unjustly obstructed from doing business for three days, and some speculation seems to place an irate neighbor at the core of that unwarranted temporary shutdown. Unfortunately for said neighbor, La Esquina was quickly found to be "in compliance with New York City building codes," and the Department of Buildings is said to have "scrambled" to rescind their erroneous judgement after an attorney and judges from as far away as Washington DC were consulted (presumably to help expedite the matter faster and more efficiently than New York’s frustratingly backlogged bureaucracy) on the arguably distorted assessment of celebrity-haven La Esquina’s "imminent… peril… to life."

Well!
Here we go again? The recent salacious out-and-about tittle-tattle has Anna Wintour allegedly warning Serge Becker to refrain from throwing "parties" at his new currently-under-construction exotic eatery, located (perilously?) close to Ms. Wintour’s abode.
LOL! Silly Anna. Every night’s… ♪♪ a holiday at Huuurleeey’s! ♪♪ [Quick: name that movie.]

In any case, Serge Becker & Co. might best hope a set of new $10,000.00 soundproof windows can propitiate Ms. Wintour. But frankly, we can’t help but suggest they get down on their knees and pray she doesn’t decide to implement a strategy that could conceivably be classified a "C*ntyNasty," whereby she would perhaps exert her powerful influence to contribute to the restaurant’s undoing, only to open her very own ‘hotspot’ hash house located conveniently close to her residence.

Does Anna Wintour have 311 on speed dial? Would downtown NYC be better served by a more subdued bistro, with a menu based entirely on supermodel-satiating lettuce leaves and water, than a "café" offering up callaloo and whatnot? Stay tuned!
Ahh, so starts the wintour of our discontent…

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For more details on Graydon Carter and the strategic implementation of “the C*ntyNasty” read PX This – The Revised Edition and PX Me – The Sequel to PX This (Coming Soon in the Spring of 2012)

** See our latest UPDATE on Serge Becker’s newest enterprise **

I’m running out of great films to recommend! What to do, what to do… Oh, I know! I’ll just inquire of other people which films they’d recommend. And to keep it all in the spirit of PX This, I’ll ask some of the aficionados and arbiters in and around the F&B/Nightlife industry! Won’t that be fun? Here we go!

Hey, Serge Becker! How’s about a good Netflix recommendation?

“…Sometimes, the way being in the industry has made me feel lately, I’d say… watch The Lives of Others. Yeah, definitely watch that one.”

Thanks! OK, will do!