FR.OG reflects the recent affinity for strangely punctuated restaurant names. Like the soon-to-open P*ong, FR.OG is not quite a pun and not quite an acronym. Whatever! It's the downtown expansion of Uptown restaurateur Didier Virot (of Aix). And it's set to begin its war against Balthazar with dry runs on the most auspicious of days: Friday, April 13th.
New York Times restaurant critic Frank Bruni launched a fierce mortar attack at Keith McNally's mainstay Balthazar today on his Diner's Journal, citing inexcusable risotto, overcooked chicken, chaos (CHAOS!) and discomfort as casus belli.
ALERT! The Balthazar espresso machine fell silent early this morning. The chrome behemoth went into caffeine arrest at an unknown hour and, as yet, has not been revived. A white-apron clad McNallytron told us, "Some dude is supposed to come in and fix it later, I think." But that is little solace to the snaking line of regulars ordering cappuccinos only to be offered coffee, a moment of befuddled sadness flashing across their faces. Lockhart Steele, Balthazar habitu , when reached for comment, responded, "OMG." Across Crosby Street on Spring, Starbucks staff gleefully rubbed their hand together in a moment of unguarded, unbridled schadenfreude.
Hot Meatpacking action! A well-placed source alerts us to the ire of Balthazar, Schiller's and Pastis owner Keith McNally:
In case you haven't yet made plans for Valentine's Day, might we suggest you take your sweetie over to Balthazar? It's a neighborhood favorite, you know. We're not going to tell you what to order, but we will let you know that our publisher Nick Denton and his editorial sidekick Lockhart Steele always enjoy sharing six inches of glistening berries.
You catch that Styles piece on the bright young things who like to breakfast late? Seems that what with the rise of disposable income and "late-rising professions like fashion, art, publicity and Web publishing," (we were up at 5:30, but whatever) a new "social tribe" of douchebags who dine after dawn has emerged. The article centers around Balthazar, and tells you everything you want to know about, uh, having coffee after eight, but is particularly notable for the following:
We provide you with all the important information — Anna Wintour is to lunch at Balthazar today, and the restaurant has found her a shrubbery so as to provide the requisite privacy — and we make a simple request, that one of you snap a quick picture. Our demands weren't tough. We didn't need a Liebovitzian production; there was no need for assistants or glamorous lighting or even makeup artists. Any old cameraphone thing would have done, which, we thought, made the challenge easy enough.
A very reliable, double-super- secret, you'll-never-ever- figure-out-who-it-is Spring Street source checked in this morning from Balthazar, where he'd learned these interesting bits of news:
Judith Miller, you've just been humiliated by and forced to retire from the newspaper where you've worked for 28 years! Where are you going?
Hey, so remember last week when everyone said Judy Miller was on her way out of the Times? Well, hold up there, cowboy, because the winds they are a-shiftin'. As of today: Judy's back!
*BREAKING* JUDITH MILLER AT BALTHAZAR: DESCRIBES WARM GOAT CHEESE AND CARMELIZED ONION TART AS 'MOST SOULLESS BRUNCH I'VE EVER EXPERIENCED'
