Rocco DiSpirito's restaurant, strangely enough, is far less popular without the cameras rolling for the reality show "The Restaurant." A RESY number is the quoted time of day at which a party of two will be seated, obtained by a same-day telephone request. She Loves NY has a special report on Rocco's slide into the most generic and sad RESY number of all: 8:30 p.m.
The mysterious writers behind the website TMFTML celebrate the life of George Plimpton with an Plimpton-esque oral history... of the similar makings of the similar remembrances of George Plimpton. A little behind the media scenes, as it were, from behind the scenes of the media:
Walking past the Conde Nast building just now, I spied a clump of itty-bitty girls smoking on the sidewalk. I wondered: what's everyone throwing up for lunch in the Conde Nast cafeteria today? Well, I can't answer that, but I do know that the whole building is awfully nipple-licious this afternoon. Our pal inside writes: "I'm not sure of the heating laws in NYC, but the Conde Nast building is cold cold cold. The high of sixty outside feels as though it's not penetrated the outer walls here. I'm wearing corduroys, long underwear & two cashmere sweaters, & still I'm cold."
Building Code of the City of New York [NYC.gov]
Last night's Labyrinth Theater benefit shows exactly what's so terrifying about the world of contemporary theater. Our anonymous man on the inside delivers a blow-by-blow of the horrors of the world beyond the proscenium. Those not intimately involved in the theatre — and we hope that you are not — may want to steel themselves.
Born Rich promises to be the Grey Gardens of the Upper East Side set. Much gossiped about earlier this year, the documentary about, obviously, people who were born rich, aired at Sundance. Now a number of its lawyer-retaining subjects wish they'd never given interviews on film, including textile heir Cody Franchetti. In the film, little Cody says: "'I find guilt [over wealth] absolutely senseless. It s basically for old women and nuns,' [Franchetti] said in one scene. In another, he looked in the mirror at a new jacket he s wearing and said: 'Clinton wears this kind of thing. It s so vulgar. See how low the lapels are!'"
Born Rich Rag [Observer]
Born Rich [Movies dot com]
It's ambitious gossip maven Lloyd Grove's third day at the Daily News. How's our little buddy doing?
At the corner of Ludlow and Stanton streets, Sam Talbot lurks behind his cart, doling out hot dogs to trashed hipsters. His special toppings include delightful Korean condiments such as kim chi, daikon, and "tiny salted fish." He also plans to acquire a "deep-fryer for Moroccan doughnuts." You've been warned: if you notice the vomit quotient going up significantly on weekends on the LES, you know who to blame.
Ketchup and Kim Chi [NY Sun (Subscription)]
The Red Chef [Pushcart NYC]
· P. Diddy gets spot in New York Marathon. He'll totally win too, if he notices the vengeful ghost of the Notorious B.I.G. breathing down his neck. [NY Daily News]
· Stella McCartney's meatless fashion scores with PETA friend and British Style Award host Pamela Anderson. (Mmm. "Style Award host Pamela Anderson." That's just so fun to say.) [MSNBC]
· It may be as easy to marry a rich man as to marry a poor man, but of course it's quite a bit easier to divorce that rich man. Al Pacino and Beverly D'Angelo cancelled a custody court date, and we learn that Pacino allegedly pays ex Beverly D'Angelo a grand total of $103,000 a month in child support, alimony, and rent. The rent alone: $18K. Wait, where's her money? Didn't National Lampoon's Vegas Vacation pay well? [NY Post]
This will be the first and probably last time football is ever mentioned here, but stick with me: it's important. It's important because it involves Paris Hilton and the way she breaks one heart right after the next.
Today the Philadelphia Inquirer made a very funny gossip item out of our gossip item about Lloyd Grove's gossip items. (Got it?) But just a few corrections for the Inquirer: Elizabeth Spiers fled this internet lemonade stand for the glamorous — if soon to be relocated — offices of New York mag a while ago.
At my request, Times reporter Vanessa Grigoriadis rebutted Gavin McInnes' claim that his tattoo was misrepresented in her now-infamous article on Vice this Sunday. She writes: "In each instance — in an e-mail where he described it; in a photo he sent me that showed it as 'destruction'; and over the phone in fact-checking" the tattoo was exactly as described in the lengthy Styles Section article — "what was I supposed to do, rip his shirt off his manly chest & check for myself?"
Blogger Maud Newton on issues of detachment and attachment in Williamsburg:
Fashion maven Meghan Stier has the lowdown from the high holy days: "Apparently temple is just one big fashion show this Rosh Hashana. A Yiddish style spy noticed an overwhelming amount of pleated skirts, mod turtlenecks, and one enterprising young woman in 'a yarmulke-sized mini.' Hey, it's New Year, not your birthday. Cover up or we'll send the nuns after you."
J Day Runway [Megastyles]
Today is NY Daily News gossip columnist Lloyd Grove's second day on the job. Mr. Grove is plugging away, seemingly unfazed by the typo in his name on the New York Times website. (The typo has remained uncorrected in cyberspace since Saturday.)
