Box Not That Cool? Kiev Curse Lingers in the East VillageThe Box is doubted and cheap Kobe sliders arrive in today's neighborhood food news.
Simon Glammerstein Sports Another $3,000 SuitThe Box impresario goes from posing in Esquire to the Times Magazine. A model to watch?
La Esquina to Open in Miami; Becker's Right-Hand Man in Legal LimboAh, the tangled web of nightlife ownership. A while back, Serge Becker, part-owner of The Box and La Esquina, told us in a statement that Cordell Lochin, the young scenester who presented himself as a partner in Becker's restaurants before being convicted of drug-conspiracy charges, was merely an "indispensable advisor." A December 15 memo from a government attorney calls that assertion into question, pointing at an undated letter from Becker that describes Lochin as "more than just a business partner." That letter pleads for leniency because his company is "in the design stage of our second location of 'La Esquina' in Miami Beach at 'the Gale' hotel." Exciting news, innit?
Dave Chappelle Tiffs With the Wife at Coffee Shop, 'Entourage'-ers This week's juiciest bit of celeb-sighting gossip was, of course, the Post's report that after a performer dumped a drink on Demi and Ashton, Box honcho Simon Hammerstein sent an e-mail to his partner and a GM saying, "I can't stand those two" — apparently because they're "so far up their own arses" and "don't spend anything" — "and I applaud whoever spilt a drink on them." We're thinking Kid Rock got kinder treatment when he went to Southern Hospitality, or there would've been a Tommy Lee–style throwdown.
Tom and Gisele Lock Lips at Nobu, 'Full House' Cast and the B-52sEarlier this week we linked to a Daily News item claiming Padma Lakshmi rudely refused complimentary dishes from Fiamma's chef. A commenter wrote, "I was at Fiamma the night Padma was dining there and it absolutely did NOT go down that way. When the dishes arrived at the table, she thanked them profusely and apologized for being too full to eat any of them!" Whatever happened, Padma was just one of many celebs to chow down (or at least show up) at local restaurants this week, and here's our gossip-column compendium of just who went where.
Ben Stiller Crashes a Party at Fiamma, Penélope Cruz Makes Out at Every Friday a notable New Yorker tells us where they've been eating, but where are the rest of them chowing down? Starting this week we'll sort through the gossip columns à la Ils Vont (RIP) to tell you who's been seen where (casual sightings only — boring galas, vodka launches, and pluggy appearances don't count). We'll eventually compile a ranking of restaurants most often visited by celebs. Not that you care about that sort of thing! Oh, but if you do, won't you please leave your own sightings in the comments?
The Box Appears on 'Gossip Girl,' Officially Jumps the Shark We thought the Box lost its remaining counterculture cred when the Times, of all things, called it out on being pretty much any other club. Not so! The real point of no return came last night when it appeared, in the guise of club Victrola, on teenybopper drama du jour Gossip Girl. The place must've loosened its rules against interior photography, because the first scene has Chuck Bass (a son every bit as wayward as Simon Hammerstein) explaining why his father should support him by investing in the burlesque club: "No judgments. Pure escape. What happens at Victrola stays at Victrola" (until the Health Department shows up, anyway).