Scenes From the Food & Wine Classic in AspenWith so many high-profile chefs on hand, Grub Street surveyed the crowd to see what culinary trends would be big in the coming months.
A First Look at Highbar, Midtown’s Newest RooftopFeast your eyes on Highbar — when it opens, during the third week of May, it’ll be competing with recently opened Pooldeck for the city’s rooftop revelers.
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Aspen, D’Or Restaurateur Brings New Rooftop to MidtownA year ago, we broke news that Greg Brier of Aspen and D’Or was bringing a gigantic outdoor space to the rooftop of the former Hilton Gardens at 48th Street and Eighth Avenue.
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Aspen Has a New Chef and a New Sustainable MenuAn overtime lawsuit isn’t the only shake-up happening in Aspen’s kitchen — Greg Brier’s lodge-themed spot has a new head chef. Robert Betanzos formerly cooked at Pacific East, the Hamptons eatery that Diddy was rumored to be buying from feuding owners Aram Sabet and Michael Castino (disco broker Steven Kamali is now shopping Pacific East at $6.5 million). As you can see from the new menu, Chef Betanzos is moving from small plates (though the bison sliders stay) to entrées such as wild salmon with beluga lentils and beets — many of them made with ingredients from Hope Farmyard, which practices sustainable agriculture. What a reputation improver!
Aspen menu
Related: Workers Lodge Complaint Against Aspen
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Aspen Cooks Lodge Complaint
Greg Brier, owner of Amalia (where Ivy Stark may checking out), may be in hot water because of alleged labor-law violations at his ski-lodge-themed restaurant, Aspen — and we don’t mean the Jacuzzi. Attorney Michael Falliache has brought a lawsuit against Brier and Aspen alleging that six named employees (including line cooks and a dishwasher) worked at pay rates such as $303 for 60 hours per week (i.e. about $5 per hour) with no overtime or regular breaks. “This is a typical case of a restaurant hiring workers who are at a disadvantage and taking advantage of them by not paying them overtime or minimum wage,” Falliache told us. The class-action suit represents the grievances of fifteen workers who, should they win, probably won’t be celebrating with a ski vacation.
Jose Zurita et. al vs. Aspen and Greg Brier [PDF]