Mechanical BullshitScreenwriter Aaron Schnore is suing Johnny Utah’s because he was hurt after that bull’s operator ‘whipped it up into a violent frenzy’ and tossed him.
Ethan Hawke Hits Qdoba; ‘Beverly Hills 90210’ Reunion at D’OrLast week Todd Barry told us he was a Chipotle man and we noted that a couple of respected chefs were too — but it seems Ethan Hawke, for one, prefers naked burritos to burrito bols, if a recent sighting at Qdoba Mexican Grill is any indicator. Are notable New Yorkers embracing casual dining chains? Lizzie Grubman did take her client Tailor Made to, um, the Olive Garden…
NewsFeed
Meatpacking Moguls Remm, Birnbaum, and Rabin on How to Be CoolOur fave waitress Courtney Yates isn’t the only face Belvedere Vodka is using to try to look cool — the company, in association with UrbanDaddy, is running Web interviews with David Rabin, owner of Los Dados and Lotus, and Eugene Remm and Mark Birnbaum, owners of Tenjune. Remm and Birnbaum don’t exactly steer toward the underexposed when asked for their favorite restaurants: BondSt, Nobu, Bar Pitti, Los Dados, Mr. Chow, the Spotted Pig, Pastis, Buddakan, Dos Caminos Soho, Cipriani, Butter, Rose Bar, and Waverly Inn.
Back of the House
Batali, Bastianich Dip From the Same Cookie Jar for Different CandidatesAfter Nino Selimaj was ordered to take down his photo of Chelsea Clinton at Osso Buco (it’s still hanging), we got to wondering where other restaurateurs fall on the political spectrum. All we had to do was run some names through the Huffington Post’s FundRace 2008 search engine to find out, for starters, that Mario Batali gave $1,000 to John Edwards while his business partner Joe Bastianich gave $2,300 to Rudy Giuliani (this could get ugly). So who are other restaurant honchos like Drew Nieporent, Danny Meyer, Siro Maccioni, et al backing?
Ask a Waiter
Allison McDaniel Keeps Southern Hospitality Diners’ Hopes Up for Justin
Arkansas native Allison McDaniel felt right at home when she started work at Justin Timberlake’s buzzy barbecue joint Southern Hospitality. Not only did she join a wait staff of fellow southern belles, but she was right across the street from Brother Jimmy’s, where she waited tables for three years. “There was a vibe of rivalry when we first opened,” McDaniel tells us in her southern drawl, but these days her former co-workers at Jimmy’s happily spill in to gawk at celebrities like Tommy Lee. We asked McDaniel about serving the man himself, and how to thwart the haters.
Neighborhood Watch
Dylan’s Candy Bar Expands to the HamptonsEast Hampton: Dylan’s Candy Bar will open its first chainlet store on Main Street on August 4. [Restaurant Girl]
Gowanus: Joy sucked out of the opening of Kyoto Japanese restaurant on Smith Street as high rents have knocked out another small business next door. [Gowanus Lounge]
Greenport: Mike Osinski earns 75 cents a piece for oysters he grows in the water off his backyard. Trading two dozen mollusks to get out of a traffic violation: priceless. [NYT]
Hell’s Kitchen: The cafeteria in the new Times building offers a sushi roll branded the “News Room.” [Gawker]
Lower East Side: Cronkite Pizzeria served its last pie Saturday. [Eater]
Midtown East: The Farmer’s Market at Rockefeller Center will be open Thursdays to Saturdays through August 19. [Grub Street]
Midtown West: Barbecue snobs may disregard the following: Brother Jimmy’s is opening a new location near Penn Station. [The Strong Buzz]
Nolita: Vig Bar looks closed. [Down by the Hipster]
West Village: Piano bar Rose’s Turn will turn down its lights forever on July 22. [Lost City] Day-O is closed for repairs. [Grub Street]
Mediavore
Ramsay Busted for More TV Fakery; Yes, the Google Cafeteria Is AwesomeGordon Ramsay has been busted for new TV fakery — in this case pretending that three fish caught by someone else had been taken by him while spearfishing. [London Times]
The Google employee cafeteria is apparently even better than rumored, with a raw bar, seviche station, 50 different small farm suppliers, and even a Chef’s Wall of Fame. [Food & Wine]
Want to impress your posse by paying $90 for a bottle of water? Bling H20 is conspicuous consumption in a bottle. [NYDN]
Related: We’ll Have Your Finest Bottle of Water…
NewsFeed
Seemingly Sober Individual Consumes Seven Pounds of Brother Jimmy’s Wings
We’re just back from Grand Central Terminal, where top-ranked American gurgitator Joey “Jaws” Chestnut has retained his title of chicken-wing-eating champion. Proving that he’s only getting stronger in his quest to return the coveted “mustard belt” to America when he faces champion Takeru Kobayashi in the Nathan’s hot-dog-eating contest this year. Jaws set a new record by decimating 7.105 pounds of medium-hot wings in twelve minutes, a good pound more than the visibly shaken onetime champ Sonya “The Black Widow” Thomas. We don’t have photos yet, but trust us, the “wingtastic expression of chicken wings,” as emcee Keenan Thompson described it, wasn’t pretty — third-place finalist Tim “Eater X” Janus, wearing a beard of hot sauce in addition to his usual face paint, was reduced to picking chicken scraps out of his teeth with a MetroCard.
