Ken Friedman was none too pleased that a top Batali-Bastianich executive let the cat out of the bag about he and co-owner Mario Batali’s plans for a sister place to the Spotted Pig. Initially, he wasn’t ready to confirm or deny anything, but once we got him talking, he did tell us that the new place, a seafood-centric gastropub, would not in fact be a twin operation. (Actually, we had wondered why a seafood place would be called the Spotted Pig.) “It won’t be a carbon copy. [Chef] April Bloomfield and I could have made a lot of money just cloning the place and having one in Vegas or elsewhere, but that’s not interesting to us. We haven’t signed the lease yet, and I don’t want to jinx things. But I’ve already thrown all my pig paraphernalia out of my apartment.” Does that mean he’s buying fish paraphernalia?
Earlier: Wish There Were Another Spotted Pig and Another Casa Mono? Guess What.
