While one hotel in Tribeca frets about finding an executive chef, the rest of Manhattan hotels are looking forward to Restaurant Week.
For New Yorkers and anyone visiting New York between July 21 and August 1--the flood gates are (almost) open as Amex cardholders can begin placing reservations for Restaurant Week now. All you plebes without Amex cards can have a go at it beginning tomorrow.
For the uninitiated, New York Restaurant Week seems a lot like the similar offerings in cities like Boston, Chicago, Washington D.C. and even Indianapolis, but it becomes quickly clear that NY's Restaurant Week (NYRW as it's abbreviated in office emails) is on steroids.
For New Yorkers, a prix fixe $24.07 lunch or $35 dinner at hot tables like Gramercy Tavern and Nobu means rearranging their lives during these two weeks of frantic gustatory indulgence.
For Hotel fiends, NYRW simply means that we get to slip into the city's hottest hotel restaurants without dropping $100+ or strong-arming an out-of-town friend to dine in. Because this is a city with a mass amount of hotels trying to be cool by tacking on top-of-the-line kitchens to their 5-star reputations, the selection for NYRW is quite juicy and ultra tempting...
Igniting the hearts of female foodies the world over, David Beckham arrived at the official opening of Gordon Ramsay's restaurant at the London West Hollywood last night dressed like . . . a waiter.
When we first caught a glimpse of these photos, we seriously considered forking over the massive amounts of cash and butt kissing it would take to hop a plane and get into the opening (perhaps he'd notice if we strolled in fashionably late), but our dreams were semi-crushed when we learned that Beckham was not, in fact, serving food. Apparently, he was just dressed festively for the occasion.
Inspired idea: someone should open a restaurant that requires all the waiters to wear David Beckham masks. We'd eat there every single night. Yum.
Celeb chef and generally shouty Brit
Gordon Ramsay closed his mouth (for a little bit) and opened his much-anticipated restaurant at the London West Hollywood last week, and the reviews have started to trickle in.
Over on Chowhound, the namesake restaurant's first batch of customers have started to post their own reviews. While the range of feedback seems to run from "meh" all the way to a disappointed diner referring to the restaurant as a "Kitchen Nightmare", the most frequent complaint was about portion size.
Ever since we got the first, first-hand review of the London West Hollywood hotel, we've been chomping at the bit for the Gordon Ramsay restaurant to open. And now the time has come.
The namesake restaurant from the Hell's Kitchen celeb chef will open today.
Eater LA managed to get some snaps of the place and some insidery scoop:
You'll see lots of white marble, rich fabrics, columns, gold accents; views down the hillside at the back of the restaurant. There was a rumor that perhaps the date was pushed back, but we've confirmed that not only will the restaurant open on May 27 for dinner (May 28 for lunch and dinner), but there's much activity in the space as we speak. What isn't confirmed is whether Ramsay himself will be in during the first week, or his Hell's Kitchen protege.
Eater also has a copy of the menu and reservations are being taken now. And since Hell's Kitchen actually hasn't finished filming, we aren't sure who Ramsay's protege will be.
Interestingly, today is also the last day for the hotel's $299 introductory rate so jump on it!
More news on the Thompson Hotel front. The Thompson LES Hotel will get a Pan-Asian restaurant from Susur Lee, considered Toronto's Rock Star Chef for his namesake restaurant, Susur.
And the Thompson Hotel peeps must be paying him good. Lee is closing down his fancy Toronto shop to move to NYC and open a restaurant inside Thompson LES. (His casual restaurant, Lee, will remain.) Here's what Lee and the National Post had to say about the project:
"Jason Pomeranc is great," he tells me, referring to the cool-dude hotel warrior who is considered by many as the "next Ian Schrager," and the one behind this up-and-coming crash pad. Called the "thinking person's sex symbol" by Vanity Fair recently, he's the chap responsible for the ever-popular 60 Thompson in New York's Soho District as well as the re-charged Roosevelt Hotel in Los Angeles, among other properties.
Interestingly, Susur Lee comes from Toronto where Thompson Hotels is also opening The Thompson Toronto. Maybe he'll return to the city then. He's not saying anything for sure now.
As for the restaurant inside Thompson LES, that isn't expected until September's Fashion Week. Meanwhile the hotel is now set for a June 2 opening.
Straight from Eater LA, we hear that the London West Hollywood will have a Midnight on Sunset bar in addition to its Gordon Ramsey restaurant. That's not all. The winner of Hell's Kitchen 4 will be named "executive chef" at this restaurant. Here's what Eater has to say:
There's limited info on the contestants, but we note enough contenders with real titles (sous, exec) that Ramsay would probably hire even without the donkey calling and shenanigans of HK. We can't see a stay-at-home-dad picking up from South Carolina to help run a Ramsay kitchen in Los Angeles, for instance.
Meanwhile the Hotel Palomar Westwood will feature Blvd 16, another hotel bar with a name paying homage to Wilshire Boulevard.
Now if only these places will open soon. The Palomar is set for summer and while the London is due for an April opening, the Gordon Ramsey restaurant won't be open until June at the earliest.
It's almost enough to make you believe in humanity again--and in Las Vegas's Caesars Palace of all places. Earth Day is coming up on April 22, and there's a special deal going to celebrate it.
It seems that the Ogden family, of the Bradley Ogden restaurant at Caesars, have joined their sustainable, farm-fresh food leanings together with the concerns of Bette Midler's non-profit New York Restoration Project, which is creating green space in underserved communities of New York. Bette replaced Celine Dion earlier this year with her The Showgirl Must Go On show, and was keen to work with the restaurant on its fifth anniversary to plan the Earth Day Menu.
From last weekend until Earth Day itself, April 22, you can get the Earth Day menu at Bradley Ogden, for $75 or for $115 with the matching wines. 15% of the proceeds will be donated to Midler's NY Restoration Project.
The menu does sound pretty inviting, with delicacies like twice-baked Maytag soufflé, free range Petaluma chicken with Meyer lemon gnocchi, and one of our favorites, butterscotch pudding. All guilt-free calories, of course, because you're supporting a good cause.
The hotel has appointed an executive chef Didier Virot who will oversee the Palm Court restaurant, in-room dining as well as two new spaces---the Champagne Bar and the Rose Club.
Straight from the press release:
The new Plaza will feature a more intimate lobby setting where the elegant Champagne Bar will offer light bites and incomparable selection of sparkling wines from around the world, while the stylish Rose Club will give midtown New York City a chic contemporary vibe with signature cocktails and small plates offered on the mezzanine overlooking the stunning lobby.
The fully restored Palm Court will continue to offer its timeless afternoon high tea, as well as breakfast, lunch and dinner in one of New York's most legendary settings.
The cuisine from Virot, who was once executive chef at Jean-Georges Vongerichten's Jo Jo then at Vongerichten's four-star restaurant Jean Georges, will blend classical and modern French, "classified as French World Cuisine".
This is not Virot's first time in a hotel either. He opened his first solo venture in the Dylan Hotel in 2001. He's also the chef behind Aix on the Upper West Side and FR.OG in SoHo.
While 
