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Above is your first glimpse at Citrine, being opened by David Rodolitz in the former Snitch space in the Flatiron District. The space combines unique features like chandeliers, banquettes and shiny, mirrored walls. According to David, Citrine will be an "exclusive club. It’s an amazing space and perfectfor all types of private events." How exotic. Build-out is ongoing, but expect Citrine, which rhymes with latrine, to be ready to go by late October. When it opens, you can bet the crowd will be hot, the music perfect, and the door tight. That's the Citrine life. More Pics After the Jump More...

Oh. Wait. There's more [NYM] Did anyone see "The Producers"? [Gothamist] M&H privitisation to bail out MD [Eater] Ruh-oh. Unwanted bedfellows at the Hotel Chelsea [HC] More...

After doing a Beatrice Inn expose that resulted in he and his brother supposedly being banned for life, Observer reporter George Gurley has found a new home at Doubles, which could be considered the Beatrice of a different era. The club, in the basement of the Sherry-Netherland Hotel, went through a major renovation over the past year and just reopened last week, attracting boldfaced names such as Valentino Samsonadze, Tom Britt, and Debbie Bancroft. This was one opening George simply couldn't miss, or maybe the only one he could go to after his scandalous take down of the secretive Beat. We weep for you, buddy. More...

Tuesday we posted part one of Steve's conversation with Sherry Cosovic. They discussed the multitude of clubs that have embraced her at the door as well as common threads found throughout the nightlife scene. If you missed day one, read it now. Otherwise keep on reading for day two. Everyday we hear about the city harassing clubs, forcing them to close their doors over extremely minor infractions. If you looked real hard at a Macy’s or a Madison Square Garden during a rock concert, you would find infraction after infraction. Not only public safety issues like aisles being blocked or even doors, but drugs being happily abused. Tell me that when the Stones play the Garden that the smell of pot isn’t everywhere. Yet someone lights up a blunt in a club and you basically get swat teams rolling in. Our interview today and yesterday puts a face on who is getting hurt by this unfair and quite possibly illegal double standard. Sherry is a single mother. Her entire income comes from club work. Club people aren’t evil doers, as they are often portrayed at community board meetings. They are mothers with babies and actors looking for a career, they are students, schooling days while working nights. They are people who can’t pay their rent or their grocery bills without a second job. They are DJs who will become record producers or artists, they are artists selling little and moonlighting in a joint. They are taxpayers. I saw a girl dragged out of a club the other night. She apparently was doing blow, which is never a good thing. She was in handcuffs and not as a means to pay for the powder, but because the cops had arrested her. She was taken away teary eyed in a blue van and her future has become a little bit cloudy. Maybe it’s a good thing, maybe she’ll quit, get some help. It just seems like this present administration does everything a little bit heavy handed. I just don’t remember this sort of thing happening before. It seems like we are ruled by a regime not an administration, and I’ve heard that despite the law he wants to wangle another term. He’s a despot, this mayor of ours, and all the good he has done means nothing because of his lack of a connection with people like Sherry and the little guys who are hurt because of his ivory tower approach to our town. Someone said he’s better than Giuliani, but I don’t see it that way. Under Giuliani there were people you could talk to. Now we are just told what’s good for us. SL: So tell me what else you do. Now you’re working the door at Butter on Mondays and you’re hosting a little bit inside. SC: I’ve been hosting more because they hired Bin two years ago to do the door and help me out. He’s also the door guy at 1 Oak. I book all the tables, I put people at tables where they belong, and the toughest part for me is having to move people from tables in case celebrities just show up unexpected. That can be a little rough. SL: People don’t mind. SC: Well, yeah - but that’s the toughest part. SL: How do you define a celebrity? SC: How do I define a celebrity. Wow. How do I define a celebrity? SL: Well at what point do you remove someone from a table? I mean, you wouldn’t move someone from a table if it was a football player? SC: No, no. I would move maybe if it was someone like a Jeter or an A. Rod, the Jay Z’s of the world. SL: Movie stars. SC: Right. Leonardo of course and such; movie stars to me, not young Hollywood. SL: Right. SC: Which, you know, they think they’re celebrities. SL: Well, they are. SC: I mean, yeah, I guess. I beg to differ. I actually have a funny story for you. I was working the door at Lotus and these kids roll up that are like, ‘Hey we’re with the band 98 Degrees.’ And I’m like, ‘98 degrees?’ I mean, I dunno who 98 degrees is. He like, ‘What do you mean you don’t know who 98 Degrees is?’ I go, ‘The only 98 Degrees that I know is my pussy when I’m fucking.’ Everyone was on the floor, dying. SL: Oh my god, that’s amazing. My definition of a celebrity was always if you would be proud to have their name in the paper the next day, that’s a celebrity. SC: Really? I don’t know. SL: If you were to say that Jake Gyllenhaal was at Butter, you’d say oh that’s cool. If it was some football player from the Giants, who cares. That’s the way I see it. SC: And you know look at Kim Kardashian and Paris Hilton, it’s like now it pays to be a whore… SL: It always pays to be a whore, what are you talking about; that’s nothing new, that’s the point. SC: I mean to be a celebrity, to be a celebrity to be in Hollywood, to be in the Hollywood crowd. SL: Wasn’t it always that way… SC: But that’s why all these little girls are so promiscuous, because they think it’s okay. SL: I think they’re promiscuous because it’s fun. SC: Huh? No, no. They look at Paris Hilton and the Kim Kardashians of the world and think it’s okay. Paris Hilton, look at her - that’s what made her famous, so I might as well, you know? SL: Right. SC: Listen, I’m not saying I’m an angel, I did my thing; but there was a line of respect, of self-respect. SL: I always liked Paris. I thought Paris was always fun, and cool. SC: She’s cool. SL: I never liked Lindsay. I’m sorry. Now that she’s with Sam, who we love, now that that thing’s going on, whatever’s going on and I see them together, I think she’s so cool cause Samantha Ronson is absolutely cool. SC: Samantha’s great. SL: Samantha’s great. Therefore Lindsay now is great. So uh she turned me around, I’m very happy. I know she doesn’t give a damn but I like her. I wrote something once where I put her down and now I see no reason to put her down. I think she’s really turned a corner and she’s healthy, happy, and she looks pretty good. SC: She’s straight. SL: Is she? SC: She’s straight now. And Samantha is of course. Samantha doesn’t get high or do drugs. SL: She’s a Ronson. Of all the people I’ve ever met the Ronsons are just about as cool as everyone. Charlotte, Marc… SC: I remember when Marc DJd at USA on Thursdays. SL: That was a long time ago. So that’s when you started really going out? SC: Yeah, it was ‘93, ’94. I was fifteen, sixteen and I was hanging out with thirty year olds. Thirty year old criminals at fifteen, sixteen going to USA. SL: You paint a great picture of the club, I had fifteen year old girls and thirty year old criminals. SC: Yes, you were hanging out with thirty year old criminals they had thousands of dollars in their pocket and they just paid for everything. SL: What were some other places you have worked? SC: Well I’ve done Lotus, Chaos, Shine, Kit Kat with Danny A and them Uptown, which used to be Expo with Matty Johnson and Simone. I’ve worked at Cheetah and System which is now The Grand. I was going to The Grand in high school. I’m 32 now – so I’ve been going out eighteen years, and in the business going on twelve years now. SL: So it took you six years to figure out that you can make money from the clubs. You’ve been working a long time. SC: Yes, and it was just a random thing. SL: That’s how it starts. Now you’re Albanian SC: I’m Albanian. SL: You mentioned that awhile ago. I remember when I was at the door with you and you’d be hanging out with some Albanians, and you know there’s a lot of nice Albanians let’s be real, but there’s a lot of asshole Albanians. SC: Majority. SL: And a lot of those asshole Albanians go to clubs and you’d be the hardest on all these people, I was actually nicer than you. SC: I hated them. SL: I was nicer; I would let some of them in, but you were vicious. SC: Cause I knew what they were about, you know what I mean? SL: Right, do they get into Butter? Is there a truce with those people? The old school ones; they grow up, have they matured? Not at all… SC: Not at all. I just turn my head I don’t let one of them in, I don’t. SL: Now you support yourself with clubs, this is your choice of income. SC: This is the way I make my money. SL: And you have a child, how old is your child? SC: I have a six year old son named Jason. SL: And you’ve raised him on your own. SC: On my own since I was five months pregnant. SL: And you’ve fought hard. I remember back in the day before you got pregnant which, congratulations by the way, we used to hang out together and we always tried to get you a job. I gotta tell you, when you needed work I’d get twenty-five phone calls; we gotta find something for Sherry, we gotta find something for Sherry. One thing about you that I think has really helped you now, is that we used to give you lots of things to do, and you could do anything. SC: Anything. SL: We’d give you something to do whether it was answering the phones for a minute or doing the door or whatever, you’d always fill in and I think that that gave you a fairly rounded outlook. Is that about right? It’s that you’ve learned and you’re experienced from doing lots of things. SC: It’s scary because I know this job too well, there’s nothing else. I need to feed my brain with other things. SL: Well there are books. SC: I know, of course. Hello Steve, I do read. I’ve been studying for the last three and a half years, taking acting classes, you know SL: Are you going to be an actress? SC: I mean, I believe so SL: I remember back in the day, your sidekick was Vanessa, what was her last name? SC: Ferlito. SL: Nowadays she’s making a little bit in John Leguizamo movies… SC: Quentin Tarantino flicks. SL: We used to call Vanessa “Lips†and I used to read lines with her by the club. You were her best friend, and then after she made it and she’s out in Hollywood and all of that, you and her just don’t talk anymore, she just stopped talking to you. SC: Done. Changed her number. SL: Changed her number and your lifelong friend, sister, decided to cut you off. SC: She was literally like my sister, my other half. SL: You guys were inseparable, and she makes it big time and cuts out a large part of her life, not only you but lots of other people. SC: Yes. It was crazy. When we stopped speaking I was going through a lot in my life at the time and I needed her the most. I just had a baby, and she wasn’t there. It hurt me more than when I broke up with my husband. That bond that we had it was like a sister bond, like a sister I never had. I would just sit there and say to myself, what did I do? What made her feel this way, what made her just cut me off? But you know, I guess she wasn’t true to herself. SL: Would she show up one night? How will you deal with it if she does? SC: I don’t know. No ill will at all, I wish her luck on her path but some things are better left unsaid. When I see her, I’ll know what I feel. SL: I remember you having a little bit of a temper. The Sherry I know is capable at any moment of gouging the eyes out of the nearest human being. SC: I’ve grown. SL: You’ve grown? SC: I’ve grown. I control it. I try to control my temper. I mean, I do control my temper. SL: That’s fantastic. Because the only beef I had with you was that I was afraid of you at the door sometimes. I would say, ‘Sherry, go inside Sherry.’ SC: All the fights that I had at Life and Spa, they would hide me in the office; that’s all done. SL: Did the child calm you down? SC: Of course. But there was this time when I was in Miami with my son and I had lost my phone. I forgot it in Puerto Sagua, a Cuban restaurant in Miami. So I get to an FYI to buy some DVDs and I realize my phone’s missing, so the guy let’s me use his phone in the store to call my phone. I call the phone and some Cuban girl picks up and says, ‘Yeah I just found this phone.’ I said, ‘That’s my phone, can I meet you.’ She goes, ‘No. I’m at 75th and Collins, you gotta come up here and meet me.’ Now I’m on first and Collins. I told her that I have a six year old son, it’s my phone, can you please meet me half way. She said no, the only way you’re gonna get your phone back is if you give me a hundred dollars. So you know, I didn’t want to wile out on her over the phone cause I wanted to meet her and get my phone – but I was raging Steve, I’m with my son in Miami! So we get a cab, we get to 75th and Collins, I get out the car, she’s waiting there with three little girls, and she’s maybe eighteen. She’s like, where’s my money, and I just cracked her right in the face and took my phone. My son turned around in the back seat when I got in and said to me, ‘Mommy, you always tell me not to hit anyone, why would you do that?’ I said, ‘She was trying to shake me down for my phone, it belonged to me. That was a line of disrespect and she was trying to shake me down.’ That’s one thing I’m always going to teach my son, so that my son will always be a man and stand up for himself. SL: It makes sense. SC: But it hurt me to see that my son was there and watched it, but then I said to myself no - cause I don’t want anyone to step all over him either… SL: You’ve always kept it real. SC: Always. Although I’m not a bully. I’ve never just gone up to someone and smacked them for no reason. SL: No, you’ve always been real. You’ve always been a person that could be trusted, and that’s the main thing. I think in the business that the most important thing is trust. It is the thing that some people get and those that don’t, you don’t trust. We don’t have to mention too many names, I mention them all the time in the column; they’ll fail in the end, and those that can be trusted do very well. SC: It’s true. And no one can say anything bad about me. I’ve always been loyal and honest to everyone. SL: So you’re not gonna end up being an owner, you’re not interested in that stuff. SC: No no no. SL: You’re not gonna have your own bar… SC: Scott’s been pressuring me to manage and I said I can’t. I love my hours, I love socializing, and just leaving… SL: So you’ll be an actress. SC: I will. It’s gonna happen. SL: I believe you. I know how far you’ve come to get here. SC: I’m the underdog. The underdogs always come out on top, and I’m a late bloomer. Good Night, Mr. Lewis Interview conducted and written by Steve Lewis. Interview has been edited and condensed by Jessica Tocko. More...

We don't talk much about Murray Hill, and we don't plan on it starting any time soon. But a Little Birdy shared a New York City tale that tickled our fancy, saying "I can't believe I am saying this, but thank god for Rodeo Bar. I had been working all night and couldn't sit in my office anymore. I am going to be sitting in Rodeo Bar until closing because it is the only place I could find in Murray Hill that is serving drinks and has Wifi." Nothing finishing your work at a place with an old wagon inside of it. We hope it worked out for you, LB. More...

Butter was the first place I designed for somebody else. Prior to Butter I designed the clubs I would run, but the concept of being an interior or hospitality designer for hire never occurred to me. At the time, the mixing of all sorts of woods hadn’t really been done. There was a place called Industry in the East Village that was all about the wood, but I don’t think it was as much of a statement as Butter. Richie Akiva listened to my plan and went for it. I got best new restaurant design (tied with Sea in Brooklyn) from Time Out Magazine and that led to a whole new career for me. Just when I needed one, as things turned out. Sherry is my friend, she’s sharp as a tack, won’t take shit from anyone, and don’t even think about getting over on her. The concept of Butter, normally a fine dining restaurant which has one night where it is a super lounge, is brilliant. It’s been seven years and it is still undeniable. That’s nightclub 101, hold the line at the door. It seems simple but only a few clubs do it. The success of Marquee is largely due to Wass fighting the good fight. Pink has Irv Johnson and Tenjune the ever controversial Aalex Julian. There are of course a handful of others. All the great door people share what Sherry brings, an attitude and self respect, and commitment to excellence. Each is given the ultimate sign of trust… autonomy. An owner can’t be at the door all the time, although I always tried to be. There are many other things he needs to see and do. To give trust to a doorman underlines a bond which takes time. Sherry has been with Richie and Scott for eleven years and her success at Butter should be acknowledged. Steve Lewis: How did I meet you? Sherry Cosovic: I met you in 1990, 1991. I was with my cousin online at Tunnel, and you had pulled us from the line and said my name is Steve Lewis, you’ll never have to wait in line again. SL: Jesus. SC: And then from there on we were out every night at Palladium and USA which was my favorite by far. Short-lived, but it was my favorite. And then I started working for you. SL: Where did you start working for me? SC: At Life. SL: Were you doing the door or… SC: Promoter. And then I did the VIP room at Sullivan in the back, the Sullivan Room. SL: Right right. SC: That was on Fridays with Richie Akiva and the boys, and Jus Ske – definitely fam. And we did that party for three years. SL: A great party. SC: And then we went on to open Spa. SL: That’s right. SC: You took us aboard as well there, and we did Lot 61 on Mondays, which was the best party ever. SL: I think you might be right, I don’t think people are remembering Lot 61 on Mondays correctly, or it’s not talked about. SC: Mondays with Richie, that was his signature night. That’s when we started Mondays. I mean look at Lot, look at Butter, you know. Butter’s still going on seven years next year. SL: You are the Monday night door person. SC: I do the door Monday nights, yes. SL: Have you been doing it this whole time, from the start? SC: I have. Then in the last year or so I’ve been hosting, which I should have done from the get because I love it much more. SL: You like hosting. Why do you like hosting more than the door? SC: You don’t really have to deal with the bullshit, you know? I mean you do have to stroke a lot of egos. But with hosting, there’s no drama to it. The difference is when you’re working at the door and someone gives you lip, they don’t have to come in cause they’re not a paying customer. But when you’re a host you could get customers that can be egotistical or rude, and you’ve got to swallow it because they’re paying customers. That’s the difference. SL: Right, once they get in there they’re important. SC: Of course. So at the door it’s different because they never gain entrance, so you can treat them however you want. SL: How much autonomy did you have or do you have at the door on Mondays? I mean, do they trust you? Do you know your shit? SC: Yeah I know my shit, of course. I wouldn’t be working with Richie for eleven years now if I didn’t know my shit. I know everyone, but that could also be a bad thing; baggage to an industry you know what I mean? SL: Of course. SC: There are different levels in this scene of promoters, different scenes, you know? Everyone thinks it’s one whole scene but it’s not. You have the Downtown scene, the whole 27th Street scene, and the Uptown scene. SL: And you have to know it all. SC: You have to know it all, of course. SL: Especially on Monday night. I drove by the other day on my bike… SC: Yes, I saw you. SL: Right, you stopped and said hello as you always do that. You stop whatever you’re doing to say hello to us always; when we rolled up Scott and Richie were outside the door, it was Fashion Week, and everyone was yelling their name. They’ve learned to ignore it. I remember when I was an operator I used to spend a lot of my time at the door. Do you think it’s a good thing that there’s an owner at the door or bad thing? SC: Well it makes my job easier. SL: Because they say no. SC: Because they say no. SL: Or they say yes. SC: Well Richie always ends up doing the door, you know what I mean? SL: Right. He learned that from me. That’s the place to be. SC: Of course, like at Lot 61 you used to stand on a chair like Studio 54 - you, yes, you, no, you, get off the line… SL: What is some of the criteria at a place like Butter? SC: Well for me it’s straight up style; personal style. It’s not what you’re wearing it’s how you’re wearing it. There could be a girl that’s wearing Christian Louboutin heels and a short dress, and I won’t really like what she’s wearing. The girl next to her could have Converse and skinny jeans and a t-shirt, and I’ll feel her style more. SL: I know what you mean. SC: The thing is that people try too hard. They’re not dressing for themselves; everyone just looks the same to me. All these girls. I guess it’s because, and I mean no disrespect, but they’re not from New York. That’s the thing. Growing up everyone was from New York. We were all from downtown, uptown, and we all had our individual style. You’re not trying to be someone you’re not. That was the difference. SL: Of course. And at a place like Butter it’s also about who you know. SC: Of course. SL: What percentage of the crowd do you think you know? I mean you absolutely know? SC: Eighty percent. SL: And then there’s twenty percent where it’s… SC: You know, the tourists and the few tables that just come up cause they’re spending a lot of money and that didn’t book a reservation, and the model crowd. SL: I drop by once in awhile. Every once a month I take the bike up or I walk the dogs up and I just… SC: And it’s the same right? SL: I actually see the same people a lot outside, waiting… SC: Regulars that have been coming for the last six, seven years. SL: Also people who aren’t getting in, I see them at the same time. The person who’s been there week after week after week after week - do they eventually get in, some of these people? Are they learning? SC: We still have people that come every week that don’t get in, and they’ll wait four hours. SL: And they come every week. SC: It’s like they have no life, they have no fucking life. SL: I remember back in the day, I used to go to Studio 54; not go inside, I would never go in. I would stand outside cause I would like to watch the scene of it, I was learning from Steve Rubell, although at that time I had no idea I’d be running clubs down the line. I didn’t know at the time that I would end up doing it, but I wanted to see it. It was amazing watching his brain work and how he did the door. It was incredible. It was the greatest show on earth. SC: It’s funny that you say that cause I grew up in the Lower East Side. My mom used to get out of work at 11:30, midnight, and my dad and I would always go pick up my mom at 14th and 4th at the train station. My mom worked at the Carlyle for thirty years, so as a little kid we would always walk by the Palladium. I mean I’m talking about seven, eight years old and I was mesmerized Steve, by the club kids. And my dad would pull me, ‘Don’t look at them.’ SL: So you were watching me work when you were seven years old… SC: And not even knowing! And not even knowing it! Exactly. SL: That’s so embarrassing. SC: I was just that kid who would stare at all of them and my dad would just try to turn my head and I’d just gasp, cause you know the outfits were really revealing. My dad would be like, ‘Why are you looking at them!’ and curse me out in Albanian. And then look at me today… SL: Exactly. SC: I just loved walking by the Palladium. I didn’t want to go meet my mother because I missed her, I wanted to go by the Palladium. SL: So you were obsessed at eight years old. SC: Yes, yes. SL: I think the Palladium is one of the greatest clubs of all time. SC: I love the Palladium. SL: The sheer size of it, that hundred foot high ceiling, and when that place was packed… SC: The memories, the memories. Right after high school it was more hip hop clubs, and I didn’t make it to that whole generation I guess. It was very mixed, it was very hip hop. SL: The thing about the Palladium was there were so many places to get lost. I always felt that in a club that I’m building, if I had the space to make places to get lost, I’ll make them cause when you’re lost sometimes you get found, it’s kind of a cool thing. I liked that about the Palladium. SC: Every girl I know fucked in the fucking bleachers… SL: Ha. SC: Oh every girl I know! SL: One of the funny stories about the anything goes policy at Palladium was, I was in London in a PR meeting and it was actually very heated, we were arguing about something. There was a famous PR over there that I was having a big fight with and they stormed out. I knew they would come back in a minute and so the assistant turned to me and said something to the effect of, ‘Oh my God, I heard what your wife did last night at the Palladium.’ SC: Really? SL: Yes. And I said, ‘You heard what my wife did at my club last night? What did my wife do at my club last night?’ And he goes, ‘Oh I’m not gonna be the one to tell you that.’ And I go, ‘What did she do?’ He said, ‘Well I heard she went there naked.’ So I get on my cell phone and I go, ‘Jennifer, did you show up at the club naked?’ She said, ‘How did you know that?’ I go ‘Cause I know.’ She thought someone ratted her out from New York but… SC: It wasn’t. SL: It wasn’t. I heard about it in London. But yes, she was always very bold. She actually wasn’t completely naked; she wore her dress backwards. Although she was actually topless and she was walking around like that and nobody said a word. She said nobody had the balls. She just wanted to see if anybody would say anything. SC: She had amazing tits? SL: Do you remember Jennifer? SC: No, no. SL: She was small, she was a fitting model for Givenchy when she lived in Paris. Part of what she did was she would sit for Givenchy and Audrey Hepburn, because she was exactly Audrey Hepburn’s body and neck and looked like her. They’d fit clothes on her all day and sip tea and they’d say yes no yes no and things like that. She stopped traffic. SC: See that’s the difference. I remember as a kid going out, how everyone just was so outrageous. You don’t have that anymore, everything’s so segregated. SL: It’s the society we live in. Society is celebrating sameness because people are freer when they’re more secure in their environment. We don’t really have a rock as Americans to stand on anymore. With Iraq, the economy, and things like that, our society is fairly unstable and people tend to sit. I mentioned this awhile ago in the blog that people have a tendency to hang with their own kind; white people with white people and whatever. Even in Butter it has a sort of it’s own culture… SC: But I have to say, Butter is so diverse, it really is. You know there’s flavor, a lot of flavor in that club. SL: There’s common threads; music… SC: Of course. SL: They worship the same gods, same celebrities, the type of celebrity that goes there, although I know all kinds of celebrities go there. I notice about that you don’t see Butter in the press that often even though I know the place is packed with celebrities, as many celebrities as you can get. They don’t drop the names, they don’t burn the celebrities. SC: Never, ever. Richie is not big press or anything. We don’t need press. It runs itself. SL: Press is a marketing tool, but you don’t need it. SC: Exactly, and I’m not just saying it because I work at Butter and 1 Oak but I don’t think in all the years that I’ve been working, that anyone is killing it the way that Butter and 1 Oak Six nights a week, every night except Sundays. SL: It’s amazing right? SC: I’ve never worked this much ever. Good Night, Mr. Lewis Interview conducted and written by Steve Lewis. Interview has been edited and condensed by Jessica Tocko. Check back on Wednesday for day two of Steve's conversation with Sherry Cosovic as they chat about working the door at Butter and other NYC venues, memories of mega clubs from the past, as well as their perspective on what makes a celeb a “real†celebrity. More...

The Observer went right to the State Liquor Authority to discover that despite community protests, the Beatrice Inn has had it liquor license renewed. Unless a violation occurs, the Beatrice Inn have its doors open until at least August 31, 2010. Why did the SLA approve when the local Community Board gave a negative recommendation? It turns out that the Beatrice has not violated the terms of its license, which is a prerequisite for nixing a renewal. Go figure. It's nice to know that the SLA is considering the manner in which a business operates as the basis for license approval, rather than its neighbors opinions of said business. More...

Hipsters like Obama, too [Urbanite] It's the State Authority, stupid [Gawker] GG + 1oak = yawn [Eater] Bring back the dive bar [ACL] More...

Grab the Kleenex brand tissues, because we have some sad news to report. This will be the final week for Cain. We know it's devastating but you must stay strong. We will get through this together. Jamie Mulholland put his friends on blast that Cain will be closing as of Friday, saying "I know you have all been a huge part of our success and have had many a good night at the venue. Please come and help us celebrate our closing night with us this Friday evening at Cain one last time." Sorry if we tear up here, but it is sad. Cain followed the Marquee wave, setting up shop in far west Chelsea. We believe their run of success ranks them right there with Marquee, and they have gone on to other projects. Congratulations for shutting it down on their own terms. Pour one out for Cain. More...

View Larger Map It occurred to us over the weekend that the City's nightlife landscape has transformed itself once again. Up until last year, the Manhattan scene was clearly dividided between the psuedo-dives of the Lower East Side and the nightclubs of the Meatpacking District and 27th Street. We know that there are smaller pockets of hotspots in other neighborhoods, and that the East Village still has a plethora of places to get sloshed. But for all intents and purposes, it was LES vs MePa in a battle for our drinking money. But as we walked down the Bowery on Saturday night to attend a small gathering at Madam Geneva, it hit us. The Bowery has become a powerhouse destination of its own. Just look at this handy map we made. There are at least 15 bars in a 3 block radius that are packed every weekend, and we are sure that we missed a few. Add in the new hotels, high rise condos, New Museum, pending Dennis McNally restaurant, Daniel Boloud's new spot, Matt and Paul's pending space in the Puck Building etc., it will hit you too. The Bowery is nightlife. It's where operators want to open, and where New Yorkers can sip expensive drinks and still step over the homeless who are sleeping outside the Mission. It's feaux authenticity that the youth crave. The Bowery. Shudder. More...

"Failure is not falling down but refusing to get up." - Chinese proverb Alice falls down the rabbit hole and her dress poofs up like a parachute. Alice: "Well after this I should think nothing of falling down stairs." - Lewis Carroll It begins, the fall, without the Yankees in the playoffs, without my pal Arthur Weinstein, without stability of any kind in the always unstable world of clubs. A swift summer of discontent ends with DJ AM and Travis Barker falling from the sky. We wish them the speediest and most complete of recoveries. The economy has faltered far beyond what I had feared, and brokers blowing bonuses on bottles has changed to brokers looking for coat check jobs. With little to fall back on, clubs on the edge are rethinking their business models while slashing payrolls. The election seems to be going poorly for those in camp Obama, as America seems content to fall for the half truths and hate; and if it’s not about race then it wouldn’t be a race, it would be a walk in the park. Now I usually don’t express my political views but I’m mad as hell and sick of the bull. In the words of Sergeant Prendergast from that 1993 flick "FALLING DOWN". ‘They lie to everybody, they lie to the fishes.’ Please forgive me as I’ve been working way too hard to bring you the Aspen Social Club as reported on Grub Street last week, and the girlfriends down in Puerto Rico while I’m here - so I’m a bit peeved. Rather than get falling down drunk I figured I’d blow off some steam. I went out Saturday night and hit a few joints, and here's what’s up. Eldridge is a hit, maybe the haters won’t agree but it's everything it promised to be. It's got a solid crowd of attractive people still willing to spend cash money. The door is tighter than a Donald Trump pre-nup and an extremely energetic Matt Levine caters to every whim of his loyal followers, while ignoring his detractors. The point is that Eldridge is not for everybody, but since it holds like a hundred people that’s a good thing. Mr. West is off to a great start, again catering to a small but devoted following. Fashion Week went faster than you can say Christian Louboutin, and gave the scene a boost through the worst of weeks. Yes, and I went to visit Michael Alig up in Coxsackie Correctional Facility but I’m just not ready to speak about it. This coming Sunday we’re going to toast and roast the dearly departed Arthur Weinstein, I’m the emcee and I guess I’m going to say a few words. I expect an eclectic turnout of club royalty, drunks, backyard celebrities and creatures of the night. It's a 5pm thing on the roof of Highbar and you must RSVP to me here or on Facebook. I was doing my fall cleaning and I found a letter Art sent me while I was in the joint. He sung my praises and told me to get the f... out already. He told me the club scene was dead and the only thing I was missing was the Twilight Zone series. He told me I was a mad man, a guy who would take the worst club and make it a hit through hard work and determination. Too many of the operators work too little. They expect to open their doors and the crowds will come in to see their smiling faces. Few offer their patrons much more, and the fare seems standardized throughout the industry. Some blog-trotter said that the scene ain’t dead until Steve Lewis says so. He was being sarcastic and he shouldn’t hold his breathe for a proclamation. Maybe my optimism is unwarranted. Isn’t that the thing about optimism, it always seems too… optimistic. I think a purge of much of the people running clubs today and a closing of some joints might be just what we need. A leaner, keener, more innovative scene that rewards creativity and difference might bring true the "golden age of clubs" prediction I made about eight months ago. Newbies, with fresh ideas will replace the dial it in management of the last decade. Someone once said that "snowmen fall from heaven unassembled". It will take people with vision to save the night. I’ve always liked this time of year as the night gets longer everyday and that’s where I spend most of my time. Goodnight. Good Night, Mr. Lewis Written by Steve Lewis. Edited by Jessica Tocko. More...

CB bullies Travertine [NYM] White House on Bowery may get a facelift [Curbed] Tales of woe: from Cipriani to the zoo [GoaG] Prostitutes not a tax write-off [Gothamist] More...

It's swimsuit model Jessica Gomes birthday. She decided to let Tenjune pay her a fee for partying there, and Tenjune will make its money back by getting some of you to pay money for bottles and/or admission. That's how you generate money in a declining economy. That's how you stay in the game. That's how you rise to the top. That's how you become Flyer Follies. Happy birthday Jessica. More...

A Little Birdy forwarded us David Jaffe's NYC Nightlife news letter and it gave us quite the chuckle. It seems David is now "in-house, and on-staff, at Cain". Translation? He can hook you and your friends up. All you have to do is say you are on David Jaffe's list. But if it seems almost too good to be true, give yourselves a hearty pat on the back. David warns: The house doormen will do their absolute best to accommodate everyone, but because Cain is so exclusive, they will have to turn many people away - even some on our guest list. Groups of guys must purchase bottles; kindly contact me for table reservations. Please try to arrive between 11:00 p.m. and 11:45 p.m., and in smaller groups, to maximize entry potential without being asked for a table purchase.So if you are a group of guys and don't want to purchase a bottle, just show up one at a time and pretend you are buy yourself. If you don't like that idea, head over to Prime where you know that bottles aren't required. And don't forget to let them know who sent you. More...

Thursday we posted part one of Steve's conversation with Hayne Suthon. They discussed her transition from laywer to restaurant owner, as well as her connection to the girls in the “House of Suthonâ€. If you missed day one, read it now. Otherwise keep on reading for day two. It is often pointed out by some of the most unlikeliest of patrons that one of the things they miss most about the good old days is the drag queens dancing on the bars. There was a time when having go go dancers, which included drag queens, was required at a great club. Alas, nowadays this is rare or at least relegated to the “gay†clubs. With a few notable exceptions the straight clubs got straighter and the gay clubs actually got gayer. Pacha’s Rob Fernandez pointed out here that it’s easier in today’s market to get straight people to a gay party than visa versa. Lucky Cheng’s has become one of the few places that a working girl who doesn’t want to be a working girl, can work. A grand move to Times Square firmly in the works will ensure a place to strut for these talented folk. I’m spending a great deal of my day lately talking to owner friends who are preparing for the worst. One owner of a slew of joints that appeal to the broker/bottle sect says they’re coming out more than ever, but they are spending way less. He’s watching his bar averages fall much like the Dow Jones and is considering drastic measures like charging at the door. A high end club operator doesn’t think he will be affected much except around Christmas, which figures to be a disaster. Another tells me he’s begun slashing in an attempt to just survive. Many clubs depend on Christmas season revenues to carry them through the cold and bleak months of January, February and even March, which sometimes comes in like a lion and stays that way. A new trend is firms ganging up on Christmas events, sharing common charges like room rentals. Party planners from multiple firms can rent a nice room and slit the costs, and the mixing of staffs might actually make these usually boring parties fun. Open bars at these fete’s will be cut by an hour or more, and the food will become gone or at least a little less filling. Look for lots of crudités and at best, light buffets. After all, we’re all trying to slim down anyway. Steve Lewis: Now a lot of people have been sending me mail, I get a lot of calls and people on the street stopping me about visiting Michael Alig in jail. Now I’m not a big fan of Michael because he’s a murderer; not because he murdered somebody because I’ll forgive him for that, but because I don’t think he woke up that morning wanting to kill somebody. I think he was drugged out of his mind and did something or was involved in something and he didn’t do the right thing, he didn’t call the police or an ambulance, he didn’t do the right thing. Instead he decided to cover it up, get rid of the body, and chop it up and all of those horrible things. My beef with Michael, and I’m going to confront him with this Saturday, is that he hasn’t as far as I know, shown remorse. He hasn’t said jeeze, I’m really really sorry, or sent letters to Angel’s family. You and I know Michael from a time when he was a good guy and I remember him being the sweetest guy in the whole world, and he was my partner at times. That’s the Michael that I’d like to remember, and I hope that he remembers when he gets out. Now can you tell me any stories about him and your relationship with him? Hayne Suthon: Well, first of all, I would like to say that I personally think that Michael is a truly good person and I have watched people turn from a really good person into an absolute monster from drugs, and it’s one hundred percent the drugs. It’s not even some kind of character flaw that’s underlying. Secondly, he has shown remorse to me and I think that Michael is just one of those people that lives in such a fantasy world. He’s really sort of an escapist and an existentialist, and I also think that the drugs are a part of that because I think that he got self conscious of something that became very painful. Maybe it was the fact that he was a reject in high school, whatever it was, and he really went in this wrong direction and now he’s in jail. I honestly think that he’s just not there to make that step and I think that it troubles him. I think there’s absolute remorse, but I don’t think that his failure to write the family a letter is really a true reflection of him not having remorse. I think that it’s something he just can’t get to, if that makes sense. SL: Well I think he has to get to it. HS: I agree. SL: Before he can get out, he has to get to it. In order for him to be walking the streets again and becoming a part of society, he has to get to it, and that’s basically what I want to deal with. I don’t know how he’ll deal with it, but I do know that when I’m going up on Sunday I’m gonna be very nervous. It’s hard to make me nervous as I’ve been through a lot and I’m pretty calm in the face of things. I don’t get stage fright, I don’t worry… nothing stops the heart although I think it will be though seeing for the first time in fifteen years. HS: I’ve been to see him a couple times and we had a few conversations. We did communicate very regularly, but it’s just that with the internet, I don’t write letters anymore. I mean I love to write, I think that I’ll write a book one day once I’m done with all this stuff. SL: You have to write a book about transvestites and… HS: About everything. My life and my point of view. I’ll write that book, but I have to like be in Cape Cod and everything has to be settled here and my daughter has to be in college. SL: I’m writing two books right now. I shouldn’t say I’m writing, I’m preparing to write two books right now, which is really strange. I’ve always said no to it, but now I have been convinced to do it. I’m writing a fictional book and a non-fiction book. I’ll be writing them at the same time so I’ll see if I can get it straight. HS: I mean there’s so much I could write about my life and my restaurant, my fourteen year old daughter… SL: Let’s talk about this: How crazy were you? HS: Even as kid I was crazy. I remember I stole a car from my parent’s country club once. SL: But so how can you balance the craziness and become a lawyer and all that? HS: Because I was always a good student. I mean when I was in high school I was crazy and wild and did everything I could so that was bad, and I skipped my senior year. But I was always able to balance academics with craziness. With regard to Michael for example, he started getting really crazy into drugs when I was pregnant which was 1993, and so that’s when I lost track of him and that’s when he really went off the deep end. So my memories of Michael were that of him as the perfect gentleman, and I know I’m kind of transgressing here but… SL: Well that’s true, prior to drugs he was an angel; he was a great guy. HS: And that’s how I remember him. SL: I like to remember him that way. Unfortunately, when he started with drugs it was like Darth Vador, it was like Anakin Skywalker becoming Darth Vador. It was as simple as that, it’s the easiest way to look at it. HS: My ex-husband, who probably doesn’t have a mean bone in his body, doesn’t have a temper, is always sweet; he had a horrible drug problem. He’s completely sober now, but he had me arrested while I was going through breast cancer, going through chemotherapy; he was an absolute monster. My sister for example, will never forgive him because she cannot let go of what that person has done regardless of what they were and what they have become. In her mind, when somebody does something like that, she can’t get past the fact that it might have been the drugs. She’ll think the drugs are fifty percent and that there’s some fifty percent inherent character flaw, but because of what I’ve seen with my ex-husband, I know that drugs were one hundred percent of the problem, which is frightening. SL: Now you have all these crazy people walking around your place, incredible personalities, who mainly have not been able to live in a straighter world, or a corporate world, or a world where you get up and go to work at 9 o’clock in the morning. This is the world I live in, the world you live in; some really bright people live in this world. How do you draw the line with the business? How are you able to say, okay, you guys can’t step over this line? How do you discipline, how do you set rules up with people who don’t live by the rules? HS: They just have to live by the rules because the restaurant has to function. We may turn a blind eye to some things because we have waitress who have been working with me for fifteen years. She’s dressed herself to the nines, she’s individually entertaining every single person at her station, and getting the drink orders, and getting the food orders. So if they drink a little bit but they can get their closeouts done, then that’s fine. We have one woman that’s always drunk; she’s so smart and so funny and she always has the perfect clothes on. Her name is Gretchen and from time to time she’ll turn to me and say, “Don’t even tell me anything, I’ll fire myself, I’ll fire myself.’ SL: So she fires herself. HS: I mean probably one of the funniest things you’ve ever seen is when the girls closeout their checks at the end of the night. It is wet your pants funny. It should really be on some sort of reality show. SL: Let’s talk about that. You’ve just been cast for a reality show. What’s the name of it? HS: NYC Cougars. SL: NYC Cougars, and you’re a cougar… HS: Yea, I guess. I mean I don’t mind dating my own age, but I was with my ex husband for about eight years, he was twelve years younger then me. My boyfriend now is ten years younger then me. Since I was about twenty-four years old I’ve been dating younger guys. I went from way older with like lots of money, to lots of fun, no money and way younger. SL: Funny thing about me, when I was seventeen years old, I was dating forty year old woman. I was with thirty-five to forty-five year old women, and you can tell I was thirty yrs old. And then I met an eighteen year old, and now for the rest of my life I’ve been dating absolutely way younger. HS: I have an interesting point on this as well. It’s kind of like the gay thing. How it’s a fact that they always manage to get the ‘top’ and ‘bottom’ that matches? You know what I mean? And like, how do they always have these relationships? Well, I have these two gay friends who are both tops, and they say it’s a real issue. Ya understand, they usually get someone who somehow matches. With regards to this, I was thinking about this last night, I went out to dinner with some friends from New Orleans, and they invited an attorney in New York to dinner. We started talking and I said to the attorney, ‘Where did you go to law school?’ She said, ‘Tulane.’ I said, ‘What year?’ and she said ’84, meanwhile I graduated in ’83. So we were in law school together. And I said, ‘You know, I think it’s this whole deal with regard to older women, it’s no longer so taboo and so weird. Back in ’83, that was when there was a control parody in the professional world, such as lawyers, doctors, accountants, producers. And so there was this parody between men and women within their professional life. And now, younger men think nothing today of women my age, which maybe even ten years ago, it was an issue. SL: No, I agree. Have you thought about opening up a place called Cougars. HS: Well we’re having a party on Tuesday. SL: That’s right. So, you’re doing a party called Cougars… HS: Cougars, Cubs and Drag queens, Oh My. SL: And Tyler is your GM. Tyler I remember is the club kid name of Bella Bolski. HS: Exactly. SL: And Bella had a little joint down on Norfolk for a couple of years now. And now he’s working for you, and he again has straightened out his act. HS: He probably had one of the worst drug addictions I have ever seen with anybody, with many issues that go back to his childhood. What he’s done, in terms of getting sober and maintaining sobriety is amazing. And not just maintaining sobriety, but every single day I see him making progress not only with whatever drug addiction he might have, but also in growing as a person. He’s been addressing really painful issues that he had in high school. I gave him the job because I cared about him as a friend. I said, ‘You know, God knows what he’s going to do to you. He might go crazy, he might backstab me again, and I just gave it a leap of faith. It sort of turned into this spiritual healing. He’s so grateful for me, and I’m so grateful for him. He’s done so much more then any GM’s ever done for me. SL: Well, he’s worked for me many times, and he got fired many times. He’s always been somebody I’ve always cared for, and always done favors for, and always someone I consider to be family. Where is this party Cougars? HS: It’s going to be at Wai Kiki Wally’s. SL: That’s the side entrance to Lucky Cheng's on 2nd Street between 1st and A. HS: And then it’s going to be on the roof deck, which is sort of legendary for its’ barbecues, and that’s going to be from 7-10pm, and then after that were going to go to Lucky Cheng’s and do karaoke with the cubs. SL: A cub is somebody younger that dates a cougar? HS: Yes. SL: So what’s the TV show going to be like? HS: I don’t know. It’s more documentary style. They’ve chosen five people. We’re at four, and they’ll choose one more person. SL: Any other women I know besides you? HS: Probably not. I think the Post is going to do a feature on the party. They did one feature on it already, which was a few weeks ago. This one is to announce the fact that I’m on the show, and it’s going to explain a little more about the premise of the show and such. We had a staff meeting with all the directors rushing out to meet my new date, with my ex-husband, who just got hired as the director. SL: Oh my God, so wait a second. Out of this, are you going to get yourself a young boyfriend, and live happily ever after? Is this what’s going to happen here? HS: There’s nothing wrong with an old rich guy, to tell you the truth, as long as I have some young ones on the side. SL: Ha, that’s amazing. That’s a good philosophy, this should be a t-shirt… As long as I have some young ones on the side. Good Night, Mr. Lewis Interview conducted and written by Steve Lewis. Interview has been edited and condensed by Jessica Tocko. More...

Uncle Steve sits down Hayne Suthon, owner of Lucky Chengs, to discuss the good old days and what not. Suthon also drops that Lucky's is moving to Times Square, since the Asian bistro and drag show has become a magnet for tourists and bachelorette parties more than anything, so going to the City's Mecca for tourists and bachelorettes makes perfect sense. To make the move happen, Lucky's has enlisted Uncle's help, who says: As a hospitality designer, I’m helping you find a space in TimesSquare for Lucky Cheng’s. I’m pretty sure we have one right now so yes- we might be announcing it on this blog in the months to come. You’ll be moving this to Times Square which will be a true tourist space. It will definitely be more fun than ever.The space will of coure be bigger, badder and draggier than ever. And more expensive. Seriously, we are happy that Lucky Cheng's business is doing so well that it can make the move uptown. We are also happy that it will be bringing its legions of tourists and bachelorette parties with them. Walking past the restaurant on a weekend night is like walking through a gauntlet of cheese. You know what we mean. You know. More...

Gas surcharges may price out the ibankers [Gawker] NYPD has little thing for bondage [Gothamist] Libertine joins Dwell95 in awkward launches [GoaG] NYC hotels not down and out...yet [HC] More...

Looking to keep the good times rolling, we popped by Madam Geneva to see what all the jam was about. We found a beautifully design space, very intimate with plenty of seats at the bar and 5 or 6 couches with rounded ends for groups. The couches were custom made for the space with a feux snake skin material for that extra snakey sheen. We saddled up to the bar and perused the cocktail menu, finding a few reds, a few whites, some choice beers and just 3 cocktails featuring jam. Each cocktail starts with a base of gin or vodka, some fresh squeezed lemon juice, and your choice of three seasonal jams. We went with ginger pomegranate and gin. We have to say, it was delicious in its simplicity. The gin was most prevalent, and the flavor of jam came through at the end. We only had one, but could certainly see ourselves having a few more. And we will, since the Madam fashions herself as a local spot to enjoy cocktails into the wee hours. No list. No BS. Nice work by the AvroKo team. More...

Courtesy of New York We conducted a mini tour of some new spots last night. Stop one was at Apotheke, Albert Trummer and the Tierney family's new cocktail den in Chinatown. We were wowed. Boweled over even. Apotheke is more than just a bar, it's a cocktail laboratory, where Trummer and his crew tinker with exotic flavors and spirits to create some outstanding drinks. This is mixology. We saddled up to the bar and watched Albert grab small jars and bottles and mix in a test tube, and then pour samples for anyone who was lucky enough to grab some space in front of him. He even opened some champagne with a knife! How daring. The bar has a great design, great music, and perhaps most importantly, an abundance of staff and bartenders buzzing around to make sure everyone is taken care of. We didn't stay long, but will be returning shortly to settle in and make a night of Apotheke's concoctions. More...

With Fashion Week safely in the rear view mirror, we wanted to recap one of the more interesting parties that went down and felt oh-so atypical. While the same celeb scenesters seemed to be running from one soiree to the next trying to be caught by the photogs, it was refreshing for once to see a celeb appearance more out of the ordinary. Life Aquatic co-stars Bill Murray and Seu Jorge reunited at designer Carlos Miele's fashion week party hosted by Sagatiba cachaca at Espasso gallery. Seu Jorge serenaded the crowd, including Bebel Gilberto as caipirinhas flowed. Seu Jorge, who sang the accoustic David Bowie renditions in the film has been touring with Bebel and Thievery Corporation. More...

Lucky Cheng’s will move to Times Square. I get a few calls a week from people who want a fun place to have a birthday party or a engagement fete, or something similar to this. Some seek the table in the hot club with a bottle of Goose near some hotties, while others seek a “fun†spot. I often recommend either Lucky Cheng’s or once in awhile Sammy’s Romanian. I learned a great deal about clubs from watching old movies. I’ve always wanted to run a club like they had back in my grandfathers’ day when the men wore tuxedos and the women gowns. I was always fascinated by the acts, singers, trumpet players or dancing girls, and the dynamic of swells leading dames on circular dance floors in between numbers. The box seems to have upgraded this game to its’ modern conclusion, but it’s take on it is every bit the perversion it wants to be and loses me with a yawn and an “I’ve seen enoughâ€. Lucky Cheng’s is not about the food, although heaven knows from time to time it’s been pretty good. It’s about hanging with real live drag queens and telling the gals back in Kansas you actually saw one. Birthdays and bachelorettes have a great time because they can get plastered and loud and they know that no matter what they do or say, the drag queens will always be forgiving as they’ve seen it all before and snicker probably worse. Hayne Suthon is getting ready for a move. She will abandon her East Village destination performance dance habitat and migrate north to Times Square, cause that’s where the action is. The East Village will lose a savvy operator who long before Micros or Aloha was using a computer to help define and identify the things owners need to know to be successful. Will the theatre crowd and guests of New York embrace the bodacious broads of Hayne’s extended family? I’m sure if packaged just right the girls will give the yokels everything they ever wanted and maybe a little bit more. Steve Lewis: I’m sitting here with Hayne Suthon. Hayne is an old friend of mine. I’ve known Hayne for many many years. I’d say fifteen or sixteen years, maybe longer than that… Hayne Suthon: No, further! SL: How far back do we go? HS: I think it was back in the World days, which was 1987. SL: Yeah, so that’s twenty-one years ago. Back then you had a space, what was the name? HS: Cave Canum. SL: Which was a Roman Style restaurant on 1st Avenue between 1st and 2nd Street. I remember eating a pheasant that was stuffed with mushrooms or something… HS: Actually, I believe it was a pheasant stuffed with a hen, stuffed with a quail, and then stuffed with a quail egg; and all of the recipes came from an ancient Roman cookbook. SL: Yeah, and it’s pretty amazing actually. I don’t remember what the reason was exactly but I went online a couple of months ago and Googled Roman food, and they had some pretty weird foods. Fish oil was the main thing they used. Ah, I remember why. I was hosting a dinner party for the final episode of HBO’s Rome and I went authentic. Hard to do. HS: We had a version of that; it would be focaccia with the olives that were sautéed in rosemary and then we had the seasoned olive oil, and the fish pickle. It was something comparable and it was called Garem. SL: It’s just amazing when you see what they ate. They were genius; food was very important to them. I liked Cave Canum, it was a gimmicky restaurant. And then I guess you turned that into what? HS: I opened a restaurant with Claudia Cardinale’s son Patricio Cristaldi called El Salon Verde right in the beginning of ‘91. It was a Spanish tapas restaurant, and we had gotten the chef from Eldorado Petit. That was short lived because Patricio could not get a lung. So then I partnered with my old busboy Mr. Cheng and my new boyfriend Robert Jason, who then became my husband was the director at MTV. SL: He was the director? HS: He was like the one that did all the on-air promos. He was actually the one that started the really flashy animation. SL: Cool, so what was his name, Robert? HS: Robert Jason. SL: And you guys opened up Lucky Cheng’s. HS: First we called the restaurant Stella’s which was a joke because my canine at the time was Stella. So we called it Stella’s for a while, ran it as a neighborhood bar, and generated enough money to start developing it as a restaurant. My first idea was to name it something Cal/Asian like Chin Chin’s in Los Angeles. I thought I don’t wanna do another destination restaurant, let’s do something for the neighborhood. SL: Right. HS: So we interviewed some Asian staff and I interviewed Paris, whom you remember… SL: Paris! Who would do the door at many of the nightclubs in New York, and now is one of the owners of Q models. HS: Right. And she was transitioning at the time - she interviewed as a guy and I thought, oh my god, we’ll have Paris as an Asian drag queen and everyone will come to sit down, but all of the normal people will think - oh that’s just a beautiful Asian woman. So, then I thought to draw in some Asian drag queens for the opening party which made me think, ‘Where do I find Asian drag queens?’ And then I remembered this guy from Save the Robots who lived across the street and ran a bar called Star Sapphire. So I asked him to send me some Asian drag queens and he sent me an onslaught of them; some of them are still with me. Once they started waiting on everybody, they loved it. It was so amazing that that just became the gimmick. It didn’t start specifically as a gimmick, but it became the gimmick. People came specifically for the drag queens. SL: That was the birth of Lucky Cheng’s, and it is all about the drag queens. I was talking to the owner of Joonbug about interviewing you and he was saying how fantastic it is, because everybody’s been to Lucky Cheng’s. And that’s the truth, everyone has been there. They say it’s the greatest place to have a birthday party or a bachelorette party and that became your mainstay, the basis of your business. HS: Yes, that and the tourists because it’s sort of an institution. However, as you know, it really belongs in Times Square at this point. SL: Right, as a hospitality designer, I’m helping you find a space in Times Square for Lucky Cheng’s. I’m pretty sure we have one right now so yes - we might be announcing it on this blog in the months to come. You’ll be moving this to Times Square which will be a true tourist space. It will definitely be more fun than ever. HS: Exactly. SL: Ok, now you are from New Orleans originally, but you used to have a heavier accent, you don’t so much anymore. HS: When I go down there and speak to my father it comes back. SL: Ok, and you’re a lawyer right? HS: Yes. SL: Are you licensed in New York? HS: Well, I went to Tulane Law School and studied Civil Law. I was engaged, and I guess I should have known that this was doomed because the guy’s last name was Payne with the same spelling as Hayne, H-A-Y-N-E. SL: Oh my god. HS: So, P-A-Y-N-E. And I did extremely well in my tax classes, in fact I made the highest grade in my Corporate Tax Class. So I thought, why don’t I try the NYU tax program? So I was still engaged to Bill Payne, interviewed with firms in New Orleans, taken the bar in Louisiana, passed the bar in Louisiana, and when I got to New York I found out that he’d moved in with my best friend. SL: Oh my goodness. HS: So I thought, hmm - maybe I should just stay up here. So I took a job on Wall Street and passed the bar in New York, but then I soon realized that I did not want to be on Wall Street, did not even want to be in the legal business. SL: Well, the point is that you have a legal background, you’re a lawyer, you passed the bar in Louisiana and New York, and you chose to run a restaurant and found that this was your calling. It’s almost like an addiction when you get into this business. Your background is in business as well, and I do believe that you were the first person who was running computer programs for the back of the house for your restaurant. HS: Probably so. Yes, I have an aptitude for that. Everything was on Excel spreadsheets before anybody else knew how to do it. It really was not user friendly. SL: At one point I think you were trying to export it to other restaurants; you actually approached me once when you were at Cave Canum and said that you had this incredible program. I just want to let people know that even though you see something like Lucky Cheng’s that’s incredible fun with all these crazy drag queens and chaos… how long has it been now? HS: Fifteen years. SL: Right, for you to last fifteen years, there might chaos in the front, maybe even chaos in your hairdo, but behind everything there’s stability - there has to be. HS: Well one thing that I’ve found is that you have to be so stringent. You have to almost think like a lawyer in order to deal with all the new rules. That’s the reason for the Nightlife Association. The fire department has all these new rules, the police department are in all the time, the police department and the health department has all of these crazy rules, so you have to be so on top of every single detail. But sometimes you might have a really complicated issue, and at that point you need to think like an architect and a lawyer and like fire department guy. So as you know, it’s a whole new ball game. It’s not like it was back in the ‘80s. SL: Yeah, the ‘80s were really fun. There was a story that right in the middle of an inspection by the buildings department, the inspector was walking down my staircase, he stepped on a stair and his leg went through the physical stair up to his knee. He pulled his leg out and said to me, ‘You know, you’re going to have to fix that.’ We passed the inspection. But it’s like, today, if you have just something an inch and a half off, you fail. So it’s a much different world right now. HS: I was told that I was violating - not operating with a public assembly permit. It was during the day, there was no one in the restaurant, because we do our reservations on premise and have an exit door that opens onto a hallway that’s common with other spaces, which is actually an office, not even another restaurant. And our maintenance guy had it propped open because he was getting supplies from the basement and there was no one else in the building. This argument went on for probably a year and a half; it cost me thousands of dollars. SL: Right, and you don’t find this climate in Miami or Los Angeles, and you certainly do not find this climate in Las Vegas. But in New York it is not business friendly for the hospitality business, and it’s a shame. Unfortunately, with most manufacturing having deserted the city, we are a tourist based, service based city. That’s where our industry is, and yet it’s almost impossible to operate. There are so many special interest groups, and this mayor seems to cater to that crowd rather than the poor restaurateur. It’s very difficult to stay in business. HS: I agree, although sometimes I also think that it’s a bit of a hangover from Giuliani. I think it’s sort of a mine set that sort of permeated all of the government agencies, regardless of whether Bloomberg says yes or no. It’s because so much was given to the community boards that it’s almost difficult to take that back. They scream and they yell, I mean you’ll see at the community boards the women with the gray bobs, the red square glasses trying to be stylish, with hand knit sweaters and the socks with the Birkenstocks, and I’m like, ‘Oh my god, if they’re there for me I’m dead.’ SL: Well I have always compared you to Pat Fields, who owns Patricia Field, and she’s become very famous in the last few years because of Sex and the City, which she was the stylist for, and for the Devil Wears Prada, which she was the costume designer and was nominated for an Academy Award for that. Pat has always been the mother hen of the House of Field and her people, which a large part of them are drag queens and the like that have always been supported by her. It’s a family. It’s the house of Field, and you are very similar to her in that way; your people have turned to you and so many of them have been with you for many years and see you as the mother of the house, the house of Suthon, or the house of Lucky Cheng’s. I’d like to hear about some of the people you have worked with over the fifteen years of Lucky Cheng’s, some of which have stayed and some which are gone. Who are the notable people that have passed through the door and been employed by you. Or, fed by you? HS: That’s funny that you would mention that because there’s so much cross-pollination between Pat Field’s staff, or her crowd, and my crowd. You know, because I just opened up a salon with Codie. SL: Codie Ravioli. HS: She was like basically Patricia’s daughter. SL: I heard Codie Ravioli has now straightened up her act and she’s doing very well. I mean, Codie Ravioli is a club kid, she’s one of the original club kids, the originator. I go back many years with Codie Ravioli, as I have, and as you have, been a mess at times and Codie Ravioli is not a mess right now at all. We should be proud of her that she’s such a success story, she’s survived and is now thriving. And you did mention to me about the salon, what is the name? HS: Salon Bordello. That’s on East 2nd Street. SL: Salon Bordello. That’s an incredible name, it’s very cute. It’s based on the comedy of sex that pervades Pat and her crowd, and you and your crowd. It’s always an underlying force, it’s very important in the confused sexuality of a salon. HS: Oh yeah, I could write a book about transsexuals, and the transgendered… SL: You should! HS: I mean, I’ve called transsexuals, and the guys who love them, that’s just a wife with a strap-on. SL: A wife with a strap-on. HS: Yeah, that’s what I call them. I’m like, ‘You’re just a wife with a strap-on.’ A lot of straight guys love them more than me, although it doesn’t appeal to everybody. SL: Well, we’re gonna do a reader’s survey on this, hopefully, we’ll find out. So who else, besides Codie Ravioli? HS: Well my eighty-two year old dad was visiting from New Orleans, because my mother died of a stroke, and he’s up in town not to see me, but to see his lady friend who resides in New York. So he was hanging out with me for about a half an hour before his lady friend was done watering the plants or whatever she does, and one of the waitresses was setting up and he was sort of standing around with everybody. One of my girls walked over and said, ‘Well hello Mr. Suthon, it’s been a while,’ and he’s like, ‘Oh, nice to see you again.’ I said, dad, Tora has worked with me since I was pregnant with my daughter, when I first opened the restaurant fifteen years ago. Tora’s been the longest employee, she’s the only one who was working with me when I pregnant with my teenage daughter. A lot of them have been there since ’94 or ’95. SL: Okay, so let’s hear the names. HS: Brie, who was one of the club kids, Ruby, who was also one of the club kids, and Princess Diandra who of course you know. SL: Princess Diandra is working for you? HS: Yes, she’s still working for me. SL: You know, that’s really good because I wondered Princess Diandra the other day. I was going to visit Michael Alig in prison this Sunday, and I was going through some old stuff and came across Princess Diandra’s name, and I had no idea where she was. What a great person Princess Diandra is; I can’t believe she’s working for you. HS: Well, she gets suspended sometimes for like a year. She does things like she throws apple martinis in David LaChapelle’s face. SL: Well maybe she should be rewarded for that… HS: And then she did something to Jimmy Fallon, so I had to send him a bottle of champagne and some roses. I met him at some Comedy Central event and I apologized, and he was like, ‘No, no, no, that was one of the most amazing experiences I’ve ever had, when’s the next party?’ SL: Well she is a princess. Princess Diandra was always one of the leaders, I remember back in the day when her word meant everything. First of all, she had an incredible singing voice, she was just an incredible person, incredible performer, and of course, had intelligence and personality. She was a leader of the pack, a diva, and divas have to act out. So who else was there? HS: Mostly Asian girls, most of our girls are transgendered because I think that if they are drag queens or whatever they grow out of it and they have other types of jobs. Especially for Asian girls in the transgendered community, this is a great place for them to work because some of them just don’t want to be prostitutes. That’s something that a lot of them are almost forced into. So Lucky Cheng’s gives them a place to work, and a sense of self-sufficiency, other than some sugar daddy or some transsexual pick-up bar. SL: So you’ve become a mother hen to them and they latch on, and they work really hard because Lucky Cheng’s is a team effort. Many people come into a restaurant and they want to satisfy their appetites, but I guess in a place like yours they really want to smile, it’s a good time. People are leaving with big smiles on their faces and laughing. So Lucky Cheng’s is a gimmick, and you mentioned to me that at one point you had this big name chef… HS: Well when I opened I hired Peter Kline, who I think was the opening chef at China Grill, so he was big name. He’s now at Chow Bar, but we were getting rave reviews on the food. What happened was that it became hard to find a chef that could handle the volume and then also attach his name to a place like Lucky Cheng’s. I had a marvelous chef for years and years and years, and he died of stomach cancer about two years ago. I am really happy with the chef I have now, he’s Asian, he’s gay, he’s from San Francisco, and he’s completely talented - he fits in there. He’s a hard worker; he’s bringing the food back up to where it needs to be. SL: Well, unlike most restaurants, you’re not feeding a lot of two’s and four’s, you’re seating eight’s and ten’s and twelve’s and even twenty’s, and it’s always difficult for a restaurant to serve large groups. HS: That actually makes it easier. SL: Tell me how. HS: With the large parties, we want to make sure that the food goes out properly and we just have them on a family style menu. They could be there with twelve people to watch a drag show, and it’s not necessary that each person order their own individual entrée. SL: Right, so it’s a pre-set thing. It’s a set menu of choices, so you get like one or two choices. HS: It’s a large choice. There are several different menu options, it’s just that you can only choose four or five in each category. SL: Now, I’m involved with this move with you to Times Square and I guess in Times Square you can take it to a different level. It will become bigger and more extravagant. We have a space and we are trying to get a deal for you, and that’d be fantastic. There are some people that would say there are disclosure rules, they would like to say that I’m working with someone so I’m giving you a plug. But I’m not, I would say nothing but great things about you whether I was working with you or not. What can you do in Times Square in terms of the show? HS: One thing that’s happened with Times Square is that it’s become its’ own bubble city. The tourists go there and want to see Wicked and all of the shows, and the one’s that wanted to see Lucky Cheng’s no longer want to venture outside the bubble. I used to get all kinds of concierge referrals and a lot of tourists, but they don’t come here anymore even though they know where we are. So I think that once I’m in Times Square that we will start up again with the concierge referrals and I can get to do all the marketing that I used to do. We could do the pre-theatre stuff, the after dinner stuff, and do our dinner main show. SL: You’re telling me you’re going to do three shows a night, three sittings. HS: Absolutely. SL: So now that your in Times Square, is it going to be bigger costumes, bigger show? HS: We do a really great show right now, and we have a girl from Singapore who just makes costumes all day long, and does amazing traditional dance. Then I have a Japanese one with the feathers and all that kind of stuff who is a live singer, and there are some other great performers. So the show is really fantastic already but what I think I would be able to do is get more performers, someone like Jackie Beat, who would do the main show for two months and we’d have the early show and the late show using our regular performers. Maybe I’d have a headliner for Tuesday through Saturday. SL: Certainly, you know you’ve figured that you’re in Times Square, you have admissions prices and the prices that you charge for food will be bigger. HS: Exactly. SL: Plus the crowd is motivated to get out fast cause they’ve got to get to their shows. They’re coming out at six on time, and bang, they gotta get out. HS: 5:30 seating. SL: Amazing. Good Night, Mr. Lewis Interview conducted and written by Steve Lewis. Interview has been edited and condensed by Jessica Tocko. Check back on Friday for day two of Steve's conversation with Lucky Cheng’s owner Hayne Suthon as they chat about their point of view on a long time friend Michael Alig, her up coming reality show Cougars, and how she manages the craziness that goes on in her long standing establishment. More...

Porn better left to state schools [IvyGate] Aww, an O'Neil family affair [Gawker] Compare and contrast NY's latest saints [NYM] Russian pipe dream involves loads of vodka [Gawker] More...

While a fun night out is a memory you try to cherish forever, the resulting hangover is something we all would immediately like to forget. Not an easy task. On Food Detectives, the somewhat grating Ted Allen investigates scientific ways to eliminate a hangover. Allen and his scientific buddy investigate five classic options: coffee, water, greasy food, tomato juice, and vodka. Yummy. The very un-scientific results show that drinking water will of course cure your alcohol related dehydration problems, and the vodka helps actually delay the symptoms of a hangover. And while it won't eliminate your hangover, a quick "hair of the dog" will push it back a few hours. So what did we learn? Not much, except we aren't going to watch Food Detectives ever again. More...

L MAGAZINE, LEHMAN, LOST IN MIDTOWN As reported last week, I was honored to be a judge at the 2nd annual L Magazine club awards. I was also a presenter at last night’s festivities at Touch nightclub on 52nd and 8th. I’ve never been to Touch although I have often been accused of being out of touch. So I guess that’s true. I was very impressed by the decor of the main floor. I sat for hours with my pal Rachelle Hruska of Guest of a Guest and we talked of all sorts of off the record things. Not referring to her at all when I say this I find it funny these days how many times I hear "off the record" from people I talk to, as if the stories about their cleaning ladies and the price of veggies at the local deli would end up boring you on this blog. I got plenty of other stuff to bore you with. Rachelle told me her gorgeous Olympian "special friend" Cameron liked what I wrote about him on the blog. His story of Olympic glory and blogosphere litigation is as incredible as he is shy and modest. Rachelle introduced me to her staff, one just brighter and more bubbly than the next, and we laughed and enjoyed the awards. Michael Musto and I chatted before the ceremonies. I had just come back from visiting Michael Alig in prison, something he had done years ago, and we compared notes regarding the process of inmate visitation and the difficulties of writing about it. I will soon so stand by. He presented the best gay party award and quipped, he's always typecast in this category. Fellow blogger Brittany Mendenhall found herself without an award to present so I brought her up on stage with me. I just checked out her blog Chi Chi 212 and I just love it. As we had the honor of giving the best venue-bar award as well as the best club award, I got a little nervous and was glad she was their to prop me up, or at least be a prop. Masters or is it mistresses of ceremonies Mistress Formika and Michael T. did a great job of entertaining an enthusiastic but small crowd, while everyone wondered why this wasn’t done downtown somewhere. Anyway, best bar-venue went to Beauty Bar and best club went to Santos Party House. After the ceremonies we tripped over to Amalia, the closest place that would treat me and mine to free liquor, and ran into the remains of a Lehman Brothers party. It seems the restaurant has been hosting these regularly, but alas there's but one more scheduled. I asked a slightly inebriated reveler who had just lost her gig when she really knew the ax was going to fall. She said she had no idea up until a few days ago. A waitress who is leaving soon explained how these parties brought in steady revenues that won’t easily be replaced. Earlier in the day while on the Aspen Social Club job site, I was talking to a manager of a nearby restaurant who mumbled that something like 24,000 people who were important to the bottom line of his and other Times Square joints, had lost or were expected to lose their jobs. He said, ‘All we'll have left soon is the tourists.’ I told him that as a manager, he may actually have to start earning his money. He asked me, “What a manager could do?’ I asked him, ‘Do you really think the Yankees wouldn’t be in the playoffs if Joe Torre was still manager?’ A good manager learns to deal with the hand dealt as our "lost Joe" is doing in L.A. where his Dodgers unexpectedly lead their division. So many of today's operators are so lost in their spaces, that they just keep doing things the same old unsuccessful ways. These are times that call for innovation, experimentation, and a realistic approach to the consumers limits and needs. People will be going out to eat and to drink, but they will be more conscious of what they’re getting for their buck before they go unconscious. I’ve been through recessions as an operator and I thrived. And as bad as the news rings, I still heard the sounds of new construction and thousands of cabs; trucks and people bustling and hustling through the midtown streets. Was the collapse of Wall Street lost on these people or are they so anesthetized by the continuing bad news this administration has thrown at them, that they seem immune. As my editor pointed out earlier in the week, and yes Grub Street scooped me on, I am completing the build out of the Aspen Social Club in the Stay Hotel in Times Square. All around me I see renovations and new construction. Are these business men building in the eye of a hurricane, or just spitting in its’ eye? More...

AvroKo's Double Crown made it through its friends and family period and opened to the public on Monday. Head over to our friends at Eater for a looksee. Also opened is Madam Geneva, the separate basement lounge which we told you would feature gin cocktails and proper sandwiches into the wee hours of the morning. Man about town Alex Balk stopped by and reports: Was at this bar last night where the cocktail gimmick is “jam.†Theytake a gin and citrus beverage and stir in one of three or fourvarieties of jam. I can’t remember what they all were, probably becauseI had about nine of them, but there was a coriander and ginger one thatwas actually quite nice. More...