By Emily Anne Epstein 5/07 5:00pm

nyofood

(Photo by Emily Anne Epstein)

A Crumble in the Bronx

IT IS AFTER MIDNIGHT in the kitchen of Le Baron, a Chinatown dance club. The chefs we have come to meet are squeezed shoulder to shoulder in the tiny space, chopping and frying for the throngs outside. Jon Gray is giving two waitresses in crop tops a pep talk, telling them to get as far into the crowd as they can before distributing the food. The doors have closed and the venue is over capacity. It’s going to be tough, he tells them. Hold the trays high.

Tonight is the inaugural event of his catering company, Ghetto Gastro, which draws on the talents of rising chefs who have earned their stripes at Le Cirque, Jean-Georges and wd~50, among other big names. “How many can we fit on a tray?” chef Dan Levin interjects, referring to the four-bite portions of chicken and waffles.

We pluck one from the trays and the flavor comes in waves. First the sweet crust. Then the feisty curried chicken. The cool heat of scotch bonnet mango butter. The creamy calm of the coconut waffles. And there are two more varieties to go: a fig waffle with chili chicken and foie gras butter, and a Belgian waffle with buttermilk fried chicken and maple butter. Read More

By Benjamin-Emile Le Hay 11/14/12 12:51pm

Shindigger

DvF and Mitch: lovers once, buddies forever!

Ali Wentworth Delayed by Post-Election Romp While DvF Gets Hot and Bothered at Phoenix House

As we sloshed, caked with snow flurries, into the Mandarin Oriental for the 2012 Phoenix House Fashion award dinner last Wednesday evening, we couldn’t determine whether it was the way-too-early winter outside, the Sandy-forced relocation or the early start after an endless election season, but at first glance, things looked a bit quiet. (In retrospect, we appreciated the venue upgrade, considering it was originally slated to take place at Pier 60.)

“Well there’s Linda Fargo, at least …” we uttered to a weary-eyed publicist as she sashayed passed us in a crisp black sheath dress, before we sauntered downstairs to cocktail hour.

Below, on the 35th floor, the considerably more lively and notable fashion crowd imbibed, heedless of the blizzard-like winds that howled without mercy on the commoners struggling to get around Columbus Circle.

With the exception of Glenda Bailey, this didn’t feel like a typical fashion event; nay, it was considerably more corporate—a bit cliquey, but not necessarily in a bad way. Dashing executives (well mostly dashing) in flamboyant tailored suits sipped scotch and red wine, while a more demure population of women squawked about recent highs and lows. Read More

By Foster Kamer 6/08/12 3:31pm

ART IS HARD

Andre Sariva Penis Ride

Manhattan’s Newest Thrill Ride: A Giant, Purple, Mechanical Penis

Andre Saraiva doesn’t just own the keys (and velvet rope) to Chinatown’s most impossibly hip club, Le Baron, but the Frenchman-about-town fancies himself an artist as well. To wit, his first major solo show—subtly titled Andrépolis—premiered last night at Bowery gallery The Hole. It has been characterized as an “urban phantasmagoria” by Purple Magazine‘s Olivier Zahm, who also explains that “the exhibition has a surprise at the end, a carousel for adults, for those who are not afraid to ride the wings of desire.”

And oh, does it ever. Read More

2/11/12 3:26pm

Fashion Week Observed

Julie Ragolia and Carlos Campos at his autumn 2011 presentation.

Stylist and Fashion Consultant Julie Ragolia Goes Giddy for Barney’s and Hates on Bloggers

 

 

Julie Ragolia has seen more stars in their skivvies than you could dream of! After sinking her teeth at MTV and a slew of glossies eons ago, she moved up the nasty and competitive ladder of fashion editorial… These days, she serves as the fashion editor of 7th Man Magazine and styles mega-stars, such as Rihanna and Sean Combs. Despite his Napoleon complex, street photo Scott Schuman even made her the cover girl of his treasured tome, The Satorialist. The Observer tried to find out if she gets to sleep with any celebs and what exactly stylists do aside from playing with clothes and acting bitchy in the Prada showroom… Read More

By Nate Freeman 2/01/12 12:10pm

The Wee Hours

He's Andre Saraiva. Who the hell are you?

Enchanté, Le Baron!: Andre Saraiva’s Parisian Bordello Lands in Chinatown

The huddled masses on the corner of Mulberry and Mosco had waited for a long time. They had waited through 700 days of planning, they had waited outside several hours on this first night, and then they had waited to get the nod from a doorman. They had waited for the opening of Le Baron, the Chinatown outpost of Andre Saraiva’s famous Paris club.

“Stand in a straight line!” a bouncer yelled. Read More

By Foster Kamer 1/27/12 4:03pm

LE BARONPOCOLYPSE

Andre.

THE FRENCH ARE COMING: New York City’s Nightlife Salvation (Maybe, Possibly) Begins Tonight With Rumored Opening of Le Baron

The arrival of Andre Sariva’s New York outpost of Le Baron—the most exclusive nightclubs in the world that you’re only getting into if you’re, like, one of the owners or friends with Stefon—has been waited by those who get off on velvet-rope-rejection-masochism with the eagerness of people who wait for nightclubs for two years at a time. Which is to say: Quite a bit.

As Eater New York’s Scott Solish reports, it is supposedly opening this weekend. Read More

By Foster Kamer 1/11/12 4:08pm

FRENCH GUYS

Andre.

Le Baron, New York City’s Most Anticipated Nightclub Basically Ever, is En Route

French nightlife impresario Andre Saraiva’s Le Baron—with respective locations in Paris and Tokyo, easily two of the most exclusive nightlife spots in the known universe, the likes of which you will never see the inside of—has been anticipated as the messanic salvation of New York City nightlife. Especially ever since word of its stateside arrival was confirmed…in March 2010. Read More

By Nate Freeman 6/15/11 11:39am

The Transom

Dexter-Jones and Saraiva.

Andre Saraiva: The Nightlife Baron to Save New York

For nearly a year, red-eyed connoisseurs of New York after midnight have been waiting, impatiently, for French graffiti guy Andre Saraiva to open his Manhattan branch of the notorious Paris sin den Le Baron and save the city’s nightlife. The chosen nook of Mulberry Street has been cordoned off, with little to no activity for Read More

By Foster Kamer 4/27/11 10:19pm

SOCIALOINS

Sex and/or Breakfast with Socialite Annabelle Dexter-Jones: Like “Strangling a Crocodile”

In one of the better openers of writing about nightlife characters, this one’s up there. André Saraiva — the man behind The Standard’s Le Bain and Paris/Tokyo uber-exclusive nightlife destinations Le Baron (coming this September to Manhattan!) — gets the profile treatment in the May issue of BlackBook. It begins when BlackBook editor Megan Conway arrives Read More