• Taavo Somer and the team from Freemans are opening a "classic American diner" in the old Kelley & Ping space on the Bowery. [VV]
• Ryan Skeen and his team have been ousted from Allen & Delancey. [GS]
• Midtown Italian eatery Bice won't be forced to close, after all. [Crain's]
• Donatella Arpaia's revamped,…
• Openings: Michael Huynh's OBAO opens tonight. Rye House, a Flatiron gastropub just opened; and a roundup of other spots opening shortly.
• Cafe Gitane's second location opens at the Jane Hotel tomorrow. [GS]
• Taavo Somer of Freemans and the Rusty Knot is looking to expand. [Eater]
• Add Boston to the list of…
Happy Birthday
Marc Jacobs has several reasons to celebrate today. In addition to his recent engagement, he'll also be blowing out 46 candles on his birthday cake today. Others marking the big day: NBC chief Jeff Zucker is 44. Hugh Hefner turns 83. Cynthia Nixon is 43. Leighton Meester is turning 23. Albert Hammond Jr. is turning…
The Friday Party Report
Magnus Berger and Tenzin Wild's The Last Magazine threw a party last night to celebrate its second issue and the end of Fashion Week. Guests included Alexander Wang, Phillip Lim, Richard Chai, Michael Stipe, Gabi Asfour, Byrdie Bell, Vladimir Restoin-Roitfeld, Zoe Kravitz, Daisy Lowe, Stavros Niarchos, Natasha Poly,…
Sheridan Square Ends, Trader Joe's Begins
♦ It's only been a few months since it opened, but Sheridan Square has already closed. [Eater]
♦ Hand over $50 to the Obama campaign and you can watch the debate at The Box tonight. [NYP]
♦ Taavo Somer and Ken Friedman on cutting out half the menu at the Rusty Knot. [DBTH]
♦ There are actually bars in the city…
Facial Hair a Barometer of What, Exactly?
The headline of Joshua David Stein's dispatch from the shallower ends of New York life, "Hot Fuzz: Why Full Beards Are In," is a little misleading. Yes, he tells us that lots of hipsters—Taavo Somer, Dash Snow, Devendra Banhart, his good self—have been sporting overgrown whiskers, but he doesn't actually tell us why.…
Taavo Somer Update
A dissenting opinion from restaurateur Ken Friedman has been added to our post from yesterday about allegations that hipster god Taavo Somer is a homophobe. We've also added another note from a self-proclaimed former employee. It's all very intriguing, so go read it now. [Previously]
Hipster God A Homophobe?
"It's stupid to be homophobic," mused a guy working in a downtown bar last night. "And it's really stupid to be homophobic if you're in the restaurant business. And it's really stupid to be homophobic if you're in the fashion business." The subject of his rant: Taavo Somer, the 35-year-old owner of faux-rustic LES…
West Villagers Get a Freemans of Their Own
Restaurateur/style maven Taavo Somer continues in his quest to bring his weird rural-retro aesthetic to every corner of the market: He's opening a second barber shop (there's already one upstairs at Freemans Sporting Club on Rivington) at 5 Horatio Street on Friday. So if you're brave enough to get a straight cut…
The Week in Parties
1) After a Tuesday night Cinema Society screening of Transsiberian starring Kate Mara and Emily Mortimer at the Tribeca Grand, host Andrew Saffir, Ann Dexter-Jones, Annabelle Dexter-Jones, Eleanor Ylvisaker, Russell Simmons, and Becca Cason Thrash (who was "exhausted" after "buying from four collections" at the…
Bar Designer Taavo Somer's Fancy New House: Let Us Show You It
Taavo Somer, the weirdo artist/designer/"method" architect (when designing the new nautical-themed bar Rusty Knot, he took to dressing like a drunken sailor) was profiled in New York this week. "In the profile he talks about the house he just bought upstate and how his parents were horrified at the price," whispers a…
Taavo Somer
Somer is the co-owner of Freemans, the hard-to-locate hipster haunt on the Lower East Side. He's also the proprietor of Freemans Sporting Club on Rivington Street.
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