When walking into the newly opened Bobo last night, it became clear to us that Carlos Suarez is the type of person that takes great care in paying attention to details....At least when it comes to design. We were completely impressed with the interior of charming Bobo, the cozy restaurant nestled away inside an old corner brownstone on W.10th. Unfortunately, that's about the only thing we were blown away by....

"Good afternoon, Bobo residence". This is how you are greeted when making a reservation, and for good reason. The place does feel like you are a guest of honor in a posh-bohemian, yet sophisticated private apartment. You enter through the lower level where the main bar and window-tables are before you walk up an old wooden staircase, painted black with a white lined trim, (set to look like an expensive carpet runner), where you emerge into the main dining room (pictured above). There is a smaller corner bar adjacent to this:

Where the bartender (a transplant from Aqua Vit) serves such standard cocktails as the "mai-tai" and the "perfect Manhattan" for $12 a pop (reasonable). Beyond this little cove there are some small wooden steps leading out to the "garden", which is without question, the best part about the joint (and of course where Richie Rich held court last night).

They managed to keep the place full without feeling stuffy, which will be hard to do once winter comes and the garden closes. Along with the hip eclectic decor, the music was great (The Postal Service type shit was playing at the perfect volumed level), and the "right kind of people" were there. However, no amount of well-done ambiance could hide the fact that the food and service were sub-par. First of all, it took over an hour for our APPETIZERS to arrive! The Artichoke Barigoule was actually a pile of arugula with a dash of ricotta cheese and a fourth of an artichoke. The Truffled Elbow Pasta with Ham and Cheese looked like a dish you would feed a 4 year old, and was again, appropriately sized to one. Both the Steak Frites and Grilled Lamp Chop were average in taste, TINY in size. The deserts were simple and unspectacular. Another con, there is only one bathroom, that although clean and sleek, was OUT of toilet paper! We know they have been only officially open for a week, and though we've never actually met Carlos, from what we've heard (and seen last night) he seems to be a down-to-earth, go-getter that put his own sweat and blood into a passionate project. We hope they get these minor pretty big bugs figured out over the month, so that when we pop in for Round Two, a Richie Rich sighting won't be the only highlight of our night.

UPDATE: Interview with Richie Rich

From Ice Princess, to Club Kid, to Fashion Mogul, Richie Rich has always been a superstar to us. Many of our friends find our mild obsession odd, but we don't care. Last night, while Kate Hudson was hanging with Ron Burkle at Rose Bar, and Diddy was causing chaos at Goldbar, Richie Rich was giving us goosebumps at Bobo. When we were randomly seated across from the famous diva at dinner, we knew we were in for a treat, and it wasn't going to be from any culinary cuisine. (Full review of the newly opened west village hot spot to follow).

For those of you who are unaware of who Richie Rich is (and it's not the comic character), he's a kid from California that, after training under Kristi Yamaguchi, joining the Ice Capades and touring the world, decided to move to New York and become one of the most fab of all the Club Kids, working at all of the city's hottest clubs while simultaneously starting a career as a recording artist and unleashing various pop singles such as "Magic" and Collision." Those theatrical talents came in hand when he started making his own clothing, which got picked up by Patricia Field. Thus, Heatherette was founded in 1994 (with Travis Rains) and the rest is history. He is still hanging out with the hottest Socialites and Hipsters, but now it's because they all want to be part of his show (Tinsley Mortimer is a regular model for them).

[photo from Patrick McMullan]

But back then, Richie Rich was just a kid trying to find his place in life. The Clubkids were infamous for taking things to the EXTREME. The movie Party Monster is a good documentation of this. Based on the book by James St. James, the film showcases the wild life of the real life "party monsters". The premeire party for the film was held at the infamous Plaid night club (pictured below) and included such guests as Macaulay Culkin, Seth Green, Wilmer Valderrama, Nicky Hilton, Kenny Kenny, and Chloe Sevigny (the old "It Girl" who has grown up a bit, staring on HBO's Big Love and recently launching a fashion line of her own).

Here's a video of the Clubkids that we dug up from the Jane Whitney show in the 90's...(Richie Rich is in there).

Finally, we leave you with a little blurb of the interview that James St. James did for USAToday:

Question: What exactly were all of you trying to achieve in the heyday? Was the club kid phenomenon just a major bid for attention? And was there anything you WOULDN'T do?James St. James: Certainly there was this post-Warholian feel of celebrity for celebrity's sake,a nd we deserved to be famous because we were fabulous. We did have an agenda, though. Drag was to be the norm. Drugs would be the utopian gateway. It all blew up in our faces, of course. But in the beginning we had an ideology.

While Michael Vick is getting into trouble with dogs, Matt Leinart is chasin' pussycats. And no, not Paris Hilton, but some lovely young ladies at Marquee who had trouble playing Defense against the talented QB. Good thing Leinart played for the Trojans, that should keep him out of some trouble. Blue 32! Hike!

Ever wonder how a young nightclub promoter manages to amass enough money to become a partner in larger operations such as The Box or La Esquina? Well we don't really have the answer either...but a little more digging after our profile on Cordell Lochin turned up a rather interesting and sordid past. Apparently Cordell has been involved in a elaborate marijuana distribution and smuggling ring, where marijuana originating out of Montreal was smuggled in through the US/Canadian border. Excerpts from court documents include:

d

On November4,2005 U.S. Marshalls executed an arrest warrant on Cordell. He was charged with 3 counts:

1) Count One: conspiracy to import marijuana

2 Count Two: conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute marijuana

3) Count Three: money laundering

Since then He has plead guilty to counts 1 and 2, and his sentencing hearing is on the 10th of October 2007. So remember a few weeks ago when La Esquina and The Box both got raided on the same night, and people thought someone was out to get them? Well Cordell is a partner in both, so perhaps they were right in that its not just a coincidence.

Today, Copyranter shows us that we may have to rethink our desire to be "Toy's R Us" kids and start growing up (*GASP!)  (Anyone else remember that commercial with the tune that gets stuck in your head for days..."I don't wanna grow up, I'm a Toy's R Us kid, there's millions of toys at Toy's R Us that I can play with!...") We hate when Christmas decorations come out before Thanksgiving and now, stores are starting before even Halloween!? Is this some kind of joke.  First the toy store took over our beloved Tower Records in Union and now they are telling us to start stressing out about the holidays when it's 90 degrees outside?! That giraffe has some serious nerve.

As if you needed any more assurance that snorting snow in this city was safe, Radar's cutting edge experiment has given us some pragmatic evidence.  They sent their own Neel Shah to various places around the city "armed with a baggie of confectioners' sugar and our lawyer's phone number."  First stop was Starbucks where Neel snorted it up in line and was completely ignored, and even got a chuckle from the guy he offered it to at the milk counter, saying he would love to partake but was "scheduled to deliver a presentation at his ad agency in 20 minutes."  Next, at the New York Public Library, Neel spent time setting up and blowing lines while asians were trying to study.  He met some resistance but noone made any threatening remarks.  He ended his journey at Carter's Waverly Inn where Diane von Furstenberg and Jay McInerney were both enjoying dinner (seperate tables).  He was caught snorting up the powder around many a wait staff and, not surprisingly, didn't even get a glare.  Well, there you have it folks, huff away.  At least you have something to look forward to after those 80 hour work days.

[photos from Radar]

[Photo: The New York Observer]

Name: Cordell Lochin

Venues: The Box, La Esquina

Closest Equivalent: Armin Armiri (5 years ago) of Bungalow 8 and Socialista

Background: Son of Trinidadian immigrants, grew up on the Upper West Side and started going to downtown clubs as a teen before becoming the doorman at club Twilo and then the special-events director at Club Life.

Claim to Fame: Aside from having a supposed Rolodex of 1500 jet-setting high-rollers, we have heard that Cordell has tried to take credit for designing The Box multiple times in conversations and in print via the New York Times:

"...designed by Cordell Lochin in low-life archaeological style"

The Times has since printed the following retraction:

"An article last Sunday about a kickoff for Fashion Week at the Box...misidentified the club?s designer. It was Hecho Inc. ? not Cordell Lochin"

Dirty Little Secret: Frienemies say that due to extra-curricular activities, Cordell can't get it up and subsequently needs Viagra in the truckloads.

Lovers: Simon Hammerstein (who has said The Box would not be "The Box" without Cordell), Richard Kimmel, Serge Becker. And, who's in his blackberry? According to him: "Adrien Brody, Amanda Lepore, Amy Sacco, Ashley Olsen, Benny Medina, Chelsea ..."

Haters: Someone's got it out bigtime for Cordell and his partners!

What makes him different: ?People is people to him,? said celebrity photographer Marc Baptiste, ?It doesn?t matter if it?s Paris Hilton or Gisele Bündchen or the guy walking down the sidewalk?if he has a table, he?ll sit you down. He?ll be like, ?Um, Gisele, I know you?ve been waiting in line, but my man got to eat. Let me hook you up in a few minutes.?? -Taken from the Observer.

Our own inbox confirms this: "He?s also has been known to kick high rollers and celebs out of their VIP seats at The Box for his loser friends. Maybe that?s why New York celebs have been avoiding the place like the plague???? (Taken from an annonymous emailer as a criticism of Cordell).

Our assessment: If true, Cordell loses points for being a drug addict as well as a blackberry addict. He loses more points for calling his over 1,500 blackberry contacts "choice people". However, he gains points for putting in his dues at Life and being unimpressed when it comes to "famous people". If what we've been hearing is true, instead of seeing this as a fault (like our insider emailer does), we think it is a good thing. Having Owen Wilson and Mary Kate Olsen at your establishment is not what should make you shine, and giving THEM preferential treatment for doing nothing more or less special than the average New York clubgoing trendster is just a sell-out. Also, it's hard to criticize someone for giving their close friends unique treatment because well, being in the same position, we would do the same. He's had to put in YEARS of clubbing to get there and frankly, that's not something we would never want to do. Until we meet the guy on our own, our position will have to remain a neutral one.

(note: We also can't be sure that Cordell actually said he was the designer of the Box. This wouldn't be the first time that the Times has misinterpreted something.)

...so thinks the brains behind the city's most beloved Passerby. It's a bar, it's a lounge, it's a club, it's a 70's styled dance venue....It's a hole-in-the-wall hipster joint, a cutting edge artsy folk hangout, a posh refined socialite's Saturday night secret stop, and an under-the-radar-famous-DJ-producing-factory. It is an "Andy Warhol crowd framed in a Saturday Night Fever setting"....and it's all coming to an end.

We have heard rumors of the closing of passerby since last spring, but we have waited to report on it, in desperate hope that they were just ill-started rumors. Today, we sadly will cry out "Say it ain't so!", but it unquestionably is "Passerby's Last Call". Gavin Brown opened Passerby in 1999 in front of his Chelsea gallery space sandwiched on 15th street between 9th and 10th avenues, a dead beat block on the outskirts of the bustling Meatpacking district. But, make no mistake, no sooner will pigs fly than you will find yourself tripping over the B&T crowd at Passerby.

Gavin Brown enterprises has made its official statement on Passerby's fateful closure on their new website newyorkisdead.biz. Apparently, they too are lamenting the gentrification of the city. The $2,000 a month rents for a studio on Rivington, the Wholefoods and H&M's, the Tenjune's and Buddakan's.

We will miss the scum infested bathrooms, the light-up tiled floor that we loved so much even though we had to throw away our favorite cashmere white scarf after it fell on it, the spacey bartenders serving us "tepid Pinot Grigio's out of clear plastic cups", the uninhibited dance moves at 4 am on Fridays that were never being critiqued, and the many dj's we have befriended in that teeny corner spin cage. Luckily we still have some time (set to close in June '08). Now, we will leave you with the words of Mr. Brown himself...at the end of his soliloquy, he writes:

"And before we allow our so-called souls to be strangled by the burgeoning hold of money-hungry parvenus, we best bring out the old trumpet (the Jazz machine, the warhorn, the loudest one in the room) and sound that awesome clarion call, saying: 'I want this to feel alive again.'

So, we?re going to blow that tuneless horn from September until Passerby is laid to rest. You can find out what will be going on (scheduled) here on our website: www.newyorkisdead.biz. The dull future needs our noise."

[Wednesday Nights at Bar Marts]

Jonny Famous, James Cruickshank, DJ VIBE, Nick Fouquet & E.B. Sollis are hosting the party tonight at Bar Martignetti's. Here is what the invite read:

This wednesday we celebrate the return of New Yorks subway sensation, The underground vigilante, DJ MOTHA FUCKING VIBE!!!!!!! He is back from serving 7 months in Jail in Guam, and is now back to crush wednesday nights!!!!!

ALSO A BDAY CELEBRATION FOR PAULLY WALNUTS FROM THE SIR DRAKE FAMILY!!!!!!!

Turns out Paully Walnuts goes by Sir Drake sometimes (at least from what our sources say), no word on what DJ motha fucking vibe was doing in prision...

When I was a little girl, there was an extremely popular Drive-In movie theater that was located just down the street from my house, in the middle of a giant empty field. I remember the day it closed for a new plastic-filled park. My sister and I cried for almost an hour. Memories of watching movies like Dirty Dancing, Goonies, and Ghostbusters are anything but vague ones for me. They are some of my sharpest images of youth I have carried on with me. I have always thought that the idea of a Drive-In theater was a genius one. Afterall, Americans love their cars, and they love their movies. How charmingly old-fashioned and glamorous would it be to get served a popcorn and coke sitting in a drive-in today. I wanted to open one, but thankfully someone beat me to it. DRV-IN opened on the Lower East side just weeks ago at 139 Norfolk St. and it has become so popular that they had to add another showtime! Now you can get your candy and popcorn during a drive in movie at 4pm Monday through Friday (as well as 7pm and 10pm Mon-Sun). Instead of $0.75 a pop, like the movies I remember attending at my local drive-in, these babies are $75.00 a show. With the '65 Ford Falcon provided, it will no doubt be the best $75 I spend all week.

[David Burke and Donatella's foie gras PB&J photo from the Observer]

Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches are incontestably American. Paired with a tall glass of milk, we have not met one American that hadn't eaten this combo, for many it was a staple of their childhood lunches. Living in a city where Americans are becoming the minority, we quickly found out that this sandwich has never been popular for our European/Australian counterparts. Most had never even TRIED a PB&J (and are not, surprisingly, overly excited to do so any time soon). So, in case you care, here's why: Peanut Butter has not been around for that long. It was invented by a physician in St. Louis in 1890, which is why the stuff in general is mainly "American". It is like the equivalent of the Australian "Vegemite". Sliced bread wasn't even invented until 1927 in Iowa of all places. Though the exact inventor of the sandwich is unknown, it seems to have become extremely popular here in the 1940s after it was used as military rations during the war. (Here is a timeline of the origin of the sandwich from Smuckers).

Why all the ramblings on the sandwich anyway? Because we just found out what David Burke & Donatella, the posh UES restaurant has done with the PB&J. They have paired it with FOIE GRAS! Here's what Doree Shafrir of the Observer had to say: "a special, though almost every night it?s on the menu, described as a ?torchon of foie gras, macadamia nut butter, strawberry-vanilla jam, toasted brioche.? At a restaurant known for taking culinary whimsy to a sometimes illogical extreme, this invention seems decidedly illogical: a kitschy bastardization of a fourth-grader?s lunch."

Our own bastard president George W. Bush revealed on The Oprah Winfrey Show in 2000 that his favorite sandwich was the PB&J...we hope the establishment rushes one over to his hotel room pronto. Pictured above, it is a sandwich that seems fit for a moron.

Oh Leo. Rush and Malloy are reporting that Leonardo DiCaprio is so "tight" with promoter Danny A that he took the time to actually get out of his seat to help put an end to an argument that the clubbie was having with a regular patron at "Upstairs". Apparently he just stood firm behind Danny's back, glaring down at the other guy until he shut his mouth. While most will walk away from this report questioning Leo's new choice in friends, we are left wondering...."People are still going to Upstairs?!"

Next up: helping folks unwind...From our Inbox:

"I've been working in NY nightlife for four years, and I have never... ever... dimed anyone out to a publication or blog. However, I can't stand Cordell of The Box. In fact, I loathe him. "

Some highlights of the email regarding Cordell:

"First of all, boyfriend has a drug problem that makes it impossible for him to keep it hard without another little drug by way of assistance."

"...I had to have dinner with Cordell the other night who again claimed he designed The Box. That guy has NO fucking taste. No way he could design a greeting card much less a fucking bar. He takes credit for it in print too, like in the NY Times."

"Lastly, he's also has been known to kick high rollers and celebs out of their VIP seats at The Box for his loser friends. Maybe that's why New York celebs have been avoiding the place like the plague???"

"Christ. Thanks.
I feel so much better."

No problem anonymous tipster...We don't know Cordell personally and so we can't speak to these claims one way or the other, but we have been having our own issues with the place lately...Friday night it was such a shit show that even Channing Tatum exited early with us.

Lastly, what is going on with the club/lounge/disco/indie spot Rebel on 30th street? We had never heard of this spot until we got invited to a Disco themed birthday party there this last Saturday. Apparently it is owned by Steven Ballinger of Webster Hall fame and opened on Labor Day weekend. The place is huge, with 5 different open areas all named on their webpage. We went to the party in the conveniently titled "Disco Room" on the 2nd level. Fun times, until we went through "the Mezzanine", past the "Liquid Lounge", down the stairs to "the Gallery" (we were starting to feel like Dora the Explorer), and realized we were literally the only people there. There were dj's and a full staff of guys ready for clean up service, but no people. It was Saturday night at 1 am. It was really odd. Where were all the guidos and guidettes? We exited out through the "Perfomance Hall", left to ponder the existence of such a place. Maybe it has something to do with the events calendar? (we haven't heard of a single one of these bands, are we missing something?)

Will the nightlife here start making more sense this fall, or will we continue to be surprised by it's many absurdities?