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Bobo

[photo from NYMag]

There once was a corner brownstone at 181 W. 10th St., at Seventh Ave….Though transformed many times, this week it will open as Carlos Suarez’s ”Bourgeois Bohemian” Restaurant “Bobo”.  It will have all the makings of a hit new venue: a subterranean bar, second-floor dining, fireplaces, and even a garden; but what will make it a true star will be the personal touches of Mr. Suarez himself.  We hear that he has put in his own sweat and blood into this project, in everything from the design, to the labor, to the plumbing.  Since acquiring the space last Spring, Carlos could be found working inside of it from dawn until well into the night almost daily.  The Wharton business school grad is originally from Cuba and learned his shit from managing the Blue Fin in Times Square after a Banking career and, get this, attending local community board meetings. 

The inside of Bobo looks fantastic, as it should…every detail Suarez accounted for himself, down to the bathrooms.  There is a copper chef’s table, and loads of antiques, mostly picked up by hand from Hudson Valley.  Suarez secured chef Nicolas Cantrel (formally of Country) who has “fashioned a Pan-European menu with a south-of France slant.” (from NY Mag).  According to our source, Carlos is very much the soulful artistic bohemian he comes off as, though extremely refined as well.  He apparently wants to bring back the Casablanca feel with a place that seems both formal and laid back.  Food for him has always been extremely important because it is what brings cultures and people together.  We don’t care what Abbe Diaz has to say about the place, we can not wait to see it buzzing with people, also think that the basement bar has the makings of the new “place to be seen”. 

My new Guilty Pleasure

Okay I absolutely loved the first episode of Gossip Girl.  It definitely was dramatic in the way that only a teenage-drama-series could be, but I predict it will be a hit.  First of all Blake Lively is awesome (and only 20 years old, not 30 as many suspected).  The fact that I am able to love her character (Serena Van Der Woodsen-perfectly fitting and totally legitimate name) after she slept with her best friend’s boyfriend (in an ultra hot scene might I add), takes good acting.  Dan and Nate are super hot, and Chuck is the epitome of the East coast “bad boy”.  Their school “The Constance Billard School for Girls” is based off of the real life “Nightengale-Bamford School” where the author Cecily Von Ziegesar (again fitting name) actually attended on the Upper East Side.  I loved the music (especially when “Hang me up to dry” by the Cold War Kids came on), I loved the pot smoking in central park, and when Serena explains to Blair that their friendship runs too deep to end (she can always of course count on her to “dance on the tables at Bungalow 8“-that place HAS seen its day).  Love the limo rides (true), all the text messages (true), and drinks in the Madison Room at the Palace Hotel (probably untrue although when your parents own the place who knows).  I also loved the scene in Henri Bendel and the fact that Chuck’s dad needs him to stay with Blair so that he can get in on her mom’s IPO (definitely has happened here more than once).  God I loved this show, so much so that I think I will have to do a review after every episode.  Oh does anyone else think that Leighton Meester, the 21 year old actress that plays Blair Waldorf, is just divine!  It’s like watching Olivia Palmero up on TV!  In fact, so far from what I have seen, I think that they did an impeccable job of casting this series.  I haven’t been this excited about a show in awhile.  My other choices for this fall will be “Curb Your Enthusiasm”, “The Office”, and of course “Weeds” which has already begun.  Gossip Girl however, is set to be my most secret guilty-pleasure of the fall.

Things are Heating up at Wakiya

So, Wakiya at Gramercy Park has been open for awhile (hello, remember Wintour’s famous party for her new muse was thrown there weeks ago?), but last week was the official opening of Ian Schrager’s new joint and his fans naturally obliged by not only coming, but playing along with his theme. Thanks to an insider that was there, we received this classic photo of Robert DeNiro, Nobu Matsuhisa (of Nobu), and Yugi Wakiya pouring tea into a smoking cauldron in a traditional tea ceremony. That IS certaintly NOT something you see everyday. Though Wakiya was Schrager’s third choice, with the backing of Nobu, and DeNiro in as part of the funding team, we’re certain he is not regretting his West coast pick. Other guests present included Jeremy Pivan, Molly Simms, and LL Cool J (who is of course a much better self-promoter than rapper).

Gossip Girl

Gossip Girl premieres tonight at 9:00 on CW as I’m sure you are all well aware of.  I, for one, am pretty excited about this.  I mean I think I’m just interested in seeing how they choose to portray the young adults growing up in our city.  I am also interested to see how Blake Lively does.  Anybody else a fan of “The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants“?  Anyway, I know I’m just being a dumb girl right now but I honestly can’t wait.  Last night was the premiere party at Tenjune which got more attention than Brad Pitt’s “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford” did.  It’s a sign that I’m not the only one ready for a change and some fresh faces.

Papabubble

We now know where we will be spending many of our afternoons this fall: 380 Broome St.  That is where the famous Papabubble is set to open (via their website).  For those of you that are unfamiliar with this candy from the gods, the store originally opened in Barcelona and has  spread to Tokyo and Amsterdam.  We had the opportunity to taste it in Barcelona last summer and excited would be an understatement in describing how we feel about these guys opening in Soho October 18th. 

Right now, the only place in NYC you can get the stuff is at Dean and Deluca, and it’s a limited selection, therefore, we would have been happy to travel way above even 23rd street for this stuff, however, we are happy to know that we can stay downtown.  So, though everyone’s been talking about this for quite sometime, we wonder if they know that the founders (Christopher King and Nigel Chouri) are actually Australian (from Melbourne), and that they routinely give away free samples…god we love what those Aussies are doing for our city.  Well let’s hope that whoever they hired to open their New York branch will do as sweet of job as they have.

Chambers vs. God

Senator Ernie Chambers of Nebraska has filed a lawsuit against God…and it’s not because he loves the herb either (see below post). The action seeks a “permanent injunction ordering Defendant to cease certain harmful activities and the making of terroristic threats.”

According to the lawsuit the “Defendant directly and proximately has caused, inter alia (among other things), fearsome floods, egregious earthquakes, horrendous hurricanes, terrifying tornados, pestilential plagues, ferocious famines, devastating droughts, genocidal wars, birth defects and the like.” Hey, if this guy has the time to go around suing just anybody, we can think of a couple people we’d like to add to his list.

Senator Chambers claims he just wants to make the point that the constitution allows a lawsuit to be filed for any reason., “This is a way to show that anyone can sue anyone including God. It’s an object lesson too. It demonstrates that the mere filing of a lawsuit doesn’t guarantee a win.”

Armin Armiri likes Fresh Juice

Last night, we finally got around to watching the Weeds episode from Monday night that featured Mary Kate Olsen’s debut on the show, and it got us thinking about what our favorite doorman-turned-socialista Armin Armiri was up to. (Being as we just recently saw MK Olsen at Socialista). First, our two cents on her performance. We have tried not to spend too much of our brain power thinking of those two little tiny twins but have to give her props for recognizing and stating the obvious: ”If you look at our career, 21 years ago to today, it was about entertaining a specific audience. It wasn’t about acting. It was about pleasing other people and making kids smile.” So series creator Jenji Kohan decided to give MK a chance to do just that. ”The truth is we’re so protective of the show,” Kohan said to Entertainment Weekly. ”We don’t stunt-cast. She earned that part. It’s weird to say that she’s trying to break into the business, because of her status, but she is and she should have her shot.” We will get 10 more shows to see if MK really can act. So far, she looks promising, but who wouldn’t in a role where their character plays a hippie-Christian who gets lines like “god loves pot“?

But we digress. This post is really about Armin. Once in awhile, NY Mag runs a column called “The New York Diet“. And it’s not about how those skinny New York socialites fit into their jeans this fall. They pick random popular New Yorkers and document what they eat throughout the week. We are a little embarrassed to admit that this piece they do may be our most favorite part of the whole magazine. We have no idea why we care that Arden Wohl eats the cookie dough out of Ben and Jerry’s cookie dough ice-cream, or why we get excited that DJ Cassidy loves Cookie Crisp and Fruity Pebbles (both sooo good), but we just do. There is something about reading these people’s diets that makes us happy, like they are our friends and if we ever run into them we’d have something personal to talk with them about. This is why we feel the need to showcase Armin (our favorite little Cuban’s) diet.

Some highlights from the “Prince of the Night’s” Diet:

-He starts off every morning at Panino Giusto, on Perry street across the street from his apartment, where he can get a cappuccino and toast in quiet.

-He gets his fresh squeezed juice at Exilir almost daily.

-He cleanses himself by drinking only green tea and juices all day, though not on the days where he plays basketball or swims at Chealsea Piers.

-He really likes the corn and small burgers at his own Socialista, and still likes to be a “bad boy” at Raoul’s where he used to work and where he orders steak-frite, goat cheese, and chocolate cake on Sundays.

He finishes the interview by claiming it’s really most important for him to not have a pretentious place. This is where we have to stop and laugh, because escorting above mentioned MK and her posse out of your doors on a Saturday night is anything but unpretentious. Just admit it Armin, you are all smoking the Weeds and drinking the Jesus Juice together, and you are just lovin’ it!

Things We Love: KettleBells

You might have noticed the recent resurgence in Kettlebells over the past few years in a gym near you. But make no mistake, they aren’t some new trick or gimmick. Kettlebells have in fact been around for decades and are used by the Russia’s Sptetznaz (Special Forces) as standard fitness training devices. What’s so neat about them is that they not only build strength (like traditional weights), but they also build core (think Pilates), balance, and cardio endurance. Best of all, you can get a full workout in under 45 minutes!

For more information, you can check out the following:

Kettlebell Exercises

Mike Mahler’s Aggressive Strength

Athletes.com

Famegame.com

Is this the new A Small World for NYC, or a an attempt to fill the gossip void left by the departure of socialiterank.com? Well either way, we know if there is rankings involved people are going to compete. Just for fun we searched for Tinsley Mortimer and Olivia Palermo to see where these dueling socialites rank up. Looks like Tinz has a healthy lead over her junior rival, with 167 more connections and a good deal more attention…

In any event the social method behind site seems pretty interesting. It aggregates the amount of times a person’s name shows up on the web to determine their “attention %”, and apparently they add people’s names manually (not sure what the purpose of this is, but sounds like a ton of work!). So its basically like a pre-populated social-network, if that makes sense?

Bird’s Nest

This is Beijing’s new Olympic stadium.  And the artist Ai Weiwei wants nothing to do with it.  Specifically, he attacked the “disgusting” political conditions in the one party state of his and told the Guardian he will not be attending the opening ceremony next summer or be associated with either the government or the games.

Ai has a family history of persecution by the communist government, spending much of his childhood in the remote Xinjiang after his father, Ai Qin (one of China’s greatest modern poets), was exiled.  His involvement with the Olympic project therefore, raised eyebrows from the start.  The opening ceremony will be on August 8th next year and Ai has accused those choreographing it (including Steven Spielberg) of failing to live up to their responsibility as artists.

“I don’t like anyone who shamelessly abuses their profession, who makes no moral judgment.  It is mindless.” Spielberg might drop out as well if China doesn’t drop its opposition at the UN to an increased peacekeeping force for Darfur or their support for Sudan’s regime.  Spielberg has said his overriding goal in accepting the position of “consultant” on the opening and closing ceremonies was “to give the world a taste of peace, friendship and understanding.”  Sudan and Darfur issues aside, we are anxious to see what he comes up with.