September 13, 2004
Food Fight
Restaurateurs Keith McNally and Bill Gilroy were partners when they opened Lucky Strike back in the eighties, but don’t expect them to be breaking bread anytime soon. Gilroy, who owned the three now-defunct branches of the restaurant Match, has been lying low for a couple of years, working with Restaurant Associates and even managing the bar at McNally’s Schiller’s restaurant for a time. But Gilroy’s back in business, about to open another downtown spot called Employees Only—and he’s raided fourteen of McNally’s employees in the process, including the bar manager and the sous-chef of Schiller’s, and staffers from Pastis, Pravda, and Balthazar. “In this business, people are either partners or they are competitors,” Gilroy tells New York’s Beth Landman. “I really like Keith, but he’s very territorial. He’ll scream ‘How could you do this to me?’ if a waitress tries to leave.” “Billy worked for me at Schiller’s, and I had to fire him,” McNally replies, “which is always awkward when it’s someone you like. I’m sure he’ll do well if he has my staff; I just wish he’d taken more of them because my payroll is bloody huge.”
Tainted Love
Courtney Love’s neighbors at 30 Crosby Street may be relieved to hear that the besieged rocker is about to put her $2.6 million loft on the market. One resident, Lenny Kravitz, was no doubt peeved by Love’s harassment of his then-girlfriend, Nicole Kidman, in the elevator. (Kidman starred in Moulin Rouge, a role that Love had coveted.) And this summer, on Love’s 40th birthday, police took her to Bellevue on a stretcher following reports of thrown bottles, which probably didn’t do much to improve her standing among the other condo owners. Love’s rep didn’t return calls for comment.
Designer Duo
Since parting ways with Philippe Starck, Ian Schrager has been searching for a new designer to help him renovate the Gramercy Park Hotel, which he bought with developer Aby Rosen. Industry insiders tell New York’s Beth Landman that Schrager has approached director-producer Julie Taymor (The Lion King, Titus) and Julian Schnabel to work on the hotel and condo design, though neither party has any interior-decorating experience (Taymor does, however, have a way with sets). Taymor couldn’t be reached for comment, Schrager declined to comment, and a rep for Schnabel insists he’s sticking to painting and directing.
Party fashions
Now that the Republicans have left, the Democrats are back in action. On September 12, Hillary Clinton will be the special guest at a fund-raiser for the Kerry-Edwards Victory 2004 fund in Bryant Park. Cindy Sherman and producer Jane Rosenthal are on the host committee, along with such Fashion Week regulars as Donna Karan, Kenneth Cole, Tommy Hilfiger, Michael Kors, Cynthia Rowley, Zac Posen, Andrew Rosen, and Reed Krakoff.