NYMAG.COM/daily/food/ & GRIDSKIPPER.COM, Addressing their Remarkable Ignorance and Outright Stupidity Options

[Dick Johnson]

"abbe, maybe you should think about...."

Posting about how you got thrown out of Jean George the other night?

LOL.

Enquiring minds want to know, and are getting tired of waiting.

[Inkslinger]

"abbe, maybe you should think about...."

Posting about how you got thrown out of Jean George the other night?

What!?

[abbe]

"abbe, maybe you should think about...."

Posting about how you got thrown out of Jean George the other night?

LOL.

Enquiring minds want to know, and are getting tired of waiting.

aha ha ha haaa haaah

sigh
ya know. believe it or not, i wasn't going to say anything about it. cuz personally, i thought the whole thing was so fucking asinine it's not even amusing.

but now ??
aside from your "inquiring mind" --- i guess i have to thank those idiots too. ha ha haaaah aha haa aaggghhh gaaggh grrrrr


yah so:
tuesday afternoon i had an appointment in midtown. i made plans to meet friends afterward. of all places, where do they choose to meet ?

JEAN GEORGES.

now. i think to myself: well, i could go into this whole song and dance rigmarole thingie and explain to them why it is exactly that i do not want to go to JeanGeorges. but then i decide: "eh. i aint got time for that shit right now. and anyways, so what? they want to go to fucking JeanGeorges? whatever. there's no accounting for peoples' tastes, i suppose."

and mind you, my one friend (currently a restaurant floor manager) is well aware i wrote a book, but has actually never read it. she doesn't read blogs either. (crazy right? go figure.)
the other friend is a BANKER-- he doesn't know jack shit of course. except for what he reads in the fucking NY Times, evidently-- cuz he loooooves JeanGeorges.
he is vaguely cognizant i wrote something someplace sometime, but he still thinks of me as a "fashion designer."
oh yah-- this is another reason i decide to say nothing. i mean, the fuck? frankly, if peoples choose to remain ignorant, that's THEIR problem, not mine.


ANYHOO
so i agree to meet them at JeanGeorges after my appointment. i ask another guest (with whom i have a standing dinner date) to meet us there as well.

i arrive there at about 5:45pm. my friend is waiting at the bar alone, the two gentlemen have yet to arrive. (great. i hate when peoples are late. it makes me nutso.)

as i'm taking a seat, she (a former JGE,LLC employee herself) immediately informs me: "you just missed lois freedman. she just left."

i reply: "oh gee. what a shame... did she see you?" she replies: "i don't think so. she was leaving right as i was checking my coat..."


i order a glass of wine. my friend orders her second.

and then (as is wont to occur in my "circle") it turns out my pal (also a budding sommelier, recently ASA certified) is acquainted with one of the sommeliers at JeanGeorges. delightful charming young man. he pauses for a chat. i am introduced to him. from what i gather of his demeanor, my name rings no bells in his brain whatsoever. all well and good, no? fantastic.

as my pal is chatting with the nice sommelier, i look across the room and do a quick visual scan of the kitchen. no jean-georges. whatever! but it's probably all for the best, fer sure.
i also take the time to peruse the new thomas-juul.hansen renovation. it's not bad i suppose.

suddenly over my friend's shoulder i see jean-georges darting by. it doesn't seem he's spotted us. his hair's gone grayer and i think he's put on some weight?
my pal is oblivious, still engrossed in her conversation with the nice young sommelier boy.

a minute later, i watch as my pal's eyes widen abruptly in midsentence. ah yes -- she's seen him. he's somewheres behind me now? oh yah, there he goes!

then out of nowheres, a floor manager (?) in a suit and tie approaches and says to the nice young sommelier boy: "i just need to grab you for a second" and does just that. the nice boy excuses himself.

i say to my pal: "dun dun DUNNNNN." hahahahahahahahahahahhaa

she answers: "the fuck?"

the nice boy comes back and whispers in my pal's ear. and then he says to the air: "yah... ummm... uh .... ummm..mm........the drinks are on us." and he runs away.

my pal says to me: "let's go." and she stands.

i reply: "what? so, i don't even get to finish my drink?"

she says: "come on... don't make things difficult."

aha haa uh yah didja catch that? ME? don't make things difficult?? first of all, nobody's even said shit to ME. what am i -- a fucking mind reader here?

she says: "i should go and apologize to my friend."
[ okay sure. you do that. ]

i leave a $20 tip. (i hope the nice bartender pocketed that shit cuz you know what happens to tips up in that mutherfukker, yah?) my pal goes and apologizes or whatever to her boy as two cross-armed managers look on.

we leave. outside, we phone and SMS and e-berry hoping to catch our two late-assed fucking dates en route. "meet us at Grayz instead. we just got kicked out of JeanGeorges."


we arrive at Grayz. ahhh. so nice and welcoming. THIS IS MORE LIKE IT, BITCHES.

the GM comes to say hello so i greet him: "ahh. so nice and welcoming. i just got thrown out of JeanGeorges."
he replies: "really??! well, that's not going to happen HERE." and he sends over two glasses of rosé champagne.

the bartender tells me: "long time no see! [it's only been three weeks, come on now.] so nice to see you!" i reply: "oh so nice to be loved. i just got thrown out of JeanGeorges." he replies: "really??! i find that hard to believe."
i give him a PX This promo card.
he's "AMAZED." he had "no idea," not a single goddamned fucking clue! all this time i was just that nice sangiovese drinking customer that comes regularly with that charming downtown restaurateur.
boom. a book is sold.

the banker FINALLY arrives. his first question is: "what happened...?!"
so i tell him. the whole loooong sordid story.
he's "AMAZED." he had "no fucking idea," not a single goddamned fucking clue!
boom. a book is sold.

MY date FINALLY arrives. his first question is: "what happened...?!"
the OTHER bartender listens in as i describe again what occurred.
boom. another fucking book is sold.

as i'm explaining how i think the whole episode was utterly fucking retarded of them, seeing as they handled it so punkassedly-- not even daring to speak to ME but to my friend, and how NOBODY IN THE ROOM would have known any better, and how NONE of the JeanGeorges employees would even have realized, and how nobody here at Grayz would have heard, blah blah blaaagh

the banker remarks something along the lines of: gosh that was really stupid of them-- "now there's just a big elephant sitting in that restaurant."



but you know what ? seriously, really truly. i was not going to say a word.
i mean really-- what the fuck do i care if that company REMAINS-- after all this time, after all's been said, after all's been done--- SO FUCKING STUPID.

but now! i must say: THANK YOU, dumbasses.
hmm. i wonder if they were so moronic as to discuss it at the next day's lineup, like i was told they did fervently, at 66. print up my photo maybe? make sure that shit never happens again ??
SOMEHOW, the list of "new and used books available from other re-sellers" on Amazon has dropped from 26 copies to 18 copies. and there's only ONE left in Amazon's own stock. and! my book's rating has gone from #one-million-three-hundred-thousand-some-shit to #226,508.

mmhmmp.


i must admit though-- for a second there i felt badly for them. i thought "why would they do that? to INCITE me into commenting on my fucking website??!! that's just so fucking stupid."
and then to do it sooooooo insipidly. the MANAGERS-- they have no empathy?? ah ha ha haa COME ON NOW. to not even have the guts to come to ME?? a simple "this is too awkward. we must ask that you leave." or some shit?? have you no composure? no grace? no BALLS??
is NO ONE left in this whole fucking asinine industry capable of running a room as deftly and smoothly as i ???
dorkasses.


i want to give jean-georges and those managers the benefit of the doubt i really do.
i will ohhhh assume lois-freedman was scheduled to return (??) and i was (sort of) asked to leave in hopes of quelling a potentially worse WORSE scenario.

and with all sincerity i say to them: have a nice day. and good luck to you.

[virgo]

"abbe, maybe you should think about...."

Posting about how you got thrown out of Jean George the other night?

LOL.

Enquiring minds want to know, and are getting tired of waiting.

that story was so worth whatever time you waited for it!

[Jason Has-Binn]

go buffy go!

[Inkslinger]

Bravo, Abbester!!

Dwayne was the one who used to talk about you in lineup. I heard it was funny, though.

[Dishwasher]

lol Like I said before, I'm just glad it wasn't me!

On the one hand, I can see JG's view but on the other hand I don't think this was necessarily the best way to handle it either. There's no reason he couldn't ask you to leave hmself of that's what he wanted. Making his underlings do it for him is practically an admission of guilt. Unless they took it on themselves to act in order to make him happy but I agree they still could have spoken to you directly. If it was me and someone tried to throw me out of someplace by using my guest as a messenger, I wouldn't be happy with that either.

That being said I did read the book and I thought it was very well done. Abbe was very adept at exposing both sides of the fence and I didnt look like a smear campaign at all. The voice of the book being so genuine is what really appealed to me and I thought it was very insightful. I don't even think it's fair the way that NY Mag has handled it because they are so obviously one sided. I don;t know how they can justify writng about Abbe like that if they haven't even read her book.

In any case JG knows whats wrong and if that's how he wants to run his company, then like everything there are always consequences to face.

This post has been edited by angel: Mar 9 2008, 02:09 PM

Reason for edit: Edited by angel to add hyperlink for "The book" reference.

[MILFweed]

Oh man. I haven't been to Jean Georges in a while but I swear the next time I go I'm going to tell JG that Abbe says hi! And sit back and watch the fireworks.

[Inkslinger]

lol Like I said before, I'm just glad it wasn't me!

On the one hand, I can see JG's view but on the other hand I don't think this was necessarily the best way to handle it either. There's no reason he couldn't ask you to leave hmself of that's what he wanted. Making his underlings do it for him is practically an admission of guilt. Unless they took it on themselves to act in order to make him happy but I agree they still could have spoken to you directly. If it was me and someone tried to throw me out of someplace by using my guest as a messenger, I wouldn't be happy with that either.

That being said I did read the book and I thought it was very well done. Abbe was very adept at exposing both sides of the fence and I didnt look like a smear campaign at all. The voice of the book being so genuine is what really appealed to me and I thought it was very insightful. I don't even think it's fair the way that NY Mag has handled it because they are so obviously one sided. I don;t know how they can justify writng about Abbe like that if they haven't even read her book.

In any case JG knows whats wrong and if that's how he wants to run his company, then like everything there are always consequences to face.

Amen!

The funny thing is that I heard that Lois used to go to Gusto all the time to see Artan, but I don't ever remember Abbe asking that she not be allowed in there. In fact, I bet Lois was treated really well by Artan and was probably comped for alot of stuff. So, who's the bigger person here?


And Grub Street sucks anyway, so I for one am glad I never have to look at it again.

[whats anorexia?]

Ungrammatical Forum Poster Tossed From Jean Georges, Gets Revenge in Ungrammatical Forum Post

We’re always leery of the strange, strange world of Abbe Diaz and her online forum, PX This, but a media alert titled “Blogger Tossed From Jean Georges” was difficult to resist. As you might expect, Diaz — a former maître d’ at Jean Georges who wrote a dishy book about her experiences in the business — was in fact the blogger tossed, a cringe-inducing event publicized by the pilloried herself. (All of Diaz’s entries on PX This read like interminable text messages tapped out by the jittery, manicured thumbnails of an ex-model at Rose Bar at 4 a.m.) We include it here entirely for purposes of education: Remember, if you dog someone you worked for in a book, don’t go to his restaurant unless you know he won’t be around.
http://newyork.grubstreet.com/2008/02/ungr...ml#comment-list



*How flattering! I would much rather sound like an ex-model at Rose Bar than a sycophantic journalist who gets all his information from press releases, any day of the week.

Here's another "educational" tip for you: Don't mistreat your staff members (or people in general, for that matter), because there's such a thing in the universe called "karma," and its faces are plentiful and powerful.

Cheers,
abbe diaz
PX This.

p.s. Dear "Bookseller": Grub Street gives me a link, because right now, I happen to be the most prominent voice of "the little people."
Y'know, the ones without whom the Industry to which Grub Street pays sooooooo much attention, wouldn't even exist.

By abbe_diaz on 02/22/2008 at 10:48am
http://nymag.com/daily/food/2008/02/ungram...ml#comment-list


you go, abbe!


*Note: For unknown reasons, Abbe Diaz's comment in rebuttal to Josh Ozersky has since been removed from New York magazine's website. -Inkslinger 1/27/2010

This post has been edited by Inkslinger: Jan 27 2010, 03:43 PM

[abbe]

aww thanks guys !

gee. if i'd a known this was gonna be such a hubbub, i'd a got myself thrown out of Jean Georges eons ago. hhahahahhaa i'm kidding.

[john.smith]

How flattering! I would much rather sound like an ex-model at Rose Bar than a sycophantic journalist who gets all their information from press releases, any day of the week.

Here's another "educational" tip for you: Don't mistreat your staff members (or people in general, for that matter), because there's such a thing in the universe called "karma," and its faces are plentiful and powerful.

Cheers,
abbe diaz
PX This.

p.s. Dear "Bookseller": Grub Street gives me a link, because right now, I happen to be the most prominent voice of "the little people."
Y'know, the ones without whom the Industry to which Grub Street pays sooooooo much attention, wouldn't even exist.

By abbe_diaz on 02/22/2008 at 10:48am
http://nymag.com/daily/food/2008/02/ungram...ml#comment-list

bravo..........................peanut gallery: 1 ...........................sycophants: 0 .........................

[whats anorexia?]

And Grub Street sucks anyway, so I for one am glad I never have to look at it again.

i keep reading it, but only because it's so interesting to see how clueless their take on everything is.

[virgo]

How flattering! I would much rather sound like an ex-model at Rose Bar than a sycophantic journalist who gets all their information from press releases, any day of the week.

Here's another "educational" tip for you: Don't mistreat your staff members (or people in general, for that matter), because there's such a thing in the universe called "karma," and its faces are plentiful and powerful.

Cheers,
abbe diaz
PX This.

p.s. Dear "Bookseller": Grub Street gives me a link, because right now, I happen to be the most prominent voice of "the little people."
Y'know, the ones without whom the Industry to which Grub Street pays sooooooo much attention, wouldn't even exist.

By abbe_diaz on 02/22/2008 at 10:48am
http://nymag.com/daily/food/2008/02/ungram...ml#comment-list

"We’re always leery of the strange, strange world of Abbe Diaz and her online forum, PX This,"

the "strange world"?? you mean the world of waiters, busboys and runners? yeah, of course new york magazine would be "leery" of us. we're not all WASP and we don't all own real estate.

[john.smith]

"We’re always leery of the strange, strange world of Abbe Diaz and her online forum, PX This,"

the "strange world"?? you mean the world of waiters, busboys and runners? yeah, of course new york magazine would be "leery" of us. we're not all WASP and we don't all own real estate.

we also don't care about lindsey lohan and her saggy tits.................................

[Dishwasher]

"We’re always leery of the strange, strange world of Abbe Diaz and her online forum, PX This,"

the "strange world"?? you mean the world of waiters, busboys and runners?

Hey, what about me!?

Ok I could pass for WASP and I own real estate, but I still think NY Mag is boring.

[jo]

aww thanks guys !

gee. if i'd a known this was gonna be such a hubbub, i'd a got myself thrown out of Jean Georges eons ago.

Can I come next time?

to you.

[jo]

SOMEHOW, the list of "new and used books available from other re-sellers" on Amazon has dropped from 26 copies to 18 copies. and there's only ONE left in Amazon's own stock. and! my book's rating has gone from #one-million-three-hundred-thousand-some-shit to #226,508.

Actually, it's jumped up to #126,172. It looks like Amazon has re-ordered and re-stocked, and now 2 more re-sellers are also carrying your book. They're even selling it at a higher price than Amazon.

[jo]

p.s. Dear "Bookseller": Grub Street gives me a link, because right now, I happen to be the most prominent voice of "the little people."
Y'know, the ones without whom the Industry to which Grub Street pays sooooooo much attention, wouldn't even exist.

Grubby Ones, why on earth are you giving this woman the courtesy of a link? Based on the post I read, she has the charm of John McEnroe at his racket-throwing prime and the brain-power of a cashew.
By bookseller on 02/21/2008 at 9:22pm http://nymag.com/daily/food/2008/02/ungram...ml#comment-list

Sounds like "Bookseller" is upset, because he's a "traditional" publisher, and as we all know now, the world just doesn't need them anymore.

[MILFweed]

I don't even think it's fair the way that NY Mag has handled it because they are so obviously one sided. I don;t know how they can justify writng about Abbe like that if they haven't even read her book.

Yeah Grub Street. As a person who used to work in PR I can see that this is your pathetic way of trying to play both sides of the fence.

You don't want to piss off your friends at JG so you have to proclaim this item was sent to you? And that you're leery of it? So why even mention it at all? Because you know that you need to in order for your site to be relevant?

It's reasons like this that people are turning their backs on traditional journalism. Because we all have known all along just how much you're so full of shit.