From Gael Greene's Insatiable Critic blog............

After 22 years with Jean-Georges Vongerichten, Lois Freedman has opened Cucina near Woodstock on her own with Gianni Scappin, former owner of Gigi Trattoria in Rhinebeck…

Heard about this one. I like Gigi's a lot. But that's not saying much about this new place.

Congrats, Lois! We're so glad you finally got a life of your own, instead of merely being content to suck the joy out of everyone else's!

I feel sorry for Gianni Whatever his name is.

eeheee hahhahahahaaa

we're praying for you gianni-scallopini ! buckle up, buttercup.

OK, seriously? Someone should send him a copy of PX. The guy deserves at least that much. This is a business, people, and if I were him, I would want to know. From what I can tell, Google doesn't cough up much.

I genuinely feel for the guy.

cmon, arent we all just a LITTLE curious about what happened there? do we think she left entirely on her own volition? was she feeling heat to leave? I don't know about you all, but I'm DYING to know the exact circumstances of her departure.......

i'm dying to know!

I'm pretty sure she's still with JGM.

“I have my weekday job and now I have my weekend job,” she says.

I sent an email to someone I know in the company, but I haven't heard back a response yet. The last I heard though, she wasn't being seen that much around any of the restaurants anyway. Not that much at SM or MK, and hardly ever at PS. I doubt she would be at V much, and I don't know about JJ. Obviously, she's still seen around JG pretty often.

She always spent weekends at her place upstate. Her 'weekend job' made up of maybe calling the restaurant once on Saturday to see what PX'es were coming in.

that's actually a very good point. but also, how do you know for sure that he doesn't already know, but did it anyway? we don't know how much money she put up. it could have been enough that he decided to take the money and turn a blind eye. he could have thought that if lois was still involved with jg, then she would still be too busy to bother him. then again, if he's upstate, it may be that he doesn't know anything about the industry here in the city.

Hi Redhead!

Welcome to The Forum! I got your PM, but I'm not sure if you intended to post that message here. I can copy and paste it, but you should have access now to post it yourself. Sorry for the inconvenience.

In the 80's? Wasn't she a cold station/salad chef back then? Not for nothing, but I heard that she was actually pretty good. Can you imagine LF in the kitchen!? She would be a shoe-in for Top Chef with all the drama she would cause.

How did you meet her, Redhead?

HATE TO ADMIT IT BUT SHE IS KIND OF FAMILY. ACTUALLY I THOUGHT SHE STARTED OUT AS A PASTRY CHEF. I HAD AS LITTLE AS POSSIBLE TO DO WITH HER SHE LOVED TO MENTION THE FAMOUS ESPECIALLY WHEN SHE DATED GEORGE HAMILTON'S SON ASHLEY, THAT DID NOT LAST LONG. WHEN I FOUND THIS SITE I COULD NOT BELIEVE HOW MANY PEOPLE ACTUALLY DISLIKED HER SHE ALWAYS BRAGGED ABOUT HER POPULARITY.

What's so stupid is that she can actually be attractive, that's how she does get to date some cool guys like even Dean Winters. She has a decent job and she could seem powerful but in the end it always comes out how wacked out she is!!!! I can undertsand how it didn't work out with JG, but I also can't imagine her being with a nice guy. It wouldn't take long to see her true colors!!!!

The above 3 posts were moved from another thread for being Off-Topic.

thought dean was married?guess it would not matter anyway. she can be attractive? Inkslinger you know what they say beauty is in the eye of the beholder or you can always put perfume on a pig but it is still a pig. beauty is in the soul and when you look in hers all you see is the devil.

I heard that they were hanging out together but that does not mean that they were dating, they could jsut be friends.