Barfly: Familiar names, no digs
by Deb L
Changing Over: Philly twins Kirk and Kieran Harrington, the culinary force behind what was Corkscrew Café (the small-plate, boutique wine, authentic Philly Cheesesteak, chic but chill like you’re part of the family resto that is now Sushi), Marine/Rosecrans, MB, and Upper Manhattan, Highland, MB have teamed up with Seth Weiss, brother of Darren Weiss, chef/owner of Darren’s Manhattan Ave, MB – still with me? – to buy the Cruz Room, that hidden lounge behind the Underground, Hermosa Ave HB or if you enter through the back on Palm Drive it would be in front of the Underground. Actually, it’s more to the side. No matter. The new joint, Chelsea Pub & Lounge, is set to open the first week of January and will be hidden no longer! The two Ks (or as they are in my cell phone “2K”) have renovated the entire room, moving walls and shifting the staircase so the crashing waves would be viewable from every seat in the house. The new concept will feature inventive but affordable gastro pub fare, eclectic beer/wine and full bar. They kept the dance floor, one of three actual dance floors in Hermosa, and that Harrington smile they share which make guys want to be their buds and girls just melt – chillax Seth, you’re a charmer yourself! Keep a look out for the official grand opening date in the next few weeks…
Coming Soon: Stephen Roberts, former owner of Café Boogaloo, Hermosa Ave, HB and Charlie Byrd, owner of Cialuzzi’s Ristorante Italiano, PCH, RB in the Albertson’s Shopping center are coming together to open a sports bar. The plan is to extend past the water vendor next to Cialuzzi’s and add on from there. Should be interesting: A blues maven from Louisiana and a New York paisano – can these two men run a bar together without driving each other crazy? (Cue theme from “The Odd Couple”)…
Celeb Sighting: The LXM Pro Party last month at Memphis Café, Manhattan Ave, MB brought out some big wigs: The event was covered by NBC’s “Extra!” (the second longest running entertainment news program on television now in its 16th season) as well as InTouch magazine and included guests like football Hall of Famer Warren Moon, the cast of “The Hills” (LC, Lo, Doug Reinhart), the cast of “CSI Miami,” Trevor Donovan of the new “90210” and, of course, several pro lacrosse players. If you are in need of some comfort food this holidaze season, Memphis will fry you up something good, and if you are saving your appetite for the Xmas eve/day eat fest, opt for the beet salad (pecan crusted goat cheese salad as it is written on the menu). You will find a new appreciation for beets, I’m telling you. Call 310.545.5405 or go to memphiscafe.com for more info…
Did You Know: Since Roman times beetroot juice has been used as an aphrodisiac…
Funny Story: I was serving at a local resto during the down-time between brunch and dinner (2-6 p.m.) one afternoon and since there had been no customers for over an hour, we went with the skeleton crew of myself and the breakfast cook. At 3:45 p.m., four tables walk in at the same time. This thrilled me as I am always on overdrive and I began the rounds: Meet, greet, drinks, food, etc. One of the tables housed a less than cordial couple – I heard the bickering begin in the parking lot. Servers love when that happens. They decided, or I should say, she decided on a grazing meal of two appetizers, a crab meat salad to share, an entrée to share and a dessert to share. Things were running fairly smooth through the appetizers, although I was unable to get them to warm up to me or each other. The salad did take a bit longer than necessary because the breakfast cook wasn’t confident with it so he was waiting for the head chef to call him back. I stalled the couple with more bread and drink refills while they rolled their eyes at me and exchanged barbs at each other. As all four tables were in close proximity, the other three took notice of the happy couple, offering me sympathy nods throughout the ordeal. They cringed at the train wreck that happened next: The salad looked perfect except that we were out of beets. I started to explain but Madame cut me off, slapping her lap with and an exasperated huff and said, “That was the whole point of ordering that salad!” I couldn’t help myself: “You ordered a $17 crab meat salad for the beets?” Before she could respond I backtracked using everything I had to win her over – turned out she reads Barfly, thank vodka. With common ground established, I pulled up a chair to join them for some champagne on me and salvaged the experience – for all of us. It still makes me laugh, although after I did some research and found the “beets-as-aphrodisiac” bit, the scene made a lot more sense… ER