Good Night Mr. Lewis: Shuffling the Deck

The world’s worst DJ -- yours truly -- hit the turntables Sunday night at La Zarza. The place was packed with a beautiful crowd who surprisingly didn’t leave. Usually I’m terrible, but I think I might have only been awful. With Mondays easily the best night out around town, it makes sense that the ultimate off night, Sunday, would attract A-listers searching for a place far from the maddening bridge & tunnel crowds that rule the weekends. Jamie Burke, the Calvin Klein model and Bloody Social lead singer, was pitching platters downstairs. My boy Chris Willard came on after me on the main floor. They want me back next week. They're either desperate, or deaf, or desperate and deaf.

Greenhouse is possibly three weeks away from a long, long, long-anticipated opening. Originally scheduled to be in the old Opera/Aria space on West 21st Street, it has since found a home at Varrick and Vandam streets in the old Flow/Shelter space. Two floors, high ceilings, and a cabaret license in SoHo seem like a winning formula. Despite dire economic predictions and continuous police harassment, joints continue to open. The shuttered Eugene’s space, purged of its demons (the worst operators in history), is going to get a new look after a quick fix. Cain is closed and getting a 30-day makeover. Ella just opened and seems to be providing lots of answers, and Mr. West seems to be drawing peeps away from the serious boites.

The new club in the old Lotus space is finding investors at a whopping $180,000 per point, says a friend who should know. It may be that the stock market crash has a silver—and maybe even gold—lining. It seems that people with loot aren’t eager to park it so fast in the market, or even real estate. Investing in a business that may become more cash-oriented, with credit cards flailing, may be ideal. The history of the business says that in times of upheaval people drink their sorrows away. The spots dependent on corporate credit cards will adjust with door admissions and slashes in promotional payrolls. Yet, with all the bad news, I don’t know of one joint on the verge of actually closing. Sure, a few are throwing up some paint and changing the name on the awning, but no one’s turning in the liquor license.

A comment came in the other day regarding an interview I did with Abel Ferrara. The reader didn’t see the connection between Hollywood and something I know a bit about (clubs). I agree. The interview started out as an interview with Jen Gatien, my dear friend and of course the daughter of Peter Gatien. She was plugging a couple of projects, and it was arranged that Abel would also be interviewed. As it turned out, Abel became the focus, and we’re rescheduling the interview with Jen. A man has to know his limitations, a great man once said.