Ace Hotel, the chain born in Portland, Oregon, and which has since expanded to Palm Springs and New York, is synonymous with art and innovation. The hotel (and its founder Alex Calderwood) has made a point of partnering with a fantastic array of creatives on varying projects since the hotel's nascent stages. And, with two new projects -- porn and a pop-up shop -- slated for the hotel's Palm Springs and New York outposts, respectively, there's no shortage of stuff to pique the interest of prospective guests. First off, New York's Ace Hotel is gearing up to debut a pop-up shop come November 14.

And it's out of the gate: Chef April Bloomfield and restaurateur Ken Friedman -- the team behind perpetual West Village hotspot The Spotted Pig, and recently deceased seafood destination The John Dory -- have opened up shop in the Ace Hotel with The Breslin Bar. After plenty of delays, the place is now serving breakfast and lunch as of today. After the jump: the lowdown on lunch service, menus, sightings, and a run-in with Mr. Friedman himself.

It's no secret that Spotted Pig honcho Ken Firedman is planning on opening The Breslin on the ground floor of the new Ace Hotel in Manhattan's garment district. Lesser known is that Catherine Weatherup's Fort Green cocktail palace Weather Up is also vying for spot on the hotel's happening lobby area. But we recently got a tip from a source very close to the situation who claims that Friedman himself is the one who's resisting the idea, because he feels that a classy cocktail joint might steal customers away from his latest project, which is doubling as a bar. Apparently hope is not lost, but it's not looking great. What ever happened to the more the merrier?

Talking with Alex Calderwood about his career arc, one gets the sense that he's a born entrepreneur. It’s not because the Ace Hotel chain that he and his partners (Wade Weigel, Doug Herrik, and Jack Barron) manage are substantive, interesting, and innovative, and therefore wildly popular right now, but because every venture Calderwood has involved himself in since his early 20s -- from dealing in vintage clothing to opening barbershops and event-promotion companies -- have been a succession of blockbuster success stories. Calderwood’s latest ventures, the Ace Hotel New York and Ace Hotel and Swim Club in Palm Springs, added a burst of creative energy to midtown Manhattan and the gay-friendly sun belt. For now, Calderwood is happy to continue building a hotel empire with soul. But knowing what we do about his inherent instinct for business, don’t be surprised if you see his name attached to more than just fabulous hotels in the future.

JetBlue has launched a great contest for all the foodies out there. Basically they're going to pay for your dinner, but it's a whole lot sexier than that since they're teaming up with Restaurant Week in New York and sending you out for a night on the town.

Seattle hipster hotspot the Ace Hotel is ready to take on the boutique hotel game one city at a time; they already have Portland, and now, with openings in Palm Springs and a New York location, are quickly vying for a piece of the hot-crash-spot pie in vacay locs across the country (though: Palm Springs? Really?). Both of the new outposts are going to be offering a special opening rate (New York at $99/night, Palm Springs at $89/night), which -- all things/regular room rates considered -- is an incredible steal, especially since the price of a room at a place like the Ace is going to shoot up by at least 100% a month or two after they're done with any kind of soft opening.