Gossip Should Have No Friends

[November 5th, 2008]

WHEN IRISH EYES ARE CRYING: Willy Vlautin’s having a hell of a year. Not only is the Richmond Fontaine frontman’s second novel, Northline, under development for a Courtney Hunt-directed film adaptation ; his new, incredibly sad holiday album, A Jockey’s Christmas, will be broadcast in full on Irish National Radio. “Nuala O’Neill, who produces the arts show on RTE [Radio Telefís Éireann], is a fan of Willy’s,” Lee Posey, Vlautin’s girlfriend (and badass local baker), told Scoop. “It’ll be interesting to see if they really do play it in its entirety, as the last song has a few f-bombs.”

WINTER GREENS: The lineup for the long-anticipated Fertile Ground new works festival, the first of what will hopefully become an annual 10-day event promoting new work from Portland theaters, has finally been announced. Among the dozen new productions this year are Nancy Keystone’s Apollo at Portland Center Stage; Inviting Desire, an exploration of libido by Eleanor O’Brien; and Dave Frishberg’s new musical about the Algonquin Round Table, Vitriol and Violets The fun starts Jan. 23.

TOQUE TANGO: On Friday, the Nines hotel’s three-week-old steakhouse, Urban Farmer, let slip that it was parting ways with chef Ned Elliott ; on Monday, veteran Italian house Genoa announced it would close its doors after nearly 40 years due to the economy. But there’s a silver lining: Elliott plans to open his own restaurant, a modern European spot called Lettuce & Chocolate, in the next six to eight months. His partner? Genoa’s general manager and wine director, Andy Sprott. The pair met while Elliott was at Genoa last year, and Elliott says his breakup with Urban Farmer, owned by Colorado-based Sage Restaurant Group, gave him the push he needed. “The corporate setup of faxing this to HR and emailing this to another person…it’s not really my style, ” he admits. Elliott confirms the would-be restaurateurs do have some financial backers, but they’re “actively looking for a couple other pieces to the puzzle.” Good luck with that. Urban Farmer’s current chef de cuisine, Michael Corvino, will take over kitchen duties, like, now. Pastry chef Jodi Elliott, Ned Elliott’s wife, is still employed at Urban Farmer. Which has got to make for some interesting pillow talk.

FIRST BITE: You’ve heard of a little movie called Twilight, right? Well, WW’s sponsoring Portland’s only early screening of the teen vampire flick, which was shot in locations around Oregon, on Tuesday, Nov. 18. And we want you to get first bite at it. Visit wweek.com/promotions for a chance to win tix to the screening. Or, if you’re really obsessed (Twilight Moms, we’re lookin’ at you), submit your own steamy Twilight fan fiction to win a VIP prize pack. Our fave entry will be posted on wweek.com and read at the screening. Submissions must be original, 100 words or less, and sent to bbeck@wweek.com by 5 pm Tuesday, Nov. 11.

AFTERBURNER: In related news, a recent email from restaurateur Bruce Carey reveals his own empire is making some changes, specifically concerning Travis Surmi, the current chef at Saucebox. “Joe [Rogers] and I are adamant about getting the right person to fill chef Christopher Israel’s big shoes—and it turns out that Travis Surmi is not our guy,” Carey wrote in an email letting press know that an upcoming tasting of Surmi’s Saucebox menu had been postponed. “At this time he just does not want that challenge. We will keep Travis in place and Chris looking on, until we find just the right young visionary for the executive position in this venerable kitchen.” What’s that? Do I hear plans for a PDX Top Chef pilot?