Yesterday we checked in on the Brass Monkey’s new roof deck — it was a bit crowded, as rooftops tend to be this time of year! How are the others fairing? We dispatched our videographer, Matthew Waxman, to five recently-opened ones — Studio B, Salon de Ning, Eden, the Pool Deck at the Empire Hotel, and Highbar — to check in on the after-work scenes. We’re hoping this will put you in the holiday spirit so that you won’t miss Grub Street too much— we’re gone fishin’ starting now. See you Monday, barring any debilitating grilling accidents.

A reader tells us that Chatham Square Restaurant has been temporarily shuttered by the Department of Health. Strangely, no violations were recorded during a January inspection, which might explain why, just an hour ago, employees were milling around in what you might call a state of “sticker shock.” They might want to jump on one of the Atlantic City buses outside, to make back whatever tip money they’re going to lose while management puts its house in order.

Update: A few hours after this post the stickers were down and a sign on the door indicated the restaurant would reopen on Saturday, July 5.

In an ABC News piece about “the ugly side of modeling,” Noel Ashman said, “Everyone wants a piece of them.” Ironic, since our old friend Baird Jones once told us that Ashman’s club, The Plumm, is notorious for planting young models at tables. Just how heated does the model grab get? Blogger Chipping Mademoiselle, who was at Rose Bar recently, describes a “turf war” over the matter of “who has the best girls (more famous models) at their table, and who can convince more girls to ‘switch sides.’” Case in point: “Bridgette, one of the girls at my table, tells me that she knows the promoters next to us. Yet, because she is at another table, they refuse to acknowledge her existence when she says hi! But had she not been with a group of models, they would have been very, ‘Oh hi darling,’ with her.” Ew. At least in the high school cafeteria, Tang didn’t cost $20.

Meet me at the club, it's goin down…turf war at Rose Bar [Get to the Point...]

The Brooklyn Paper touched on Takeru Kobayashi’s health problems, but an ABC News profile of the Tsunami goes more in depth about the turmoil he’s faced since his mother passed away in March of 2007. It’s going to be harder than ever to root against the poor guy, especially since his “jawthritis” prevents him from using his much feared “Solomon method” of demolishing hot dogs two at a time. Perhaps he’ll take a page from the book of Crazy Legs Conti and Tim “Eater X” Janus, who are profiled in a Voice piece— maybe he’ll resort to the “reverse bunning” method that Crazy Legs also discussed in his New York Diet. Either way, with the contest down from twelve minutes to ten this year (not to mention a forecast of rain), it’s just not going to be the same — especially with the Wall Street Journal putting still more of a damper on things by pointing to a study that indicates that competitive eaters risk the possibility of permanently stretching their stomachs to the point of needing surgery. And then there’s the real tragedy: that Daniel “Mosca” Maurer will not be at the table this year. Sigh.

Bonus Video: In a move akin to Christopher Hitchens getting waterboarded, a Time reporter tries, and fails, to go dog-for-dog with reigning champ Joey “Jaws” Chestnut.

Inside the Belly of Competitive Eating [WSJ]
The (Hungry) Odd Couple of the Nathan's Hot-Dog-Eating Contest [Voice]
Japan's Hot Dog Champ is Back! [ABC News]

Thu Tran, the Brooklyn artist who created and stars in Food Party, our new favorite cooking show, isn't as mysterious to us today as she was yesterday. Tran, it turns out, is a glassblowing instructor who lives in Bed-Stuy. But her real vocation (at least to us) is Food Party. The show, which we wrote about yesterday, is a surreal admixture of puppets, weird special effects, and, yes, cooking. Three episodes have been made over the past year and a half, and a fourth comes out this fall. Tran, who cites “Pee Wee's Playhouse, Sesame Street, Martha Stewart, Yan Can Cook, John Woo movies, and Abba videos” as influences, says that a lot of work goes into each episode. “It took two and a half weeks just to build the sets for the last one,” says Tran. “I have a bunch of friends who help me with it. But then I needed another seven people just to work puppets.” The costs of Food Party are low, though: “it only cost me $600 to make. A lot of friends helped, and I fed them a big soup pot full of mashed potatoes and a case of beer.”

Earlier: World's Best, Strangest Cooking Show Found on Internet

Julie Reiner’s Clover Club may be the cocktail spot of the moment — making it an easy target for a take-down such as the Observer’s — but the Voice is just getting to the bar du jour before it, the Rusty Knot. Sarah DiGregorio thinks the shepherd’s pie recalls school lunches, the “faux-cheesy shtick” is a little irritating, the tiki drinks are “subpar and expensive” (they waver between flavorless and too sweet, depending on who makes them), and the food is “fine, but forgettable … It’s meant to be pub food, but when there’s a well-known chef running the kitchen, you expect really, really good pub food— and much of it isn’t.” Ouch. One thing DiGregorio doesn’t mention is the jukebox that spits out “Hotel California” five times a night— but then, we’ve already covered that.

The Rusty Knot Has No Clothes, But Long Straws That Prompt Blowjob Jokes

Gersh Kuntzman, the former New York Post columnist now editing The Brooklyn Paper, is up in arms about this weekend's Nathan's hot-dog-eating contest. Takeru Kobayashi, the six-time champion and global face of the sport, is competing without having won a regional qualifier. “I think the whole thing stinks,” Kuntzman writes. It's not just that Kobayashi is being given a technical pass, in recognition of his universally-admitted status as a contender. The Tsunami, as he's called, hasn't done any competitive eating since October, and still suffers from the so-called "jawthritis" that has crippled his career. We don't agree with Kuntzman. A Nathan's contest without Kobayashi would be like a Mermaid Parade with fully-dressed women, or a Nathan's that only serves soy dogs. Sick or well, contending or not, America needs Kobayahsi — if only so current champion Joey Chestnut can wallop him again.

Hot Dog Heresy [The Brooklyn Paper]

We won't be eating any papusas, tacos, or plastic-cup ceviche this weekend at the Red Hook ballfields. Vendor rep Cesar Fuentes confirms that the vendors still haven't gotten everything straightened out with the DOH. “We expect to clear our last compliance burdens … next week and hopefully open our season either the weekend of July 12th or July 19th,” Fuentes says, disappointing hungry New Yorkers everywhere. (Previously, he had said that he hoped to be open by the last week in June or the first week in July.) On the other hand, there is no shortage of weekend food events. Over at the Strong Buzz you'll find a useful roundup, which includes a backyard BBQ at Back Forty, a lobster boil at Elizabeth, and a clam bake at Jane. None of these are any substitute for the Red Hook vendors, but they may have to do.

Weekend Buzz [Strong Buzz]

Earlier: Can I Take My Parents to the Red Hook Vendors This Weekend?

As you know, Pacha, Splash, and Marquee were closed due to the dread Nuisance Abatement Law this weekend. (Marquee’s statement for the record: “There were no charges made AGAINST THE CLUB, OR ANY OF ITS OWNERS OR EMPLOYEES, and the owners — who have a great operating history — were able to re-open 72 hours later.”) We’ve now discovered that Room Service was also shuttered on Friday, but a rep assures us it will reopen this Saturday. Moreover, we’ve confirmed previous rumors that the club is relocating to the former PM space. Pending city approvals, it plans to launch there in the fall. Get ready for a fierce rivalry between Room Service and erstwhile PM owners Kyky and Unik’s Bijoux across the street.

Related: Marquee Brushes Off Weed Bust With Party for Weed-Touting Rapper
Clubs Raided by Kinder, Gentler Nightlife Police

E! gossip Ted Casablanca reports that Rachael Ray is at work on a memoir — a fact that, if true, will do more to explain the age we live in than a whole roster of David Kamps and Arthur Schlesinger Jr.'s could. As Ted puts it, “I mean, aren't you just dying to know how the former candy salesclerk went from a simple Peppermint Patty to a giant sucker in seconds flat? I know I'm not.” Exactly so. But as observers of the food scene, we feel we owe it to ourselves to read the book, tentatively titled EVOhno, and report back for the good of Grub Street.

Tales of a Sour Tart [E! via Serious Eats]

Attorneys Rebecca and Linda, who hit Craigslist searching for a couple of guys to accompany them to Ko, wrote in to assure us that they weren’t the party that canceled there on Monday — in fact, they were so giddy about their meal that (shocker!) they blogged about it. At first, their blind dates, a Wall Street guy and his friend, “seemed like adequate dining companions but nothing to write home about,” but that changed when (after being served by Chang himself!) they failed to thank the Ko girls for scoring the resy: “Okay, so these guys have now been downgraded from Adequate to Totally Lame, but we still enjoyed our dinner immensely.” The account is a bit of a snooze (at least they spared us the 5,000th description of the foie gras dish), but you know that won’t prevent Darren Star from turning it into a scene in the Sex and the City sequel.

Update: And here we go all over again...

Ladies and Gentlemen, the Ko Girls! [Eater]
Related: Were the Latest Craigslisters a No-Ko Last Night?