Sam Talbot Signs On at Mondrian, His 834th New Project

Word today is that stud Surf Lodge chef Sam Talbot will run a seafood restaurant in the Mondrian Hotel, slated to open in Chinatown in late 2009. It is an impressive move for Talbot, who may or may not be able to run a large scale restaurant to save his life. (Surf Lodge ran with a tiny kitchen, no room service and a chaotic all-hands approach to production; the Mondrian is a full-scale hotel.) As Flo Fab intimates, we'll believe he's settled at Mondrain if he's still there next Summer. His reputation for being flaky aside, the timing of the opening is potentially dicey, since a late 2009 Mondrian opening has him, in theory, testing the Mondrian kitchen at the same time he's running the Surf Lodge in Montauk.

And beyond that scheduling issue, now's as good a time as any to mention that this is the fourth New York restaurant Talbot's name has been attached to since September. From a restaurant 'in Chelsea' to a pair of venues in the Meatpacking District, Pretty has been frisky. Plus, he was also said to have been eying Gin Lane before that became Scarpetta and was looking for other beach projects, too. His record of promiscuity dates back to Spitzer's Corner, the first of his reported post-Top Chef debut projects, one that ultimately didn't come to fruition with him involved. But, no matter. He sure is pretty, eh ladies?
· Sam Talbot Coming to Mondrian [Diner's Journal]
· Not His Space [NYP]
· Sam Talbot...eyeing the beach [~E~]
· BREAKING: Top Chef-er Talbot Splits with Biz Partners at Spitzers [~E~]