By Richard Vines
     May 19 (Bloomberg) -- Wally Ganzi , 66, co-owner of the Palm
Restaurant group, spots a scrap of paper on the pavement outside
his new London steak house, the group’s first outlet in Europe.
     He bends down, picks it up, looks round in vain for a bin
and then slips it into his pocket. No detail of the hospitality
business is too small for Ganzi, whose grandfather opened the
first Palm with a friend on New York’s Second Avenue, in 1926.
     “I’m not going to criticize other restaurants,” says
Ganzi, who has been eating his way around the city, testing the
competition before Palm opens on the site of Drones in Belgravia
next week. “I’ll only say there are grills here but there’s
nothing like the Palm, and I love London. We’ve been working on
this for six or seven years and it’s very important to us.”
     While Palm also looked at Canary Wharf, he has no immediate
plans to open there. The next sites under consideration are in
Paris, Milan and Madrid. The company’s business partner in
London is Joseph Zappala, a former U.S. ambassador to Spain,
Ganzi says.
     In the basement kitchen, a Montague Co. broiler and a
Silver King lettuce crisper are installed and ready. While the
official opening is on May 29, smart diners may try for bookings
in the May 26-28 period, when the food is half price. The
address is 1 Pont Street. There’s no telephone number yet.
     Ganzi, who lives in Naples, Florida, is an entertaining
host. He’s planning to marry again next month.
     Once we finish touring the restaurant, we head to Zafferano
for lunch. The architect Zaha Hadid sits at the next table and
is joined by the model Naomi Campbell , looking fabulous and
wearing a huge diamond ring. Finally, a reason to visit
Zafferano.
 

     Bjorn van der Host, the Swiss-born chef who formerly headed
the Greenhouse and La Noisette  in London, opens his own
establishment tonight, close to Smithfield Market. The Eastside
Inn features a large open kitchen serving a restaurant and
bistro and a lounge for late-night jazz. His contemporary French
dishes include foie gras with espresso syrup and amaretto foam.
The three-course menu will be 45 pounds ($68.61) and the seven-
course tasting menu 65 pounds. In the bistro, mains start at
12.95 pounds. For more information: http://www.esilondon.com/.
     Pascal Aussignac  of  Club Gascon, Fergus Henderson of  St.
John,   阅读全文>>