Now that the motions and crossmotions have been resolved by a State Supreme Court judge, Mario Batali and his partners are going to trial Friday with their landlord over the fate of Del Posto.
Since last January, the two parties have been at odds, primarily over an underground vault where massive eatery’s electrical and temperature control systems were installed, which the landlord claims Batali and company never had a right to use.
“Their day of reckoning is fast approaching,” said Warren Estis, lawyer for the landlord, Somerset Partners. “It would be smart of them to remove the equipment before we proceed.” But that would cause the restaurant to shut down for over two months and would cost a half million to relocate the systems. Stay tuned.
* Restaurateur Lynn Wagenknect’s planned West Village restaurant is on a fast track to open by July, according to one of her partners.
As we first reported last week, the owner of Odeon and Café Luxembourg, is opening her first eatery in more than two decades at 284 W. 12th St. The 70-seat American bistro will be called Cluny, after an Abby in Burgundy, France.
“We love the neighborhood, and that corner in particular,” said Judi Wong, a co-partner, along with Steven Abramowitz.
The executive chef will be Vincent Nardi, who’s already been manning the stoves at Odeon for the past year.
Meanwhile, Keith McNally wants to clarify that he’s glad ex-wife Wagenknecht is opening a restaurant down the street from his planned Italian eatery, which he says he won’t be opening until “at least December.” “We’ve already spoken four times today,” he said yesterday. “I have no other sense than total support.” And he has no beef with Graydon Carter going into Ye Waverly Inn. “I don’t know where that comes from,” he laughed. “He’s not a restaurateur anyway.”

