It seems chatter surrounding Top Chef Ilan Hall’s next project—heading up nightlife impresario JE Englebert’s forthcoming Spanish eatery, ¡pasé! in the Meatpacking District—might have been a trifle premature. “I’m meeting with him on the 29th. I haven’t tasted his food yet,” says Englebert, who plans to break ground on the Stephan Dupoux–designed spot next month. “I’m also talking with [Daisy Cooks! host] Daisy Martinez…it’s going to be one or the other.”

Englebert says that he, along with partners Nick Nazarov (Prime) and Joe Rocca, aren’t keen on the Pelaccian M.O. “I don’t believe in a chef setting up the menu and then leaving or going somewhere else,” he says. “I want them to be there, in the kitchen. I would like them to put some type of money up so they have an added interest in the place.”
 
Hmm…we hear (the brilliant) Alex Raij has some time on her hands.