After having received the unsavory "press release" from supposedly jilted restaurateur JE Englebert, which incorrectly cites TONY as a fanner of the Ilan-is-our-chef flames, I put in a call to Ilan Hall—whom Englebert had accused of abandoning his work-in-progress Meatpacking eatery, Pase—for his take. On the phone from L.A. this afternoon, he stuck with his story: "I had zero interaction with JE. There was never an e-mail, never anything. And I never had any interest in doing this. It’s ridiculous on many levels."

According to Hall, "I never had interest in being a chef there. A big Meatpacking Spanish restaurant? It’s not my style." About a month ago, he bowed out of the discussion altogether. So what is Hall’s style? Jewish cooking with a touch of traif: "I grew up with an Israeli mom and a Scottish Jewish dad. She’d make me hummus and ham sandwiches." Coming to L.A. in ‘09, the restaurant, Gorbles ("Traif" was actually a contender) will serve dishes such as bacon-wrapped matzo balls with lobster hummus, and our favorite, the GLT—gribenes, lettuce and tomato. "Possibly," says Hall, "with a schmaltz mayo."