Ilan Hall Causing Riffs in NYC, Opening Gorbles in LA

Season 2 Top Chef winner Ilan Hall is causing all sorts of drama on the East Coast, so it's no wonder he wants to open his first restaurant here in LA. A press release hit all the Eater inboxes over the weekend about a spat between the chef and NYC restaurateur J.E. Englebert who told the New York Post that he will "rip [Hall's] head off for screwing" him in a supposed restaurant deal. But Hall portends that he never spoke with Englebert about the Meatpacking District project: "There was never an e-mail, never anything. And I never had any interest in doing this. It’s ridiculous on many levels," he tells TONY's The Feed.

Which brings us to the restaurant that Hall is planning. Per Eater NY, The Gorbles will be in an "up and coming" Downtown neighborhood with a menu described as "old Jewish food, date-raped by bacon." According to the TONY article, that means things like bacon-wrapped matzo balls with lobster hummus, and the GLT---gribenes, lettuce and tomato. "Possibly," says Hall, "with a schmaltz mayo." So the he-said, she-said rumors about Hall's East Hollywood taco truck and denials from NYC have been put to rest: Hall is definitely staying in LA. But we have so many questions: Where will Gorbles be? What isn't an up and coming neighborhood downtown? Are Angelenos ready for bacon and schmaltz all on one menu? Stay tuned.
· Heated Words in the Kitchen [Page Six]
· Public Spats: Englebert/Hall Partnership Doneski [ENY]
· Ilan Hall on Pase, and gribenes sandwiches [The Feed]
· Ilan Hall Not Loving LA? [~ELA~]