Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
Food
"Miss Romance" Model in Wine Bar War with Jordache Model
By
John Del Signore
Published Jul 20, 2010
Modified Jul 20, 2010
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
By
John Del Signore
Published Jul 20, 2010
Modified Jul 20, 2010
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Yesterday there was some drama at Upper West Side wine bar Wine and Roses. Co-owner Jennifer Klein and her husband Todd were forcibly ejected from the eatery by cops at the behest of four majority investors, who include Cindy Guyer, who's perhaps best known as the cover girl on hundreds of romance novels. "Both of us have been thrown out onto the street like trash," Klein, who for years was the model for those Jordache jeans TV commercials, tells the Post. "I'm going to fight this to my last breath."
Klein owns a 21.1 % stake in the bar, but put up just a $100 investment, and the other investors say Klein and her husband have been "lining their pockets" with the bar's profits. One investor, Miami hedge-fund operator Bruce Galloway, says, "They sit there drunk and stoned all night offending our customers." But Klein says some of the friends Guyer brought into the bar "literally asked me several times where they could buy cocaine." Guyer herself says she doesn't do coke, and tells us, "I've been told that he's quite a substance abuser himself." Reached for comment about the Post article, Guyer tells us:
It's just sad. It's all my bar. Jennifer Klein used to wine and dine the guys from The Post, and they spun this her way. This is her bitterness. I've done 20 national commercials, I'm a television producer, I have my own line of dolls, I have a purse line coming out, and I'm still working all the time. She's done one job in her whole life, the Jordache thing. They came to me and asked me to do something for her because she needed work, so I came up with this. Wine and Roses is all my idea, because I hate the wine at bars and wanted to create an this place where people could enjoy excellent wine and food.
This girl couldn't get arrested and I did her a favor, and this is how I get paid back. Her and her husband have been living high on the hog, while myself and three other people paid for this bar and were getting ripped off. Now I'm the managing member, and she's lucky that she even owns 21 percent.
Galloway, in an e-mail to investors obtained by the Post, speculated that Wine and Roses should have returned a net profit of $1.4 million over four years—not the $350,000 he said that investors received. "Nobody is stealing," Todd Klein insists. "We put our blood, sweat and tears into this business. What do they have to gain from this? Who treats somebody like this?" Guyer tells us she's hiring all new staff, and looks forward to opening up more Wine & Roses locations in NYC.
Tagged
cindy guyer
Upper West Side
wine and roses
wine bar
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE food
Where are the cheapest drinks in NYC? A new report details the city's average prices.
The median price of a cocktail in the city is now $16, and $9 for a draft beer.
By
Hannah Frishberg
Published Oct 19, 2026
North African restaurants are rare in NYC. These 10 are the best.
Egyptian, Moroccan, Algerian and Tunisian food is delicious but underrepresented in the city.
By
Robert Sietsema
Food
North African restaurants are rare in NYC. These 10 are the best.
Egyptian, Moroccan, Algerian and Tunisian food is delicious but underrepresented in the city.
By
Robert Sietsema
10 dishes that demonstrate the delicious diversity of curry in New York City
By
Robert Sietsema
Frozen yogurt is back in New York City. So are the super long lines.
By
Sonia Rao
5 NYC banana puddings as good as Magnolia's
By
Hannah Frishberg
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .