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Xiao Ye Felled by Four Loko (And Huang's Big Mouth)!
By
John Del Signore
Published Nov 30, 2010
Modified Nov 30, 2010
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By
John Del Signore
Published Nov 30, 2010
Modified Nov 30, 2010
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Eddie Huang, the Flavor Flav of the downtown dining scene, has abruptly closed his popular Orchard Street restaurant Xiao Ye after barely four months in operation. Business seemed to be good at the funky little joint, and though critical reaction was mixed, the positive end of the critical spectrum was really positive. (The Times called it "an artful misfire," declaring that "Xiao Ye could almost be the right place to eat right now.") But Huang tells Eater that he's "vacating the space as we speak," and he says the SLA's Four Loko-related crackdown is to blame.
You'll recall that earlier this month Huang wanted to throw a $15 all-you-can-drink Four Loko cocktail party, but when he blabbed about it in the press, the SLA came a-knocking, because it's illegal in New York to offer patrons "an unlimited number of drinks during any set period of time for a fixed price." Huang tweaked the special, instead holding a $3 Four Loko party, which was in turn shut down by an SLA raid just before midnight. Huang claims that ever since that fateful night, the SLA has been all over him like flies on dumplings, and he's been raided three times since, which resulted in a stack of fines for serving underage customers. An SLA rep tells Grub Street that, duh, "If you tell the Daily News you’re going to have an open bar, or say you’re going to cause patrons to black out, that’s something we’d look at.”
Xiao Ye was just issued a liquor license in October that won't expire in two years, but Huang tells Eater that he decided "it would be best to sell the restaurant space for fear of having to continue to operate without a liquor license." He also says that during one raid a cop told him "this kind of intense scrutiny from the SLA was extremely rare for a restaurant." For now, Huang will go back to cooking at his other love, BaoHaus, and maybe this will give him some time to reflect on what his mother told him after the Times review dropped: "You do not even understand your own strength or the whole scope of this business, and you are not even willing to listen. YOU MUST GET BURNT BEFORE YOU WILL HEAR YOUR MOM."
Tagged
dining
eddie huang
four loko
xiao ye
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.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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