Has Bart Blatstein ousted Michael Maglio from the Italian spot Vino at the Piazza At Schmidt’s? Word on the street is yes, he has indeed and a phone call to Vino seems to confirm that the new owner is none other than Tower Investments and their former business manager, Antonia Seimion, is now the manager of Vino.
But wasn’t Blatstein always the owner? The following quote from a NY Times article confirms that yes, he was:
“With roots in the food business — his father was a caterer and Mr. Blatstein operated farmers’ markets in the 1980s — he knew the kind of restaurants he wanted: an Italian wine bar, a pub, a burger bar and a 1950s diner. He bought the liquor licenses himself, hired designers and recruited the restaurant operators.”
On one hand, the curated nature of Blatstein’s food and drink properties has made the Piazza — and its older brother, Liberties Walk — stand out immediately. Without his hand, for example, you wouldn’t have Bar Ferdinand, El Camino Real, The Swift Half, Homeslice and P.Y.T. all within a stone’s throw of one another. On the other hand, this whole owner/operator setup has also made for the ongoing disaster that is Darling’s and, to be sure, Vino. There’s something to be said for pride of ownership. In any case, according to the gossip surrounding Vino, Maglio was to find an investor to buy out Tower’s share; however, that cannot be confirmed and appears suspicious considering that the article portrays the Piazza restaurants as entities Blatstein curated himself with a few good men as partial owners concerned with all the details.
So what of all the he said/she said stuff? Well, we’re saying we’re not sure what to expect. No word yet on if the menu will remain or other unknown changes are on their way, though it’s worth mentioning their website is currently not in service.
I think that Bart is a disgrace…Don’t invest with him… Beware…. He has screwed many people to make himself look good.