Lockhart Steele visits the club du jour, Capitale for a press event promoting night life in D.C. (and inexplicably held in Manhattan). Lockhart's analysis: "MONEY HAS BEEN SPENT HERE. Big moolah. And it's beautifuldance areas, private dining rooms, bank vaults cum wine cellars (see pics)all carefully done to avoid altering Stanford White's historically protected 1893 design. And yet... something isn't right. We can't just put our finger on it."
Capitale [Lockhart Steele]

I have friends who have expressed interest in dating Lockhart Steelehaving never met himsolely on the basis that his name is Lockhart Steele. (Thank your parents, Lock.) Marc Weisblott, however, has found a young Ontarian with equally unique name: Brooklyn Brownstone. "...if my birth certificate read Brooklyn Brownstone, and I was even remotely photogenic...the last thing I'd be thinking about was spending another half-decade being neurotic about essays and exams. I'd invest those first couple years of post-secondary expenses on a summer sublet in the Lower East Side, making sure to attend the right parties..."
The fourteenth grade [Weisblog]

Motoko Rich of the Wall Street Journal uncovers the mystery of the glass hotel going up in the Lower East Side. Blogger Lockhart Steele, who'd been speculating for months about plans for the site, wets himself with enthusiasm. The project is a co-production between developers and Surface, the urban-lifestyle magazine. The hotel will feature top-floor suites designed by the hottest decorators and furniture designers. Of course, Surface isn't the first hotel to be named after a magazine.
· magazine | hotel [W]
· magazine | hotel [Standard]
· magazine | hotel [New Yorker]
Magazine Helps Design Hotel To Showcase New Furnishings [Motoko Rich in the Wall Street Journal]
That Hotel Across The Street From Me Update [Lockhart Steele]
A cruise around the New York blogosphere [Felix Salmon]

LES super-advocate Lockhart Steele recounts his conversation with New Yorker staff writer, Rebecca Mead:
RM: "Lockhart Steele!"
LS: "Hi! Hey, I'm wearing the t-shirt!"
RM: "What t-shirt?"
LS: [unbuttoning shirt]: "The My-Relationship-Survived-a-Rebecca-Mead-Article t-shirt!"

Lockhart Steele's thoughts on the Dell dude's choice of locations for buying pot: "...the corner of Ludlow and Rivington tends to be a rather busy place. Not exactly the most subtle spot for a deal to go down." Lockhart helpfully offers a couple of alternatives, and astutely notes that this is Manhattan and we have delivery services.
On reflection [Lockhart Steele]

Lockhart Steele on NY Mag's "50 Best Bars" edition: "which makes us cringe more, their picks or their prose? (Sample line: 'If New York is a martini, then alcohol is the olive.')"
50 best bars [Lockhart Steele]
50 best bars [NY Magazine]

Lockhart's out of town, so the famous Mr. Jonathan Van Gieson is covering for him. So far, the posts seem very much in keeping with the usual format.

Lockhart Steele: running around in 9 degree weather checking for plywood on storefrontsso you don't have to.
WD 50: Still not open
Rice to Riches: Still not open
Tenement: Open, but no liquor license (Ooch!)
Open/not open [Lockhart Steele]

LES brunch place Rivington 99 is renamed Paul's Boutique. Lockhart Steele describes the menu as Jewel Bako meets Butter.

Rivington 99[Lockhart Steele]

Lockhart Steele went to Otto (Mario Batali's new place) last night and had a thin crust pizza topped with pig fat. "The Otto Lardo" takes decadenceand saturated fatto a whole new level. Even Atkins can't excuse this one.
Otto lardo [Lockhart Steele]

The Hamptons real estate market is dead right now. The prices have been pushed down to absurd levels. "In my 25 years in the Hamptons, I've never seen as many For Sale signs as there are this winter," says Lockhart's boss.
Hamptons update [Lockhart Steele]

Lockhart Steele reports that the "looming monstrosity" across from his place is a new hotel by André Balazs, the owner of the Mercer Hotel.
Hotel (The LES) [Lockhart Steele]

Lockhart Steele's been getting feedback for his Lower East Side guide. Places missed: Dish, General Store, and Pianos. The origin of the "Elita" acronym is revealed, and we learn that "Adult Space" is not really called "Adult Space." (That was just the double-secret stealth-mode name to keep prying gossip columnists in the dark.)
LES awards update [Lockhart Steele]

Okay, okay, so we're going to hang out more in the Lower East Side. Lockhart Steele continues his one-man campaign to document the district's general wonderfulness, and we're persuaded. Among the neighborhood secrets he reveals: finding the phone number for Milk & Honey (Craigslist, duh); the location of the unmarked Alife sneaker store; the reason for the protests outside the W Hotel (apart from its growing naffness); the most appropriate real estate acronym we've heard recently (Elita); and the urban hot springs on Eldridge Street. By the way, Milk & Honey aims "to keep the vibe chill and the room free of gauche gawkers."
LES [Lockhart Steele]

The Lower East Side changes more rapidly than Citysearch can follow. Lockhart Steele keeps up; he must know the best restaurants and bars of LES like the underside of his belly. His pick for best restaurant of 2002: Li l Frankies Pizza. Botched opening: Brian McNally's Smith. There's more. [Lockhart Steele]

Lockhart Steele and Pete Rojas [of Gizmodo, Gawker's sibling publication] recommend TKNY for high-tech gadgets too cool for ordinary consumer electronics stores. For the eager lover, Lockhart suggests the high-speed condom, which takes only three seconds to unroll.
Christmas love [Lockhart Steele]

He posts too rarely, but Lockhart Steele is still essential reading for the New York weblog watcher....

Lockhart Steele pings me to explain why Mary Callahan's email is bouncing. "I happen to know Mary Callahan, and the...