Abbe Diaz, who spent several years as a maître d' at some of Manhattan's hottest restaurants, dished on their famous patrons ("from Affleck to Zellweger") and the dysfunction that comprises some of New York's most renowned eateries, in her 2004 restaurant-industry exposé PX This - Diary of the "Maître d' to the Stars." Now Diaz is back with PX Me - How I Became a Published Author, Got Micro-Famous, and Married a Millionaire, an equally insightful and hilarious follow-up that resumes her star-studded anecdotes, skewers media heavyweights, and takes us further behind the scenes with a uniquely deep insider's take on the illustrious multibillion-dollar celebrity-chef fine-dining world.
What do Jeremy Piven, Gawker, Jay McInerney, global über-chef Jean-Georges, Billy Joel (in St Barth), Graydon Carter, The New York Times, Puff Daddy's birthday, stealing Leonardo DiCaprio's luck, Sofia Vergara's absence of rhythm, an exposé of NYC's most renowned restaurants (aka the "bible of the industry"), and a stupefying lack of journalistic ethics all have in common? Read Abbe Diaz's PX Me. (How I Became a Published Author, Got Micro-Famous, and Married a Millionaire).
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When Abbe Diaz published her journal, PX This - Diary of the "Maître d' to the Stars" [née Diary of the Potted Plant] in 2004, she'd had no idea what she was in for. Sure, she expected the process would be difficult and she might never work in the fine dining restaurant industry ever again, but she never imagined the truth could be so controversial- in a book that's essentially about HAVING DINNER.
Despite PX This being lauded by most of her colleagues (and some of the most illustrious names in the business) as "the bible of the [NYC] industry," Diaz soon learned the politics of Food and/or "Culture" Media & PR is a game that's dirtier than last night's dishes. Finding herself under unjustified fire from various vastly popular and influential periodicals, news blogs, food press, online foodie communities, and other professional and aspiring writers, Diaz (a textbook Scorpio/Monkey) quickly realized [again] there were two things in her life she would never be willing to do: 1) Take unmerited bullshit, and 2) Kiss spiteful pretentious ass.
As you can probably imagine, that went over reeeally well. Mistruths, mudslinging, manipulation, misappropriation, corruption, censorship, and the tarnishing of her character- as well as the livelihoods of her friends and loved ones- are just some of the things she subsequently endured.
This is that diary.
"This writing stuff is HARD." - Salman Rushdie (to friends on Facebook(R))
"If you think the writing is hard, wait 'til you try the selling part. Oh, wait..." - Abbe Diaz (in response to friend, Salman Rushdie, on Facebook(R))
About the Author: PX This has been lauded as "the bible of the [NYC] industry," and its author, Abbe Diaz, has been featured in various media outlets such as The New York Daily News, The New York Post, msn.com, The Morning Show (Australia), CBS's The Insider, The New York Observer, Blackbook, Time Out New York, Perez Hilton, Gawker, LXTV-NBC, NBC Chicago, New York magazine, Mediabistro, hamptons.com, and foodchannel.com, just to name a few.
Abbe Diaz is a freelance commercial-artist, designer/dressmaker, and restaurant consultant. She has worked in the restaurant/bar industry for nearly 25 years, with numerous stints throughout the New York dining/party scene that include: Limelight, Palladium, Tunnel, Club USA, Coffee Shop, Spy, Cafe Tabac, The Strand (Miami Beach), Mercer Kitchen, Ilo, Lotus, and Theo. She served as the opening maître d' for The Park, Smith, and 66.
She is proud to have had the opportunity to work under such nightlife arbiters as: Jean-Georges Vongerichten, Brian McNally, Jonathan Morr, Peter Gatien, Eric Goode, and Sean Macpherson.
Diaz gained a B.A. in Economics from Rutgers College, Rutgers University - New Brunswick. She was further educated as a non-matriculate Design student at the Fashion Institute of Technology, in NYC, where she currently resides.
