Face To Watch

In New York City 1,000 restaurants open every year, but only one in five survives to celebrate its fifth anniversary. A documentary by Kate Novack '94, Eat This New York, tells the story of two best friends who labored to open Moto, a hip cafe on the outskirts of Brooklyn. And labor it was. In the 18 months it took to transform the rundown corner space, Moto's owners developed a sort of perma-grimace: they ran out of money, lost their chef and found their friendship on the rocks. Just as fascinating are Novack's foil characters, the professors emeriti of the New York restaurant scene: Sirio Maccioni of Le Cirque; Danny Meyer of Gramercy Tavern and Union Square Cafe; and Drew Nieporent of sushi shrine Nobu, whose war stories add both humor and glamour. Novack, who wrote and produced the film with husband Andrew Rossi, has just signed a deal for Eat This New York with the Sundance Channel, which plans to air it in November. Meanwhile, Moto has scored at least one big victory—it's still open.