Earlier this week, Page Six reported that 85-year-old Ellen Hart is outraged that a new diner is opening up near her own Ellen’s Stardust Diner — and offering the same “singing waitstaff” concept that has made her establishment famous for decades.
Now the owner of the upstart spot is promising a war.
When veteran New York restaurateur Stratis Morfogen announced that he’s opening a location of his Diner 24 in the Theater District, Hart had her HR manager send an email to her singing staff, not-so-subtly suggesting that they shouldn’t even think about picking up shift at Morfogen’s.
He responded by posting a video on Instagram Thursday in which he said: “If you want to fight with me, I’m the last guy you want to fight cuz’ I will fight ’til the end.”
An insider previously told us Morfogen visited Hart’s New York staple, trademarked “home of the original world famous singing waitstaff” several times ahead of his own opening.
He denied to us that he’d been there more than once and then doubled down in his social media rant, saying, “I’ve never been to Ellen’s Stardust in my life. I hear about it vaguely. I just heard the food sucked and it’s a performance-driven diner, like a gimmick.”
During his one-time visit, he claimed he stayed for 35 minutes and “I ate half the burger and left,” he said.
“First of all, I think their food sucks, and now that she’s started a fight, I’m going to say the truth,” he said.
The HR exec had said in their email, obtained by Page Six, that the opening of Diner 24 “makes it an appropriate time for all employees to revisit the Company’s conflicts of interest policy, as set out in the Employee Handbook.”
“I don’t care what her manual says… Now, she wants war? I live for this sh-t. Let’s go. And it’s in Page Six,” Morfogen said.
After Morforgen’s rant Hart’s spokesperson, Cristyne Nicholas, told us: “Too bad he’s picking a fight with an 85-year-old Miss Subways, who has supported the Broadway and artist community for decades.”
Nicholas, who was the CEO of NYC Tourism + Conventions during 9/11, added, “On the eve of 9/11, it doesn’t seem appropriate to engage in this belligerent conversation.”
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