Hello, NYLA? A reservation for two, please. And will I see Britney there?

After tomorrow, probably never again.

That's what staffers at NYLA - Britney Spears' new East Side brasserie - say when asked if the pop singer would be unwinding at the Dylan Hotel bistro after tonight's gala opening.

"There's a tradition going back to the '20s of celebrities putting their names on restaurants," observes Merrill Shindler, a Zagat editor. "Will people actually see them there? It's very doubtful."

So do any celebrities frequent the places to which they've lent their name?

Moby last month opened Teany, a vegetarian restaurant near his Lower East Side apartment. He spends at least an hour a day at the Rivington Street hotspot. "I'm usually just sitting in a corner reading a newspaper and eating some soup," Moby says.

The electronic music impresario is looking forward to checking out Spears' new joint: "I hope they at least wheel her out for a few minutes."

"Mr. Big," aka "Sex and the City" star Chris Noth, quietly opened The Cutting Room, a restaurant/performance space on West 24th Street, a little more than two years ago. "He comes by quite a bit during the week," says co-owner Steve Walter. "He's usually here Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, roughly 11 p.m. or so. He doesn't like to come Saturday nights, because it's a young crowd and he has to deal with 'Oh, look, it's Mr. Big.'"

There is one problem with celeb partners, says Thierry Klemeniuk, who owns Man Ray in Manhattan with Sean Penn, Johnny Depp, John Malkovich and Harvey Weinstein. "People speak to me about my restaurant because they know I have celebrity backers," he sniffed. "But they never ask me about the food."

Written by Robert Khan
Thanks to Liz
Posted by Ruben