Has Britney Spears' fried okra been cooked?
Certainly, the dish itself has been--banished from the menu of the popster's fledgling New York City restaurant, amid a would-be image makeover and behind-the-scenes shakeup.
To be sure, all is not cooking at Nyla, Spears' virgin foray into chow biz.
The Manhattan eatery opened in June, billed as a "hip restaurant with a Southern flair" (hence, the okra). If Brit's antsy creditors are any sign, Nyla is now a struggling restaurant...with spaghetti.
The menu makeover, from vegetarian hominy stew to tomato sauce, comes after the departure of Spears' original consulting chefs, as well that of partner Bobby Ochs, the impresario who previously helped launch the culinary careers of Marla Maples (Peaches) and Patrick Swayze (Mulholland Drive).
It also comes as three Nyla food suppliers have gone to court to force the joint into Chapter 7 bankruptcy on account of $25,000-plus in unpaid bills for seafood and dairy goodies and equipment supplies. (The petition, naming Spears' Pinky Enterprises, is posted in all its glory on the Smoking Gun.)
A call seeking comment from a Nyla rep was not returned Monday.
To the New York Post, the owner of the restaurant's Manhattan headquarters, the Dylan Hotel, made it sound as if Spears is not prepared to write off her eatery as a big "Oops..."
"Britney said she wanted the best, so we hired [new chef] Larry Forgione," Morris Moinian told the Post.
Moinian described the revised menu as "continental with an Italian flavor."
To Reed Tucker, restaurant writer for Time Out New York, the new Nyla is not unlike the old Nyla--"another bad Midtown New York restaurant that just [happens] to be owned by Britney Spears."
Tucker says the restaurant was D.O.A. from the start. "To me, it didn't seem to be able to decide what it wanted to be," Tucker says.
Nyla, named for New York and Spears' native Louisiana, opened its doors with a bash that Tucker's magazine dubbed "Worst Party of the Year."
The rain-soaked red-carpet affair suffered from a star-power outage. Reported invitees Jennifer Lopez and Cher were no-shows, leaving the all-wet paparazzi with B-listers like Debbie Gibson and David Copperfield. Spears didn't help matters much, showing up an hour late to her own shindig.
But Nyla's biggest sin was its food. A curious mix of Southern sushi and short ribs, crabmeat gumbo and fried chicken, the menu was meant to give foodies a taste of Spears' beloved Cajun cuisine. But the foodies found the stuff bland.
"[The new menu is] certainly better, but I think it's too late," Tucker says. "If you're a serious diner in New York City, there's no way you'd be caught dead there."
If Nyla didn't work for foodies, that'd be one thing--certainly, the still-spinning Planet Hollywood chain has never been lauded by critics. But, according to Tucker, Nyla doesn't work for Britney fans, either.
Inside the restaurant, there's "no trace of Britney Spears," says Tucker--no pictures, no records, just menus full of moderately priced entrees (think $15) that seem pricey splurges to cash-strapped teenage girls.
If Nyla stiffs, Spears will join Maples and Swayze as failed celeb restaurateurs. If it turns around, she'll be the all-new J.Lo, whose Madre's in Pasadena, California, is still hot stuff.
Unfortunately for Brit, Tucker predicts the former, not the latter: "I think it's definitely over."