Gwen Butler Resurfaces In New York

It’s been some time since we’ve written about Gwen Butler, the Boston woman who received a close-to-three-million tip while bartending at The Federalist, used it to unsuccessfully try to open a restaurant, worked as the opening general manager of Eastern Standard before entering into an epic feud with the owner, and authored at least two anonymous blogs, not even counting the third, reading of which is, apparently, by invitation only. Last we heard, Butler was getting ready to open Perpetual Oyster, a delightfully-named seafood spot, in the Coolidge Corner space currently occupied by Takeshima. When we called Takeshima to verify this, however, we were told that the Perpetual Oyster opening was simply a rumor. We were, to say the least, puzzled.

Yesterday, New York food blog Grub Street reported that Butler has been named as Director of Operations for struggling New York mini-chain Bubby’s, one of the branches of which was recently temporarily closed after a roach infestation of biblical proportions. This information would seem to indicate that Perpetual Oyster was no longer in the picture. Indeed, the minutes from a September Selectmen’s meeting show that the liquor license transfer from Takeshima to Perpetual Oyster was rescinded. When we called the licensing chair, we were told that “the owner of Perpetual Oyster rescinded the application for personal reasons.” It would seem then that Butler is definitely in New York for the time being, which, frankly, makes our job a lot duller.

[Photo: Wikipedia]

Gwen Butler Resurfaces In New York