Nightlife maven tries Atlantic City
Boston nightlife guru Patrick Lyons is expanding his operations to Atlantic City. Three Lyons Group restaurants will join nine eateries in the Pier at Caesars in Atlantic City, it was announced yesterday. The three are the Dubliner Irish Bar and Restaurant, a version of which exists at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Connecticut; Game On!, which the Lyons Group opened at Fenway Park this spring; and Sonsie, the group's Newbury Street hot spot. ''In the 12 years we've had Sonsie, I bet we've been asked to do another version possibly 20 times, but it never seemed right," Lyons said yesterday. He said he decided to join developer Sheldon Gordon's project because of the success Gordon has had in Las Vegas at Caesars Palace and at Mohegan Sun. Lyons operates more than two dozen clubs, venues, and restaurants on the East Coast. . . . Another Boston chef, Todd English, will work with his NYC partner, restaurateur Jeffrey Chodorow, on an unnamed eatery at the Pier that will likely feature an Italian menu.
Screening, screaming at Toronto fest
Eli Roth, Newton's own horrormeister-in-the-making, did what is generally considered ill advised for a filmmaker at a film festival. Yesterday morning, he showed up at the critics' screening at the Toronto International Film Festival of his second movie, ''Hostel," in which American backpackers have a gory time staying alive in Slovakia. Afterward, Roth said he was surprised to see that so many people stayed for the whole thing. ''You know, there's a lot of blood." Not everybody enjoyed it, however. While Roth stood at the back of the theater receiving people, he missed the seething obscenity hurled at him by the editor of a major film magazine. But he did get an admiring earful from two young Frenchmen who wanted to know when the movie was coming their way.Around town
A couple hundred people climbed up four flights of stairs to see the new Boylston Street home of Grub Street, the independent creative writing center.Dave Fioravanti from NBC's ''Biggest Loser" reality show attended Thursday night's opening of the KnowFat! Lifestyle Grille in Downtown Crossing. . . . If you heard shouts of ''Norm!" at the Jurys Boston Hotel in the Back Bay over the last two days, that's because ''Cheers" actor George Wendt stayed there. Wendt was in town for a promotion with Jim Koch's Sam Adams brewery in Jamaica Plain. . . . ''Juice Guys" Tom First and Tom Scott, cofounders of Nantucket Nectars and diehard Red Sox fans, threw out the ceremonial first pitch before Thursday night's Sox game against the Oakland A's. Nantucket Nectars has raised $10,000 for the Red Sox Foundation, which will go to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina. . . . Speaking of the Sox game, former Globe editorial page editor Marty Nolan was spied over at Fenway.
Koch in Newport
Yachtsman/art collector Bill Koch of Osterville was among the sailing enthusiasts over the last couple of days in Newport, R.I., for a competition and boat show.Jazz honoree
Bob Brookmeyer will now have to find room for another title on his card: 2006 Jazz Master. Brookmeyer is a composer, arranger, trombonist, pianist, and director of the New England Conservatory Jazz Composers' Workshop Orchestra. He was recently named a Jazz Fellow by the National Endowment for the Arts, an award that brings with it $25,000.Comic warms up
Comic Tom Gilmore decided to get in a little practice before heading to New York City to tape a segment for David Letterman's late-night show. Gilmore performed an impromptu set before the opening night of ''3 Blonde Moms" Thursday at the Comedy Connection in the Faneuil Hall Marketplace courtesy of the club's GM, Frank Ahearn, who squeezed Gilmore in.Emerson addition
Emerson College has tapped ''Will & Grace" creator and executive producer Max Mutchnick to join its board of trustees. An Emerson alum, Mutchnick was approved by the Emerson board earlier this week. In addition to being up for an Emmy tomorrow for ''Will & Grace," Mutchnick has two shows -- ''Four Kings" and ''Twins" -- with his creative partner David Kohan debuting this fall.Wesley Morris of the Globe staff contributed. Names can be reached at names@globe.com or at 617-929-8253.
