Archived Article By Tom Fitzmorris Originally published March 15, 2006 Click here for the current edition Stella! Reopens With Iron Chef Dinners Chef Scott Boswell is one of those guys who came back to town early after the storm, rolled up his sleeves, and started cooking. His problem was that his restaurant, Stella!, was too badly damaged to reopen right away. So he opened a casual place on the other side of the block that he'd been working on, and began grilling sandwiches and fish out in the courtyard until better options came along. Out of that effort came Stanley, which has been something of a phenom, especially for breakfast. It's even given us a brand-new dish: the eggs Benedict poor boy. At last, Stella! is open again. The restaurant was relaunched with a Salmanazar of Taittinger Champagne, the cork of which was comically difficult to remove, but which tasted good and toasty and even a little aged. That kicked off the first of three wine dinners featuring Hiroyuki Sakai, who is the French Iron Chef and an old friend of Boswell's. (These dinners are sold out, but you're not missing anything; Boswells regular food is much better.) The restaurant looks great, especially the large rear room, where some ferny metal sculptures on the wall add a touch of sophistication and richness that wasn't there before. Most of the equipment is new, and the bar looks that way, too. © 2006 Tom Fitzmorris. All rights reserved. news@nomenu.com