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Theres no need to score a reservation at one of Daniel Bouluds popular restaurants for a select group of well-heeled diners: They have brought the Michelin-starred chef to their doorstep.

Boulud whose vast empire spans from his French flagship Daniel to the recently opened Japanese speakeasy Joji will launch his first private eatery, Boulud Priv, on the 27th floor of the Mandarin Oriental Residences at 685 Fifth Ave., Side Dish can reveal exclusively. 

“We’ll provide casual dining for breakfast, lunch and dinner, said Boulud, a recipient of Frances Chevalier de la Lgion d’honneur.

Boulud Privs indoor/outdoor space offers sweeping views of the city’s skyline to the 69 residences in the ultra-luxury 55-story glass tower, where a recently-sold studio fetched a record $3.88 million. 

The perks will now include in-residence dining and an at-home sommelier service of curated vintages to stock the condo owners wine fridge.  

“Our team can create menus from our menus. It’s like Uber Eats, but exclusively for my own offerings. I do my own Uber Eats,” Boulud quipped. 

Private restaurants — often known as ‘the dining room’ — were common among a certain set of old-school Upper East Side co-ops, but they came to be de rigueur for the city’s new crop of luxury buildings, which have become like urban country clubs with no need for its “member” residents to ever leave the premises. 

The trend started with 15 Central Park West and climbed to ever higher heights at buildings like 220 Central Park South and 432 Park Ave., the troubled 1,396-foot-tall skyscraper that once tried to recruit Boulud to helm its private restaurant. 

At the time, I was doing other projects and couldn’t, but I presented the young chef who is still running it,” said Boulud, referring to Michelin-starred Australian Chef Shaun Hergatt. 

The trick to running a private residents restaurant, Boulud said, is that “you have to be able to do dishes that change with the market, but also have simplicity.

That means a perfect spaghetti and tomato sauce and also healthy, fresh and simple options. It’s a service and convenience for residents who don’t always want to go out.” 

The ingredients are the stars, he adds, from a perfect waygu steak to seasonal vegetables and burgers. 

“We try to cook food you will enjoy — a tasty, simple, easy menu — not a multi-course experience like a Cafe Boulud or Le Pavillon,” he added. “We don’t run it like a restaurant but like a private dining room.” 

The addition of Boulud Prive caps a  stellar year for the legendary chef.

He celebrated Restaurant Daniel’s 30th anniversary, opened Blue Box Cafe by Daniel Boulud at Tiffany & Co’s flagship on Fifth Avenue and just last week reopened his iconic Cafe Boulud in a glittering new location at 100 E. 63rd St. 

“It’s a new team, a new location, and a new era. It’s really nice, like a rebirth,” Boulud said.

While Cafe Boulud — named for the chef’s great grandparents’ restaurant on their farm in Lyon, France —  in New York was a staple of the Upper East Side elite’s dining options, it shuttered in 2021 following a change of ownership at the Hotel Surrey. 

The new Cafe Boulud, where Altamarea Group’s Vaucluse once stood, will partner with Barnes International Realty, which will open Maison Barnes at the same address next year. 

The French, ‘salon style’ space will feature a bar, dining area, private dining sections, a speakeasy and a wine cellar, according to BIR’s New York director Georgette Farkas, who worked closely with Boulud for two decades.

“I am delighted to take part in bringing you this ensemble of fine dining and event experiences created by Chef Daniel Boulud and Barnes International, for a luxurious taste of l’art de vivre a la Francaise on the Upper East Side,” Farkas wrote on her LinkedIn account. 

Added Boulud: “We will pair with the best brands and hold events around wine, jewelry, fashion, cars, boats, and more.” 

Boulud and his hospitality company, the Dinex Group, have been on a roll since the pandemic ending, opening hotspots like Le Pavillon, where a swath of 42nd St. was shut down to truck in 10,000 pounds of black olive trees hoisted by crane into a window at One Vanderbilt, the $3.3 billion, 1,400-foot-high office tower.  

He also launched Joji, the killer sushi spot hidden inside Grand Central station, Le Gratin downtown and Centurion NY.

A Mandarin Oriental Residences in Beverly Hills will also house a private Boulud restaurant. The propertys rooftop terrace lounge was recently booked for an event honoring Penelope Cruz, star of the upcoming Michael Mann film, Ferrari.

Cruzs friends Salma Hayek and Kristen Stewart hosted the gathering which included celebrities Geena Davia, Eiza Gonzalez, Patricia Arquette, and Vin Diesel.

We hear … Outdoor igloo dining — which popped up during the pandemic — remains a popular option from the city to the Hamptons. On the East End, Gurney’s Montauk Resort & Seawater Spa is offering chic igloo dining. On New Year’s Eve, the igloos can be rented for $250 for two-hour rentals, plus a minimum of $500 for food and beverages, with sharable plates like artisanal meats and cheeses and wild mushroom arancini — for up to six people per igloo.

Meanwhile in the city, Chelsea’s Somewhere Nowhere offers eight heated teardrop-shaped rooftop igloos for up to five guests overlooking the Empire State Building. They each come with an integrated Alexa music system, so diners can control the playlist if not the weather. Their winter cocktails include a choctail made with Woodinville bourbon, Trader Vic’s chocolate liqueur, Rumple Minze, hot chocolate, butter and marshmallows and small bites curated by executive chef Sandy Hall like wagyu beef sliders and mushroom crostini.

The igloos can be booked from Wednesday through Saturday, beginning at $85 per person. Each igloo reservation for two or more includes a bottle of champagne.

We hear Upper East Side’s Mark Hotel, at the corner of 77th and Madison, has launched The Mark Chalet by Jean-Georges Vongerichten to cure your fix for Alpine fondue. The chalet, with wood paneling, gingham and old school ski vibes, is the perfect spot for people watching over Swiss fondue, Veal Zurichoise with Sptzle, mulled wine and hot toddies. It will remain open until March 1, with Pierre Schultz as executive chef.

For a more low-key holiday affair, Stretch Pizza, at 331 Park Avenue South, offers a $24 everything bagel pizza with cream cheese, aged mozzarella, everything bagel spice and chives — along with an option to zhuzh it up with caviar for $120.24 to celebrate the holidays, washed down with a triple lux for $17 — Luxardo sour cherry gin, Luxardo bitter ross, Luxardo Aperitivo and Mamatti for Stretch’s twist on a Negroni. And yes, you can also get it delivered.

Meanwhile neon pink Instagram lovers can click away at Magic Hour Rooftop Bar & Lounge, located at Moxy Times Square, which has created The Pink Winter Lodge: Neon Frost Edition for the holidays, featuring metallic pink fringe, neon walls, and pink trees, along with its iconic carousel and snaps inside a custom snow globe. Cocktails include the pink “boozy hot chocolate,” Aprs Ski, the All that Glitters cocktail and the Aprs Cookie Skillet — all under a retractable roof and city skyline views. 

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Snoop Dogg becomes co-owner and investor of Swansea football club saying it’s ‘an underdog just like me’

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Snoop Dogg becomes co-owner and investor of Swansea football club saying it's 'an underdog just like me'

Snoop Dogg has become a co-owner and investor of Swansea, with the US rapper hailing the Welsh football club as “an underdog that bites back, just like me”.

The former Premier League club, which plays in the English second tier, confirmed the US rapper and producer plans to use his own money to invest in it, Sky Sports reports, although it didn’t disclose financial details.

“My love of football is well known, but it feels special to me that I make my move into club ownership with Swansea City,” the music icon said in the announcement.

“The story of the club and the area really struck a chord with me,” he added. “This is a proud, working class city and club.

“An underdog that bites back, just like me.

“I’m proud to be part of Swansea City. I am going to do all I can to help the club.”

Swansea’s American owners, led by Brett Cravatt and Jason Cohen, are trying to grow the Championship club’s global brand and increase commercial revenue.

Snoop Dogg, 53, who has 89m followers on Instagram and more than 20m on X, helped launch the team’s 2025-26 home shirt last weekend.

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The club ownership group said: “To borrow a phrase from Snoop’s back catalogue, this announcement is the next episode for Swansea City as we seek to create new opportunities to boost the club’s reach and profile.”

Luka Modric, who recently signed with AC Milan from Real Madrid, joined Swansea’s ownership group in April.

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Politics

Diane Abbott suspended from Labour Party

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Diane Abbott suspended from Labour Party

Diane Abbott has been suspended from the Labour Party pending an investigation.

A party spokesperson confirmed the decision to Sky News but did not give a reason why.

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It comes after the veteran MP defended previous comments about racism which sparked an antisemitism row and led to a year-long suspension.

She apologised at the time and was readmitted back into the party before the 2024 general election.

A Labour Party spokesperson said: “Diane Abbott has been administratively suspended from the Labour Party, pending an investigation. We cannot comment further while this investigation is ongoing.”

Sky News understands that the suspension is not related to the four rebels who lost the whip on Wednesday for “repeated breaches” of party discipline, including voting against the government’s welfare cuts.

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The action has been taken because of an interview in which she doubled down on her claim Jewish people experience racism differently to black people, which previously sparked a huge controversy.

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Diane Abbott

In a letter to The Observer in 2023, Ms Abbott argued that people of colour experienced racism “all their lives” and said that was different to the “prejudice” experienced by Jewish people, Irish people and Travellers.

Shortly after it was published, she issued a statement in which she said she wished to “wholly and unreservedly withdraw my remarks and disassociate myself from them”.

However in a new interview with BBC Radio 4’s Reflections programme this week, she said she did not look back on the incident with regret.

Ms Abbott said: “Clearly, there must be a difference between racism which is about colour and other types of racism because you can see a Traveller or a Jewish person walking down the street, you don’t know.

“But if you see a black person walking down the street, you see straight away that they’re black. They are different types of racism.”

She added: “I just think that it’s silly to try and claim that racism which is about skin colour is the same as other types of racism.

“I don’t know why people would say that.”

Commenting on the suspension, Ms Abbott told Sky News: “It’s obvious this Labour leadership wants me out. My comments in the interview with James Naughtie were factually correct, as any fair-minded person would accept.”

The clip of the interview was re-posted by Brian Leishman, one of the MPs suspended on Wednesday, who said: “Diane Abbott has fought against racism her entire life.”

Bell Riberio-Addy, who lost her role as trade envoy in yesterday’s purge, also came to Ms Abbott’s defence, saying: “Before condemning her based on headlines, I would listen to her clip and note she discussed the different forms that racism takes and condemned all forms of racism.”

Former shadow chancellor John McDonnell made similar comments, saying that in the interview his colleague “forthrightly condemns antisemitism & discusses the different forms of racism”.

But Labour MP David Taylor told Sky News he has “long thought Diane Abbott shouldn’t be a member of our party due to her appalling positions on everything from Bosnia to Syria”.

He added: “As the Jewish Labour Movement have said, antisemitism targets Jews regardless of how they look, and many in the community are visibly Jewish and suffer racism for it.”

In the interview, Ms Abbott said she “of course” condemns antisemitic behaviour in the same way she would condemn racist behaviour because of the colour of someone’s skin, adding: “I do get a bit weary of people trying to pin the antisemitic label on me because I spent a lifetime facing racism of all kinds.”

Ms Abbott made history when she was elected as Britain’s first black female MP for Labour in 1987.

She is the longest-serving female MP in the Commons, giving her the title “Mother of the House”.

As an MP on the left of the party she has often clashed with the leadership throughout her career – bar her time serving in Jeremy Corbyn’s shadow cabinet.

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Many MPs rallied in support of Ms Abbott last year when it was not clear if she would be reinstated in time for the general election, or allowed to stand.

She went on to retain her seat of Hackney North and Stoke Newington with a majority of over 15,000.

Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner hinted action could be taken against Ms Abbott when she told The Guardian earlier on Thursday that she was “disappointed” in her colleague’s remarks.

“There’s no place for antisemitism in the Labour Party, and obviously the Labour Party has processes for that,” she said.

A source close to the decision to suspend her told Sky News there is a “very slim chance” she will be allowed back in, given she did antisemitism training and apologised last time.

It raises questions about whether Ms Abbott could join the new party being formed by Mr Corbyn and former Labour MP Zarah Sultana.

For the time being, Ms Abbott will sit in the Commons as an independent MP.

Adnan Hussain, who was elected as the independent MP for Blackburn last year, said on X: “We’d be honoured to have a giant like Diane join us, she [should] come to the side that would really appreciate her for the legend she is.”

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Child who died in Minehead school coach crash was 10-year-old boy, police say

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Child who died in Minehead school coach crash was 10-year-old boy, police say

The child who died in a school coach crash in Somerset on Thursday was a 10-year-old boy, Avon and Somerset Police have said.

A specially trained officer is supporting the child’s family, the force said, adding that two children taken to Bristol Royal Hospital for Children by air ambulance remain there as of Friday.

Four children and three adults also remain in hospital in Somerset.

There were between 60 to 70 people on board when the incident happened near Minehead, just before 3pm on Thursday.

The coach was heading to Minehead Middle School when it crashed on the A396 between Wheddon Cross and Timbercombe.

Flowers outside school
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Pic: PA

Police said that 21 people were taken to hospital, including two children who were taken via air ambulance.

Gavin Ellis, chief fire officer for Devon and Somerset, said the coach “overturned onto its roof and slid approximately 20ft down an embankment”.

Rachel Gilmour, MP for Tiverton and Minehead, said the road where it happened is “very difficult to manoeuvre”.

“You have a very difficult crossing at Wheddon Cross, and as you come out to dip down into Timbercombe, the road is really windy and there are very steep dips on either side,” she told Sky’s Anna Botting.

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Tearful MP reacts to coach crash

It comes after a teacher at Minehead Middle School praised the “incredibly brave” pupils for supporting each other after the coach crash.

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“You have looked after each [other] in what was a life-changing event, we will get through this together,” they wrote on Facebook.

“I feel so lucky to be your teacher. I am so grateful to my wonderful colleagues during this time who were also fighting to help as many people as we could.”

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