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At one point, club operator turned designer Steve Lewis was the guy to get if you were opening a new venue. We’ve been wondering what happened to him ever since he worked on Amalia, but now he has resurfaced as — what else? — a blogger! We’re not going to lie: His interview with the owners of Mansion is silly shilly (“New York needs Mansion just as we need Alex Rodriguez, Johan Santana, and Lincoln Center”) and includes a lot of familiar bellyaching about the state of nightlife (promoters, bottle service, and bankers turned owners have hijacked the business; every club in the last six years has been a knockoff; there’s no personal service anymore), but we got a kick out of Miami-based Mansion partner Eric Milon’s dismissive survey of his competition.

I go “Who’s the club?” and nobody has an answer.… There is 1OAK, Marquee. That’s it. Tenjune? Small club. Rose Bar? Snooty club…nobody can go there. In New York City there is no club that can compete. Pacha, and that’s about it. I don’t know any other club. There may be, but I don’t know.

Oh, snap! Milon’s not a local, so we don’t really blame him for ignoring neighbors like Home, Guest House, and Suzie Wong (although, come on — show Pink Elephant some love, if only because they share your building!). Our advice is to look outside of Manhattan toward, say, Studio B. Anyone else want to school the out of towner?

Mansion. A New Era [Good Night Mr. Lewis]