Real Housewives of New York is back with a brand new cast, and there’s already drama.
For what it’s worth, Bravo barely spent time introducing the new women—they just dove straight in.
It seems random, but there was a whole ~thing~ around an unnamed restaurant Erin Dana Lichy booked that not everyone was on board with, and it caused serious issues.
Here’s everything you need to know about what went down, plus which restaurant people think was at the center of the firestorm.
What happened during the episode?
After briefly introducing the world to viewers, the episode get right into the drama that involved Erin, Brynn Whitfield, and Sai de Silva.
Brynn and Sai agreed to meet Erin, fellow castmember Jessel Taank, their husbands, and a few other people for dinner at a restaurant whose name was bleeped out. But Brynn and Sai, who are influencers, “secretly” thought the place was tacky and didn't want to go. But they didn't know how to explain that to Erin, so they told a white lie.
"I didn't know how to say that I wouldn't be caught dead at [bleep]," Brynn says in the episode. "And I'm not a D-list model."
Instead of going home, though, they went to a different restaurant called Casa Cipriani and posted about it on social media. Naturally, they got caught and Erin was pissed.
Erin had a chat with Ubah Hassan about how upset she was, pointing out that her choice of restaurant shouldn’t have mattered. She also said she picked a place last minute and, since there was a big group of them, this was all she could find.
Bravo producers made a point of bleeping out the restaurant’s name, but the internet is on the hunt to figure it out.
Some people think the restaurant could be Catch.
Catch is a New York City restaurant with two locations in New York City (Catch and Catch Roof), along with a few other spots out West. It features dishes like miso cod lettuce cups, truffle sashimi, and seared Scottish salmon.
And several people on social media are convinced this is the spot. In fact, this is the main theory running online right now. Case in point:
Other people think it could be Hearth.
Hearth is a Tuscan-American farm-to-table restaurant from celebrity chef Marco Canora. Current menu offerings include beef and ricotta meatballs, grilled calamari salad, and Berkshire pork chop.
This theory doesn’t have as much oomph as the Catch one, but there is some evidence to suggest it could be the spot. Namely, Brynn says what sounds like an “H” before the restaurant name is bleeped out.
There’s also a theory that it’s Craft.
Another less-common, but out-there theory: The restaurant is Craft. In case you’re not familiar with it, Craft is the flagship restaurant of celebrity chef Tom Colicchio, who is the longtime head judge on Top Chef…a fellow Bravo show.
“I bet a million dollars it’s Craft. Hot in 2005. They don’t want to insult Tom C. They’ll insult another random ‘lame’ restaurant,” one person wrote on Twitter.
Jessel just dropped a huge hint in Brynn's IG comments.
Brynn kept the rumors going the day after the episode aired. On Monday, she posted a 'fit photo on Instagram, along with the cheeky caption: "Dropping my NYC restaurant guide later this week 🤭🍽️😉"
RHONY co-star Jessel commented, "Make sure C**** is on that 😂."
What restaurant starts with a C and has five letters? C-A-T-C-H. (And C-R-A-F-T.)
What are some other theories?
There are a lot of other names in the mix. Here’s a list of some of the biggies:
- Butter
- STK
- Babbo
- Serafina
- Tao
What is known: The place has a one-syllable name, and it caused a ton of drama.
Who’s ready for episode two?!
