Your table will be ready…in 11 months

Checking in on the spots profiled in our fall '07 preview. Some blew up (Ko) while others didn't even open (paging 10 Downing).

Somebody once told us that 90 percent of restaurants fail in the first year. And while the math seems a bit fuzzy, there's no doubt that opening a restaurant in New York City is a test in patience, nerve and the depth of one's pockets—usually the big, bad bank.

As a lead up to our fall 2008 dining preview, which'll arrive in time for Labor Day, we checked in with some of last year's notable launches, recalling what we wrote then—based mostly on sugary press releases and blind optimism from fatigued chefs/owners—and what really happened. Ladies and gentlemen, brace yourselves. This is not pretty.  —Metromix staff

Pictured: Things got ugly after we previewed Bun in August 2007