October 10, 2011 – (Above) Andrew Fleiss, Vice President of a New York-based investment firm, shows off his new sign at the steakhouse in midtown Manhattan known last month as Smith & Wollensky. (Photo obtained from Fourth Wall Restaurants. Click on image to view larger version.)

Reported last week by Gothamist, the name change is a publicity stunt. During October, customer names will be chosen at random and Fleiss was picked first. He also received a server’s jacket, matchbooks, and cocktail napkins.

The New York location is owned and operated by a different company than the one that owns the Smith & Wollensky at Marina City. According to Kim Giguere-Lapine, Vice President of Marketing for Smith & Wollensky Restaurant Group, there are no plans to do this in Chicago.

“Smith” and “Wollensky,” according to the steakhouse chain, were two names randomly chosen from a telephone book by founder Alan Stillman.

 Website: Gothamist