Restaurateur Rohini Dey holds a Ph.D. in economics, formerly managed foreign investment policy at the World Bank, and owns hit Indian-Latin fusion restaurant Vermilion in Chicago. But despite her supposed business savvy, she just couldn't stop herself from going through with opening her glamorous, 12,000-square-foot New York City restaurant "At Vermilion" last November (photos). Obviously not the best timing, and today the Times checks in on the place, which was deemed a major "flop" by the Village Voice. Dey tells the Times, "From Day 1, we knew that this was a bad time to open, because every investor told us that. I persisted. Why? Well, because fools rush in." And lose their shirts. The place needs $6 million to $10 million a year to stay afloat, which means they have to start serving twice as many diners as they're getting now. No sweat, right?
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