Omen on Saturday at closing, photo by Olivier Zahm

Every superstar needs a hideaway. And while the event calendar seems to have tripled in fashionable parties since the economy started to plummet, the loss of one treasured getaway marks a true omen. In this case it’s a double entendre with the rumored closing of Omen restaurant in Soho, all started by the photo above that appeared on the Purple Diary a day ago!

While Anna Wintour, Yoko Ono, Sean Lennon, and Sarah Jessica Parker still flock to Da Silvano as their quotidian five star diner, the true fashion crown LOVES Omen, the discreet, darkly lit second floor Japanese joint on Thompson Street. Every other month I get calls from photographer Tierney Gearon (also a former model) shouting “Meet me there in twenty. I need the buckwheat noodles NOW.” Just a table away, I often spot photographer Mary Ellen Mark, Lindsay Lohan, or Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban. Kate Moss ate there with photographer Mario Sorrenti. At least once a week, one of the French Vogue heirs, Vladimir or Julia Restoin Roitfeld takes refuge at one of the dark tables. Omen counts for their mom, French Vogue editor Carine, as her favorite New York restaurant for family birthdays and intimate meals, after Indochine where she likes to host bigger parties. To boot, the salmon sashimi glistens like fat happy meats and slide down the tongue with just enough tangy seduction to warrant an eye opening dose of sake.

So when my pal, OZ, shot the photo above and posted it on the Purple Diary as “Omen is Closing,” the restaurant got a barrage of telephone calls. It’s all lost in the FRENCH translation of the Purple Diary headline, that might have read in French, “Omen au fin du jour,” stating, basically Omen at Closing time… The owner told me his phone has buzzed off the hook all weekend about it. “No, no, no we’ll still be here into 2010, really.” So, Carine, you’ve got reason to cheer.

Carine still has her fave sushi joint! OMEN NOT CLOSING!!!