(Jay-Z and his billionaire pal Warren Buffet)

After not-giving-a-cheesy-tabloid-her-first-interview since the birth of Blue Ivy Carter, rumors were buzzing that Beyonce would step out for her first public appearance since the birth….to support her hubby Jay-Z’s 40/40 club re-opening. So many red-carpet watchers were disappointed when Bey did not attend. It seems like a lot of us were caught up in in the hysteria. Mr. North pointed out that health-wise, it was probably too early for Beyonce to go anywhere. The club was still packed, though. Celebs like Warren Buffet, Spike Lee, Questlove and more all came out to show their support.

UPDATE 1/21/12:
One day after this grand opening party, the NYC Dept of Health reportedly swept in and shut down the newly renovated 40/40 Club for varying degrees of eww. Under the NYC restaurant rating system, if you score higher than 28, you get a C-Grade….
The 40/40 Club scored a 69.
Some of the violations sound mild, like “thermometer not used during cooking…”
But others like a refrigerator being kept at 60 degrees, bare-hand salsa mixing, and “inadequate personal cleanliness”!?!?
*dry heave*

More details….
And more photos from the opening…
after the jump…

UPDATE 1/21/12 continued:
So according to the New York Post and TMZ, the Dept of Health shut down the 40/40 one day after the opening bash….but they came during business hours so all the customers that were already there, got to stay. Omg. What the hell is that?
More importantly, the kitchen must have cleaned up that night because the club was back open for business by Friday.
Grand opening, Renovation closing….Grand re-opening, Next-day icky re-closing, Quiet Re-re-opening.