Morgan Stanley blocks ex-employee's website

Jeremy Fisher was thrilled yesterday when he heard that his former employer Morgan Stanley had blocked employees from using his restaurant recommendation site, Dinevore. When he worked at the firm from 2006 to 2009 — first as a management consultant in New York and later as an investment banker in Silicon Valley — Morgan Stanley employees couldn't access Facebook or Twitter from their computers. “They block sites that people are using a lot,” Mr. Fisher said. “So when I heard that they had blocked my site, I was thrilled.” Mr. Fisher, 27, has always had a penchant for good food. “I was always the guy everyone would ask advice on where to go for a first date or to take their parents out,” he said. Over the years, Mr. Fisher started collecting recommendations and distributing them to friends, but eventually, it became too unwieldy. “I was using Google Maps and Excel spreadsheets, and it just got too time-consuming to track,” he said. Thus the idea for Dinevore was born. Launched last fall, Dinevore is the “Twitter for restaurant recommendations,” Mr. Fisher said. Users can create accounts and then follow friends, bloggers or publications for restaurant recommendations. They can search according to several categories, such as geography, cuisine and even restaurants they have already visited. And what are Morgan Stanley employees missing out on? As for the best lunch spot near the firm's offices in Times Square, Mr. Fisher recommends Margon (135 W. 46th St., between Sixth and Seventh avenues, a cafeteria-style place with Latin American favorites). Mr. Fisher recommends the rice and beans, and Cuban sandwich. And the best place to take a first date after work for Morgan Stanley employees? “I would probably advise you not to do a first date around there,” he said. But if you had to, he recommends Sake Bar Hagi (152 W. 49th St., near Seventh Avenue). “It's a place that has character,” he said, “and it is focused on drinking, which is always good for a first date.” Sandra Hernandez, a Morgan Stanley spokeswoman, declined to comment.