PAUL NEWMAN - NEWMAN'S RESTAURANT DAMAGED BY FLOOD

Movie veteran PAUL NEWMAN has been forced to close his new restaurant for a week after a burst pipe flooded the place yesterday (05FEB07). Firefighters were called to the actor's three-month-old Westport, Connecticut restaurant, the Dressing Room, early on Monday morning and found a faulty pipe had set off sprinklers in the revamped barn building. Co-owner and chef MICHAEL NISCHAN (corr) says, "Obviously we're a little irritated and frustrated." Fire officials claim the pipe burst due to the cold Connecticut weather.