Scott Conant has lots to keep him busy until his next major restaurant project, including a book, a Home Shopping Network deal, and a pilot for a cooking show. [The Strong Buzz]
Earlier: Scott Conant Takes Leave of Alto, L’Impero [Grub Street]

A customer sues Zen Palate for serving her jagged little pieces of metal along with her meal. [NYP]

The lines at Grom have grown even beyond Shake Shack proportions, stretching a whole city block. [Serious Eats]
Related: Grom’s Gelato Conquers New York for Italy [Grub Street]

All that sommelier patter about tasting the earth the wine was grown in? Scientifically speaking, it’s basically a crock. [NYT]

While the owners of Chumley’s look into buying the half-collapsed building they’re in and restoring it, former regulars remark that the place had already lost its character: “The old Chumley’s crowd is all dead and buried; it’s a tourist place now,” one says. [NYT]
Earlier: Pour One Out for Chumley’s? [Grub Street]

Montrachet puts half its cellar on the auction block. [Decanter]

The Silver Palate Cookbook is now 25 years old and has now become a touchstone of baby-boomer culture. [NYT]

The KFC–Taco Bell in Greenwich Village that started the great rat scandal will not reopen, its parent company says. [BusinessWeek]