• With the closure of M & G Diner, the Health Department's shuttering of Louise’s Family Restaurant and Charles' Southern Style Kitchen, the golden age of Harlem soul food may well be over. [City Room/NYT]

• If he had to do it all over again, Jean-Georges Vongerichten says he would have started in Vancouver. Plus, he likes to ski. [Globe and Mail]

• Tonight, Whiskey Town in the East Village is offering all whiskey drinks for 88 cents with a coupon. [Urbanite/amNY]

• Scientists are trying to reestablish oyster reefs in the New York Harbor, but sadly, the goal is to improve the water quality, not to produce epicurean delights. [Brooklyn Paper]

• Top Chef contestant Danny Gagnon likes to hunt, and feels he’s being supported by “basically all the Long Islanders … there’s a lot of Long Islanders in Long Island, so I’m very excited.” [Feed/TONY]

• High-powered Chicago chef Joel Dennis is almost certainly replacing beleaguered Tony Esnault at Adour. [Eater]