• Another meat plant is the subject of a federal investigation now, but in this case it's because of the illegal immigrants working there, not the abused animals. [NYT]

• Fancy-pants Gordon Ramsay was seen speaking fluent French when he stopped into Benoit. [NYDN]

• Gordo also thinks that restaurants using out-of-season produce that is not grown locally should be fined. [Reuters]

• Will the next season of Top Chef be filmed in Toronto? [Snack]

• Gael Greene went on a double date at Cacio e Vino with the guy who took her to a controversial dinner at Momofuku Ko. [Insatiable Critic]
Related: Gael Greene Takes David Chang to School

• Where have the spoons at place settings gone? [Zagat Buzz]

• Despite her reputation as a macrobiotic-food snob, Gwyneth Paltrow eats things like fried churros on the travel show she filmed with Mario Batali. [Ad Age]

• Michael Pollan thinks everyone needs to spend more money and time on food. [Serious Eats]

• Artisanal bakers strangely call a certain yeast-alternative leavening agent a “mother,” because it “gives birth every day.” [NYDN]

• Tavern on the Green will open a 40,000-square-foot outpost in San Francisco next summer. [NYS]

• Former Knick Charles Oakley has already taped three episodes of a cooking show called Café Oakley. [NYP]

• Scores owner Richard Goldring thinks the crackdown on his strip clubs was a violation of his First Amendment rights. [NYO]

• Are wine lovers just a bunch of easily duped snobs? [NYT]

• Some people love their Greenmarket produce so much that they’ll pose naked with it. [TONY]

• New Yorkers who wait in ridiculous lines for food are displaying a “sheep mentality.” [NYP]

• It would take a miracle for Chumley’s to reopen this month as originally planned. [Lost City]

• Health Department inspectors have started handing out citations to chain restaurants that have yet to post their calorie info on menus, but fines won’t be issued until July. [NYP]

• Lee Schrager has inked a deal to release a cookbook in 2011 to coincide with the 10th anniversary of the South Beach Wine & Food Festival. [NYP]

• Danny Meyer is being courted to open a café in Harlem. [NYT]

• The restaurant world’s royalty showed up at the opening of Alain Ducasse’s Benoit last week; Geoffrey Zakarian said his new West 44th Street restaurant should open in January. [NYP]

• Don’t worry about safety at Studio B’s new rooftop area, since the wire mesh encircling it totally makes it look not at all dangerous. [New York Shitty]

• Frank Bruni is always in bed by midnight and he likes the East Village’s “scruffy glee.” [Yelp]

• Whoever ranked Chipotle in this top five list of healthiest chain restaurants must not have seen their calorie information. [Health]
Related: The Shocking Secrets of Chain-Restaurant Calorie Counts

• Apparently that new pizza bus tour is doing just fine. [Eater]

• Robert De Niro plans to open Nobu Hotel — a Japanese-themed hotel-condo complex housing an outpost of the famous restaurant — in the financial district. [NYP]

• Gordon Ramsay was expected to stop by the launch of Alain Ducasse’s Benoit last night. [Mouthing Off/Food & Wine]

• In case you missed Law and Order: SVU on Tuesday night, Robin Williams played a creep who also happened to be a locavore. What are the writers implying here? [Serious Eats]

• In an effort to lure back customers, Starbucks will start offering “smoothie-like drinks made with fresh fruit and whey powder,” though this raises the question of who prefers a “smoothie-like” drink to an actual smoothie. [WSJ]

• Casey and Dale from Top Chef Miami still keep in touch, meaning she knows why Dale isn’t dating Jack from Project Runway anymore. [Slashfood]

• Diners think restaurant inspections protect them much more than they actually do. [Science Daily]