• Eleven weeks after the initial outbreak of salmonella in tomatoes, the FDA still doesn’t know where it started, and the National Restaurant Association says the whole incident has cost the industry at least $100 million. [WSJ]

• The beloved West Village lesbian hangout Rubyfruit is closing after fifteen years because of rising rents, and Socialista’s Armin Amiri is among the people in talks to take over the space. [NYP]

• After a year of litigation, the Cipriani organization has “amicably” agreed to end its lease at 200 Fifth Avenue next year. [NYP]

• Belgian-Brazilian beverage giant InBev has made an unsolicited bid of $46.4 billion to acquire Anheuser-Busch, which seems like a lot for a company that manufactures something as foul as Budweiser. [WSJ]

• The restaurateurs of Smith Street’s restaurant row are pissed at Con Ed for the power outages that ruined their cash flow earlier this week. [NYDN]

• Joe Bastianich, Tom Colicchio, Padma Lakshmi, and April Bloomfield watched the Top Chef finale on the third floor of the Spotted Pig last night. [Eater]

• 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]

Though the FDA approved the sale of meat and dairy from cloned animals, the Department of Agriculture is asking farmers to postpone introducing cloned animals into the food supply until they can calm retailers and overseas trading partners. [NYT]
Related: FDA to Beef Industry: Send in the Clones

The list of restaurateurs interested in snatching up Tavern on the Green when its lease expires at the end of the year has expanded to include heavyweights such as Danny Meyer, Drew Nieporent, and the Ciprianis. [NYP]

The Great Restaurant Critic Notebook Caper of 2008 continues! With confirmation that it belongs to neither Frank Bruni nor Danyelle "Restaurant Girl" Freeman, the search for its owner goes on. [Eater]
Related: So the Critic Left Her (?) Notes. So What?

Momofuku Noodle Bar 2.0 is set to open Tuesday, which by David Chang’s accounts should mean Ko will be raised in one night and ready by Wednesday in the original’s former space. [Eater]
Related: Keeping Up With the Momofukus

Food & Wine questions whether Meryl Streep can carry the role of their “Patron Saint” Julia Child, though they have hope from a scene in The Hours in which the actress “deftly separated egg whites from egg yolks by letting the whites run through her fingers.” [Mouthing Off/Food&Wine]

Hudson Valley is the largest foie gras producer in the country so even though 15,000 breeding ducks were killed in a fire this week, it “shouldn’t seriously affect production,” says Frank Bruni. [Diner’s Journal/NYT]

Others agree: The Ciprianis’ “deal was sugary enough to let the nattily dressed pair stride out of Manhattan Supreme Court Justice John Cataldo’s courtroom looking like the cats that ate the cannolis.” But they forgot to mention the bimbos in Lambos. [NYP]
Related: Ciprianis Get Out of Jail, Open New Restaurant
On the Ciprianis Cooking Pasta — and the Books!

In his new book, Gordon Ramsay reveals the importance of private-equity firm Blackstone in his career, like the company’s bankrolling “the installation of a chef’s table, where … three women showed their appreciation by baring their breasts to the cooks after one convivial meal, he writes.” Way to keep it classy, Gordo. [Bloomberg]

The first round of trans-fats fines, ranging from $200 to $2,000, have been issued to restaurants across the city including Little Guyana Bake Shop in Queens — whose owner “didn’t know [the new rules] applied to bakeries as of yet.” [NYP]

Colombo-crime family associate Dennis Pappas signed leases for Cipriani USA as the CEO of the restaurant group, but was surprisingly left off contracts submitted to the SLA. [NYP]

By the time Craig Hopson unveils his new menu in January, One if by Land, Two if by Sea will have undergone a complete renovation, building on a color scheme of chocolate and watermelon. [Restaurant Girl]

The fall openings include all the usual suspects. [Strong Buzz]
Related: Where the Underground Gourmet Will Be Eating [NYM]

The State Liquor Authority is set to yank the liquor licenses from the Ciprianis, thanks to their felony tax-evasion conviction. Is this the end of their N.Y. operations? [NYP]

Joey Campanero of little owl fame is planning on opening his new restaurant, Market Table, sometime in September. [Strong Buzz]

The Moondance Diner has left the building. [Newsday]
Related: Go West, Old Diner

The Upper West Side is “Manhattan’s hottest restaurant neighborhood” with a confluence of good places from name chefs and anonymous but high-quality local eateries. The addition of Daniel Boulud’s new wine bar is just the icing on the cake. [NYP]

If you like Peter Luger, Magnolia Bakery, or Pearl Oyster Bar, know that there are clones all over town. [TONY]

The glories of hidden Queens range from an Argentine steakhouse with “insane” portions to an ancient ice-cream parlor in Jackson Heights. [NYP]

The Cipriani family may lose the lease on its Fifth Avenue property because of their criminal case. [NYP]

Just like the Moondance Diner, Jade Mountain’s iconic neon sign looks like it’s headed out of town. [Lost City]

Will Goldfarb better get to work on that glyph, because apparently his new restaurant won’t be called Room 4 Dessert for legal reasons. [Eater]
Related: Room 4 Dessert Is Dead, Long Live Room 4 Dessert

There’s more to the Pearl Oyster Bar suit than the poaching of lobster-roll recipes or wainscoting; Rebecca Charles accuses Ed McFarland of what amounts to corporate espionage. [Diner’s Journal/NYT]
Related: Ed’s Lobster Bar to Pearl Oyster Bar: Step Off!

It’s finally official: Salman Rushdie and Padma Lakshmi are bust-o. A source close to both suggests two of the possible reasons: Rushdie is “totally self-centered,” and Lakshmi “incredibly dull.” [Daily India]

PDT’s combination of conspicuous secrecy and promotional exertion is basically ridiculous. “It kind of gives you the idea that you're the only one who knows about a place. But once you look around and are like, ‘What are all these people from New Jersey doing here?’ — obviously, you're not.” [NYP]