Chinatown: Santos' Party House is already a dancing nirvana. [Bottomless Dish/Citysearch]
Greenwich Village: Even concierge services find making reservations at Babbo to be a big pain. [Diner's Journal/NYT]
Midtown: This tasting guide to the hood's thirteen meat-on-rice carts includes a photo for each spot's serving. [Midtown Lunch]
Related: Cartography
Park Slope: Corner Burger has just opened at 381 Fifth Avenue in a space where at least three other restaurants have failed, but their onion rings are off to a yummy start. [A Hamburger Today via Only the Blog Knows Brooklyn]
Red Hook: Coal-oven pizzeria Anselmo's was supposed to open by the Fourth of July, but the storefront is still under construction. [Slice]
Union Square: Tristar-strawberry season won't putter out until September, and until then you can find the teeny berries at the Berried Treasures stand on Wednesdays and Fridays. [Restaurant Girl]

Carroll Gardens: Rob and Robin have already noted that South Brooklyn Pizza owner Jim McGown transitioned from real-estate developer to pizzaiolo, but here are some more details about how he did it. [Business Week]
Greenwich Village: Akhtar Nawab might unveil some homemade breads at Elettaria that are like the ones he used to roll out in his mother's kitchen. [Restaurant Girl]
Midtown East: Alto has picked up the Grand Award from Wine Spectator. The honor, which only 72 other restaurants worldwide have, is only for restaurants with over 1,500 bottles on their lists. [Grub Street]
Nolita: Thanks to the soon-to-open Delicatessen, "the smell of bubbling cheese is everywhere" (around Prince and Lafayette streets). Someone call a CB meeting. [Eater]
Soho: A papered storefront on Sullivan Street, between Houston and Prince, has a sign painted on the window that says they will sell authentic "Liegé" Belgian waffles. They put the wrong accent on the town name Liège, but "Liegé" totally sounds more authentic. [Eater]
Williamsburg: Artist's space 3rd Ward, at 195 Morgan Avenue, is hosting a pig roast with help from Marlow and Bonita this Sunday from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m., with live music from 6 p.m. on. [Bushwick Is Beautiful]

East Village: Correction: The O.G. restaurant on East 6th Street will close on August 2, and the owner plans to reopen the space this fall as the New York School, which, we think, could be another restaurant. [Eater]
Financial District: Downtown office workers are really excited about the new Fresco to Go on Pearl Street: They were lined up around the block today for a free little taste. [Eater]
Greenwich Village: It's Cow Appreciation Day for the Chick-fil-A chain, and anyone who stops by a location in a cow costume will win — wait for it — a free Chick-fil-A meal. Sneaking into NYU dorm Weinstein is the only way to eat at the city's sole location. This could either assure or destroy your chances of a fast-food chicken today. [Ad Age via Gawker]
Related: Sneaking Past Security for the Sandwich of the Week
Harlem: Le Pain Quotidien is looking at the east side of the neighborhood, near where the Ottomanelli Brothers New York Grill will open at 1325 Fifth Avenue. [NYS via Uptown Flavor]
Tribeca: If you're concerned that Benoit's Bastille Day party on Monday won't feel so celebratory after this week's poor reviews, you could try Cercle Rouge, which will have live music, or another spot on this list of French events happening on Sunday and Monday. [Zagat Buzz]
Williamsburg: There's a cookout Saturday afternoon at the Red Shed Community Garden with $2 hot or veggie dogs and $3 burgers. [Brooklyn Life]

Astoria: It's reassuring to know that even new restaurants in the hood are still "gimmicky with Mediterranean tchotkes and cheesy lighting." [Foodista]
Cobble Hill: The former Red Deli space has finally been reopened as Ted & Honey by a resident who "learned her trade at a Danny Meyer Manhattan restaurant." Mysterious. [Bergen Carroll]
East Village: Thankfully, this close-up of Artichoke Pizza's new crab-dip slice looks better than it sounded, though the taster admitted, "It's gross." [Slice]
Greenwich Village: Mario Batali worked in the kitchen of Rocco's on Thompson Street, but on recent nights "oldsters helped people the place." [Eater] Il Mulino has taken a moment from its daily rounds to share its recipe for pappardelle with tomato and basil. [Restaurant Girl]
Meatpacking District: Former Times food critic Mimi Sheraton not only likes Merkato 55 and the flavors it's introducing to modern tastes, she believes "Marcus Samuelsson may well go down in gastronomic history as the father of the new African cuisine in America." [Word of Mouth via Eater]

Astoria: Mundo Cafe will bring back its summer menu next week. Which means the return of Hungarian cherry soup, which only looks like Pepto-Bismol. [Joey in Astoria]
Carroll Gardens: Yes, that's a giant gondola made out of ice in the window of Marco Polo. The restaurant's celebrating its 25th anniversary, but no, they probably won't let you ride it even in this heat. [Lost City]
Greenwich Village: Recently opened Thunder Jackson's has good bar food, but the forties of Miller High Life served in paper bags are $12. [Bottomless Dish/Citysearch]
Upper East Side: Frank Bruni finds the most interesting outcome of the Beard Awards to be Café Boulud's Gavin Kaysen as Rising Star Chef since "this says a lot about the impression Kaysen has made, or rather how quickly he’s made it. And it says a lot about Daniel Boulud’s ability to pick talent." [Diner's Journal/NYT]
Williamsburg: A Harvard grad got himself locked into Trophy Bar after passing out in the bathroom, and by the time he got a friend to come by the morning after and try to help, he had fallen asleep in the bar's back garden. [NYT]
West Village: Web buzz has it that Sheridan Square's food is legit, but the atmosphere is strange since so far the restaurant always feels empty. [Eater]

Astoria: Winegasm wine bar opens Saturday at 31-86 37th Street; the owners hope to be welcomed into the community, despite having chosen a "controversial" name. [Joey in Astoria]
Chelsea: Taking a step back from scrutinizing restaurant faux pas (like refilling almost-full wine glasses), Bruni spotlights a good deed at Crema as evidence of how some restaurants also go beyond what they are obliged to do. [Diner's Journal/NYT]
Gramercy: Jason Denton's Italian trattoria, Bar Milano, hopes to make an early-April debut. [Eater]
Greenwich Village: The Waverly Restaurant is getting a new neon sign, but hopefully it won't differ too much from the old one. [Lost City]
West Village: Fedora on, West 4th Street, is a throwback to the fifties in look and clientele: "Aside from the sprightly, nearly-ninety Fedora Dorato — who owns the restaurant and still makes all the food — it was ALL men." [Eater]

Greenwich Village: If you can finish a "Can you take the heat?" tasting menu (which gets spicier with each course) on March 15 at Thai restaurant Rhong-Tiam on La Guardia Place, the chef will give you dinner for two at a new restaurant he’s opening called Kurve. [Grub Street]
Elmhurst: You can find "those scary-looking little bottles of Thai Red Bull" at Sugar Club, a little Thai grocery and video store at 81-20 Broadway. (They have curry pastes, too.) [Gothamist]
Hell’s Kitchen: The city’s first Wine Expo will be open tonight and tomorrow afternoon at the Javits Center; get excited about seminars on Argentine Malbecs (oh, and 600 WINES to sample). [New York Wine Expo]
Midtown East: Construction seems under way for the Times-announced first U.S. outlet of Brussels-based chain Rouge Tomate. [Eater]
West Village: The Waverly Inn has a secret cocktail on its menu, and they won’t tell you what’s in it. But maybe that’s why LeBron really wanted to go to the bathroom. [Down by the Hipster]

Clinton Hill: Don’t be fooled by Met Foods window painting claiming the supermarket has the “[l]argest fresh organic products in the area.” You’ll be “hard-pressed to find any (just the usual half-rotten produce they usually carry). It’s clearly a reaction to the threat of all the discerning customers shopping at Green Planet.” [Clinton Hill Blog]
Greenwich Village: The Starbucks on 8th Street between Fifth and University is closing and has posted in its window a bizarre, farewell letter of sorts, which begins, "This thing we have together, it’s bigger than this place." And in a weird way, the epistle is spot-on. [Gothamist]
Harlem: Where can a gal just get a beer and a burger in this gentrifying area? [Uptown Flavor]
Lower East Side: Rayuela is expanding with a Latin takeout spot set to open at the end of March in the former LoSide space. [Eater] Lee Gross’s organic eatery Broadway East opens March 7, and like this week’s ecofriendly thirst quenchers, "filters and carbonates its own water." [Strong Buzz] Freemans will totally let you order artichoke dip before you place your entrée order; they changed their policy two years ago after Bruni’s "Satisfactory" review. [Diner’s Journal/NYT]

Carroll Gardens: The Clover Club — the Smith Street cocktail spot from the Flatiron Lounge people have a sign up. Getting close! [Off the Presses]
Gramercy: Shockingly, for some cooked-food enthusiasts, "some of Pure’s dishes, and not just obvious things like salad, are downright delicious." [Mouthing Off/Food & Wine]
Greenwich Village: Somebody told somebody that a bartender at a new bar told him that Keith McNally may have put a $1 million bid on Minetta Tavern. [Eater]
Hell’s Kitchen: Video of Dave Martin concocting a special Valentine’s Day gelato to serve at Crave. [Snack]
Tribeca: David Waltuck "first got behind the stove [at Chanterelle] — and set the restaurant on its path to becoming one of the city’s most cherished — before he was 25 years old. He’s now 53." And ready for a Q&A with Frank Bruni. [Diner’s Journal/NYT]
West Village: Grom is totally coming to Bleecker Street, and they’re accepting applications now for a March opening. [Eat for Victory/VV] Was Beatrice Inn raided and shut down last night? [Down by the Hipster]

Clinton Hill: The pizza place at 37 Washington will soon become a brick-oven pizza spot called Il Porto. [Clinton Hill Blog]
East Village: The roasted shishito peppers at Jimmy’s 43 are so addictive they may drive you to try to “recreate this dish and drink a boatload of beer immediately.” Don't forget, they’re prepared on hot plates. [Eat for Victory/VV]
Flatiron: Shake Shack’s fired up its heat lamps. [Eater] Flavor your coffee the old-fashioned way, with cardamom. At Gramercy Tavern, they're "serving pots of the complex, medium-bodied Yirgacheffe coffee from Ethiopia brewed with cinnamon, cardamom and orange.” [Mouthing Off/Food & Wine]
Greenwich Village: Bellavitae’s new Neapolitan chef Raffaele Ronca is “exceptionally adept at deboning an entire Cornish hen.” [Bottomless Dish/Citysearch]
Little Italy: Luigi DiPalo of DiPalo Dairy can recommend a pizza joint for every palate. [Gothamist]
Park Slope: The new bar and snack spot on Seventh Avenue at 14th Street called Beer Table should be open and serving its "carefully curated selection of smoked lager, coriander-laced wheat beer and various obscure ales" by next Saturday. [NYT]

Greenwich Village: Send off truffle fever with a wine-sodden bang at Babbo’s December 3 Vintage series, which includes a white-truffle tasting menu with wine pairings discussed by Peter Jamros. [Grub Street]
Hell’s Kitchen: Kyotofu is hosting a seven-course dinner-and-dessert sake pairing tonight at 7 p.m. [Grub Street]
Midtown West: The Frederick’s space on West 58th Street will be transformed into Jour et Nuit, a French-American bistro offering, you guessed it, brasserie classics like croque monsieurs and moules frites. [Restaurant Girl]
Soho: Fiamma is a little too liberal with its "Napkins of Shame," which according to Bruni are a "bit of patchwork that makes the table look clean again" to the embarrassment of the messy diner. The critic was subjected to one himself while on a date. [Diner’s Journal/NYT] The Vosges bacon-chocolate bar is accused of not reaching its potential and tasting "more like the barnyard than the pig and more like the rubber tree than the cocoa pod." [Chop Talk/Epicurious]
West Village: Jody Williams is previewing her new enoteca and salumeria Gottino at Greenwich Avenue near Perry Street. [Eater] The chef’s main stage, Morandi, is also serving a Thanksgiving dinner of rosemary roasted turkey with fennel and bruschetta stuffing. Those looking for turkey alternatives can arrive early for regular breakfast. [Grub Street]

Astoria: The Sparrow’s pain perdu dessert is “basically a grilled chocolate croissant with homemade butterscotch syrup on it, with a dollop of real whipped cream on the side.” [Joey in Astoria]
Harlem: Doug E.’s Fresh Chicken and Waffles still isn’t ready to open. [Uptown Flavor]
Gramercy: Blue Smoke takes top honors in this roundup of the city’s best sweet-potato fries. [Gridskipper]
Greenwich Village: Smith’s from this week’s Openings starts serving tonight. [Eater]
Midwood: Yes, Dom De Marco’s pies at Di Fara’s are impressive, but what’s really cause for amazement is “his asbestos hands. That man can pull a square pie out of the oven, which must be about 800 degrees, with his bare hands.” [Eat for Victory/VV]
Nolita: Public’s butternut-squash soup with spiced marshmallows, crispy chickpeas, and pumpkin-seed oil is just one example in this list of fall dishes showing up all over town. [Restaurant Girl]
Prospect-Lefferts-Gardens: Meytex Lounge is now calling itself Meytex Cafe, but their tasty fried chicken hasn’t changed. [Across the Park]

Astoria: You can ask the chefs from Bistro 33, at 19-33 Ditmars Boulevard, to prepare a special tasting menu — but be sure to request the chocolate-espresso-stout ice cream served on a warm fudge brownie for dessert. [Joey in Astoria]
Chelsea: RUB has introduced the “open-face” and “sloppy” grease fest that is Frito pie to its menu and it’s best inhaled with a kindred Texas brew. [Gothamist]
East Village: David Chang is looking for one experienced cook to join his team for Momofuku Ko, "a very unique operation, with the possibility of no servers." [Eat for Victory/VV]
Greenwich Village: Anita Lo has released a recipe for Rickshaw Dumpling Bar’s kimchee-and-tofu dumplings. [Restaurant Girl]
Red Hook: This is the last Sunday of the season for the ball-fields vendors. [Eat for Victory/VV]

Clinton Hill: Il Torchio may have only opened in August and be prone to underseasoning and overbearing Italian accents, but the restaurant is already gearing up to expand. [Eat for Victory/VV]
East Village: Savoy chef Peter Hoffman’s new restaurant Back Forty has a soft opening today and will officially begin service on Wednesday. [Grub Street]
Greenwich Village: The 70-year-old founder of Gray’s Papaya who posted the “Bloomberg for President” sign on 8th Street “has never been shy about using his store windows for political expression; Jimmy Carter, in 1976, and Bill Bradley, in 1999, both earned his presidential endorsement. And in 1998, when Bill Clinton was facing impeachment, Mr. Gray displayed a sign that read, ‘Hang in there, Mr. President.’” [NYT]
Midtown: Beacon has added a "kitchen counter" which functions as a chef's table, a burger bar, and the site of a weekly tasting menu. [Strong Buzz] A midtown pizza-truck war has broken out. [Midtown Lunch]
West Village: BarFry kicks off lunch service today. [Grub Street]