Jean Georges waiter claims to have been abused by the restaurant’s homophobic staff — including a forced after-hours lap dance. We might have expected this at Mercer Kitchen, but … [Newsday]

The Times considers the banana-cream pie as a Zeitgeist item, concludes that it unites the diverse population of Los Angeles. Also, it’s funny when people throw them. [NYT]

Iacopo Falai set to open Caffe Falai, a more casual version of his restaurant later this week. Get there while it's still BYOB. [The Strong Buzz]

New York has better bars and restaurants than London, says English op-ed. And they’re just figuring this out now? [Telegraph]

Chinatown is the place to go for cheap, high-quality vegetables. Also, we would add, for cheap, high-quality fish, turtles, dumplings … [WNYC]

Cook and cashier brutally shot at Brooklyn’s Happy House Chinese restaurant. [NY1]

Whether to add other brands to your core business, or shed them: McDonald's versus Red Lobster. True inside-baseball, but interesting. [Foodservice Blog]

Sales are slipping in restaurant chains everywhere, and not even because of E. coli. [Houston Chronicle]

Back from the dead: Child's restaurant, a booming New York cafeteria chain for most of the twentieth century, is reopening in Coney Island. [NYDN]

For the restaurateur who knows the staff is cheating him, but just can't quite prove it … [Craigslist]

Synergy at work: Glossy restaurant-branded lifestyle magazines for rich diners at posh restaurants. To no one's surprise, David Burke has a hand in this. [NYT]
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Red Lobster and Olive Garden jump on the trans-fat banned-wagon [CNN]