• 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]

• Alain Ducasse and Eric Ripert dined together at Brasserie Cognac the other night, in spite of the fact that it was the night Ducasse’s Benoit opened. [NYP]

• Stephen Aspirino, the well-attired former Top Chef contestant, may open a second restaurant in Miami. [NYP]

• There’s more to Cinco de Mayo than just drinking margaritas. [Feed/TONY]

• PETA is getting involved in the Frankenmeat debate by offering a $1 million to the “first person to come up with a method to produce commercially viable quantities of in vitro meat at competitive prices by 2012.” Yeah, good luck with that. [NYT]

• Mark from Top Chef worked Public’s table at last week’s Taste of the Lower East Side. [Gothamist]

• Playboy has launched a nationwide search for Olive Garden servers to pose in an upcoming pictorial unimaginatively called "Girls of Olive Garden." [NYP]

• Elaine’s turned 45 on Sunday, and Woody Allen, Richard Dreyfuss, and Gay Talese were there to celebrate. [City Room/NYT]

• Tom Colicchio thinks the profanity on this season of Top Chef is “excessive.” [NYT]

• Fresh out of court, Patsy’s (the midtown one) is opening a second location in Atlantic City.
Related: And the Winner in the Patsy’s-vs.-Patsy’s Suit Is…Patsy’s

• Excessive smoke caused the FDNY to pay a visit to Artichoke Basille’s Pizza & Brewery last night. [Slice]

• “Big Lou” Elrose, late of Hill Country, has a lot of barbecue styles to juggle at Wildwood Barbeque when it opens next week. [NYP]

• John McCain bought a slice of pepperoni pizza for $3 yesterday at Verrazano Pizza in Bay Ridge and, generous tipper that he is, left a $20 bill. [AP]

• In order to prepare his Passover menu at Solo, Top Chef winner Hung Huynh had to learn a lot, namely what matzo is and how to cook with it. [NYDN]

• As seafood prices rise, you might need to pick up some less expensive varieties. Tautog and croakers, anyone? [NYDN]

• If the British are throwing a third of their perfectly edible food away, then surely Americans are doing the same or worse. [Bitten/NYT]

• A judge is barring the Health Department from enforcing the law requiring chain restaurants to display calorie info on menus, until April 14, by which time he’ll have decided what to about the New York State Restaurant Association’s lawsuit against the city. [NYP]

• A list of schools that received shipments of the recently recalled beef has been released by the Department of Agriculture, but there’s still no list of retailers. [NYT]

• Top Cheffer Dale Talde explains why he needs to have some attitude in the kitchen: “I’m Asian, not the tallest dude in the world and I look like I’m 12.” [Bottomless Dish/Citysearch]

• Top Chef contestant Manuel Trevino was “let go” from Dos Caminos, where he was executive chef, according to an insider. Meanwhile, B.R. Guest claims he left to pursue other opportunities. [Eater]

• For Oceana’s Ben Pollinger, his dishes are like his children; he could never pick one that’s his least favorite. [Restaurant Girl]

• Frank Bruni had to work his butt off to avoid putting on too many pounds while he was on his recent three-week national restaurant tour. [Diner’s Journal/NYT]

• Neighborhood girls and young mothers will be a new presence at the Essex Street Market when they open their second location of La Tiendita offering “healthy granola bars, dried spice mixes, salsa, sofrito, pesto, and a variety of other goods made from farm-fresh foods.” [Feed/TONY]

• The only way to make traveling to and from La Guardia Airport enjoyable is with a stop in Flushing for some authentic Chinese food. [Bitten/NYT]