♦  Sasha Petraske's Mercury Dime won't be serving alcohol (it was denied a liquor license yet again last night), although Petraske is hoping to rebound by turning Milk & Honey into a "private social club." [Eater]
♦  Cocktail king Dale DeGroff is working with Marriott to create cocktails for the hotel chain. [NYT]
♦  Philippe's new West Village offshoot, Philippe Chow Express, is now equipped with touch-screen kiosks. [NYT]
♦  Guest of Guest's map of where the cool kids hang out. [GoaG]
♦  Le Cirque has dumped its à la carte menu. [Zagat]
♦  Steve Lewis corresponds with his old pal Michael Alig. [BB]
♦  A cooking lesson courtesy of Wylie Dufresne. [GS]
♦  Laura Bush clearly has no interest in what Frank Bruni thinks. She turned up at Michael's for lunch today. [MB]