Cityfile: New York's Most Notable and Influential

• Gwyneth Paltrow's latest goal? To get Mario Batali to lose weight, apparently. She's supposedly already given him a free membership to the gym she's opening with Tracy Anderson, since he's "the only fat friend she has, and wants him to change." [P6]
• Poor Jennifer Aniston has been "holed up" in her room at the Greenwich Hotel since arriving in New York a few weeks ago, supposedly because she's terrified of "bumping into Angie" on the street. [L&S]
• Michael Phelps and Miss California, Carrie Prejean. are apparently dating, or at least that's what Prejean's grandmother is saying. [NYDN]
• In an interview with Ellen DeGeneres, Lindsay Lohan says she's "still in love" with Sam Ronson, and that their breakup "came out of nowhere." She's also lost a lot of weight, which you've probably already noticed. [OK!, People, NYDN]
• Tim Gunn says he hasn't been on a date in 26 years, but that he's okay with it because he's "very happy being alone." [NYDN]More

Bobby's Reservations Line Is Still Open | The Tribeca Film Festival is only two weeks away, which means Robert De Niro's Greenwich Hotel must already be fully booked with attendees paying top dollar to stay around the corner, right? Not so much. It turns out plenty of rooms are available, according to the folks over at Hotel Chatter, who found run-of-the-mill rooms going for just $475 a night. Of course, if you've been following the hotel over the past few months, it's likely you saw this coming. [Hotel Chatter]

De Niro's Greenwich: More Troubled Than Ever | This isn't an easy time for anyone in the hotel business. It's especially rough if you happen to be Robert De Niro and the hotel you're involved with happens to be the Greenwich: De Niro's partners, Ira Drukier and Richard Born, admitted this week that the new, celeb-friendly hotel is running a 50 percent occupancy rate. [NYO]

• Eric Ripert has signed on to host his own PBS show called Avec Eric. [THR]
• Frank Bruni gives the Plaza's Oak Room a single star in today's Times, describing it as more of a "looker" than a "performer." [NYT]
• UES staple Swifty's is opening a Palm Beach outpost. [PBDN]
• JGV is bringing back Vong's original menu from 1992. [JGV]
• Forge will officially change its name to Marc Forgione this week. [P6]
• More details about what's happening at Ago in the Greenwich Hotel. [NYT]
• The Flatiron's Fleur de Sel is closing on February 21st. [Eater]
• It's a tough time to be in the restaurant biz, in case you hadn't heard. [NYT]
• Possibly related: Starbucks is thinking of offering "value meals." [AP]

• Why isn't your glass of water getting refilled? It might be because the restaurant decided to slash costs by firing all the busboys. [WSJ]
• E.U. in the EV is no more; a trattoria is set to take its place by March. [Eater]
• Jean-Georges Vongerichten now says he won't be taking over the Ago space inside Robert De Niro's Greenwich Hotel after all. [DBTH]
• Is Momofuku Milk Bar turning into an actual bar? That's the rumor. [TFB]
• Tom Colicchio and Damon Wise are expanding their discount menu. [Eater]
• Scott Conant will be the guest judge on tomorrow's Top Chef. [GS]
• Gordon Ramsay hasn't been banned from Mario Batali's restaurants. [GS]
• Chef Gabrielle Hamilton has inked a book deal with Random House. [EMD]

Actress (and aspiring gym entrepreneur!) Gwyneth Paltrow was kind enough to post a list of her favorite restaurants and hotels on that new lifestyle website of hers, Goop.com. Lots of the usual suspects are mentioned, like Balthazar and Babbo, which is owned by her food travel show co-host, Mario Batali, naturally. The hotels reflect the places she's lived for the past year while her apartment is being renovated. (That sounds cost efficient!) So where has Gwynnie spent the past 12 months? She says she's only mentioned the places she "loved," a list that includes the Lowell, Bowery, Carlyle, Mercer, and the Inn at Irving Place. But she throws in the Greenwich Hotel, too, although she admits she's yet to see the place. "It looks good on the website anyway." Good enough for us! [Goop via Eater]

JGV to the Rescue | The endless complaints, rumors, and lawsuits involving Robert De Niro's Ago may finally be coming to an end: Jean-Georges Vongerichten has confirmed that he's close to inking a deal to take over the space inside the Greenwich Hotel and open something new. No word on what the new project will be just yet, although it couldn't possibly be any worse than what's there now. [Eater] 

Yes, Bobby, we're talking to you. When are you going to get things straightened out at the Greenwich Hotel already? Fine, it's a new place and it takes some time to work out the kinks. But it's been more than six months since you opened, and it's been four months since Frank Bruni ripped Ago to shreds. Plenty of time to figure out how get the food to the table on time, especially when you're asking people to pay $57 for a breakfast of juice, coffee, cereal and fruit. Oh, also: When a reporter from a major newspaper shows up to look around, we'd recommend that your general manager not scold her for taking a photo of the lobby with her digital camera. Especially when he explains that the hotel doesn't permit photography on the premises and there happens to be a photo shoot taking place on the other end of said lobby. [WSJ]

Tribeca colonist Robert De Niro testified before the Landmarks Preservation Commission yesterday in a bid to save the penthouse of his Greenwich Hotel—which has come under fire for being bigger, more unwieldy, and all-around less Tribeca-like than the one he'd said he would build—from the wrecking ball. "If there are any minor little mistakes, my apologies for it," Bobby told the Commission at a public hearing as he sought retroactive approval for the amped-up penthouse.  De Niro & Co. also enlisted a few boldfaced supporters to testify on his behalf, like fellow Tribeca resident Ed Burns, who spoke as though the 88-room lodging (with rooms starting at $525 a night) were an aesthetic achievement on the scale Bruneschelli's Dome: "The building is beautiful and, for me as a layperson, architecturally beautiful." If the Landmarks Commission ultimately rules in De Niro's favor, maybe he'll treat its members to a free dinner at the hotel's restaurant, Ago—although that might be more of a punishment than a reward, come to think of it.

Were you planning on booking the 2,500-square-foot penthouse with 1,700-square-foot garden at Robert De Niro's Greenwich Hotel for a staycation? Act fast, because the Landmarks Preservation Commission might be tearing it down! Because the top floor is just too big! Not to side with rule-violating developers, but wouldn't the dismantling of this thing be more of a menace to the neighborhood than its mere continued existence?