Cityfile: New York's Most Notable and Influential

• The much-hyped Breslin opens for lunch on Thursday, but co-owner Ken Friedman already has a detractor: the mosque across the street. [NYO]
• Closings: Centro Vinoteca in the West Village has been shuttered by the city. And the Bread Bar at Tabla is closing as of tonight. [Eater, GS]
• François Payard's eponymous patisserie closed four months ago, but he'll make a mini-comeback next month when he opens a chocolate bar. [NYT]
• How busy is restaurateur Michael "Bao" Huynh? He's opening one restaurant a week during the month of November. So he's pretty busy. [GS]
• Greenhouse is facing more legal trouble: A couple of weeks after the club was sued for $1 billion comes another discrimination suit for $1.5 billion. [NYDN]
• A roundup of restaurants offering various Halloween specials. [Zagat]

• The week in reviews: Sam Sifton gives a super-enthusiastic review (and two stars) to Daniel Boulud's DBGB in his first review as NYT restaurant critic today; the Post's Steve Cuozzo leaves Oceana very happy and gives it three out of four shiny new stars, now that he's armed with a star system like every other paper; TONY's Jay Cheshes tackles Oceana, too, giving it three stars out of five; GQ's Alan Richman visits A Voce; and Adam Platt of New York reserves one star for a "Madoff-like" Caravaggio and nada for Hotel Griffou.
• The war between Todd English and the woman he was set to marry last weekend (but didn't) continues. In short: Either English is the biggest jerk ever, she wants to be famous and is nuts, or they're both totally crazy. [Gawker]
• The new Momofuku in Midtown now has a name: Ma Pêche. [Eater]
• Tavern on the Green is supposed to change hands at the end of the year. But now outgoing owner Jennifer LeRoy has petitioned a court for three extra months. And what will happen if a judge doesn't go along with the plan? TotG says it may have to fire 400 employees. Right before Christmas. [NYT]More

• The new edition of the Michelin Guide is out and five spots earn a coveted three stars: Per Se, Masa, Le Bernardin, Jean Georges, and Daniel. [GS]
• Café Boulud reopens this Wednesday following a month-long refresh. [TONY]
• A roundup of restaurants opening in the next week or so. [TONY]
• Carnival, the amusement park/nightclub owned by (and located above) Bowlmor Lanes, soft opened this weekend. The grand opening this coming weekend will be hosted by none other than Paris Hilton. [NYP]
• A look back at Gourmet, which is shutting down after 68 years. [Gawker]
• Another sign o' the times: McDonald's is opening inside the Louvre. [NYDN]

• Roundups of restaurants opening in the next week or so. [TONY, Eater]
• A look at the last-minute work involved in getting The Breslin, Ken Friedman's  latest restaurant, ready for its October 8 opening. [NYT]
• Photos inside Abe & Arthur's, which opens to the public next week. [Eater]
• You may soon able to booze it up in the shadow of the Statue of Liberty: The vendor in charge of concessions there has applied for a liquor license. [NYP]
• David Chang's Momofuku Ko is raising prices beginning next week. [Eater]
• Is celebuchef Wolfgang Puck planning a NYC outpost? Possibly. [Gothamist]
• A chat with Richie Notar, the man who runs the show at Nobu. [ObsessedTV]
• What has Frank Bruni been eating since stepping down as restaurant critic of the New York Times? Lots and lots of roast chicken, apparently. [Atlantic]

• After more than 30 years in business, Café des Artistes is no more. The landmark restaurant closed on August 9 for a monthlong vacation. Now the owners, George and Jenifer Lang, say they've decided against reopening it in September following "steady losses and a union lawsuit." [NYT]
• Another notable closing: Ken Friedman and April Bloomfield's John Dory, which unexpectedly closed its doors on Saturday after just nine months in business. The duo say they're hoping to find a new location for it. [Eater, NYT]
• One place that is not closing, contrary to a rumor that made the rounds late last week: the meatpacking club Griffin, which reports all is well. [P6]
• A Voce should open in the Time Warner Center next week. [GS, Eater]
• A roundup of other spots slated to open over the next week or two. [TONY]
• A roundup of places scheduled to debut over the next few months. [Zagat]
• Kurt Gutenbrunner (Wallse, Blaue Gans, Cafe Sabarsky) has signed on to oversee the menu at the new beer garden at the Standard Hotel. [Eater]
• If Dean Poll wants to keep the Tavern on the Green name when he takes over the venue, he may have to pay as much as $19 million for the rights. [NYP]

• Frank Bruni will soon step down as the Times' chief restaurant critic. Who will replace him? Eater rounds up some of the faves as well as a bunch of unlikely picks, like Katie Lee Joel, who has a 475,000-1 shot of landing the gig. [Eater]
• Bruni's first appearance (second coming out?) after he steps down from the Times will be at the New York City Wine & Food Festival on Oct. 8. [GS]
• The UWS isn't the dining ghetto it once was thanks to the likes of Zak Pelaccio, Michael Huynh, Tom Valenti, Michael Psilakis, and Danny Meyer. [NYP]
• Start saving up: Marea, Michael White and Chris Cannon's temple of seafood, opens in the former San Domenico space on CPS tomorrow. [Eater]More

• The restaurant formerly known as Ago will reopen next Tuesday under the name Locanda Verde. Andrew Carmellini is executive chef and a co-owner with Robert De Niro; Ken Friedman consulted on the new design. [NYT]
• Rumor has it Per Se's Jonathan Benno may be going off on his own. [TFB]
• Tasti-D-Lite isn't intimidated by Pinkberry or Red Mango: It plans to open 35 new outlets over the next decade. Related fro-yo news: Pinkberry is opening stores abroad and a chain called Yogurtland is expanding, too. [AMNY, NRN]
• Famed Coney Island pizzeria Totonno's won't be back in biz until July. [LC]
• Style.com's list of the 13 dumbest boomtime cocktails saves special mentions for local spots like The Eldridge, PDT, and World Bar. [Style.com]More

• Who doesn't want to take over Tavern on the Green? A meeting of potential bidders today attracted Alan Stillman, Boathouse owner Dean Poll, Capitale's Seth Greenberg, and reps for Cipriani, Trump, and Meyer. [NYO]
• Minetta Tavern is attracting quite the crowd: Madonna and Gwyneth Paltrow were there for dinner last night; Anna Wintour was in the house for lunch. How hard is it to nab a reservation? Not as hard as they'd like you to think. [TFB, GS]
• The good news/bad news about Zak Pelaccio's UWS Fatty Crab. [Eater]
• Ken Friedman is serving $0.99 drinks for the Rusty Knot's 1st bday. [TONY]
• A peek at Keste Pizza & Vino, which opens next week and will be offering classes on how to make authentic pizza. Just $4,000 for 10 sessions! [Eater]
• The owner of the Ollie's chain of Chinese restaurants has been ordered to pay $2.3 million in back pay to workers for violating wage laws. [NYDN]
• Word to the wise: celebrity chefs will make you fat! [NYDN]

• Pics inside the UWS branch of Zak Pelaccio's Fatty Crab, opening tonight. [GS]
• Time Out's Jay Cheshes says Ken Friedman and April Bloomfield's John Dory "is the best new restaurant I've visited so far this year." [TONY]
• The owners of Long Island City's Water Taxi Beach will be opening a beach bar/restaurant next to the South Street Seaport this summer. [Eater]
• Described as "fitfully enjoyable," "uneven" and "bold," Frank Bruni gives Gabe Thompson's L'Artusi one star out of four in the Times today. [NYT]
• Top Chef's Fabio Viviani is now pitching frozen pizza. [EMD]
• The L Magazine's third annual "Bar Awards" is now online. [L Mag]
• NYC's top paella place, Socarrat, is now serving lunch and delivering. [TONY]
• Paris's latest three-star chef, according to the new Michelin Guide? It just so happens to be Nicolas Sarkozy's favorite spot. Global food scandal! [Guardian]

• Fat Hippo has opened in the space that used to house 71 Clinton. [GS]
• The Times's Frank Bruni gives out two stars today to April Bloomfield and Ken Friedman's "putatively British" John Dory. [NYT]
• A number of struggling restaurants are planning to stay open until just after they "make their nut" on Valentine's Day. [NYO]
• There was an electrical fire at 10 Downing last night. [Eater]
• Some genius is trying to open a "ping pong social club." Todd Oldham is designing it and it will be sponsored by Fred Perry. [NYO]
• Please refrain from calling Gordon Ramsay a "cook." He's a chef. [EMD]

• Ago partners Robert De Niro, Richard Born and Ira Drukier have tapped Andrew Carmellini as chef; Ken Friedman is the design consultant. [NYT]
• Is Justin Timberlake opening a Southern Hospitality in Chelsea? [GS]
• Peasant in Nolita finally has menus in English. [Eater]
• Martha Stewart went to Momofuku Milk Bar on her show today. [EMD]
• Scores may be gone, but you can still pick up bottles of the former strip club's private-label blanc de blancs. Perhaps you wanted a keepsake? [GS]
• Many places are extending their Restaurant Week menus. Here's a list. [W&D]

♦  New York takes a long look in this week's issue at The Box, Simon Hammerstein's infamously sleazy club. Don't read it if you're eating or you're easily offended by tales of snot and/or raw sewage. [NYM]
♦  Fresh trouble for the Cipriani family: The head of the State Liquor Authority, Daniel Boyle, says an aide to Governor Paterson tried to "intimidate" him into renewing the family's liquor licenses. [NYP]
♦  Opening this week: Macao Trading Co., brought to you by the team behind Employees Only; Carroll Gardens' Buttermilk Channel; and Perle on Pearl Street. [NYM]
♦  The Observer has put up its list of top 10 new bars. [NYO] More

♦  Mirco del Vecchio, the executive chef of Ago, says he'll sue Robert De Niro for breach of contract if he's replaced at the restaurant by Jean-Georges Vongerichten. [Page Six]
♦  Why is Alain Ducasse's Benoit earning such bad reviews? Ducasse blames American journalists who "don't quite understand French bistro." [RG]
♦  Ruth Reichl paid an early visit to David Bouley's recently-relocated Bouley and describes it as New York's "loveliest restaurant." [Gourmet]
♦  The reservation line is officially open for John Dory, the Brit-themed restaurant by April Bloomfield, Ken Friedman, Mario Batali and Joe Bastianich that is scheduled to open on November 24th. [Eater]More

♦  John Dory, the Brit-themed seafood shack by April Bloomfield, Ken Friedman, Mario Batali and Joe Bastianich, looks like it's finally opening, possibly as soon as Saturday night. [TONY, Metromix, Eater]
♦  A look inside Center Cut, Jeffrey Chodorow's new restaurant inside the Empire Hotel. [Eater]
♦  Craftsteak and Thom Bar have a few specials in store for election night. [GS]
♦  Momofuku Ssam Bar will cater your Thanksgiving dinner with pork butt and potato puree. [The Feedbag]
♦  If it's any consolation, Tim and Nina Zagat don't think the financial crisis will do much damage to the city's restaurant economy. [WSJ]

♦  It's only been a few months since it opened, but Sheridan Square has already closed. [Eater] 
♦  Hand over $50 to the Obama campaign and you can watch the debate at The Box tonight. [NYP]
♦  Taavo Somer and Ken Friedman on cutting out half the menu at the Rusty Knot. [DBTH]
♦  There are actually bars in the city that serve $1 beers, believe it or not. [Metromix]
♦  The new Trader Joe's in Brooklyn is open! [Brooklyn Paper, Racked]