Cityfile: New York's Most Notable and Influential

• Star chef Alain Ducasse weighs in on New York's best french fries. [GS]
• Daniel Boulud is planning to open an outpost in Singapore next year. [NYDN]
• More on the city's lawsuit against Tavern on the Green. [NYT, Crain's]
• Ninth Street Espresso serves NYC's best coffee, according to GQ. [GS]
• A couple of roundups of food-related events this weekend. [SE, Zagat]
• Media mogul hangout Michael's has been tweeting who comes in for lunch each day. Let it be known that Vogue editrix Anna Wintour does not approve: "It's not something I was aware of but it is probably ill-advised." [NYT]

Stalking Anna Wintour Just Got Easier | Michael's, the Midtown eatery popular with moguls and media machers, now appears to be using Twitter to publicize who's lunching at the restaurant—much to the dismay of Mediabistro's FishbowlNY. [Twitter, MB]

Sarah Palin Can't Do Anything Right | Sarah Palin is in New York, have you heard? She's supposedly in town to meet with HarperCollins about the book she's supposed to write (and which you're dying to read, of course). But she threw everyone through a bit of a loop by dining at Michael's yesterday, power center of the media elite and hardly a venue known for attracting people who go hunting and fishing and are married to champion snowmobile racers. Not that there was any chance she run into the likes of Barry Diller or Tina Brown. She went there for dinner. [Gawker]

• A roundup of restaurants that may close in the near future if you don't do your part and patronize them. Like soon. Thanks for your cooperation. [CS]
• One thing to look forward at Keith McNally's revamped Minetta Tavern: A $26 Black Label burger that doesn't even come with fries. For shame! [TONY]
• Frank Bruni's thoughts on tipping: Never give less than 15% unless the service is "unequivocally dismal," but 17-18% if it's "above-average." [NYT]
• Speaking of tipping, ABC News's roundup of crappy celebrity tippers includes Madonna, Mariah, Gwyneth, and sushi addict Jeremy Piven. [ABC News]
• Tahini on Third Avenue has been closed by the Department of Health. [DBTH]
• Gordon Ramsay is having some money trouble, just so you know. [Gawker]
• Despite what the Times reported three weeks ago, going out to pricey lunches at places like Michael's and the Four Seasons is chic again. Yay. [AdAge]

Paging Miss Manners! The recession is now eroding the very cornerstone of our society's system of etiquette: the willingness to pay for a business lunch. Literary agent Larry Kirshbaum says that people have turned into such tightwads, he's often reduced to conducting business over lunch at a cheap diner instead of Michael's and that one "top publisher" wanted to take him to McDonald's. "People are really afraid to spend money," he reflects. "Anything that smacks of too much fun or self-indulgence is being frowned upon." Well, it's understandable. A few slimmer expense reports, and the demolishment of Western capitalism will reverse itself in no time.

Anna Wintour and Ralph Lauren had lunch together today at Michael's, reports Mediabistro's Diane Clehane. And the two looked, like, totally bummed out: "The pair looked downright anguished. We watching in fascination as the pair leaned over the table with their foreheads practically touching as Ralph propped his head up with his hands and rubbed his eyes. Tough times for the titan? We can't imagine." Foreheads practically touching? That sounds serious! Or seriously romantic! Or something. [Mediabistro]

A few years ago, Vanity Fair columnist and author Michael Wolff announced that he would never dine at the media hotspot Michael's ever again. Did he suffer a horrible case of food poisoning? Get attacked by an elderly socialite with her Hermès handbag? Actually, his outrage stemmed from the fact that he'd been denied his customary table at the restaurant. Now we get to hear the other side of the story: Steve Millington, the general manager of the restaurant, describes the Wolff brouhaha on the Fortune website. And it turns out that quite a few Michael's regulars were pretty psyched to hear they'd no longer have to see him during their lunch hours: More

♦  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]

Lots of people are coming to the defense of Michael's, the media hangout that was subjected to a bruising review by Frank Bruni in the Times last week. Caroline Bankoff of the Observer chatted with David Patrick Columbia who says he found the review "ridiculous" and thought Frank Bruni was being excessively "bitchy." Elderly gossip Liz Smith (pictured here with Michael's owner, Michael McCarty) observed that no one goes there for the food, but that she's fond of the place for the "greeting" she receives and the "physical situation," whatever that means. More

It's a good thing Times dining critic Frank Bruni reviews food for a living, which only relies on his sense of taste and not his eyesight. The photo that accompanied his takedown of power lunch spot Michael's yesterday included quite the collection of moguls in the background, not that Bruni—or anyone else at the Times—seemed to notice. In the audio interview that accompanied the review, Bruni says that the eatery "seems to draw in particularly large measure from the publishing, literary and journalistic worlds. You know, you might see someone like Graydon Carter there. Apparently, you do see some celebrities there. I didn't spot them, but maybe I just missed them as I was hustled to Siberia." Carter isn't much of a Michael's devotee, actually, but perhaps Bruni should have taken a closer look at the picture that accompanied his review.More

• Frank Bruni visits media mogul central, Michael's, and hands the restaurant the zero-star review it fully deserves ("gloppy, affected pub grub") although he points out that the food there "isn't really the point," which is true, too. [NYT]
• Adam Platt gives Convivio three out of five stars this week in New York. Chef Michael White is "Midtown's answer to Mario Batali," according to Platt. [NYM]
• Randall Lane is a fan of Michael White, too. The TONY dining critic gives Convivio five out of six stars. [TONY]
• Ryan Sutton was a little dissapointed that he spent $300 on lunch at David Chang's Momofuku Ko and still left hungry. But he praises the "subtle and complex" lunch menu anyway, describing his meal as "brilliant." [Bloomberg]

• Amy Sacco's Chelsea restaurant Bette, has closed its doors after a three-year run. [Eater]
• If you plan on having an illegal BBQ in Prospect Park this weekend, beware the park rangers. [Brooklyn Paper]
• Florent Morellet isn't upset that his restaurant will live on without him, although some foodies feel "duped." [Eater, NYM]
  
• Those frogs' legs croquettes will have to wait 'til evening: L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon will discontinue its lunch service on July 20th. [Eater]
• Is Odeon the new Michael's?  [Radar]
• Andy Nusser of Casa Mono will oversee the new Mario Batali-Joe Bastianich pizzeria-trattoria project in Port Chester, Tarry Lodge. [Serious Eats]