Cityfile: New York's Most Notable and Influential

• The critics: Sam Sifton of the Times surveys the new Oceana and isn't overwhelmed, giving it two stars; the Post's Steve Cuozzo is pretty pleased with A Voce and hands it three stars out of four; Time Out's Jay Cheshes bestows three out of five stars on Travertine; and Gael Greene heads to Jeffrey Chodorow's Tanuki Tavern and is surprised to find she actually kinda likes it.
• The fanciest McDonald's in America is now open in Midtown. [AP, WPIX]
• Marcus Samuelsson will cook at White House later this month. [Eater]
• Openings/closings: Café Gitane's WV outpost has opened; cream puff spot Beard Papa has closed; and fro-yo chain Red Mango seems to be in trouble.
• In addition to his son, JGV is now employing his daughter, too. [NYT]
• David Waltuck has parted ways with Macao Trading Co. [NYT]
• Zach Braff is a restaurateur on the side, apparently. [GS]

• 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

• A bunch of expensive restaurants are slated to open over the next few months. That kind of sucks for them, yes, although construction costs are down and rents are now negotiable, so it's not all bad news. Sort of. [NYT]
• Frank Bruni offers up his take on a bunch of "recession beaters" in today's Times, including Anthos Upstairs, Craft's DFF, and the lounge at Per Se. [NYT]
• Will swine flu finally kill the pork-belly trend? [GS]
• Despite the recession, steakhouses still seem full, says the Post's Steve Cuozzo, and Wagyu beef is still selling, "strangely." Strange, indeed. [NYP] 
• Snapple is giving away free pizza from May 4 to May 7. [Slice]
• More immediately: 31-cent scoops at Baskin-Robbins tonight. [TFB]More

Pinkberry's Expansion Will Not Be Stopped | And you were thinking that the fro-yo trend was fizzling out. Pinkberry just revealed that it's secured another $5.8 million in venture capital financing, funds that will likely go to expanding the 73-store-strong chain. Pinkberry isn't the only frozen yogurt enterprise in growth mode. Red Mango recently raised additional funding, too, and says it plans to open 550 locations across the U.S. over the next five years. One small glimmer of hope: One of Pinkberry's big backers is Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, so there's always the possibility that the two chains combine at some point, thereby placing mediocre, overpriced coffee and mediocre, overpriced frozen yogurt under one roof. [WSJ, peHUB]

♦  Tonight is the night for Thomas Keller and Grant Achatz's 20-course, $1,500 dinner at Per Se, and despite the bad economy, it's completely sold out. [NYT, NYT]
♦  A Q&A with chef Seamus Mullen, whose long-awaited Boqueria Soho finally opened last night. [Metromix, Eater]
♦  Christopher Lee will depart Gilt at the end of the year to take over as Auerole's executive chef. [NYT]More

♦  It seems the closure of Jason Strauss and Noah Tepperberg's Marquee this summer had more to do with a drug-related sting operation than a water main break. [NYO]
♦  Frank Bruni gives one star to Socarrat Paella Bar in today's Times: Although Socarrat's signature dish isn't perfect, it's "better than the paellas at many other Spanish restaurants in New York." [NYT]
♦  The fro-yo wars are heating up: Both Pinkberry and Red Mango have hired branding firms to help define their places in the fro-yo market. [AdAge]
♦  The East Village nightclub Mr. Black has been shut down after failing to pay taxes. [VV via Gawker]

• New York's Adam Platt visits Convivio and gives Michael White's kitchen three stars. [NYM]
• Not all Upper West Side residents are excited about the Shake Shack's opening on West 77th Street in October. [NYT]
• Why isn't there more high-end Chinese food? The Wall Street Journal will tell you. [WSJ]
• Rob Walker of the Times weighs in on the fro-yo wars and quotes Pinkberry's CEO, who claims the arrival of Red Mango hasn't impacted business. [NYT]
• The Food Network is launching a magazine. [Gawker]
• A few pointers on cooking seafood at home, courtesy of Eric Ripert. [WSJ]
• Cocktails at The Eldridge will be the highest in the city—$26. [GS]
• Delta will begin selling Junior's individual-sized cheesecakes for $5 a piece on transcontinental flights. [The Lede]

• Frightening nightlife rumor of the day: Club Row's BED may reopen—and in the next two weeks. Go hide under your, ahem, bed. [GOAG]
• It's a (Wolf)gang war! New York steak man Wolfgang Zwiener and the former head waiter at Peter Luger, has won a trademark lawsuit against LA celebuchef Wolfgang Puck. [Daily News]
• Here is why the prices of top wines aren't falling. [Portfolio]
• Free yogurt alert! The new Red Mango on 34th and 3rd is giving out gratis froyo until 10pm tonight. [Eater] 
• Two of the city's biggest restaurant PR shops, Karine Bakhoum's KB Network News and Steven Hall's Hall Company, are becoming one. [Eater]