Cityfile: New York's Most Notable and Influential

• Vong closes tomorrow. Moving in is Wolfgang's Steakhouse. [JGV via Eater]
• Mario Batali says he decided to change up Del Posto because he's planning to get a second Michelin star and a four-star Times review this year. [TONY]
• Rumor has it Scott Conant may take over the Table 8 space. [Eater]
• The Mermaid Inn team open the Mermaid Oyster Bar next week. [GS]
• MePa's Los Dados seems to have morphed into a sports bar. [Eater]
• The food cart hype was bound to lead to something like the lunch shelf. [SE]
• It's a pain when a restaurant screws up a dish, sure. But it's no reason to threaten your waiter with a knife. Unless you want to go to jail, that is. [NYP]

• The guy behind the Campbell Apartment in Grand Central is turning part of the Empire State Building's ground floor into a swanky bar. For reals. [Eater]
• The new Jane Hotel and Ballroom, owned by ever-expanding hoteliers Sean MacPherson and Eric Goode, officially opened last night. [Thrillist, Eater]
• Bruni visits Soho's Savoy in this week's Times, reaffirms its two stars. [NYT]
• Both Ryan Sutton and the Danyelle Freeman weigh in on Table 8. [BN, NYDN]
• For his part, TONY's Jay Cheshes gives Harbour five out of six stars.  [TONY]
• Steve Cuozzo hits up "the Bowery's new Big Enchilada," aka DBGB. [NYP]
• If you've fantasized about turning your living room into a replica of the Gramercy Park Hotel's late Wakiya, you may want to note that all the restaurant's fixtures and furniture go up for sale next week. [GS]
• Europe's big rosé crisis has been settled. What a relief. [NYT] More

• Yesterday's Post piece on restaurants charging for things like water and bread and butter provoked a wee bit of controversy. Frank Bruni thinks more restaurants should be charging for bread. And Bobo's Carlos Suarez would like you to know the water fee goes to charity, so simmer down. [NYT, GS]
• Sasha Petraske's Dutch Kills may open as soon as this Friday. [UD]
• The Beatrice Inn (which is still closed, FYI) has been vandalized. [Eater]
• The latest secret bar you'll hear a lot about, but will probably never visit in person: Bohemian, which requires a swipe key to get in, and is "tucked into the back of a building that used to belong to Andy Warhol," if that's any help. [GS] More

• Giorgio Armani is opening a restaurant inside his new Fifth Avenue flagship later this week. Guess it's time for a little payback, Scott Conant. [Eater]
• The Cedar Tavern on University Place is gone for good. [GS]
• A peak at the new speakeasy-themed bar Raines Law Room. [Eater]
• Anita Lo is closing Bar Q in the West Village. [Eater]
• Dinner at L'Artusi "grinds slowly off a cliff," says Adam Platt, who gives the bar-centric spot on Bleecker a single star in this week's New York. [NYM]
• Inexplicably, the cupcake craze endures. [TFB]
• Daily News food critic Danyelle Freeman has landed a book deal. [GS]
• A hot dog vendor in Times Square is retiring after 41 years. [NYP]
• Starbucks is introducing instant coffee because Americans are "focusing more on seeking satisfying experiences that enhance their lives." Uh, okay. [HP]

Didn't expect to see the day when Giorgio Armani would be blogging? Well, that day has arrived: The Italian designer is spending the week blogging for The Moment, the New York Times's fashion blog. And it hasn't taken him any time at all to master the medium. He's already complaining a lot, sharing too much info, and putting other people down, such as Scarpetta chef Scott Conant.More

• 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]

Bruni's Best | Frank Bruni's list of the 10 Best New Restaurants of 2008 is online. Here they are: 1. David Chang's Momofuku Ko, 2. Drew Nieporent and chef Paul Liebrandt's Corton; 3. (tie) Scott Conant's Scarpetta; 3. (tie) L'Impero; 5. Dovetail; 6. Jean-Georges Vongerichten's Matsugen; 7. Adour Alain Ducasse; 8. Daniel Boulud's Bar Boulud; 9. Allegretti; 10. Mia Dona. [NYT]

• Adam Platt's annual "Where to Eat" guide is now online. [NYM]
• Ian Schrager may be talking to Scott Conant about taking over the Wakiya space inside the Gramercy Park Hotel. [Eater]
• Daniel Boulud shares a few of his fave places to eat in NYC. [Independent]
• The NYT asks the months-old question: Is Chloe the new Beatrice? [NYT]
• Hope you can do without guacamole: An avocado shortage is looming. [LAT]
• More options for New Year's Eve, in case you've yet to make plans. [FB]
• The documentary on Le Cirque and the Maccioni family airs tonight. [HBO]

Scott Conant and Chris Cannon used to be partners in a pair of highly-rated Italian restaurants, Alto and L'Impero. The two decided to go their separate ways in early 2007 (Conant now oversees the meatpacking district restaurant Scarpetta), and while their split may have appeared amicable at first, things devolved over the summer when Conant directed some tough words at Cannon in the pages of New York Restaurant Insider and even suggested his former partner was incompetent. "Something tells us this won't be the last time hard words come out," New York's Grub Street surmised at the time. You can say that again. Last week Conant filed a suit against Cannon in New York Supreme Court, alleging that Cannon has failed to pay him $104,440.67 in deferred compensation. Cannon, for his part, is now countersuing, arguing that Conant violated the terms of his contract as well as defamed him in the New York Restaurant Insider interview, a violation, he says, of the "non-disparaging remarks" provision in the separation agreement they signed in 2007. After the jump, all the salacious details contained in the suit.More

♦  The NYC Wine & Food Festival came to town this past weekend and just about every chef, foodie, and critic was on hand. Among the highlights: Rachael Ray hosted a Burger Bash on Friday (Katie Lee Joel took first prize); Tom Colicchio broke out his guitar and later chatted with Eater about his upcoming plans; Ferran Adria took the stage with Anthony Bourdain and Eric Asimov; Gordon Ramsay vented; Rocco DiSpirito showed off his dancing skills; Bobby Flay mentioned his plans to re-open Bolo; Scott Conant talked about his upcoming eatery in Miami; Marco Maccioni gave details on the restaurant he has planned for the Beekman Hotel; and everyone in attendance generally ate and drank way too much. More here and here. More

• It seems The Box's Simon Hammerstein is quite the pervy, depraved boss, at least judging by all the complaints from female ex-employees. [Gawker]
• The probably-fake nightclub El Bano already has a probably-fake competitor called El-Elevator. [GoaG]
• Scott Conant is a fan of Anthony Bourdain and Jean-Georges; he's not so much a fan of restaurants in China. [Big Think via GS]
• The owners of Patsy's pizzeria in Harlem have won the legal battle with Patsy's in Midtown over rights to the famous name. [NYP]
• Four employees at 230 Fifth are suing the lounge's owner, Steven Greenberg, for paying below minimum wage and skimming tips. [GS]
• Greek superchef Michael Psilakis says he has weakness for rice pudding and he'll eat just about anything. [NYT/Diner's Journal]
• On-the-job injuries aren't restricted to professional athletes and coal miners—bartenders have it pretty rough, too. [TONY]

• Scott Conant is now "poised to become Molto Mario's heir apparent," or so says the Observer. [NYO]
• John Schaeffer has departed Irving Mill. [NY Sun]
• Quite the crowd showed up at a community board meeting to oppose renewing the Beatrice Inn's liquor license. One special guest: Amy Sedaris. [Eater]
• An interview with doorman Aalex Julian of Tenjune. [BlackBook]
• A new Gordon Ramsay video game "rewards players for how well they cook recipes from Ramsay's own repertoire." [NYP]
• Clo, a "sleek, high-tech wine bar" opens on Saturday in the Time Warner Center. [NYT]

• Frank Bruni of the Times hands out three stars today to Scarpetta, Scott Conant's new meatpacking eatery: "Conant has been reunited with his best instincts." [NYT]
• The Post's Steve Cuozzo isn't quite as enthusiastic about Conant's new baby: "It's reassuring to see Conant in the house, but his firm hand doesn't always show up on the plate. It's great having him back, but a little more diligence, please." [NYP]
• Alan Richman of GQ tackles Forge, the Tribeca restaurant owned by Marc Forgione, the son of Larry Forgione. "I think the kid might turn out to be a better chef than the old man," says Richman. [GQ]
• Danyelle Freeman of the Daily News also visits Forge, handing over two stars out of six. The Village Voice's Sarah Gregory's take on Forgione's spot: It "looks like the Little House on the Prairie crossed with Dracula's dining room." [NYDN, VV]
• Over at TONY, Randall Lane awards four out of six stars to Veritas, which recently took on a new chef, Gregory Pugin: "Pugin's flair is visible in each plate." [TONY]
• Paul Adams of The Sun isn't so impressed with Harlem's Asian fusion Talay. [NYSun]

• Frank Bruni finds Midtown seafood stalwart Oceana "still very much worth boarding," handing it three stars and deeming its fish "superbly cooked." [NYT]
• New York's Adam Platt is the latest to shower praise on Scott Conant's meatpacking Italian restaurant Scarpetta, where he give out three stars for the "high-minded, almost priestly brand of Italian cooking." [NYM]
• Gourmet's Ruth Reichl "fell head over heels" for the "gutsy, flavor-forward food" and "extraordinary" pastas at Michael White's brand-new Convivio. [Gourmet]

• New York's Adam Platt spanks Alain Ducasse's new brasserie Benoit with a zero-star review. Some of his least favorite dishes? The lobster ravioli (a "viscous mess"), cassoulet (tastes like it was "preheated in a microwave"), and the steak tartare ("dressed with enough horseradish to choke a cow.") [NYM]
• The Times' Frank Bruni wasn't quite as unhappy, handing over a single star. Bruni found the baguettes "adorable" and the halibut "delicious," but couldn't excuse the place for bungling the "must-ace dish" of roasted chicken. [NYT]