Cityfile: New York's Most Notable and Influential

• A roundup of restaurants that just opened, or will open soon. [Eater, NYM]
• Sirio Maccioni's Le Cirque celebrated its 35th birthday last night. [NYT]
• Citrine in Chelsea was shut down by the city over the weekend. [Eater]
• Ex-Gourmet editor Ruth Reichl answered a few questions about the mag's demise (and avoided a few others) in yesterday's Times Magazine. But she was a no-show at a party held in Gourmet's honor last night. [NYT, NYDN]
• Have you heard that mac 'n' cheese has staged a comeback? It has! [WSJ]
• Raj Rajaratnam, the hedge fund manager at the center of the biggest insider trading scandal in decades, was an investor in restaurants in his spare time, and supposedly put money into Opia and Rosa Mexicano. [BN]

• David Chang's empire is about to get bigger. The Times confirms the rumor that the man behind Momofuku plans to open a French-Vietnamese spot in the former Town space in the Chambers Hotel sometime this fall. [NYT, TFB]
• The beer garden at Standard Hotel is now open. [UrbanDaddy]
• Andrew Carmellini is perfectly happy that Locanda Verde got two stars from the Times recently: "[T]he reviews have been exactly what we wanted." [W]
• Le Cirque founder Sirio Maccioni's favorite person this week? That would probably be the president of the Philippines, Maria Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who showed up with her entourage and dropped $20,000 on dinner. [P6]More

• Graydon Carter turned 60 on Tuesday, and Frank Bruni was kind enough to give him a gift—an unflattering review of his Monkey Bar. Carter: "Frank Bruni's review in The Times was the perfect nightcap to the perfect birthday." [WWD]
• Speaking of Bruni, a long excerpt from his forthcoming memoir, which appears in this Sunday's New York Times Magazine, is now online. [NYT]
• Are restaurants like Minetta Tavern the city's new nightclubs? [BB]
• Word has it Cafe Boulud will be undergoing a major renovation and expansion sometime this summer and will be close for about a month or so. [Eater]
• A new cocktail lounge could be coming to Bryant Park next year. [Crain's]
• Philippe Massoud's ilili showcases Lebanese wines for the next month. [NYT]
• Le Cirque's Sirio Maccioni will undergo open heart surgery next week. [P6]

• Graydon Carter's Monkey Bar is no longer accepting reservations by phone. In other Carter news, Carter's Vanity Fair has very nice things to say about Carter's Waverly Inn, which you'll no doubt be surprised to hear. [Eater, VF]
• Celebrity settings: A roundup of restaurants where celebs were spotted eating this week (or at least where gossips said they'd been spotted). [GS]
• Osteria del Circo is closed due to a gas leak. But Sirio Maccioni will be happy to seat you at Le Cirque instead and he'll give you 25% off, too. [Eater]
• JGV clears the record: He did not cook for four presidents past and present last week. Just one ex-president, a mayor, and UN Secretary General. [JGV]
• Teany caught fire today and will probably be closed for several weeks. [Eater]More

• Sam Mason's Tailor in Soho has filed for bankruptcy protection. [Crain's]
• More on how the downturn is hurting NYC's pricier places: Sirio Maccioni says his Las Vegas outpost keeps Le Cirque in NYC alive; Le Bernardin has yet to renew its lease; and rumor has it Chanterelle is seeking investors. [NYM]
• The silver lining: restaurant rents are down substantially, which may explain why there's been a spike in applications for restaurant permits. [AMNY, NYO]
• Larry Poston (Waverly Inn, Pastis) has teamed up with Johnny Swet (Balthazar, Freeman's) to take over the former Marylou's space. [P6] More

Michelle Obama was the main attraction at Time magazine's sixth annual 100 "most influential" ceremony at Lincoln Center last night. She was joined by a predictably massive group of A-listers, including Oprah, Harvey Weinstein, Mort Zuckerman, Steve Schwarzman, Jeff Bewkes, Diane Sawyer, Barbara Walters, Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar, Carine Roitfeld, Gayle King, Stella McCartney, Claire Danes and Hugh Dancy, Kate Hudson, Liv Tyler, Jay Leno, Lorne Michaels, Jimmy Fallon and Nancy Juvonen, Charlie Rose, David Lauren and Lauren Bush, Ann Coulter, Suze Orman, Arianna Huffington, Kate Betts, Andy Serwer, Paul Krugman, Vivi Nevo and Ziyi Zhang, Andrea Mitchell, Chris Matthews ... More

• Daniel Boulud's upcoming venue on the Bowery now has a name (DBGB), theme ("downtown beer hall"), and port-o-potty on the premises. [GS, Eater]
• Wine on grocery store shelves? Not gonna happen, sorry. [Crains]
• It appears Justin Timberlake and his partners have given up on plans to open a club in the former Manor space on Eighth Avenue. [Chelsea Now via Eater]
• Where in the world in Sirio Maccioni? In Abu Dhabi for an Andrea Botticelli concert as a guest of the crown prince. In case you were wondering. [GS]
• The strip club Sapphire now has a steakhouse attached to its bosom. [TFB]
• No need to order wine at dinner; a warm body suffices in a recession. [NYT]

• Keith McNally's Minetta Tavern opens tomorrow. And just in case you were holding your breath, he says his pizzeria won't open for a year. [NYT, Zagat]
• Scuderia, Silvano Marchetto's new trattoria located across the street from Da Silvano on Sixth Avenue, opens this evening. [Eater]
• Ramen Setagaya, the Japanese chain with two locations in New York City, opened a third one on University Place last night. [GS]
• What you missed at the $1,000-a-person Citymeals-on-Wheels charity dinner last night, which honored Sirio Maccioni (and was sold out). [TFB]
• Bamn!, the theme-y fast food spot on St. Mark's has gone out of business. But it may be replaced by Michael Huynh's Baoguette. [Eater]
• Starbucks's new menu sucks, according to Time Out. [TONY]
• Believe it or not, there are a few neighborhood pubs that are TV-less. [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]

• Nobody makes Harvey Weinstein wait and that apparently includes Penelope Cruz, who faced his wrath in London last week when she showed up late to a screening of Vicky Cristina Barcelona, then went up to her suite to change outfits, causing Harvey to scream, "Tell her to get her f***ing ass here right now!" [Mirror]
• So much for A-Rod. Madonna has reportedly turned her attention to a male model named Jesus, who she met in Brazil and who's now on tour with her. Less importantly, Guy Ritchie may be dating Brit heiress Jemima Khan. [P6, The Sun, People]
• Courtney Love says she's stopped taking her antidepressant medication so she can "feel the rage" when she records her new album. That sounds healthy! [Daily Express] More

♦  In this week's issue of New York, Adam Platt gives two stars to Brooklyn's Char No. 4. David Bouley's Secession isn't quite as lucky, coming up star-less for its "jumble of tired brasserie conceits." [NYM]
♦  Josh DeChellis has signed on to become executive chef at La Fonda del Sol, the Spanish restaurant inside the Met Life building that is slated to open in January. [NYT]
♦  David Burke's Fishtail opens this week; the soft launch is tonight. [Eater]
♦  Page Six mag takes a look at the city's "smoking speakeasies," spots where the city's smoking ban is almost never enforced. [Page Six Mag]More

Wondering who are New York restaurateurs backing this election season? Not John McCain. Grub Street combed through the data and of the 33 political donations they located, none—not a single one—went to McCain. The most generous contributor was Amy Rubenstein, the co-owner of Peter Luger's (and the wife of PR kingpin Howard) who handed over $5,600 to Obama, Clinton, and Giuliani. The award for most surprising donation? That would be Sirio Maccioni, who gave $2,300 donation to Rudy Giuliani despite the fact the former mayor once confessed that he used to throw up after eating at Le Cirque because the food was so rich. [Grub Street]

♦  Sirio Maccioni is already looking at replacements for Le Cirque chef Christophe Bellanca. [Page Six]
♦  Julian Niccolini says says his customers at the Four Seasons aren't skipping power lunches because of Wall Street's woes, although they do seem to be ordering cheaper wines. [GS]
♦  The Eldridge's Matt Levine confirms the existence of laser-engraved admissions cards; he won't comment on whether Prince has ever turned up at the nightspot. [The Feedbag]
♦  A preview of what you can expect from Dovetail's brunch service, which starts this weekend. [GS]

Maccioni v. Tihany | Le Cirque owner Sirio Maccioni isn't very happy with Adam Tihany, the restaurant design maestro who crafted the look of Maccioni's own eateries but then "betrayed" him by coming up with the new look of arch-enemy Daniel Boulud's Daniel. "Adam Tihany will never do anything for me again," he starts off with Gael Greene. "Adam did five restaurants for me. He was always six months late and two million over budget... I should have 10% cent of everything Adam earns." [Insatiable Critic via Gothamist]