Cityfile: New York's Most Notable and Influential

• It's a big night for Jean-Georges Vongerichten: He's cooking dinner at the United Nations for three past presidents (Carter, Bush I, Clinton) and one current president. Halibut's on the menu, in case you're wondering. [Crain's]
• Scott Sartiano and Richie Akiva of 1Oak and Butter are taking over the West 14th Street bar/club formerly known as The Plumm. [Page Six]
• Tom Colicchio's 'wichcraft is creating the menu for a Southwest Airlines-sponsored "pop-up lounge" in Bryant Park, slated to open June 19. [NYT]
• Merkato 55 (or Le 55, as it was known recently) is now bankrupt. [Crain's]
• Locanda Grande has a bakery café and it's now serving up breakfast. [GS]
• The city is evicting Citarella from its Harlem location. [NYT]
• Christian Albin, chef at the Four Seasons, died over the weekend. [NYT] 
• What you missed at the Big Apple BBQ this weekend. [Gothamist, Metromix]

• The new owners of the Florent space are turning it into something called the Gansevoort Cafe; a Fiamma replacement is on the way, too. [Eater]
• 'wichcraft is introducing a "sandwich-inspired" dinner menu. [GS]
• Daniel Boulud's forthcoming DBGB will offer 14 kinds of sausage. [TONY]
• Le Souk is abandoning the EV and moving to Bleecker and LaGuardia. [Eater]
• Organic food is more popular in NYC, less popular in Idaho. Crazy! [NYT]
• Cookbook sales are up, which, naturally, has to do with the recession. [WSJ]
• A film shoot gone awry damaged the Sbarro in Times Square today. [NYP]
• The James Beard Awards go down tonight; Eater has a liveblog. [Eater]

♦  Tom Colicchio is opening two more 'wichcraft locations in Midtown. [GS]
♦  Despite an appearance on Kitchen Nightmares last week, Black Pearl on West 26th Street has closed its doors. [Eater]
♦  An update on the UWS branch of Shake Shack, which remains under construction. [Eater]
♦  Not only is Daniel Boulud not worried about the recession, he also happens to be opening a new restaurant called Secession. [WSJ] More