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"Charmingly disheveled," a touch of "mildew buildup"—never has a restaurant shared as many qualities with one of its owners as is the case with the Waverly Inn and Vanity Fair doge Graydon Carter. Today's Times yanks the reader by the tassles of his Belgian loafers into the gritty reality that is the Waverly Inn's hygiene situation. The conclusion: Meh, kinda dirty. In March, the restaurant failed a health inspection, garnering 38 violation points in the DOH's book. But, as Eric Konigsberg reports, "the Waverly Inn was reinspected by the city on Thursday, and passed this time, with a score of 22 points." That's still 9 points above average but good enough for a pass. A little less mouse excreta goes a long way. But today's write-up is less notable for who it names than for who it benefits.

Graydon seems the chief beneficiary, earning some free press for a non-story and reminding the Times readership that he was once very funny with bons mots like, "Maybe you'll see the Waverly cat there at some point. Then we get a children's book out of it down the road." But the guy getting the real help here is Eric Konigsberg.

Konigsberg, whose wife, Glamour deputy editor Ruth Davis Konigsberg, recently publicly upbraided her husband for his lackadaisical writerly swoonings, is clearly inching his way out of the doghouse, one article on rich people by article on rich people at a time. Maybe he'll even get some above-the-sweater action for getting off a good line like this: "Serving things like truffled macaroni and cheese in a charmingly disheveled town house may be just another form of content providing." Can marital bliss be far behind? —Josh

Upscale Snacks, Famous Clients, and a Health Dept. Warning [NYT]
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