• The week in reviews: Sam Sifton of the Times calls Casa Lever "deeply likable" and gives it two stars; Gael Greene heads to the Breslin; The New Yorker's Andrea Thompson weighs in on Joseph Leonard in the West Village; and GQ's Alan Richman recounts a couple of disastrous dinners at Sparks.
• Another day, another new Danny Meyer project: Meyer's Union Square Hospitality is taking over the restaurant at the Whitney Museum. [NYT, WSJ]
• Steve Hanson's second Bill's Burger is Rockefeller Center-bound. [Eater]
• Michael White has signed a lease to open a trattoria in the Lafayette Street space that once housed the scandal-plagued bar/club The Falls. [Eater]
• Aspen on West 22nd Street has closed for good. [BlackBook]
• A preview of next week's Tavern on the Green auction kicked off today. [NYT]
• The Post's Steve Cuozzo laments the recent closings of three landmarks: Tavern on the Green, Rainbow Room and the Plaza Palm Court. [NYP]
• Hoteliers are hoping brand-name chefs boost business in 2010. [TRD]
• The Soho club Greenhouse has been sued for discrimination—again. [NYDN]
• Did you know there's a global tea shortage? There is. [Bloomberg]

[A 19th-century chandelier from Tavern on the Green is one of many being auctioned off later this month after the restaurant closed on New Year's Eve. Image via Getty]

It looks like gay Spanish hotel chain Axel Hotels is going to erect (har!) a homo outpost right here in Manhattan. Hell's Kitchen to be exact. Like everything fancy and gay, it's probably too expensive for you, but don't fret!

That's right, you won't have to go to Seaside Heights to talk to two of the famous guidos, because we're bringing them right to you to talk about the latest episode as it happens. Who will it be?

Tonight we're tuned into The People's Choice Awards, Man. Vs. Wild, and The Real World. What are you watching tonight? Let us know in the comments.

White House budget guru Peter Orszag apparently ditched his pregnant girlfriend for ABC News correspondent Bianna Golodryga. The girlfriend, Claire Milonas, gave birth to a girl in November. Milonas is a shipping heiress, so, economically, the move makes no sense.

According to network-news statistician Andrew Tyndall, Jake "the Octagon" Tapper's inquiring face was on ABC News' air for 370 minutes—or six long hours—last year, making him the most unavoidable network news reporter of 2009.

The Daily News quotes a source close to Tila Tequila confirming an upcoming meeting with the Johnson family. But Casey's father Woody will probably not attend. So... who knows which Johnsons Tila will meet.

Alex Roman's The Third & The Seventh is a montage of enchanting slow motion shots of cameras, chairs, space shuttles, explosions, stairwells, bulbous water drops, and a trillion other things. It's all computer generated and will blow your mind. Watch!

Condé Nast may start sullying itself by licensing its fancy magazine brand names for dreaded "brand extensions" to raise extra cash. Go big, we say! Click through for seven Condé Nast brand extensions that will really work.

[January 2. Photo: Flickr/joelmaxey]

A relatively recent, routinely marginalized element in the system of psycho/social/sexual identification is the furry community. Feelings on or fears of furries aside, here is one of that congress doing what he loves: practicing samurai moves dressed as a unicorn.

New York City's economy must really be on the mend. Mercedes is planning to construct a ginormous 333,000-square-foot flagship on 11th Avenue, which it's hoping will set "the style standard for all other Mercedes dealers around the country." Alas, Jay-Z and Beyoncé will have to wait a bit before they can head to the futuristic, glassy showroom to pick up their next Maybach: It won't open its doors until the beginning of 2011. [NYT]

Dickchicken would like to be the next Neckface or Poster Boy or other ubiquitous street art dude, but he has two problems: 1. His name, and 2. His logo. Anyhow, click through for a video of his dickness at work.

[Lindsay Lohan and Sister stretch at the airport; image via Bauer-Griffin]

Every day we come across so many great things on the internet. These are our favorite news stories, webjunk, links, tv gossip, and whatever else that we couldn't get to ourselves. Have something to share? Add it here.

Wish you had one handy dandy calendar with all the TV show return dates? Well, that's why we're sharing our Google Calendar with you, so that you can know what to watch and when. TV is almost back, thank God!

• It's a new day at Condé Nast. The mag giant's chief exec, Chuck Townsend, has gone from firing staffers to giving them motivational speeches. [NYO]
• In Touch's editor quit yesterday, reportedly because he wasn't happy that his bosses wouldn't agree to increase his $750,000-a-year salary. [NYP]
• Is MSNBC's Ed Schultz thinking about running for Senate? [HP, The Hill]
• A draft of the script for the third Twilight film has been leaked online. [WSJ]
• Fox's latest reality show, Our Little Genius, is stirring up controversy. [NYT]
• It looks like Sam Mendes will be directing the next James Bond movie. [MTV]
• Advertising: Hanes is pulling its TV ads featuring Charlie Sheen. [People]
• Taylor Swift's "Fearless" was the No. 1 selling album of 2008. In other Taylor-related news, Taylor Lautner is now the highest paid teenager in Hollywood.
• "Newspaper reporter" is officially one of the worst jobs in America. [HP]

Congratulations to Anrkist for being the first person to answer today's Freeze Frame. Click through for the answer.

Today at Gawker.TV, Anthony Bourdain comes across six tons of pure cocaine, NCIS: Los Angeles in 60 seconds, Mariah Carey's drunken acceptance speech, highlights from MTV's Teen Mom, and Bear Grylls gives himself an enema.