• Danny Meyer has tapped Gramercy Tavern's executive sous-chef, Nick Anderer, to run things at his new restaurant at the Gramercy Park Hotel. [GS]
• A roundup of restaurants already open or will be soon. [Eater]
• Greenpeace staged a demonstration inside Nobu on Saturday night. [NYT]
• More bad news for Giuseppe Cipriani: His Moscow expansion is a no-go. [P6]
• Pete Wentz's Angels & Kings was shuttered for serving minors. [Gawker]
• Frank Bruni isn't too impressed with the Obamas decision to eat at Blue Hill during their weekend jaunt to NYC: "In the very predictability of this choice, in its all-too-neat squaring with the officially sanctioned food agenda, in its absence of surprise or abandon, isn't it ever so slightly disappointing?" [NYT]

• The Cipriani saga continues: The family has filed suit against landlord Tishman Speyer for terminating its Rainbow Room lease and is asking for $1.8 million in damages. [NYP]
• Here's some good news (or perhaps some wishful thinking): A handful of America's priciest restaurants, including Masa and Per Se, say that business has not been hurt by the recession. [Bloomberg]
• Joe Bastianich is dropping the price of the tasting menus at Del Posto. [NYT]
• Klee Brasserie in Chelsea is now open for lunch. [GS]
• Scott Bryan is taking over for Neil Manacle as executive chef at Apiary. [NYT]
• What can you get to eat downtown for $1 or less? Quite a bit! [Metromix]
• Change is not on the way, at least as far as the White House kitchen is concerned. The Obamas are keeping current chef Cristeta Comerford. [WP]

♦ Adam Platt reviews Apiary and Delicatessen in this week's issue of New York. While the former earns a star, Delicatessen is ravaged for, among other things, "a Reuben sandwich that looks like it's been issued directly from the kitchens of Continental Airlines." [NYM]
♦ Gray's Papaya's "recession special" just got a little less special: Two franks and a drink will now cost you $4.45. [NYT]
♦ The best street food in NYC? Calexico took home top honors at the annual Vendy Awards. [Eater]

♦ Frank Bruni doesn't give Delicatessen in SoHo any stars, but he's pretty pleased with those famous cheeseburger spring rolls. [NYT]
♦ New York's Adam Platt can't get over Sheridan Square's "bland" decor (which he likens to the interior of an airport hotel), but the food earns the spot a star. [NYM]

• Frank Bruni visits media mogul central, Michael's, and hands the restaurant the zero-star review it fully deserves ("gloppy, affected pub grub") although he points out that the food there "isn't really the point," which is true, too. [NYT]

Apparently, working as a bartender at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater isn't always so funny. Margot Leitman reports: