♦ 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]

♦ A behind-the-scenes tour of Corton, courtesy of Drew Nieporent and Paul Liebrandt (left). [The Feedbag]
♦ Danny Meyer, Donald Trump, and Drew Nieporent are just some of the people possibly vying to take over Tavern on the Green when Jennifer LeRoy's lease expires at the end of the year. [P6 Mag via NYO]
♦ Snow Patrol's Gary Lightbody and Nathan Connolly are two of the backers behind the Houndstooth Pub in Midtown. [GS]
♦ Nino Selimaj will not be stopped. The ubiquitous restaurateur is opening a new Nino's (imaginatively named Nino's 208) at—wait for it—208 on East 58th Street. [GS]