Times restaurant critic Frank Bruni really really really really didn't like Harry Cipriani, the mainstay of the Cipriani restaurant empire. He gave it no stars and used words like "robbery," "generic," and "confused" in his review. He also used phrases like "sexual harrassment" "highway robbery" and "bizarre mix of indulgence and deprivation." We're only disappointed that perverse and often baffling" didn't make the cut. [NYT]

The Cipriani family is like the Medici clan of New York restaurants; they rule over an empire stretching from the Rainbow Room to the eponymous Cipriani. But like, say, Piero di Lorenzo de' Medici, some Ciprianis are bad apples. Says the AP: "New York City restaurateur Giuseppe Cipriani and his father pleaded guilty Tuesday to evading $10 million in state and city taxes." That's a lotta meatball! Giuseppe the younger is a principal investor in Cuban-themed boite du jour Socialista. And in that context as well, his corruption makes sense!