♦ Jay Cheshes gives Drew Nieporent's Corton six out of six stars in this week's issue of Time Out: "The best new restaurant I've visited this year." [TONY]
♦ Sweetiepie, the "bizarre restaurant, dessert bar and absinthe den wrapped into one," opens tonight. [GoaG, UrbanDaddy]
♦ A peek at Buttermilk Channel, which opens tonight, too. [Eater]
♦ A roundup of NYC's best absinthe bars. [Metromix]
♦ New York diners are the "toughest in the world," and just like spoiled children, says Alain Ducasse. "A spoiled child is never happy." [TONY]

When we posted this photo of Anderson Cooper walking through LAX yesterday, we didn't pay attention to the man trailing behind him. But Jossip.com points out that it's none other than Julio Recio, who was first connected to the CNN anchor back in 2006 and who was living with Cooper at his West 38th Street apartment as of last year as far as we can tell. Are they still together? It looks that way, although don't expect to see Cooper's name pop up here—at least the Anderson we're talking about—in the near future.

Last week, we sent some some spray-on tanning lotion to Ed Liddy, AIG's embattled CEO, just to make up for the pricey junkets that are no longer available to senior execs at the company. But it looks like we may have to send him some coupons, too. Under pressure from Andrew Cuomo, the company has announced it will pay Liddy $1 a year in salary and will also freeze the salaries of seven other top executives. [Dealbook]

What happens when you start laying off investment bankers and magazine editors? Bank robberies go up, naturally. [NYP]

Say what you want about Lydia Hearst, but she takes her spokesmodel duties seriously. At last night's premiere of Australia at the Zeigfeld Theater, the socialite and erstwhile columnist wore a dress that was, she told the Daily Transom, inspired by the film. But what, exactly, does a floor-length purple halter with Japanese buttons up the side have to do with Baz Luhrmann's epic about an aristocrat and a cattle herder in pre-World War II Australia? "There were actually a lot of Asian seamstresses in Australia during the pre-WWII era," said Lydia. "And you don't see dresses like this anymore." Possibly a good thing, but you be the judge.

♦ Graydon Carter says Vanity Fair plans to go ahead with its annual Oscar party, but "the party will be a much more intimate affair than in years past; we're going to scale back the guest list considerably." [DH]
♦ No replacement is planned for Alan Colmes: Fox News plans to have Sean Hannity serve as solo host of the nightly show. [NYT]
♦ Ted Koppel is parting ways with the Discovery Channel. [NYT]
♦ Looks like OK! has been cutting back on copy editors. The cover of the new issue misspells Ashlee Simpson's name. [HuffPo]

Amy Poehler pushing her new baby boy, Archie, in a stroller ... John Leguizamo riding his bike down the street ... Kirsten Johnston talking on her cell phone ... Nicole Kidman outside the premiere of Australia, just after Hugh Jackman made his arrival ... Kelly Ripa and husband Mark Consuelos unveiling Cartier's holiday windows ... James Taylor arriving at his hotel, followed by Faith Hill and Tim McGraw ... and Katie Holmes walking down the street with Suri.

Promises, Passages, Wonderland: We'll forgive you if you can't seem to keep your celebrity rehab centers/resorts straight. The current issue of The New Yorker takes a look inside Wonderland, which is where Lindsay Lohan spent some time and where Mike Tyson spent more than a year. Wonderland isn't cheap—a private room runs $58,000 a month and, obviously, the place doesn't take insurance. But it sure is convenient! You can pop in for as little as two or three days at a time, which is great for celebs who want to drum up a little tabloid attention but don't want to pay for the media coverage with a month of their lives. Wonderland has no problem if you'd like to bring your dogs with you. Assuming the withdrawal process hasn't destroyed your appetite, you won't have to worry about inedible cafeteria food. (How does grilled lobster in garlic butter for lunch and Chilean sea bass with plum syrup for dinner sound?) And you can use your cell phone, too, which is a major plus if you need to dial up your dealer while you're there. Of course, Wonderland is hardly the only option if you're looking to take care of your coke or alcohol problem, and you'd like to mingle with a few B-listers at the same time. After the jump, a list of six other rehab resorts popular with the boldface set.

♦ Coldplay guitarist Jonny Buckland (left) has paid $3.4 million for a condo at 21 Astor Place. The pad features 2,107 square feet, two bedrooms, and two-and-a-half baths. [NYO]
♦ Leslie Spira Lopez has closed on a four-bedroom, four-bath apartment on the 18th floor of 15 Madison Square Park for $5.5 million. Lopez is the president of Kew Management, the real estate firm her grandfather founded. [Cityfile]

Tanya Hollander, the "hooker booker" who set up appointments for clients of Eliot Spitzer's favorite escort agency, Emperors Club VIP, was sentenced to a year of probation today. [NYDN]

Not that Padma Lakshmi needed any help in ensnaring her next billionaire boyfriend, but this can't hurt: Indian models are apparently the next big thing in the modeling world, an industry that is finally recognizing "their potential and versatility in selling high fashion," reports ABC News. Willowy Brazilians Gisele Bundchen and Adriana Lima? They're so five minutes ago as advertisers and editors book new faces from the subcontinent like September Harper's Bazaar cover girl Kangana Dutta and Ford model Lakshmi Menon, who's been in recent campaigns for Hermes and Givenchy.

We're not sure if this is a sign that the bailout is doomed, or just a signal that Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson really is contemplating endorsement deals to revive the economy, but this morning Bloomberg News squeezed a brand name in the headline of a story about the frantic, behind-the-scenes work involved in rescuing Citigroup this past weekend: "Citigroup's $306 Billion Rescue Fueled by Pizza From Domino's."

Money troubles appear to be piling up for Annie Leibovitz. Back in August, court records indicated that the famed photographer had racked up $715,000 in debt related to renovations on her townhouse in the West Village and unpaid taxes. Now she has another hefty bill to worry about: A stylist she worked with on a series of photo shoots is suing her for failing to pay her firm more than $400,000. [NYP]

Here's a solution to the nation's housing crisis. In a bizarre case of life imitating art imitating life, a Japanese man has been living at the Mexico City airport for three months now, and he's expected to remain there until his tourist visa expires next March. (As you may recall, a similar story served as the basis of 2004's The Terminal, which was itself based on the life of an Iranian man who spent years living at Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris.) But if your home goes into foreclosure, you may want to consider a foreign airport as a place to stay in lieu of a homeless shelter or moving back in with your parents. Of course, you'll have to be cool with the idea of eating at McDonalds for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

For 24 young women, this weekend marks a milestone in their lives: They will make their formal debut into society, just as if they were a bunch of sheltered virgins rather than the jaded and worldly daughters of the rich and powerful. The annual Crillon Ball, tirelessly organized by Parisian Ophélie Renouard, is taking place on Saturday, and WWD talks to a few of the lucky attendees about their dresses, and "escorts."

Barbara and Jenna Bush are celebrating their last birthdays as First Daughters: The twins turn 27 today. Christina Applegate is 37. Actor John Larroquette is 61. Pop/gospel singer Amy Grant is 48. Fantasy Island's Ricardo Montalban is 88. Actor/pundit Ben Stein is 64. New York Times columnist Gail Collins is turning 63. Famed choreographer Tricia Brown is 72. And hot dog eating champ Joey Chestnut is 25 today.

♦ Alex Rodriguez won't be eating turkey with his tots. His estranged wife Cynthia says her "6-foot-3, 220-pound soul-less, soon-to-be ex-husband is abandoning his kids on Thanksgiving to be with Madonna." [P6]
♦ Amy Winehouse is back in the hospital after yet another "reaction to a medication." [NYDN]
♦ Ann Coulter broke her jaw. And now her mouth has been wired shut! [P6]
♦ Kate Moss was spotted leaving a party with "some mysterious scratches on her cheek." [Daily Mail]
♦ Fashion designer Stacey Bendet and her husband, the son of former Disney CEO Michael Eisner, had a baby. [P6]

♦ News of the government's rescue package for Citigroup provided the market with boost yesterday, but Citi CEO Vikram Pandit (who still has his job for the time being) has many long days and nights ahead if he's going to turn the bank around. "This is a reprieve, but it's not a complete pardon." [WSJ]
♦ On CNBC, Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, one of the bank's biggest shareholders, expressed confidence in "Mr. Vikram" while "stroking a strand of beads and wearing red-tinted glasses." Then he blamed the bank's problems on Chuck Prince. [NYP]
♦ Tim Geithner may be the man of the hour, but shouldn't he be shouldering some of the blame for the government's missteps thus far? [NYT]
♦ Banks are concerned they may have a credibility problem on their hands. You think? [Reuters]

Thousands of companies large and small have gone under in recent months as the economy has spiraled downward. Here are just a few of the banks, real estate firms, retail outlets, magazines, websites, manufacturing businesses, and restaurant chains that have filed for bankruptcy, been sold off for pennies on the dollar, or shut down operations since the beginning of the downturn. Click here to expand the image. [Cityfile]

♦ The Condé Nast memo concerning budget cuts seems to have failed to make its way to W. Last week Kate Moss arrived in NYC to do a shoot, only to discover it had been canceled and no one had bothered to tell her before she left. So, after stopping to smoke a cigarette outside JFK, she hopped back on another first class flight home, at the cost of $12,000 to the magazine. [Mirror]
♦ The latest casualties of the recession: Holly Dunlap, whose shoe line is no more, Fred Leighton jewelry, which might be going into liquidation, and even, maybe, expensive fashion shows. [NYP, WWD, WWD]
♦ Fashionistas in Moscow are coping with the plunge in the market the way any good Russian would: They're drinking lots of vodka. [stylefile]