• Today was Frank Bruni's last day as New York Times dining critic. In honor of the momentous occasion, Bruni shares some thoughts on, well, just about everything you've ever wondered during his five-year tenure. [NYT, NYT]
• Bruni-blitz, con't: Two more interviews with Bruni are online today, including the longest one you'll probably ever see, courtesy of Team Eater. [Eater, TFB]
• The "disastrous, wipeout summer" that many chefs and restaurant owners were fearfully predicting just a couple of months ago never really came to pass, Steve Cuozzo happily reports today in the New York Post. [NYP]
• Today in food reviews: The Daily News' Danyelle Freeman gives The Mott three stars out of five; Pete Wells of the Times pays a visit to SHO Shaun Hergatt; Time Out's Jay Cheshes hits the Standard Grill and has very good things to say; and Bloomberg's Ryan Sutton surveys the city's sandwich scene.
• Corton's Paul Liebrandt may be widely respected chef. But to describe him as an unpleasant interview subject would be a huge understatement. [BlackBook]

• Food & Wine's 2009 "Best New Chefs" were announced last night and, as expected, Corton's Paul Liebrandt was the only New Yorker on the list. [F&W]
• Delicatessen chef Michael Ferraro explains how he plans to turn around the restaurant known as "most loathed new restaurant of the past year." [NYO]
• A final tally of the restaurants that closed in March. [Eater]
• Terrance Brennan talks about what he has in store at Tribeca's Trigo. [TFB]
• You can now buy sushi from a little cart on the street in Midtown. [Eater]
• A collection of bars/lounges famous for their old-school cocktails. [NYT]
• Liquor companies will try anything to get you to keep drinking. [WSJ]
• The DEA shut down a pizza place in the Bronx that served up cocaine in addition to pizza. Insert your own "dough" pun here. [ABC News]

Frank Bruni's list of the 10 Best New Restaurants of 2008 is online. Here they are: 1. David Chang's Momofuku Ko, 2. Drew Nieporent and chef Paul Liebrandt's Corton; 3. (tie) Scott Conant's Scarpetta; 3. (tie) L'Impero; 5. Dovetail; 6. Jean-Georges Vongerichten's Matsugen; 7. Adour Alain Ducasse; 8. Daniel Boulud's Bar Boulud; 9. Allegretti; 10. Mia Dona. [NYT]

• Time Out's annual "Top 100" list is now online. [TONY]
• Frank Bruni hands out three stars today to Drew Nieporent's Corton thanks to Paul Liebrandt's ability to find "the sweet spot between disciplined cooking and intricate, imaginative leaps." [NYT]
• The good news/bad news for John Dory. [Eater]
• Alice Waters, Ruth Reichl, and Danny Meyer have volunteered to join Barack Obama's unofficial "kitchen cabinet." [Feedbag]
• La Cave des Fondus (where wine is served in baby bottles) is open. [NYM]
• As predicted, Upstairs is closing at the end of the year. [DBTH]
• One bonus to the recession: lobsters are cheaper than ever. [NYT]

♦ 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]

♦ New York's Adam Platt hands out four stars to Drew Nieporent's Corton this week, praising chef Paul Liebrandt's cuisine as "technically complex without being exhibitionist." [NYM]
♦ David Chang's Momofuku Bakery & Milk Bar opened on Saturday. Grub Street has rounded up the public reception. [GS]
♦ A handful of spots including Marquee and the Tribeca Grand have been denied permits by the State Liquor Authority to stay open late on New Year's Eve. [NYP]
♦ A detailed history of the epic battle between Da Silvano's Silvano Marchetto and Bar Pitti's Giovanni Tognozzi. [Page Six Magazine]

♦ Frank Bruni reviews Allegretti this week and gives it two stars: "Although some dishes are overwrought, with an ingredient or two too many, and a few utterly miss their mark, more are executed with finesse and with a wicked sense of indulgence." [NYT]
♦ Alan Richman is pleased with Paul Liebrandt's Corton, reserving special praise for its sous vide chicken. [GQ]
♦ A report on how restaurants across the country are coping with the downturn. [NYT]

♦ 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]

♦ Frank Bruni has a few words of advice on what to do if a waiter serves you the wrong dish. [NYT]
♦ Sam Mason has a new bar planned for a space adjacent to Tailor. [GS]
♦ A look inside Aspen Social Club, the Steve Lewis-designed restaurant/bar at the newly-opened Stay hotel. [GofaG]
♦ Anthony Martignetti is opening a "private club without the membership policy" called Southside. [GS]
♦ Drew Nieporent's Corton opened last night in the space that was formerly occupied by Montrachet. [Eater]