Rotund, Croc-clad celebrity chef Mario Batali, who also works part-time as Gwyneth Paltrow's spirit guide, is being sued by the waiters and busboys at his highly regarded New York restaurant Del Posto. The staffers claim their tips were pooled illegally.

• Vong closes tomorrow. Moving in is Wolfgang's Steakhouse. [JGV via Eater]
• Mario Batali says he decided to change up Del Posto because he's planning to get a second Michelin star and a four-star Times review this year. [TONY]
• Rumor has it Scott Conant may take over the Table 8 space. [Eater]
• The Mermaid Inn team open the Mermaid Oyster Bar next week. [GS]
• MePa's Los Dados seems to have morphed into a sports bar. [Eater]
• The food cart hype was bound to lead to something like the lunch shelf. [SE]
• It's a pain when a restaurant screws up a dish, sure. But it's no reason to threaten your waiter with a knife. Unless you want to go to jail, that is. [NYP]

• A preview of what you'll find when Maialino opens next week. [GS]
• In other Danny Meyer news, Shake Shack is expanding to Miami. [GS]
• For his part, Daniel Boulud is taking his Bar Boulud to London. [Bloomberg]
• A roundup of recent restaurant/bar openings around town. [Eater]
• Del Posto is closing its cafe and is introducing a new prix fixe menu. [NYT]
• Paul Sevigny may be still be hoping to reopen the Beatrice Inn. [Gawker]
• 100 things restaurant staffers should never do, part 2. [NYT, previously]

• 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]

The restaurant world is fueled by shadowy PR organizations, a culinary world version of the Office of Strategic Influence. These buzz-building machines, invisible to your average diner, are responsible for much of what you eat, how long you wait to eat it and just how long you'll eat it for.