♦ Is Frank Bruni leaving the Times? Possibly, although he says he's not. [Eater]
♦ Eli Zabar has slapped an "energy surcharge" on all purchases at Eli's and some customers aren't happy about it. [NYT]
♦ A look inside Citrine, the new Flatiron club opening in late October. [DBTH]
♦ Now there are two Spitzers down for the count. The Department of Health has shuttered Spitzer's Corner, the LES bar/restaurant. [Bowery Boogie via Eater]
♦ Pork nut/amateur psychic David Chang says in the future we'll make do with less meat and eat more veggies. [Esquire via GS]
♦ Meet the five finalists in the annual Vendy Awards, which celebrates the city's finest food carts. [GS]

• Adam Platt isn't feeling much love for Jean-Georges Vongerichten's Matsugen. In this week's issue, he gives JGV's soba house a single star. [NYM]

The youngest son of smoked fish proprietor Louis Zabar, Eli owns the eight specialty food shops throughout Manhattan and the Hamptons known as Zabar's. Eli's two older brothers, Saul and Stanley, continue to operate their father's store across Central Park from Eli's East Side territory.