Food Network has finally made a cooking competition show worth watching. After torturing us for years with abysmal characters and judges on The Next Food Network Star, they finally show some balls with The Worst Cooks in America.

Cost of Ramen Noodles package: 25 cents. Cost to make them healthier according to this video: roughly $2,000.

This week's Sunday Styles is working a strong theme on food's frontlines: time, like an episode of Lost, is in flux! Because there are some some among us who are eating like OLDS, and some who are eating like cavemen.

• Up next for Red Cat and Harrison owner Jimmy Bradley: An eatery at the forthcoming Nolitan hotel with Red Cat chef Bill McDaniel in the kitchen. [NYT]
• The team behind Dutch Kills in LIC are prepping a tiki bar on the LES. [F&W]
• Montenapo, the restaurant in the New York Times building, has closed. [GS]
• Danny Meyer's Maialino starts serving lunch next week. [TONY]
• A tour of Breslin co-owner Ken Friedman's speakeasy at the Ace Hotel. [BB]
• Don't give too much weight to the calorie counts restaurants put out. [NPR]
• Cold weather has endangered America's strawberry crop. Troubling! [NYT]

New York Times employees are being forced to forage for food outdoors today. The cafeteria is closed because—oh yes—the last 24 hours have brought gastrointestinal sickness to countless innocent NYT employees! Cuisine of DOOM? Scandalous internal memo below.

As if New York Times staffers didn't have enough on their minds what with all the recent layoffs and the gloominess that hangs over the newspaper industry, the paper now has a new enemy to concern itself with: foodborne bacteria. The Times is now looking into whether several employees came down with food poisoning after eating in the company cafeteria and has closed the kitchen as a precaution in the meantime. [NYO]

"Nescafé has found an avid market [in Singapore] for coffee with collagen, a protein found in connective tissues, on the theory that ingesting it will improve skin." Which is false. Also: eww, gross, throwup. [NYT. Pic via]

• The week in reviews: Sam Sifton of the Times calls Casa Lever "deeply likable" and gives it two stars; Gael Greene heads to the Breslin; The New Yorker's Andrea Thompson weighs in on Joseph Leonard in the West Village; and GQ's Alan Richman recounts a couple of disastrous dinners at Sparks.
• Another day, another new Danny Meyer project: Meyer's Union Square Hospitality is taking over the restaurant at the Whitney Museum. [NYT, WSJ]
• Steve Hanson's second Bill's Burger is Rockefeller Center-bound. [Eater]
• Michael White has signed a lease to open a trattoria in the Lafayette Street space that once housed the scandal-plagued bar/club The Falls. [Eater]
• Aspen on West 22nd Street has closed for good. [BlackBook]
• A preview of next week's Tavern on the Green auction kicked off today. [NYT]
• The Post's Steve Cuozzo laments the recent closings of three landmarks: Tavern on the Green, Rainbow Room and the Plaza Palm Court. [NYP]
• Hoteliers are hoping brand-name chefs boost business in 2010. [TRD]
• The Soho club Greenhouse has been sued for discrimination—again. [NYDN]
• Did you know there's a global tea shortage? There is. [Bloomberg]

• A federal judge has yet to decide whether the city or the LeRoy family controls the "Tavern on the Green" name. In the meantime, the city's plan to use "Tavern in the Park" as a possible backup has been given the kibosh. [NYT]
• Café Gitane's Jane Hotel outpost is now serving dinner. [Gothamist]
• A roundup of a few closings around town in recent days. [Eater]
• Doughnut Plant's second NYC location will be at the Chelsea Hotel. [TONY]
• Bowling is booming, apparently. Leisure Time Bowl, the alley inside the Port Authority Bus Terminal, is changing its name and opening a "swank restaurant" and club shortly. It will soon face some competition in the hood, since Bowlmor is opening a $20 million venue on West 43rd Street this fall. [NYT]
• Looking for a few recipes inspired by Jersey Shore? You're in luck. [F&W]

• As expected, Scott Conant will be taking over the Table 8 space at the Cooper Square Hotel. The restaurant is now closed pending renovations. [Eater, GS]
• The Pink Tea Cup's been saved. The Village soul food restaurant, which closed Sunday after 55 years, will reopen with a new owner and the same staff. [NYT]
• Chinatown Brasserie chef Joe Ng has a new spot planned for the WV. [NYT]
• Michael Huynh will open his fifth Baoguette in NYC later this month. [Eater]
• A few favorite coffee haunts of a few random celebrities. [NYP]
• Tavern on the Green served its last meal on NYE, in case you missed it. [NYT]
• The smoking ban isn't enforced much, as you may have heard. [NYT]

• Will the LeRoy family be permitted to auction off Tavern on the Green's "disco lighting," logoed canopy, "revolving coat-check system," and wood paneling next month as they'd hoped? It seems a judge will have to decide. [Bloomberg]
• The week in reviews: Time Out's Jay Cheshes pans Le Caprice, calling it "overhyped" and "bland"; the Times' Sam Sifton hands out a star to Brooklyn's Purple Yam; and Alan Richman of GQ raves about Danny Meyer's Maialino.
• A woman has filed a negligence suit against White Slab Palace on the LES: She says a 150-pound stuffed moose head came crashing down on her. [WPIX]
• Lists: The Post's Steve Cuozzo shares his favorite dishes for winter; Sam Sifton lists 11 memorable dishes he consumed in 2009; the Times recaps its $25-and-under favorites this year; and a "best of '09" list via the WSJ.
• The forthcoming Shake Shack in Nolita will sport a rooftop terrace. [Eater]
• A bunch more NYE dining options, in case you're interested. [GS, Gothamist]

• Closings/bankruptcies: 20-year-old Kitchen Club in Nolita will serve its last meal on New Year's Eve; after 64 years on the UES, Gino will close its doors at the end of January; and Mama Mexico's UWS location has filed Chapter 11.
• A roundup of restaurants opening in the next few weeks. [TONY]
• New York's 2010 "Where to Eat" guide by Adam Platt is online. [NYM]
• Foodies weigh in on the top newcomers/standbys of 2009. [Eater]
• The number of clubs and bars fined for smoking was down this year. [NYP]
• The CEO of Whole Foods gets The New Yorker treatment this week. [NYer]

• Tom Colicchio is closing Craftsteak. He says he plans to reopen the space in the next few weeks with a new menu and new name, Colicchio & Sons. [GS]
• The week in reviews: Sam Sifton of the Times shows some love to La Grenouille, giving the "the last great French restaurant in New York" three stars; Ryan Sutton of Bloomberg isn't blown away by Abe & Arthur's or Tanuki Tavern; and Gael Greene is predictably pleased with Eleven Madison Park.
• The latest Beatrice Inn relaunch rumor: It'll be somewhere in Noho. [P6]
• Chef Anita Lo is writing a cookbook, reopening Annisa in February. [GS]
• Lists: Zagat rounds up the best restaurants of the decade; and the Voice's Robert Sietsema weighs in on the best dining/drinking trends of the Aughts.
• Update from the Hamptons: Both Mezzaluna's and Matto have closed. [GS]
• A waiter at Babbo was the victim of a tragic accident last week. [P6]
• Your stomach really does shrink if you eat less, say scientists. [NYT]

• Christian Delouvrier, the French chef who earned four stars at Lespinasse and later put in time at Alain Ducasse and David Bouley's Secession, is now behind the stove at the more modest La Mangeoire on 53rd and Second Ave. [NYT]
• Ravi DeRossi of Death & Co. and, more recently, Mayahuel, will open a Cuban sandwich shop next month and a rum lounge the month after that. [GS]
• Scarpetta could be opening a Las Vegas outpost in the near future. [P6]
• Giuseppe Cipriani was hit with another lawsuit today, this time for allegedly underpaying his workers; a Cipriani rep says it's "categorically untrue." [NYT]
• The Box's Simon Hammerstein is taking his shtick to Moscow for NYE. [P6]
• A few more local NYE options, if you're looking for that sort of thing. [Zagat]
• Lists: Bon Appétit rounds up the 10 best budget dishes of 2009. [BA]
• The color of your liquor determines your hangover, apparently. [NYDN]
• Bruce Willis is the latest celebrity to own a piece of a vodka company. [WSJ]

• Amy Sacco's Bungalow 8 closed a couple of months ago, but now she says "the grand reopening of the new Bungalow 8" is planned for February. [NYM]
• More on the rumored return of Beatrice Inn, if you're interested. [Gawker]
• Le Pain Quotidien is expanding to Rockefeller Center and Central Park. [NYO]
• Govind Armstrong has left Table 8, but the eatery is still open, FYI. [NYT]
• Andre Balazs's Boom Boom Room will host a very special affair on New Year's Eve. For $250-750, guests will get to watch Courtney Love "perform." [Eater]
• A Hamptons real estate broker has filed a lawsuit against Bobby Flay. [N'day]
• If the 2007 Times article about what restaurateur Drew Nieporent does in his spare time at his New Jersey home didn't satisfy your obsession for all things Nieporent, here's pretty much the same info from yesterday's Times. [NYT]

• Irving Mill off Union Square is closing its doors on January 1. It will be replaced by a downtown branch of the BBQ restaurant Brother Jimmy's. [GS]
• Table 8 and chef Govind Armstrong are parting ways with the Cooper Square Hotel. Scarpetta's Scott Conant is expected to take over the space. [P6]
• Paul Sevigny, co-owner of the late Beatrice Inn, may have his eye on the Civetta space or the Puck Building for his next nightlife venue. [NYDN]
• A Q&A with Per Se's Thomas Keller and departing chef Jonathan Benno. [GQ]
• If you're interesting in making your own honey, you'll be happy to hear the Health Department has proposed lifting the city's ban on beekeeping. [NYT]

• A week after a restaurant opened at the Guggenheim Museum and now Robert, a new eatery at the Museum of Arts & Design, has opened. [GS, NYT]
• Maialino begins breakfast service tomorrow, a first for Danny Meyer. [TONY]
• Aspen on West 22nd has been temporarily closed over tax issues. [Eater]
• A judge has ordered the Chelsea club Duvet to close immediately. [NYP]
• The city's plan to require that restaurants post inspection letter grades—which LA has done for years—is one step closer to becoming law. [NYT]
• Three Russian Tea Room chefs have hit the restaurant with a lawsuit. [NYP]
• Another annual "best of" list, if you're in the mood. [Metromix]
• Snooki from MTV's Jersey Shore now has her own taco. [HL via Eater]

• The week in reviews: Sam Sifton of the Times takes on two Jeffrey Chodorow spots this week, giving one star to Tanuki Tavern and none to Ed's Chowder House; the Post's Steve Cuozzo heads to Casa Lever and is reasonably happy; Time Out's Jay Cheshes gives three stars to Tipsy Parson; the New Yorker's Shauna Lyon hits up Permanent Brunch; and Gael Greene weighs in on OBAO.
• Shake Shack is taking over the world. Outposts in Miami, Kuwait, the Upper East Side, Nolita, and the theater district are all in the works. [NYT]
• Year-end lists: Bloomberg's Ryan Sutton shares his 10 favorite new NYC eateries; and GQ's Alan Richman lists the 10 best new restaurants in America.
• Pink Tea Cup devotees are hoping to raise $100K to save it from doom. [NYT]
• Everything you ever wanted to know about VIP hostesses at clubs. [NYO]
• Your next Big Mac will come with free wireless Internet access. [AP]

Hey, lazy Americans! No fireplace nearby? Layer up your Micro S'More contraption, pop it in the microwave for 10 seconds and bam! S'More Heaven. This product gets points for efficiency but loses them for this overly cheesy commercial.