Well well, if it isn't the Federal Trade Commission, deciding now—after all American children have already starred on 'The Biggest Loser'—that there should be some rules about marketing unhealthy foods to kids. What foods? You will be amazed!

• A look around Provocateur, the new club by ex-Stereo partners Mike Satsky and Brian Gefter that opens this week at the Gansevoort hotel. [GS]
• The latest in the Tavern on the Green saga: It's possible the landmark will be forced to shut down completely on Jan. 1 unless the mayor intervenes. [NYP]
• It looks like street cart sushi is not coming to NYC anytime soon. Alas. [ML]
• Speaking of food carts, let this be a lesson to never cut in line for falafel.
• Gourmet's collection of 3,500 cookbooks has a new home at NYU. [NYT]
• On Regis and Kelly today Anderson Cooper professed "his love for a bakery called 'Milk' [sic] next to a Japanese [sic] restaurant called Momofuku." [SE]

This video is really helpful, but to what extent? If you're in a situation where you are making your own ketchup (or catsup if you must) shouldn't you reevaluate Dad's standing job offer at the dealership?

• A roundup of restaurants that just opened, or will be shortly. [TONY, Eater]
• Stephen Starr, the mega-restaurateur behind such intimate spots as Buddakan and Morimoto, may be opening a Vietnamese spot next. [GS]
• Le Caprice, the posh British import now open at the Pierre Hotel, hasn't wowed critics, but New York's Adam Platt gives it two stars this week. [NYM]
• Tavern on the Green closes in two weeks. Is a TotG hotel next? [Crain's]
• Cold weather special: A guide to the 50 tastiest soups in NYC. [NYM]
• The Christmas tree at Hotel Griffou went up in flames last week. [P6]
• A big bunch of dining recommendations for New Year's Eve. [Zagat]
• A Times article about power lunching at the Four Seasons managed to get the restaurant confused with the hotel. How unfortunate. [NYT via Eater]

• Olana on lower Madison Avenue is the latest restaurant to go bust. [Crain's]
• The UES fixture Gino's is still open, it may not be for much longer. [NYT]
• Café Habana's lawyer fired back today at the four ex-employees suing the restaurant. But now two other former servers are voicing similar complaints.
• Your dreams have been answered: The new Chelsea club Amnesia, which opened its doors last night, is "a little bit of Jersey Shore in Manhattan." [GS]
• Rao's is impossible to get into. It's also overrated, just as you suspected.
• Gordon Ramsay's restaurant empire almost went under this year. Now he says he plans to focus more on TV than food in the future. [Bloomberg]
• The State Liquor Authority is dealing with another bribery case. [NYP]
• How much goes Kim Kardashian get to appear at a club? $40K. [Eater]

• The Tavern on the Green saga continues: The LeRoy family has hired a marketing firm to sell the restaurant's name, but that may not be legal. [NYT]
• La Goulue closed this summer after losing its lease. Now it has a new location on East 63rd Street, though it's unclear if it'll be allowed to serve booze. [GS]
• The unstoppable Michael Huynh has several new spots planned. [Eater, IC]
• Closings: Harbour on Hudson Street appears to have gone under; Abraço in the East Village is temporarily closed and plans to reopen in a couple of days.
• Noel Ashman says his new lounge, opening "in the near future" somewhere "downtown," is "a mix" between Soho House, Veruka, and Bungalow 8. [GS]
• The Gansevoort Hotel in Miami has gone into foreclosure, but that won't have any impact on its New York sibling or its restaurant/rooftop bar. [MH]
• Rocco DiSpirito is currently staging a "local comeback," apparently. [NYP]

• The week in reviews: Sam Sifton of the Times pronounces Madangsui the best Korean BBQ in Manhattan and gives it one star; the Post's Steve Cuozzo isn't all that impressed with Le Caprice; Time Out's Jay Cheshes has mixed feelings about Susur Lee's Shang; GQ's Alan Richman heads over to Ken Friedman and April Bloomfield's Breslin; and Gael Greene checks in on Café Boulud.
• It's looking likely that Scott Conant will take over the Table 8 space. [Eater]
• A peek inside the Guggenheim Museum's new restaurant, Wright. [NYT]|
• Nightlife: A new club on West 29th Street called Amnesia debuts tomorrow; and Mike Satsky's meatpacking club Provocateur should open shortly.
• More on the Tavern on the Green auction scheduled for next month. [NYT]
• Time Out lists off the 100 best things to eat and drink in New York. [TONY]
• The Flatiron Indian eatery Tamarind is opening a branch in Tribeca. [Zagat]
• Frank Bruni and Jonathan Safran Foer debated meat last night. [TONY]
• If your kid refuses to eat at McDonald's, watches Iron Chef religiously, and studies up on varieties of cheese, you probably have a "gastrokid." [NYP]

A brilliant and imaginative group of food artists make an exact replica of the London skyline—using food. And instead of using traditional English dishes to make the skyline, they used fruits and vegetables—so it's edible, too!

• Didn't crash last month's state dinner? No worries. Marcus Samuelsson's Riingo will offer the same menu he served the Obamas next week. [GS, TONY]
• Closings: Pink Tea Cup in the Village will close its doors next month after 55 years in business; and nearby Gus' Place has been shuttered by the tax cops.
• The Wright, the new eatery inside the Guggenheim, opens on Friday. [Eater]
• East Side Social Club, the new Midtown spot co-owned by photographer Patrick McMullan, is the 2009 version of the Waverly Inn, apparently. [NYP]
• UWS deli Artie's has a new owner and will expand across NYC. [Crain's]
• A handful of local food-related holiday gift ideas for you consideration. [SE]

In a warm dystopia many years from now, New York City will be underwater and ginormous mutant crustaceans will roam the globe, mouth-wateringly. Here's hoping the cows don't die, because we're going to need butter. [NatlGeo]

• A few tricks that some eateries rely on to get you to open your wallet. [NYM]
• Permanent Brunch has reopened after getting shut down last week. [GS]
• Tavern on the Green's fixtures go up for auction next month. [NYT]
• Adam Platt looks at what happened to dining out during the aughts. [NYM]
• A handful of celebrity chefs has some weight loss tips, oddly enough. [Time]
• Duvet has been shuttered following a report of a rape inside the club. [NYP]
• Looking to meet a banker? A list of bars popular with the Wall Street set. [BI]

For millennia, man has questioned how Burger King tricks consumers by making Whoppers look edible in commercials. The answer is simple: In order to make fast food look good, you must make it even more disgusting.

The Way We Live Now: Not how a respectable attorney should, that's for sure. Things are so bad that students at Harvard Law School have to pay tuition now. Do you know how hard that is on a trend-farmer's wage?

• Is Steve Hanson planning to clone his new and very popular Bill's Bar & Burger in Times Square? That's a rumor making the rounds. [Eater]
• Permanent Brunch was shuttered by the cops today over an outstanding tax bill. But it plans to reopen tomorrow—and with a new name, too. [GS]
• Pink Elephant will be just "Pink" from now on. Just so you're aware. [NYDN]
• Is it possible that Montreal bagels are better than NYC ones? The Times gets to the bottom of things. The Journal, for its part, tackled bagel injuries today.
• Related: Bagels will be replacing hot dogs on 14th and 7th Avenue. [GS]
• Epicurious has issued its list of food trend predictions for 2010. [Epicurious]
• A list of 20 secrets your waiter will never reveal (and which you don't want to hear), and yet which they still gave to Reader's Digest anyway. [MSNBC]
• Just in case all the quasi-nude photo shoots she's done didn't drive home the point, Padma Lakshmi reports she loves being naked. Got it? Good. [P6]

• Tom Colicchio says he has a new restaurant planned for 2010. [Eater]
• Todd English is creating a "food hall" in the basement of the Plaza. [NYT]
• Monkey Bar is getting a bit more democratic. The restaurant now has a phone number commoners can call for reservations. For lunch only, though. [TONY]
• Bouley and Allen & Delancey have some health code issues to sort out. [GS]
• Anthony Bourdain is no fan of street food, in case you were wondering. [ML]
• Fewer bars and clubs are getting permits for all-night NYE parties. [NYP]
• Ever want to look inside Ruth Reichl's fridge? Now you can! At last! [Salon]

Okay, now we're ready for dinner. Taco Bell, anyone?

"Bagel-related injuries are exceeded only by chicken, potato, apple and onion injuries." Knowledge is power.

Our friends at GMA introduce us to a family who bring new meaning to the term thrifty. Meet a family of six who spends less than four dollars a week on groceries. We suddenly feel worse thinking about yesterday's feast.

The passion and joy that John Nese has about soda will make you rethink why cynics even exist in this world.