• Todd English's troubles with Erica Wang, his former fiancée (and the woman he was supposed to marry last weekend) continue: The chef filed a criminal complaint against her earlier this week, claiming she clocked him in the eye, a wound that he says required seven stitches to close. [NYP]
• A bit of better news for English: Juliet, his new club/restaurant on West 21st Street, is on track to open to the public next week. [TONY]
• Steve Hanson's latest venture, Bill's Bar and Burger, opens tomorrow. [GS]
• A list of other recent openings, including Daniel Boulud's Bar Pleiades. [Eater]
• Purgatorio, the giant club/theater/haunted house in Times Square brought to you by The Box's Simon Hammerstein opened tonight. The extravaganza features "more than 100 performers swooping from rafters, screaming obscenities and gushing fake blood." Sounds like fun, doesn't it? [NYP]

• The week in reviews: Sam Sifton gives a super-enthusiastic review (and two stars) to Daniel Boulud's DBGB in his first review as NYT restaurant critic today; the Post's Steve Cuozzo leaves Oceana very happy and gives it three out of four shiny new stars, now that he's armed with a star system like every other paper; TONY's Jay Cheshes tackles Oceana, too, giving it three stars out of five; GQ's Alan Richman visits A Voce; and Adam Platt of New York reserves one star for a "Madoff-like" Caravaggio and nada for Hotel Griffou.
• The war between Todd English and the woman he was set to marry last weekend (but didn't) continues. In short: Either English is the biggest jerk ever, she wants to be famous and is nuts, or they're both totally crazy. [Gawker]
• The new Momofuku in Midtown now has a name: Ma Pêche. [Eater]
• Tavern on the Green is supposed to change hands at the end of the year. But now outgoing owner Jennifer LeRoy has petitioned a court for three extra months. And what will happen if a judge doesn't go along with the plan? TotG says it may have to fire 400 employees. Right before Christmas. [NYT]

Sam Sifton, the New York Times' brand new restaurant critic issued his very first review today! DBGB, the most recent addition to Daniel Boulud's dining empire (and "one of our more gregarious and intelligent restaurateurs, according to Sifton) landed a solid two stars from the man chosen to succeed Frank Bruni. Do forgive him, though, for starting off the review with the words, "Hey, ho, let's go!" He's new around here and probably pretty excited about his new gig, which makes him the city's most powerful food person. But he should calm down after he eats his way through the first 100 meals or so. [NYT]

Reviewers on Yelp aren't very discerning: They award four or five stars 69 percent of the time (see chart). The local ratings website could combat this by grading on the curve, but would rather force you to click around.

Chicken wings are cheap, tasty, and more popular than ever. How popular? They're the most expensive part of the bird, these days. The real victim here: The once-beloved breast.

• The New York City Wine & Food Festival is underway, although if you haven't secured tickets by now, you can forget about attending any of the events. [GS]
• What should Andre Balazs call the Standard's Boom Boom Room now that legal issues have forced a name change? "Mile High Club" gets one vote. [NYT]
• Buddha Bar has been sued over 400K in unpaid legal bills. [Eater]
• There's a pasta renaissance taking place in the city, apparently. [NYP]
• A Q&A with Katie Lee Joel, who has a new cookbook (and who says she'd be just as well known today even if she'd never married Billy Joel). [TONY]
• The Times Magazine's "food issue" is now online. [NYT]

• Following a brief makeover, Café Boulud has reopened its doors. [W&D]
• Donatella Arpaia's Mia Dona, however, is now closed for renovations. [GS]
• Despite the recession, food festivals remain a hot ticket. [WSJ]
• High-end sushi, however, is totally over. Make a note of it. [GS]
• Eric Ripert's Le Bernardin has jumped on the wine club bandwagon. [Eater]
• Incoming Times food critic Sam Sifton has an uphill battle ahead of him, clearly. He was immediately spotted when he walked into Daniel last week. [P6]

• The critics: In his last review as the Times' interim critic, Pete Wells upgrades Brooklyn's Saul to two stars; New York's Adam Platt is very disappointed by what he finds at the new iteration of Aureole; TONY's Jay Cheshes gives Joseph Leonard four stars out of five; Lauren Collins of The New Yorker describes her visit to SHO Shaun Hergatt as "painful"; Bloomberg's Ryan Sutton checks out the eats at Yankee Stadium; and Restaurant Girl pays a visit to Bia Garden.
• Want to shut down that noisy club in your neighborhood? All you need is a lawyer, publicist, blog and Twitter account. After a barrage of complaints from locals, The Jane Hotel's Ballroom is now closed until November. [Gothamist]
• The duo behind Sant Ambroeus open Casa Lever in the old Lever House Restaurant space (located in Midtown's Lever House!) next week. [NYP, GS]

Oh wow, hey everybody, all the fancy people in New York City, gather 'round and look at this: It's fried chicken! Here is a newsworthy new trend, "foodies": Chicken, rolled in flour or batter, and fried. Alert the media!

You're not going to believe this, but according to the new edition of the Zagat guide, which officially comes out today, "New Yorkers are eating fewer restaurant meals than a year ago, and when they do, they're skimping on appetizers, desserts and alcohol." Crazy, huh? In other shocking news, the survey reports that people are "finding better deals" when they go out to eat and are having an easier time getting reservations.

You should stop eating now, because every food you've ever loved will kill you.

• Despite rumors to the contrary (and a recent surprise visit by inspectors from several city agencies) the Jane Hotel's Ballroom is still open. [Eater, NYP]
• Daniel Boulud is pumped about his three Michelin stars, unsurprisingly. [GS]
• The Voice's Robert Sietsema, however, would like to see Michelin disappear: "Get your radial-tire ass in gear and lay rubber out of here, Michelin Man. We've already got plenty of unreliable sources telling us where to eat." [VV]
• Hill Country is planning to open expand with a fried chicken place. [TFB]
• Chefs and restaurateurs mourn the closing of Gourmet after 68 years. [GS]
• Esquire magazine's "Best New Restaurants" list is out. [GS]
• The age-old (and elusive) hunt for NYC's best bagel. [Serious Eats]

We as Americans are not in the shape we once (1942) were. Is it possible to "lose" the accumulated weight of decades of Cap'n Crunch, Nestle Quik, and Quarter Pounders? America's willing to give it a shot. With crazy schemes.

Not only is NYC's calorie-posting law annoying—who wants to be reminded that the drink they're about to order is not only overpriced but is packed with 400 calories, too?—it doesn't encourage people to eat (or drink) healthier either. Although nine in ten people who saw the calorie counts posted claimed they "made healthier choices as a result," when researchers at NYU and Yale "checked receipts afterward, they found that people had, in fact, ordered slightly more calories than the typical customer had before the labeling law went into effect, in July 2008."

• The new edition of the Michelin Guide is out and five spots earn a coveted three stars: Per Se, Masa, Le Bernardin, Jean Georges, and Daniel. [GS]
• Café Boulud reopens this Wednesday following a month-long refresh. [TONY]
• A roundup of restaurants opening in the next week or so. [TONY]
• Carnival, the amusement park/nightclub owned by (and located above) Bowlmor Lanes, soft opened this weekend. The grand opening this coming weekend will be hosted by none other than Paris Hilton. [NYP]
• A look back at Gourmet, which is shutting down after 68 years. [Gawker]
• Another sign o' the times: McDonald's is opening inside the Louvre. [NYDN]

• The week in reviews: The Times's temp critic Pete Wells hands out a single star to the Standard Grill (and some controversy follows); NY's Adam Platt has mixed things to say about "pre-recession throwback" SHO Shaun Hergatt; Bloomberg's Ryan Sutton takes a knife to the new Aureole; and TONY's Jay Cheshes bestows four out of five stars on Ryan Skeen and Allen & Delancey.
• The Jane is striking back at its very angry (very noise-averse) neighbors. [P6]
• Coming in 2010 (maybe): Chumley's, the Village landmark that closed a couple of years ago, is hoping to make a return. And Todd English is looking to open a hotel restaurant named Oliver Todd on Great Jones Street. [Eater, GS]
• How did Danny Meyer come up with Shake Shack? Allow him to explain. [BT]
• Wine prices are at all-time lows, in case you haven't heard. [Reuters]
• How are some chain restaurants luring in customers during these tough economic times? By offering up discounts on drinks, naturally. [WSJ]
• Did you know Sunday is International Pickle Day? Now you do! [Decider, BB]

Remember Bill Sonner, the former New York Stock Exchange trader who lost his job last year and has since found work driving a Mister Softee truck on Long Island? He's not the only one who has made that sort of a career transition, it turns out. CNBC reports that one of the guys behind the Schnitzel & Things food cart—which nabbed the "Rookie of the Year" award at this past weekend's illustrious Vendy awards—is a finance industry refugee as well. Before he took to the streets with breaded cutlets of chicken in hand, Oleg Voss worked at a boutique M&A firm in Vienna. Are these two examples enough to make the path from finance to food trucks an official trend? While you ponder that question, you can view a clip from CNBC's segment earlier today below.

• The war against the Jane Hotel marches on. Not only does Jane Street Neighbors United, the "coalition" now facing off against the Village hotspot, have a lawyer, blog and Twitter feed, it's retained a publicist, too. [NYT]
• Openings: Nolita's Travertine debuts tonight with former Top Chef contestant Manuel Trevino behind the stove. And RobataNY opened yesterday in the EV.
• Tyra Banks explored the wide world of food trucks on her show today. And Frank Bruni's appearance on Martha Stewart's show last week is now online.
• The bar formerly known as Baraza has reopened as Summit Bar. [GS]
• The Bagatelle team is turning Merkato 55 into an Italian restaurant. [GoaG]
• Desperate times: Starbucks unveiled a line of instant coffee today. [WSJ]

• Michelle Obama had lunch at Gramercy Tavern today; chaos ensued. [BB]
• The Jane Hotel drama continues: Apparently an article about the hotel/club's outraged neighbors was supposed to run in the Times last weekend, but the Jane's co-owner Richard Born managed to get the paper to quash it. [Curbed]
• Trader Joe's may be opening a location on Sixth Avenue and 21st St. [NYO]
• The competition between Greenhouse and Provocateur is heating up. [P6]
• Dean Poll sure is off to a great start: Union workers say they're planning to hold a rally outside Tavern on the Green on Friday afternoon. [Crain's]
• The lawsuit filed by ex-Masa employees for getting shafted out of the 20% service charge added to diners' tabs? A judge says it can move forward. [Eater]
• Guinness is celebrating its 250th birthday today. Cheers. [Serious Eats]

• The week in reviews: Pete Wells of the Times shows little love for Hotel Griffou this week, leaving the Village hotspot starless; TONY's Jay Cheshes has nice things to say about Michael Psilakis' Gus & Gabriel; NY's Patronite & Raisfeld weigh in on Brooklyn's Fort Defiance; RG visits Yerba Buena Perry; and Gael Greene shares thoughts on Jeffrey Chodorow's latest, Ed's Chowder House.
• More photos/details about the new MePa venue Abe & Arthur's. [TFB, Eater]
• Are those calorie counts that are now posted for all to see (sigh) actually making a difference? Unclear, but the city is now conducting "research." [NYT]
• Incoming Tavern on the Green operator Dean Poll says it will take up to four years (and lots of cash, of course) to finish renovations on the space. [NYP]
• Nevermind the endless delays and appalling lack of legroom, some airlines are now offering passengers their very own signature cocktails. Yay! [VV]
• Do you know a "foodiot"? Probably, although you may be one, too. [NYO]
• If Mike Bloomberg asks you to bring over dinner, you can't go wrong with the half chicken with herbs at Quatorze Bis or the Sichuan shrimp from Shun Lee Palace. Whatever you do, do not pick up anything from Blue Smoke. [NYT]