• Payard has closed after more than a decade on the Upper East Side. [Zagat]
• The building at 347 Bowery, which until recently served as the Salvation Army's base in the East Village, may turn into another Koi sushi joint. [Curbed]
• Michael Psilakis reopens the former Kefi space as Gus & Gabriel Gastropub tomorrow. But Donatella Arpaia won't be involved this time around. [GS]
• Eataly, a Italian food market that opened in Turin two years ago, has signed a lease for 32,000-square-feet of "food halls and restaurants" at 200 Fifth. Joe Bastianich, mom Lidia, and Mario Batali are partners in the venture. [NYT]
• A roundup of where celebs were spotted eating/drinking recently. [GS]
• A Q&A with Leyla Marchetto, daughter of Silvano/Scuderia boss. [Zagat]
• The West Village's Jarnac closed over the weekend. Now everything in the restaurant is for sale through tomorrow, if you're interested. [Eater]
• The NYT panned Spice Market last week. Now Jean-Georges responds. [JGV]

• An early, unofficial list of places taking part in NYC Restaurant Week. [W&D]
• Interested in a Michael Jackson-themed wine pairing this evening? Too soon? That's what City Winery has planned anyway. [City Winery, GS]
• A few closings in restaurant-land. [Eater]
• Pret A Manger is in expansion mode. Four new locations have opened in Manhattan in the past two months and more are on the way. [Crain's]
• Free cups of Pinkberry's "summer fresh flavors" available this eve. [GS]
• Some bartenders are now asking that people call them "bar chefs." [Eater]
• The Gay Pride parade takes place on Sunday. A few recommendations on where to drink and party when it ends. [Metromix, AMNY, Newsday]

Breaking: "While they have not abandoned their love of food, French people increasingly are resorting to a humble sandwich for the noon meal." But: "sandwich consumption per capita is still lower than in other countries." [WaPo]

• Charlie Palmer's new Aureole at One Bryant Park will accept walk-ins beginning this Saturday and will officially open on Monday. [GS, Eater]
• Daniel Boulud's DBGB starts serving brunch this weekend. [Eater]
• Another day, another food truck: The La Cense Burger Truck in Midtown is now serving up "all-natural, grass-fed Angus steakburgers." [ML]
• The Standard Grill has set up its sidewalk café. [GS]
• A roundup of brunch recommendations courtesy of Time Out. [TONY]
• Healthy ice cream spots like Stogo and Golosi say business is up. [NYDN]
• The New York Botanical Garden will show you how to grow your own food beginning this weekend. Guess we're still in the middle of a recession. [NYT]

• A look around Ward III in Tribeca, which opens tomorrow night. [GS]
• Lever House on Park Avenue will reopen as "Casa Lever" this fall. [NYP]
• Frank Bruni downgrades JGV's Spice Market in the Times today, giving the spot owned by the "clone-happy" chef one star instead of two. [NYT]
• The New Yorker's Lauren Collins doesn't have anything good to say about the Armani restaurant located inside the designer's Fifth Ave flagship. [NYer]
• Ryan Sutton is of a similar mindset, concluding that Montenapo, "like Armani Ristorante across town, serves mediocre hotel-Italian at absurd prices. [BN]
• Restaurant Girl gives Monkey Bar (otherwise known as "Graydon Carter's uptown dinner party) two stars out of five in the News this week. Over on her own site, she sits down with Keith McNally for a chat. [NYDN, RG]
• Lobster prices haven't been this low in more than 20 years, FYI. [Atlantic]
• Gansevoort Café opens in the former Florent space next month and the dining conglomerate New York City Restaurant Group will have a hand in it. [TFB]

The Way We Live Now: "It's easy to sit there and say you'd like to have more money. And I guess that's what I like about it. It's easy. Just sitting there, rocking back and forth, wanting that money."

• Ron Perelman's Blue Parrot in East Hampton is now open and serving guacamole and margaritas to Rachel Zoe and Martha Stewart. You'll have to leave your Blackberry at home, though, since texting is banned. [GS]
• La Goulue has been issued a reprieve and will stay open till August. [NYO]
• A roundup of restaurants that just opened, or will be open soon. [Eater]
• Marea just opened, but chef Michael White is already talking expansion. [IC]
• The Setai Club, the "new member's only social club for the Wall Street set," is now accepting membership applications. For $5,000 a year, you'll have a spot for "midday martini-tinged dealmaking," as if that happens anymore. [UD]
• Just in time for your 4th of July barbeque: Danny Meyer gobbles down a bunch of supermarket hot-dogs and picks the winners and losers. [NYM]
• The fast food chain Sonic has arrived. Well, it's arrived in Hasbrouck Heights, New Jersey, but that's about as close as it's going to get for now. [NYP]

• Graydon Carter's Monkey Bar is no longer accepting reservations by phone. In other Carter news, Carter's Vanity Fair has very nice things to say about Carter's Waverly Inn, which you'll no doubt be surprised to hear. [Eater, VF]
• Celebrity settings: A roundup of restaurants where celebs were spotted eating this week (or at least where gossips said they'd been spotted). [GS]
• Osteria del Circo is closed due to a gas leak. But Sirio Maccioni will be happy to seat you at Le Cirque instead and he'll give you 25% off, too. [Eater]
• JGV clears the record: He did not cook for four presidents past and present last week. Just one ex-president, a mayor, and UN Secretary General. [JGV]
• Teany caught fire today and will probably be closed for several weeks. [Eater]

• A month shy of its 15th anniversary, The Cub Room in Soho has closed. [GS]
• A roundup of restaurants that have opened in the past couple of days. [Eater]
• A few more details about the Standard Grill at the Standard Hotel, which will open for dinner next Monday and breakfast/lunch the week after. [GS]
• The cost of food—both at home and in restaurants—is up, so you know. [NYT]
• One more way restaurants are saving money in these lean times: They're hiring fewer servers so that "no one's being paid to just stand around." [NYT]
• One more silly eating competition coming to Coney Island soon: a bunch of human beings will square off against a bunch of elephants on July 3. [BP]

• Hotel Griffou opens in the old Marylou's space this evening. [NYT, GS]
• New York Times restaurant critic Frank Bruni serves up a one-star review to a "somewhat confused and confusing" Rye in today's paper. [NYT]
• Bloomberg's Ryan Sutton has very good things to say about Aldea. [BN]
• Rumor has it Café Gitane will open at the Jane Hotel this fall. [TFB]
• Speaking of the Jane, here's another photo tour of the new bar. [Gothamist]
• Did you know that restaurants make more money when they remove dollar signs from the menu? Or that chefs place the dishes they want to sell on the center of the inside right page of their menu? It's true. [Baltimore Sun via GS]

• The words "fresh food" and "Port Authority Bus Terminal" don't usually go together, but an indoor Greenmarket will debut inside the terminal this week. In related news, the Greenmarket in McCarren Park is moving. [NYT, BP]
• Mark your calendars: NYC Restaurant Week kicks off July 12. [NYology]
• Mexican food cart Calexico opens its first physical location next week. [GS]
• An update on Ed "Jean Luc" Kleefield's faded restaurant empire. [Curbed]
• Tom Colicchio appears in a viral ad for "Tru Blood," a "synthetic blood nourishment beverage" featured on the HBO show True Blood. Classy, no? [GS]
• DJ Cassidy on his fave eatery (Sushi Seki) and guiltiest pleasure (JAPs). [BB]
• Canada Dry's "heart-healthy" ginger ale with green tea will probably not reduce your chances of developing heart disease, just so you know. [WSJ]

Meet MeMe Roth. She is at war with the birthday cake and the living incarnation of why you are so psyched not to be a school administrator in Manhattan. This mother of two, who sends her children, ages 10 and 7, to P.S. 9 on the Upper West Side, is also the president of National Action Against Obesity ("a one-woman campaign run out of Roth's home in Manhattan," according to the Guardian, which recently profiled Roth in a piece strongly suggesting she has an eating disorder.) As such, Me!Me! feels, uhm, passionately about protecting children, particularly her own, from obesity and all its associated health risks. In short, she is a terror.

• It's a big night for Jean-Georges Vongerichten: He's cooking dinner at the United Nations for three past presidents (Carter, Bush I, Clinton) and one current president. Halibut's on the menu, in case you're wondering. [Crain's]
• Scott Sartiano and Richie Akiva of 1Oak and Butter are taking over the West 14th Street bar/club formerly known as The Plumm. [Page Six]
• Tom Colicchio's 'wichcraft is creating the menu for a Southwest Airlines-sponsored "pop-up lounge" in Bryant Park, slated to open June 19. [NYT]
• Merkato 55 (or Le 55, as it was known recently) is now bankrupt. [Crain's]
• Locanda Grande has a bakery café and it's now serving up breakfast. [GS]
• The city is evicting Citarella from its Harlem location. [NYT]
• Christian Albin, chef at the Four Seasons, died over the weekend. [NYT]
• What you missed at the Big Apple BBQ this weekend. [Gothamist, Metromix]

• The Grill at the Standard hotel is in friends-and-family mode at the moment. (It should be open to the public sometime next week.) In the meantime, though, you'll be pleased to hear (and see—left) that some serious bartender training is currently underway. [HotelChatter, Flickr]
• New York's very first spot for 24-hour-a-day pho is coming soon. [GS]
• Chocolate mousse is popping up all over town, according to Kate Krader. Exhibits 1-4: Monkey Bar, Minetta Tavern, Bar Artisanal, and Kefi. [F&W]
• Another list of downturn-friendly bars offering free food with drinks. [NYT]
• Good news for strip club fans: Drink prices, cover charges are down. [WSJ]
• Some breaking news from Tuesday evening's screening of Food, Inc.: Rocco DiSpirito says he's been known to occasionally eat a Cinnabon or two. [NYDN]

• The guy behind the Campbell Apartment in Grand Central is turning part of the Empire State Building's ground floor into a swanky bar. For reals. [Eater]
• The new Jane Hotel and Ballroom, owned by ever-expanding hoteliers Sean MacPherson and Eric Goode, officially opened last night. [Thrillist, Eater]
• Bruni visits Soho's Savoy in this week's Times, reaffirms its two stars. [NYT]
• Both Ryan Sutton and the Danyelle Freeman weigh in on Table 8. [BN, NYDN]
• For his part, TONY's Jay Cheshes gives Harbour five out of six stars. [TONY]
• Steve Cuozzo hits up "the Bowery's new Big Enchilada," aka DBGB. [NYP]
• If you've fantasized about turning your living room into a replica of the Gramercy Park Hotel's late Wakiya, you may want to note that all the restaurant's fixtures and furniture go up for sale next week. [GS]
• Europe's big rosé crisis has been settled. What a relief. [NYT]

• Danny Meyer's latest outpost, the concession stand in Central Park called Public Fare, officially opens its takeout window tomorrow. [Eater, GS]
• The paper is off the windows at the Standard Grill, the new resto inside Andre Balazs's Standard hotel. Grub Street snapped some pics through the glass. [GS]
• Geoffrey Zakarian has had some trouble as of late, but he has two projects to look forward to: Lamb's Club at Vikram Chatwal's hotel on East 44th, which opens in September (with a bar by David Rabin and Will Regen); and he's also taking over The Emery Bar at The Benjamin hotel next year. [Crain's]
• A sneak peek at Charlie Palmer's new Aureole at One Bryant Park. [Eater]

• Kogi, the Korean taco truck that LA residents have been buzzing about for months, opened in midtown today for an hour with Top Chef contestant Lee Anne Wong dishing out the food. Don't feel too bad if you missed out. New York should get a Kogi truck of its own by the end of the summer. [ML, GS, ML]
• A roundup of restaurants scheduled to open this week. [Eater]
• The UWS branch of Fatty Crab will start serving lunch next Monday. [GS]
• Adam Platt gives one star to Table 8 in this week's issue of New York. [NYM]
• Citysearch's guide to the best barbecue joints in NYC is online. [Citysearch]
• Have you heard about the 14-year-old chef from East Hampton who opened a catering company at 11? You will! The kid's getting a reality show. [THR]

• Daniel Boulud's DBGB debuts Monday. Grub Street has pics. [GS]
• Also opening on Monday: the least recession-friendly restaurant to come along in months. Have a look around SHO Shaun Hergatt at the Setai in the financial district. [Eater]
• Not opening Monday, but will be open soon: Hotel Griffou, which is in "celebrity-preview mode" right now. [GS]
• Six wine auction houses are offering big bargains later this month. [Reuters]
• Sienna Miller, Elle Macpherson, Sting, Woody Harrelson, Charlize Theron, and Alicia Silverstone are some of the celebs now lobbying Nobu boss Nobuyuki Matsuhisa to drop bluefin tuna from his menus. [Page Six]

• The bistro inside Andre Balazs's Standard Hotel will be called the Standard Grill and will probably open its doors "in the next couple of weeks." [Eater]
• A Q&A with Michael Psilakis of Anthos and Kefi fame. [RG]
• Frank Bruni checks in on Sue Torres's Mexican spot Sueños. [NYT]
• Eight bars that provide free food along with the drinks. [TONY]
• For $105, Morimoto will provide you with sushi and sake "while cruising New York Harbor on an 80-foot schooner." Sounds like a blast. [GS]
• Everything you were told about eating healthy was probably wrong. [NYDN]
• Don't forget that tomorrow is National Donut Day! Both Dunkin' Donuts and Krispy Kreme have specials in honor of the grand occasion, naturally. [ML]

• Public Fare, Danny Meyer's concession stand at the Delacorte Theater, will be open for the debut of Shakespeare in the Park on June 10. [Zagat]
• Shea Gallante, the chef at Cru, will be leaving at the end of the month. [NYT]
• Daniel Boulud's DBGB is accepting walk-ins prior to its 6/8 opening. [GS]
• Flex Mussels on the UES gets a single star in the Times today. [NYT]
• Noah Tepperberg's Avenue opened last night. Wass Stevens and the Beatrice Inn's Angelo and Todd manned the door, Paul Sevigny provided the music, sister Chloë was in the house, and a jack and coke costed $19.20. [GS]