Last month, Gloria Chubb prepared one of her standard dinners: meatloaf, mashed potatoes, gravy, and green beans from the can. When she set the food down to the table, her son scooped some of each dish onto his plate before stopping as he served himself from the bowl of green beans.

After a slow build-up, Oscar season is coming in like a lion. Mandela! Tom Ford directing! An Alice Sebold novel! This weekend's got prestige written all over it.

When FR.OG arrived on Spring Street back in April, Didier Virot's glittery French fusion restaurant failed to impress. We gently panned it. Eater immediately placed it on its Deathwatch. But FR.OG is still around and is even enjoying a glut of publicity. In the last two weeks alone, FR.OG has been visited by an ambivalent Times critic Frank Bruni, a mooning Postie Steve Cuozzo and an intoxicated Johnny Miles of the Times style-land. It could be the food? But its Iago-like PR company, Hall PR, is happy to take the credit.

• Employees Only, that kind of annoying bar/restaurant, is opening up another branch at 21 West 9th Street. Co-owner Jason Kosmas tells Cutlets: "It's going to be much more of a restaurant than a bar. Think of the difference between Lucky Strike and Balthazar." Oh, we do.

Last night marked not only the 10th anniversary of Balthazar but the opening of FR.OG, a French fusion a few doors down from the birthday boy. Clearly, FR.OG's Didier Virot was sending a message to the ancien r gime. But must McNally fear that his French dominion is threatened? After an opening night visit, we'll have to go with mais non!

• Caffe Falai stays open until 10:30 pm starting Thursday. New menu as of next week.