• 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]

• In its fall preview issue, New York surveys the nine spots opening soon in the meatpacking district, four of which happen to be at the Standard. [NYM]
• Related: Metromix's fall restaurant preview is now online. [Metromix]
• Amy Sacco is on the move: She's opening a Bungalow 8 in Amsterdam. [P6]
• A sneak peek at Yerba Buena Perry, which opens later this week. [Eater]
• Musical chairs: Ryan Bartlow, formerly of Sam Mason's Tailor, is now running the kitchen at Bar Carrera, the sister restaurant to Bar Veloce; and Shlomo Kashy is the new executive chef at Cafe at Country. [TSB, NYT]
• Danny Meyer finally tackles the questions that have been on your mind forever: He prefers flat water to sparkling and pancakes over waffles. [YaH]
• Speaking of Meyer, a few new details on his upcoming Maialino. [Zagat]

• 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]

• 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]

• Ago partners Robert De Niro, Richard Born and Ira Drukier have tapped Andrew Carmellini as chef; Ken Friedman is the design consultant. [NYT]
• Is Justin Timberlake opening a Southern Hospitality in Chelsea? [GS]
• Peasant in Nolita finally has menus in English. [Eater]
• Martha Stewart went to Momofuku Milk Bar on her show today. [EMD]
• Scores may be gone, but you can still pick up bottles of the former strip club's private-label blanc de blancs. Perhaps you wanted a keepsake? [GS]
• Many places are extending their Restaurant Week menus. Here's a list. [W&D]

• Why isn't your glass of water getting refilled? It might be because the restaurant decided to slash costs by firing all the busboys. [WSJ]
• E.U. in the EV is no more; a trattoria is set to take its place by March. [Eater]
• Jean-Georges Vongerichten now says he won't be taking over the Ago space inside Robert De Niro's Greenwich Hotel after all. [DBTH]
• Is Momofuku Milk Bar turning into an actual bar? That's the rumor. [TFB]
• Tom Colicchio and Damon Wise are expanding their discount menu. [Eater]
• Scott Conant will be the guest judge on tomorrow's Top Chef. [GS]
• Gordon Ramsay hasn't been banned from Mario Batali's restaurants. [GS]
• Chef Gabrielle Hamilton has inked a book deal with Random House. [EMD]

♦ New York takes a long look in this week's issue at The Box, Simon Hammerstein's infamously sleazy club. Don't read it if you're eating or you're easily offended by tales of snot and/or raw sewage. [NYM]
♦ Fresh trouble for the Cipriani family: The head of the State Liquor Authority, Daniel Boyle, says an aide to Governor Paterson tried to "intimidate" him into renewing the family's liquor licenses. [NYP]
♦ Opening this week: Macao Trading Co., brought to you by the team behind Employees Only; Carroll Gardens' Buttermilk Channel; and Perle on Pearl Street. [NYM]
♦ The Observer has put up its list of top 10 new bars. [NYO]

♦ New York's Adam Platt hands out four stars to Drew Nieporent's Corton this week, praising chef Paul Liebrandt's cuisine as "technically complex without being exhibitionist." [NYM]
♦ David Chang's Momofuku Bakery & Milk Bar opened on Saturday. Grub Street has rounded up the public reception. [GS]
♦ A handful of spots including Marquee and the Tribeca Grand have been denied permits by the State Liquor Authority to stay open late on New Year's Eve. [NYP]
♦ A detailed history of the epic battle between Da Silvano's Silvano Marchetto and Bar Pitti's Giovanni Tognozzi. [Page Six Magazine]

♦ Alex Raij, the former chef at Tia Pol (left), is opening her 28-seat tapas bar named Txikito (pronounced chee-KEE-toe) tonight. [GS]
♦ A play-by-play of what went down at Thomas Keller and Grant Achatz's $1,500-per-person dinner at Per Se on Tuesday night. [NYT, NYT]
♦ Another look inside David Chang's forthcoming Momofuku Bakery & Milk Bar, which is set to open on Saturday morning at 8 a.m. [Eater]

♦ Adam Platt visits Irving Mill (left) and Inside Park at St. Bart's for New York this week. Chef Ryan Skeen's "meaty, calorie-rich repertoire" earns two stars for Irving Mill, but Platt is a little less enthusiastic about Inside Park, which gets a single star on account of the "eerie" atmosphere and despite his description of the food as "generally first-rate." [NYM]
♦ Eater has pics of David Chang's new Momofuku Bakery/Milk Bar, which may open next week. [Eater]