• 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]

• Rising star Nate Appleman will be moving from SF to NYC to take up the helm at Pulino's, the Keith McNally pizzeria slated to open in December. [GS]
• Chef Laurent Tourondel is hoping to take his BLT franchise to the new W Hotel and Residences in the financial district. [Eater]
• The Parks Dep't was supposed to pick a winning bid to operate Tavern on the Green last month. It didn't, and now the bidders are getting antsy. [NYO]
• Julian Medina, the owner of Yerba Buena and Toloache, is expanding: Yerba Buena Perry will open in the West Village next Wednesday. [GS]
• The restaurant Joseph Leonard only opened a few weeks ago, but it's already been rammed by a car. Fortunately, the damage was minimal. [VV]
• A few restaurant closings around town in recent days. [Eater]
• The city is facing off against "a small flotilla" of hot dog carts outside the Met; the vendors claim they can be there because they're disabled veterans. [NYT]
• Starbucks is either raising its prices or lowering them. It's hard to say, really.