Michael Steele is just wasting RNC money on limos and private planes and, yes, private bondage-themed nightclubs with topless ladies. Update: A Republican consultant charged the trip to the RNC, and the party says Chairman Mike was not actually there.

We received a text from a tipster at 5.08am saying: "Mike's apt is on fire right now! Black eyed peas and axl!" Which, using our young-people translator, we deduce means a breakfast meeting of musical minds occurred at the hotspot.

Beatrice Inn and the Jane Hotel were closed by prissy neighbours. Downtown stalwarts like Lit and the Box face constant scrutiny from the city. So the newest hangout for celebrities (not to mention strippers and transsexuals) is a random apartment.

It was revealed with much fanfare that Paul Sevigny will be part of the team behind new space Kenmare. The B-word was used repeatedly. But the space is still not the true successor to Sevigny's much-missed Beatrice Inn.

It's looking increasingly unlikely that Amy Sacco will ever reopen Bungalow 8, which closed last fall. Although she sent out an email blast in December that promised a "GRAND RE-OPENING" in time for Fashion Week, she now admits that won't be happening. And although she now claims that she should have things ready to go in March, Eater points out that the venue's liquor license has expired and she's yet to file for any construction permits. [Eater, previously]

Hope all you smokers enjoyed the (temporary, unofficial) lifting of the city's smoking ban while it lasted. A couple of weeks after the front page of the Times' Sunday Styles section pointed out that the city wasn't doing much to enforce the law, and now the Health Department is taking action. It's now moving to shut down five clubs—The Box, M2, Lit Lounge, Southside, and the Imperial—after an "undercover sting" revealed repeated violations. And it says it's planning to crack down on other clubs and bars in the coming weeks. [NYDN]

NYC authorities are actually trying to shut down four clubs—including nasty burlesque-porn den The Box—for flouting indoor smoking laws. The Box is fighting for its very survival today! Nobody is "too cool" for rules. [NYDN; Related. Pic via]

• NYC Winter Restaurant Week begins today, in case you weren't aware. [SE]
• A roundup of restaurants opening over the next week. [NYM, Eater, TONY]
• A few theories on the recent shakeup at the Four Seasons and the ouster of acclaimed chef Fabio Trabocchi just three months into his tenure. [NYP]
• Did your waiter use your Amex to go on a shopping spree? Maybe! [Eater]
• Burger King may soon start serving beer along with lousy burgers. [NYDN]
• Model/ex-City cast member Adam Senn has a new restaurant. [GS]
• In other reality TV news, here's what you missed if you didn't make it to the Midtown bar where Pauly D of Jersey Shore DJed on Saturday night. [TONY]

Burger King is opening the Whopper Bar in South Beach that will serve hamburgers and American beer 24/7. We've seen the people that hang out at Burger King and we'll pass. Call us when Sonic is serving up Jell-O shots.

• Rumor has it Danny Meyer and Ian Schrager are currently in "advanced talks" to open a restaurant on the roof of the Gramercy Park Hotel. [P6]
• Will we see the classic tiki bar make a comeback in 2010? [NYT]
• Minetta Tavern introduces brunch service this weekend. [UD]
• New Tavern on the Green operator Dean Poll has yet to seal a deal with the union or city (or even finalize the name), but he's lined up a new GM. [P6]
• Is it possible the restaurants in London are better than the ones here? [GS]
• Two "disaster-relief socials" benefiting Haiti took place last night. [SF, HP]
• NYC's oldest gay bar, Julius, has been shuttered by the DoH. [Eater]
• Gwyneth Paltrow has a tasty Vietnamese salad she'd love to share with you.

• The Tavern on the Green auction kicked off today and continues through Friday. Expect long lines if you plan on checking it out yourself. (But forget about meeting Regis Philbin if you go; he was already there today.) [Crain's]
• Four Seasons chef Fabio Trabocchi is out after only three months. [NYP]
• The critics: Sam Sifton of the Times gives one star to the Breslin; Bloomberg's Ryan Sutton also weighs in on the Breslin, as does the Village Voice's Robert Sietsema; Adam Platt of New York takes on Maialino, giving it three out of five stars; Time Out awards four stars to Purple Yam; and the Post's Steve Cuozzo makes the case that Robert in Columbus Circle offers the best views in town.

The boys at gay New York nightlife mag Next Magazine mapped out all the homosexual establishments that closed over the past ten years. This makes us feel sad and old. Click to enlarge.

• Roundups of new restaurants opening over the next week. [NYM, TONY]
• Photos: A peek at Wall & Water, which opens later this week in the Andaz Wall Street hotel; and pics of Choptank (formerly Bar Q), opening tonight.
• Rumor has it snooty UES restaurant/club Bruno Jamais has closed. [Eater]
• Beatrice Inn founders Paul Sevigny and Matt Abramcyk are preparing their comeback and gearing up to take on Andre Balazs' Boom Boom Room. [NYP]
• A list of the venues participating in Winter Restaurant Week. [NYCGo]
• P.J. Clarke's is preparing to expand; Vegas and DC are coming soon. [Crain's]
• A visit to all 11 of Danny Meyer's restaurants—in a single day. [WSJ]
• The Pinkberry frozen yogurt empire may be divided in two: The husband and wife who founded the 73-store-strong chain are now divorcing. [TMZ]
• The 10 best restaurants for business meetings in NYC. [BI]
• NYC's salt-loving mayor/scold-in-chief has kicked off a war on salt. [NYT]

• Up next for Red Cat and Harrison owner Jimmy Bradley: An eatery at the forthcoming Nolitan hotel with Red Cat chef Bill McDaniel in the kitchen. [NYT]
• The team behind Dutch Kills in LIC are prepping a tiki bar on the LES. [F&W]
• Montenapo, the restaurant in the New York Times building, has closed. [GS]
• Danny Meyer's Maialino starts serving lunch next week. [TONY]
• A tour of Breslin co-owner Ken Friedman's speakeasy at the Ace Hotel. [BB]
• Don't give too much weight to the calorie counts restaurants put out. [NPR]
• Cold weather has endangered America's strawberry crop. Troubling! [NYT]

• The week in reviews: Sam Sifton of the Times calls Casa Lever "deeply likable" and gives it two stars; Gael Greene heads to the Breslin; The New Yorker's Andrea Thompson weighs in on Joseph Leonard in the West Village; and GQ's Alan Richman recounts a couple of disastrous dinners at Sparks.
• Another day, another new Danny Meyer project: Meyer's Union Square Hospitality is taking over the restaurant at the Whitney Museum. [NYT, WSJ]
• Steve Hanson's second Bill's Burger is Rockefeller Center-bound. [Eater]
• Michael White has signed a lease to open a trattoria in the Lafayette Street space that once housed the scandal-plagued bar/club The Falls. [Eater]
• Aspen on West 22nd Street has closed for good. [BlackBook]
• A preview of next week's Tavern on the Green auction kicked off today. [NYT]
• The Post's Steve Cuozzo laments the recent closings of three landmarks: Tavern on the Green, Rainbow Room and the Plaza Palm Court. [NYP]
• Hoteliers are hoping brand-name chefs boost business in 2010. [TRD]
• The Soho club Greenhouse has been sued for discrimination—again. [NYDN]
• Did you know there's a global tea shortage? There is. [Bloomberg]

• A federal judge has yet to decide whether the city or the LeRoy family controls the "Tavern on the Green" name. In the meantime, the city's plan to use "Tavern in the Park" as a possible backup has been given the kibosh. [NYT]
• Café Gitane's Jane Hotel outpost is now serving dinner. [Gothamist]
• A roundup of a few closings around town in recent days. [Eater]
• Doughnut Plant's second NYC location will be at the Chelsea Hotel. [TONY]
• Bowling is booming, apparently. Leisure Time Bowl, the alley inside the Port Authority Bus Terminal, is changing its name and opening a "swank restaurant" and club shortly. It will soon face some competition in the hood, since Bowlmor is opening a $20 million venue on West 43rd Street this fall. [NYT]
• Looking for a few recipes inspired by Jersey Shore? You're in luck. [F&W]

The issue people take with trend pieces is that [this thing] should be [that thing]. That's not the problem with the "People are Illegally Smoking in New York Bars" pieces, because breaking laws is always trendy! The problem is...

• Closings/bankruptcies: 20-year-old Kitchen Club in Nolita will serve its last meal on New Year's Eve; after 64 years on the UES, Gino will close its doors at the end of January; and Mama Mexico's UWS location has filed Chapter 11.
• A roundup of restaurants opening in the next few weeks. [TONY]
• New York's 2010 "Where to Eat" guide by Adam Platt is online. [NYM]
• Foodies weigh in on the top newcomers/standbys of 2009. [Eater]
• The number of clubs and bars fined for smoking was down this year. [NYP]
• The CEO of Whole Foods gets The New Yorker treatment this week. [NYer]

• Tom Colicchio is closing Craftsteak. He says he plans to reopen the space in the next few weeks with a new menu and new name, Colicchio & Sons. [GS]
• The week in reviews: Sam Sifton of the Times shows some love to La Grenouille, giving the "the last great French restaurant in New York" three stars; Ryan Sutton of Bloomberg isn't blown away by Abe & Arthur's or Tanuki Tavern; and Gael Greene is predictably pleased with Eleven Madison Park.
• The latest Beatrice Inn relaunch rumor: It'll be somewhere in Noho. [P6]
• Chef Anita Lo is writing a cookbook, reopening Annisa in February. [GS]
• Lists: Zagat rounds up the best restaurants of the decade; and the Voice's Robert Sietsema weighs in on the best dining/drinking trends of the Aughts.
• Update from the Hamptons: Both Mezzaluna's and Matto have closed. [GS]
• A waiter at Babbo was the victim of a tragic accident last week. [P6]
• Your stomach really does shrink if you eat less, say scientists. [NYT]

Amy Sacco sent out an email blast on Friday announcing—once again—that she plans to reopen Bungalow 8 in the near future. ("SAVE FEB FASHION WEEK FOR THE GRAND RE-OPENING OF THE NEW BUNGALOW 8 NYC!") Anything is possible. Although if she really is planning to bring the former hotspot back, it's probably going to look exactly like it did before it closed this fall. Sacco still hasn't filed for any of the city permits she would need to do renovation work on the West 27th Street club. As you can see below, she hasn't proposed to make any substantial changes to the venue since way back in 2002: