The New York State Restaurant Association sues the city to stop having to reveal calorie information. [Nation’s Restaurant News]
The days of making, and keeping, reservations off-line are over: OpenTable has come to dominate the restaurant business. [NYT]
In a Times op-ed, the Zagats plead for real regional Chinese cooking to come and save us from egg foo yong. It would be a revelation, they say — “Imagine … what it would be like to discover for the first time Memphis-style barbecue, New York deli food, soul food and Creole, Tex-Mex, Southwestern, California and Hawaiian cuisines all at once.” [NYT]
Tony Bourdain handicaps The Next Food Network Star contestants: “The judges hate [Amy] already — she’s a painful rebuke to everything they stand for — and a painful reminder of their dead, hollow souls.” [Ruhlman]
Related: Bourdain Body-Slams the Food Network Awards [Grub Street]
Frank Bruni picks Hung to make the final two on Top Chef, and Howie and Joey to get the boot by midseason. [Diner’s Journal/NYT]
Related: Josh DeChellis Gives the ‘Top Chef’ Contestants High Marks [Grub Street]
If sitting at an office desk swigging absinthe isn’t your preferred mode of consuming the formerly forbidden liqueur, there are several high-end cocktail bars that know just how to handle it. [NYP]
Related: Absinthe Arrives in New York, and We Start Drinking It Immediately [Grub Street]
Did media-addicted ex-cop Bo Dietl’s pestering of David Chase cause Rao’s owner Frank Pellegrino to get whacked from The Sopranos? [NYP]
Not serving imported water is okay, but if a restaurant is really serious about going green these days, it needs to start installing solar panels. [Strong Buzz]
Related: An Interactive Tour of the Country’s Greenest Food Business [Grub Street]
