Mediavore

Le Cirque Scrambles for Relevance; P*ONG Expanding

A myriad of consultants and experts are surrounding Sirio Maccioni, giving advice on how Le Cirque can recapture its now-departed magic. [Insatiable Critic]

Dessert bars are a hot enough trend right now that some restaurants and bakeries are transforming themselves at certain hours, while others, like P*ONG, are built expressly for the genre. [NYP]
Related: Because Our Desserts Are as Good as Everyone Else’s Entire Meals

Speaking of which, Asian dessert guru Pichet Ong will open a shop devoted to ice cream, pudding, and cookies next door to P*ONG on August 17. [Strong Buzz]

The fish markets in Chinatown are plenty cheap, but not as cheap as some guy with a bucket of fish standing outside on the sidewalk. [NYT]

The owners of Clinton Street Baking Company are taking their act uptown, and planning to open the green, local, whole-grain-y Community Food & Juice on the Upper West Side. [Strong Buzz]

The eyes of the competitive-eating world are on Wednesday’s battle of the titans in Coney Island. But a pasta-eating contest was held this weekend in Little Italy, and it, too, had its drama. [Gothamist]

It’s a good thing the city put its tough new anti-noise ordinance into play this weekend, or there might have been a lot of noise still coming out of clubs. [NYP]

Both the trans-fat law and the calorie-posting law take effect today, but eateries big and small have both decided not to bother with the latter. [IHT]

Le Cirque Scrambles for Relevance; P*ONG Expanding