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Bloomie: Preserve the Precious Freon!; Julia Child, Spy

• Mayor Bloomberg backs a plan to make air-conditioned restaurants close their doors and windows, even though even he admits it won’t make any difference. [NYS]

• The Russo-Georgian war isn’t good for business at Georgian restaurants on Brighton Beach — as if the owners didn’t have enough to worry about. [NYDN]

• There are 500 fewer supermarkets in the city than there were ten years ago, and the number is sure to drop, with big-box stores and drugstore chains picking up the slack. But good luck buying pork butt and a bag of onions in a drugstore. [NYDN]

• Construction on Obika Mozza Bar in midtown is going nowhere fast. [Midtown Lunch]

• The American expats who run Paris’s Hidden Kitchen are road-tripping across the U.S. and hitting some pretty good spots along the way. [Mouthing Off/Food & Wine]

• Julia Child? Spy. [AP]

• Jealous of baristas using your latte as a canvas? Join the legions of home latte artists who post videos and photos of their creations online. [WSJ]

• A high-ranking food-safety official in China jumped off a building on August 2, after being questioned about his role in a corruption scandal. [NYT]

• Brooklyn’s Shmaltz Brewing Co. is selling Coney Island Lager, Freaktoberfest, the Human Blockhead, and other beers in a licensing agreement with sideshow operator Coney Island USA. [NYDN]

• The Whole Foods building on Houston Street and the Bowery was named in a federal civil-rights lawsuit for failing to meet accessibility requirements. [NYP]

Bloomie: Preserve the Precious Freon!; Julia Child, Spy