Mediavore

Discounts Hurt Chain Restaurants; Las Vegas Business Down

• The deep discounts chain restaurants have been offering to attract cash-strapped consumers are negatively affecting their bottom lines. [WSJ]

• Steakhouse-quality beef is increasingly available at supermarkets. [WSJ]

• A new Zagat survey found that 61 percent of New Yorkers are cooking at home more often than they were before the economic crisis. [NYDN]

• Las Vegas restaurants are not doing so hot in the recession. [NYT]

• Frank Bruni explains that if you’re seated at a bad table while good tables go unused, it’s not necessarily because the restaurant hates you — poor judgment and flaky customers are more often the culprit. [Diner’s Journal/NYT]

• 7-Eleven is planning a huge expansion and will open more than 200 stores this year alone. [NYT]

• Will Goldfarb is marketing a line of molecular-gastronomy equipment for chefs. [Life Vicarious]

• Next spring’s Manhattan Cocktail Classic will bring together cocktail experts like Sasha Petraske and Pegu Club’s Audrey Sanders. [Diner’s Journal/NYT]

• The film adaptation of Julie & Julia doesn’t mention author Julie Powell’s affair. [NYP]

• F. Martinelli, the “old style New York deli” from Boar’s Head, appears to be shuttered. [Brooklyn Heights Blog]

• Gross: A German tourist claims he found a bloody tampon in his steak at the Bull & Bear in the Waldorf-Astoria. [WABC 7]

Discounts Hurt Chain Restaurants; Las Vegas Business Down