Grub Street

A partial wall collapse in 2007 closed Chumley's, and after extensive renovations and seemingly interminable delays, the old Greenwich Village speakeasy is almost ready to reopen. It now faces opposition from neighbors, who are calling for scaled-back opening hours because they do not want "drunk and loud tourists/patrons talking and smoking on Bedford and Barrow streets," according to DNAInfo. Chumley's still needs the city's permission to reclaim its status as a bar, and its application is pending with the State Liquor Authority. [DNAInfo, Earlier]

The world's largest food company has been ordered to pay civil damages to an anti-globalization activist group it spied on for a year, the Independent reports. In 2003, Nestlé hired Swiss security firm Securitas AG for the purposes of infiltrating the meetings of Attac, which touts the benefits of breastfeeding and actively protests the market saturation of the corporation's ubiquitous formula. Using a false name and identity, Securitas AG embedded at least one employee with the protestors for a year, during which time she sat in on meetings and strategy sessions and then reported findings to Nestlé. Her identity was discovered after someone placed an anonymous call to a Swiss anti-corruption hotline, and while criminal charges stemming from the investigation were dropped in 2009, the maker of Nescafé, Nesquik, and several candy bars has now been ordered to pay 3,000 Swiss francs, or approximately $3,238 dollars, to the nine activists. That's a lot of Kit-Kats. [Independent UK, Attac]

Still unsure of what you're doing on Valentine's Day? Feel like the city's innumerable tasting menus filled with aphrodisiac foods just aren't hokey enough? For $2,500, Joey Campanaro will cook you and your sweetie a four-course dinner at the Little Owl's event space. Gilt City's hawking this as a meal you can customize, so you should ask for truffles and foie gras galore. The deal also comes with a photographer (memories!), your date's favorite flowers (peonies!), and options for live music (request that Olivia Newton John perform "I Will Always Love You," obviously). Act quick: Only one offer available. [Gilt City]

Law & Order: Special Kebab Unit is coming to a city block near you. Bloomberg has enlisted a seven-person team of lawyers to track down sidewalk food vendors who haven't paid their health-code fines. Cart owners are often charged for blocking the sidewalk, keeping food at illegal temperatures, and having bugs in their food (ew), but apparently, there's no follow-through. A recent report showed that out of $15.8 million fines levied in two years, $14.9 million went uncollected. But then there's also the problem of overticketing; in December, city officials had to reimburse street vendors because they had charged too much in fines. Now vendors are worried that the suits are going to crack down on minor violations like dirty lightbulbs. Law schools should start offering classes in hot-dog investigation; this is a mess. Someone call Ice-T. [Earlier, NYDN]