Alain Ducasse

Plus: Gordon Ramsay speaks French, Arianna Huffington longs for food in Venice, and more in our morning roundup of food news and gossip.

Danny Meyer might open a café in Harlem, what Grant Achatz did when he was diagnosed with tongue cancer, and a new incarnation of the legendary El Morocco.

Not everyone is behind the New York version of the South Beach Wine & Food Festival, occurring October 9–12 (you’ll recall local restaurateurs had mixed reactions), but Eater brings news of events that may get more people behind it.

Robert De Niro will put an outpost of the Japanese restaurant in his financial-district hotel, 'Law and Order: SVU' featured a locavore villain this week, and consumers are starting to stockpile food again.

Alain Ducasse was seen dining at his competitor's restaurant, pecorino is free this weekend, and beware the mercury levels in soft-shell crabs.

Benoit opened yesterday, Peter Meehan discusses who should replace him at the 'Times,' and beer shortages loom.

This week marked the opening of Brasserie Cognac de Monsieur Ballon (henceforth known simply as Cognac), the new Serafina restaurant.

Alain Ducasse will unveil his replacement for Brasserie LCB next Monday, Terrance Brennan is loosening up for spring, and Kyotofu imports Japanese mountain peach for its new menu.

Defense lawyers threaten the future of the calorie-posting law, wine bars run amok, and a pig named Bruce.

Downtown Brooklyn: So much for a Valentine’s Day debut: Amy Ruth’s at the Fulton Mall isn’t even open yet. [Lost City] Hamptons: Restaurant Week begins March 20. Bargain meals at close to 70 participating restaurants seems like a good excuse to take advantage of any lodging bargains before warm weather sets in. [Restaurant Girl] Meatpacking District: Florent plans to give up the ghost on a high note, on Gay Pride Day at the end of June. [NYP] Midtown East: Citysearch calls Ducasse’s food at Adour "comme ci, comme ça." [Bottomless Dish/Citysearch] West Village: The Beatrice team might expand to L.A. [Down by the Hipster]

As the fashion for haute cuisine falls away, the more casual wine bar has become a kind of economic savior for the city's classic high-end chefs — one reason, as we noted in our Fall Preview year, the likes of Daniel Boulud and Alain Ducasse have embraced the genre wholeheartedly. (It's easier to lure customers into wine bars, and wine is a much higher-profit item than food.) Now Le Cirque has gotten into the act, opening its new wine bar tonight. Says the restaurant’s legendary owner, Sirio Maccioni: “Our new wine lounge is a more casual side of Le Cirque, with chaise longues and where no jackets are required. We wanted to offer something, in our lounge, without all the rigueur of the dining room.” The centerpiece of the wine bar is an immense wine tower, with, according to Maccioni, “20,000 bottles of wine and the right menu to go with it.” Somehow it just doesn’t seem right to go to Le Cirque without a jacket, though — no matter how many bottles of wine they have. Le Cirque wine-bar menu Related: Grape Nuts [NYM]

Consultant Clark Wolf is in a rush to open artisanal-food stalls across from the old Fulton Fish Market by Memorial Day, but apparently this has nothing to do with the proposed New Amsterdam Public market. [Insatiable Critic] Related: Batali Shows a Little Leg to Sex Up New Amsterdam Public A lawsuit between a Queens Chinese restaurant and CW11, regarding Kaity Tong’s reporting on a mouse allegedly found in the food, is close to being thrown out since the lawyers can’t prove any malice on the newscaster’s part. [NYP] Grant Achatz, star chef of Chicago’s Alinea, may have beat his tongue cancer, but his sense of taste may not return for a year or two. [WSJ]

According to a new class-action suit being brought against Keith McNally, servers at Pastis and Balthazar were forced to foot the bill for customers who walked out on their checks, in addition to being denied minimum wage. [NYP] Frank Bruni, like many other critics, believes a restaurant’s chicken dishes speak volumes about its overall quality. [Diner’s Journal/NYT] E-mails sent by Starbucks Corp. managers reveal their efforts to prevent unionizing among their employees, although labor experts say the activity is not illegal. [WSJ]

Whatever happened to 154 South Gate, the restaurant helmed by Eleven Madison Park’s Kerry Heffernan that will fill the void left by Alain Ducasse’s old eatery in the Essex House? Turns out it’s going to be called just South Gate and will go into the space that was formerly Café Botanica. The latest from maître d’ Marc Mover is that it will start taking reservations around January 15, will start serving friends and family the week after that, and will open to the public on the first week of February. (Ducasse’s new venture, Adour, is scheduled to open January 28.) Unsurprisingly, Mover describes the menu as “greenmarket — fresh produce, local farmers, American style with a little bit of French influence or infusion.” And so the Haute Barnyard tear continues… Earlier: Decent Tables Still Available for Ducasse’s Opening Night

Former Top Chef contestant Dave “don’t call me a bitch, bitch” Martin (Season One) has opened his own restaurant on West 42nd Street called Crave, and he’s serving comfort food. [Zagat] Hakata Tonton is bringing its love of pig's feet to the West Village — even dessert has the collagen-packed delicacy. [Eat for Victory/VV] Alain Ducasse’s wine bar Adour at the St. Regis Hotel is set to open in January. [Decanter] Related: Essex House and St. Regis Restaurants: Maybe Next Year! Grape Nuts [NYM]