Clinton and Ray Team Up for Fund-raiser; What Lidia Served the PopeThe former president and America’s first lady of home cooking are putting on a fund-raiser together, Pinkberry isn’t as “all natural” as you’d like it to be, and a recipe for a season-appropriate dish served to Pope Benedict XVI last week.
Per Se Raises Prices; Shill for Whole Foods, Win FoodYou’re going to regret not going to Per Se the last time you had a chunk of change to burn: Thomas Keller’s luxe restaurant has raised prices for both the regular and vegetarian menus to $275 for nine courses. [Bottomless Dish/Citysearch]
Violence continues in the Flatiron club district, as two men were arrested for stabbing a patron and a bouncer at Club Spy after a fight erupted in the VIP room. [NYP]
As part of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s Green the Capitol project, the cafeterias are getting a locavore makeover, with the goal to sell as much locally grown, organic food as possible. [WP]
The Other Critics
One Star and Thirteen Recommended Dishes for Centro Vinoteca; BLT Market TakesAnother somewhat capricious Frank Bruni review: He gives Centro Vinoteca one star, praising nearly everything he ate (there are thirteen recommended dishes) but complaining about the noise and crowds on the first floor and presumably on that basis withholding a second star. [NYT]
Danyelle Freeman is so not impressed with BLT Market. According to her, the ingredients themselves aren’t even that good! But she likes the place enough to give it two stars anyway. [NYDN]
The usually harder-to-please Alan Richman, on the other hand, had a much higher estimation of the place, except for the part about it smelling like shit. But that, he hopes, will pass with the warm weather. [Bloomberg]