Bloomberg’s a Cookie Fiend; L.A. Resists Cupcake TrendMayor Bloomberg calls the oatmeal-raisin cookies served up at Gracie Mansion “addictive,” an opinion not shared by Giuliani, who didn’t care for the in-house baker’s sweets. [NYDN]
Fresh owner Eric Tevrow pleaded guilty to pocketing more than $1 million in sales and payroll taxes from his restaurants. [NYP]
Tickets for Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s tribute dinner at next year’s South Beach Wine & Food Festival have already sold out, despite being $500 a pop. Naturally, scalpers are already reselling them on eBay. [NYP]
Mediavore
Balducci’s Ruins Hanukkah; Dave Martin Can Paint, TooBalducci’s made a big mistake by advertising boneless spiral ham as “Delicious for Chaunkah.” [NYDN]
Contradicting his colleague, Frank Bruni defends the entrée, arguing that a “too-long sequence or too-broad collection of too-small plates is like being tickled and tickled and never flat-out hugged.” [Diner’s Journal/NYT]
Le Bernardin’s James Beard–award–winning pastry chef enjoys a nice Snickers bar with almonds at the end of the day. [Restaurant Girl]
Back of the House
City Council Stands Up for Fast-Food Chains; Unlaid Eggs in VogueSome City Council members, apparently swayed — purely on principle! — by the plight of the big fast-food chains, oppose Mayor Bloomberg’s proposed law to make them post calorie information. [NYP]
The latest fad among Haute Barnyard types, like Dan Barber of Blue Hill? Unlaid eggs. [NYT]
Related: The Haute Barnyard Hall of Fame [Grub Street]
Bad news for cheesesteak lovers: The New York outpost of Tony Luke’s has severed its ties with its legendary Philadelphia headquarters and is now called Shorty’s. Also, Ollie’s Brasserie has closed, leaving the city with just one Chinese brasserie. [NYT]
Related: City’s Chinese Brasseries Double [Grub Street]
Openings
Another MUD Truck Sticks It to the ManThe MUD Truck is no longer, as its Website claims, the “anti-establishment coffee machine of NYC’s East Village.” A similar machine will now be fomenting rebellion (in the form of unexceptional coffee) in the West Village, by Seventh Avenue and West 4th Street. Are there plans to roll out more trucks, mandated to shock the bourgeoisie in other parts of town? “We would love to expand into other neighborhoods,” MUD co-owner Nina Beerott tells us. “This our first attempt.” The expansion, she notes, might not happen right away. Hey, revolutions don’t happen overnight.
