• Frank Bruni takes on La Fonda del Sol and Txikito in the Times, giving the former two stars for Josh DeChellis' "less forced and more exuberant" cuisine, and the latter a single star for its "complicated" cooking. [NYT]
• The Post's Steve Cuozzo likes the murals, mirrors and lighting at Monkey Bar. But he thinks Graydon Carter could be doing a better job with the food. [NYP]
• Bradford Thompson, formerly the chef at the late Lever House in Midtown, is now behind the stove at Terrance Brennan's Bar Artisanal in Tribeca. [TFB]
• More on the Gates, the over-the-top lounge "with the attitude of Soho House, Rose Bar and GoldBar rolled into one marble-encrusted crazybox." [UD]

• A peek at a handful of new bars and clubs now open. [Metromix]
• Prepare to hear a lot about mezcal, which is now invading NYC. [NYT]
• The life and times of chef Paul Liebrandt in 1,500 words or so. [NYT]
• Two restaurateurs are accused of kidnapping their landlord's real estate agent and threatening to torture him to get out of paying rent. [NYP]
• Robert Sietsema on Minetta Tavern and its "transgressional cuisine." [VV]
• Drinking boxed wine isn't quite as pathetic these days, apparently. [AMNY]
• Hershey's wasn't so happy that Jacques Torres had introduced something he called the "Champagne kiss," so they did what most big companies do in these cases: They threatened to sue him until he backed down. [GS]