Eating & Drinking: Friday Edition
• David Chang's empire is about to get bigger. The Times confirms the rumor that the man behind Momofuku plans to open a French-Vietnamese spot in the former Town space in the Chambers Hotel sometime this fall. [NYT, TFB]
• The beer garden at Standard Hotel is now open. [UrbanDaddy]
• Andrew Carmellini is perfectly happy that Locanda Verde got two stars from the Times recently: "[T]he reviews have been exactly what we wanted." [W]
• Le Cirque founder Sirio Maccioni's favorite person this week? That would probably be the president of the Philippines, Maria Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who showed up with her entourage and dropped $20,000 on dinner. [P6]
• Your ability to eat kangaroo meat in the city is now in jeopardy. [GS]
• The food-truck backlash, con't: The Dessert Truck has been offed. [Eater]
• Bon Appétit's list of the top 10 best new restaurants in America. [BA]
• How America became a nation of food snobs. [NYDN]
• A roundup of where a bunch of celebs supposedly dined this week. [GS]
• Applebee's plans to expand in the NYC area. Oh, dear. [Crain's]