Katie Holmes, actress and Bride of Scientology, turns 31 today. Hard-charging hedge fund manager Dan Loeb is turning 48. Brad Pitt turns 46. Steven Spielberg is turning 63. Christina Aguilera is celebrating her 29th birthday today. Dan Klores, the publicist turned documentary filmmaker, is marking his 60th. The head of the American Federation of Teachers, Randi Weingarten, is 52. Memorial Sloan-Kettering president (and Nobel Prize winner) Harold Varmus is turning 70. Troubled rapper DMX is 39. Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones is 66. Ray Liotta is turning 55. Model agency owner Faith Kates is 52. And former Miss USA Tara Conner is turning 24 today. A bunch of weekend birthdays is below.

The Jane Hotel's crotchety neighbors were about to get a big ol' story about just how noisy downtown's latest celebrity hangout is, but then the Jane Hotel's owners stepped in and killed it. At least that's what the writer says.

• The Grill at the Standard hotel is in friends-and-family mode at the moment. (It should be open to the public sometime next week.) In the meantime, though, you'll be pleased to hear (and see—left) that some serious bartender training is currently underway. [HotelChatter, Flickr]
• New York's very first spot for 24-hour-a-day pho is coming soon. [GS]
• Chocolate mousse is popping up all over town, according to Kate Krader. Exhibits 1-4: Monkey Bar, Minetta Tavern, Bar Artisanal, and Kefi. [F&W]
• Another list of downturn-friendly bars offering free food with drinks. [NYT]
• Good news for strip club fans: Drink prices, cover charges are down. [WSJ]
• Some breaking news from Tuesday evening's screening of Food, Inc.: Rocco DiSpirito says he's been known to occasionally eat a Cinnabon or two. [NYDN]

• The guy behind the Campbell Apartment in Grand Central is turning part of the Empire State Building's ground floor into a swanky bar. For reals. [Eater]
• The new Jane Hotel and Ballroom, owned by ever-expanding hoteliers Sean MacPherson and Eric Goode, officially opened last night. [Thrillist, Eater]
• Bruni visits Soho's Savoy in this week's Times, reaffirms its two stars. [NYT]
• Both Ryan Sutton and the Danyelle Freeman weigh in on Table 8. [BN, NYDN]
• For his part, TONY's Jay Cheshes gives Harbour five out of six stars. [TONY]
• Steve Cuozzo hits up "the Bowery's new Big Enchilada," aka DBGB. [NYP]
• If you've fantasized about turning your living room into a replica of the Gramercy Park Hotel's late Wakiya, you may want to note that all the restaurant's fixtures and furniture go up for sale next week. [GS]
• Europe's big rosé crisis has been settled. What a relief. [NYT]

• Daniel Boulud's DBGB debuts Monday. Grub Street has pics. [GS]
• Also opening on Monday: the least recession-friendly restaurant to come along in months. Have a look around SHO Shaun Hergatt at the Setai in the financial district. [Eater]
• Not opening Monday, but will be open soon: Hotel Griffou, which is in "celebrity-preview mode" right now. [GS]
• Six wine auction houses are offering big bargains later this month. [Reuters]
• Sienna Miller, Elle Macpherson, Sting, Woody Harrelson, Charlize Theron, and Alicia Silverstone are some of the celebs now lobbying Nobu boss Nobuyuki Matsuhisa to drop bluefin tuna from his menus. [Page Six]

Considering he's spent the last couple of days fending off accusations he's a slumlord, this probably won't be the most cheerful day for hotel/restaurant owner Eric Goode: He celebrates his 51st birthday today. Others born on the 19th of December: Jake Gyllenhaal is 28 today. Alyssa Milano is 36. Tyson Beckford turns 38. Lady Sovereign is turning 23. Criss Angel turns 41. And real estate developer Doug Durst is turning 64. Weekend birthdays after the jump.

The folks at HotelChatter spent a night at The Jane, the new, cheapo West Village hotel by Eric Goode and Sean MacPherson, the duo who brought you the Maritime and Bowery hotels and who are partners in the Waverly Inn with Graydon Carter. What do you get for a mere $99 a night? No scented candles, apparently. "What does lurk in the hallway is a smell like that of men who only bathe every 4 days. It's a baked-in aroma, probably as much a part of the building as its vintage elevator." But it's not all bad! There's free wi-fi, the location is superb, and the bathrooms—which are shared—are decent. And at those prices, even your friends who have been downsized should be able to afford a room.

Hotel moguls Sean MacPherson and Eric Goode will unveil their latest spot, the Jane Hotel (located on—yes, you guessed it—Jane Street) beginning next week. What will the duo behind the Bowery and Maritime be serving up this time? Rooms that resemble ship cabins, are 50-square-feet, have no private baths, and will cost "under $100 a night." And as a part of a special bonus to make the whole experience extra-super-gritty, hotel visitors will get to share the property with "long-term residents" of the former welfare hotel. (Unfortunately, MacPherson and Goode were unsuccessful in their efforts to evict them.) Good news, though, for the grizzled old-timers who have hung around: They'll have free WiFi and a concierge now, plus plenty of naive Danish tourists to squeeze free drinks out of at Socialista downstairs.

A hotelier, restaurateur, and nightclub entrepreneur, Goode—along with his partner, Sean MacPherson—creates fashionable establishments for fashionable people.