After declaring that he was "terrified" of oysters, clams and mussels tonight on the Late Show, Regis Philbin was force-fed an entire raw bar (courtesy Eric Ripert/Le Bernardin) by David Letterman—and it was strangely hilarious/endearing. Video inside.

• The Breslin at the Ace Hotel has started serving dinner. [TONY]
• Marcus Samuelsson is cooking up the state dinner in DC tonight. The mostly vegetarian menu features curry, herbs from the White House garden. [AP]
• A few recommendations on where to eat out on Thanksgiving Day. [TONY]
• Murray's Cheese is expanding thanks a deal with a grocery chain. [NYT]
• There's a bit more Tavern on the Green drama today. [NYT]
• Alan Richman dragged Le Bernardin's Eric Ripert to Costco to go shopping. Ripert was horrified by the store, but pleasantly surprised with the food. [GQ]
• The tuna your local sushi spot is serving you may not be tuna. [Gothamist]

• The critics: Sam Sifton of the Times heads to Flushing for Cantonese and bestows a star on Imperial Palace; Jay Cheshes of Time Out gives four stars to A Voce; New York's R&P rave about Steve Hanson's new Bill's Bar & Burger; GQ's Alan Richman very much disagrees; and the Post's cranky Steve Cuozzo finds that Agua Dulce only came through when they knew he was there.
• A look around Anthony and Tom Martignetti's Brinkley's in Nolita. [GS, Eater]
• Publicity hound Nello Balan is being sued for, like, the 78th time. [NYP]
• Meanwhile Table 8's co-owner is facing a messy criminal matter. [Eater, GS]
• Eric Ripert does not think it's okay that Roberto Cavalli has a habit of ordering food from one restaurant (Mañana) while he's sitting in another (Serafina). Not that anyone has ever tried to pull that at Le Bernardin. [GS]
• Jonathan Safran Foer turned poor Natalie Portman into a vegan. [HP]
• Pickles are having their moment in the sun. At last! [Zagat]

• Following a brief makeover, Café Boulud has reopened its doors. [W&D]
• Donatella Arpaia's Mia Dona, however, is now closed for renovations. [GS]
• Despite the recession, food festivals remain a hot ticket. [WSJ]
• High-end sushi, however, is totally over. Make a note of it. [GS]
• Eric Ripert's Le Bernardin has jumped on the wine club bandwagon. [Eater]
• Incoming Times food critic Sam Sifton has an uphill battle ahead of him, clearly. He was immediately spotted when he walked into Daniel last week. [P6]

• Not everyone was sad to hear the news that Café des Artistes was closing. Lonnie Barnett, a former general manager of the restaurant says working there was "possibly the most hellish restaurant experience ever." [P6]
• Did Irving Mill close for summer vacation or is it a sign of trouble? [GS]
• Laurent Tourondel's BLT Grill, which is slated to open at the new W Hotel in the financial district, has been greenlighted by the community board. [Eater]
• Buddha Bar was forced to change its name after it lost a trademark lawsuit. Now it's come up with one: Ajna Bar. It also reports that it has a new chef, Hung Huynh, the winner of season three of Top Chef. [Eater]
• Champagne producers have agreed to pick 32% fewer grapes this year, which will leave "billions of grapes to rot on the ground." Why? Because you're not going out and buying as much champagne as you used to. [WSJ]
• Interesting in some sushi or a selection of cheeses the next time you fly coach? You may get the chance—provided you're willing to pay for it. [WSJ]

• Cooking shows are all the rage right now with the Food Network and Travel Channel both witnessing record ratings. Real estate shows, however, have been bombing. Why? "Food can take away the pain." [Bloomberg]
• A Q&A with Danny Meyer, who says he hopes to regain the star that his Union Square Cafe lost recently just as soon as Sam Sifton takes over as Times dining critic, and that his big pet peeve are dishes with hazelnuts in them. [RG]
• Steve Hanson reports the eatery he's opening in the former Hog Pit space on Ninth Avenue will be casual American spot called Bill's Bar & Burger. [NYT]
• The chance the fish you're eating does not have some mercury in it? Virtually nil, according to a new report by government scientists. [NYT]

• A TGI Friday's and Tim Hortons in Union Square? The Riese Organization, which just acquired the building that once housed Zen Palate, says it will bring the chains to the 'hood if it can't find a higher-paying tenant. Uh oh. [Crain's]
• The Beatrice Inn isn't expected to reopen, but co-owner Paul Sevigny has another venue in the works. He's opening a club/restaurant in SoHo, and this time around it will be located "away from residential areas." [NYT]
• Billy Gilroy (Employees Only, Macao Trading Co.) and photographer Patrick McMullan plan to open East Side Social Club in Midtown in late October. [SB]

• A round up of eateries that recently opened, or will open this week. [Eater]
• Una Pizza Napoletana has closed its doors. It will become the first Manhattan outpost of the Williamsburg pizzeria Motorino in a few weeks. [NYT]
• Le Bernardin's Eric Ripert was tasked with cooking (beef, not fish) for French president Nicolas Sarkozy during his recent visit to New York. [P6]
• How to establish yourself as a regular at the restaurant of your choice. [GS]
• Summer "food crawls" through the Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens. [NYDN]
• Not only is Padma Lakshmi is discussions to star in a NBC sitcom, but Mario Batali is joining the cast of Bitter Feast, a "darkly comic thriller." [Variety, GS]
• An extended interview with Aquavit's Marcus Samuelsson. [ObsesedTV]

Madonna banished the children she has to focus on feeling terrible about the one she can't have. Paris Hilton, meanwhile, now has what she couldn't, so who knows if she'll want it much longer.

• Paris Hilton is getting married! Well, sort of. America's original celebutard told reporters that boyfriend Doug Reinhardt is "going to be my husband," and now friends say they're planning a summer wedding in the Bahamas. These two are going to be together forever, just you wait and see. [E!]
• The Lindsay Lohan-Sam Ronson trainwreck rolls on: Ronson seems to have changed her mind and decided she no longer wants a restraining order; LiLo says she's "devastated" by the breakup and that everyone has turned on her. Now Lohan's friends say they're worried she's suicidal. [People, Us, TMZ]
• You didn't expect Michael Lohan to pass up a PR opportunity, did you? He says he's cleared his schedule and put aside his "numerous commitments" to help Lindsay through this crisis. [OK!]
• Madonna isn't taking her legal defeat in Malawi very well: Not only did she send her kids to stay with Guy Ritchie so she could "drown her sorrows" with Stella McCartney, she wore an "uncharacteristically mumsy outfit," too, which can't possibly be a good sign. [Sun, DM]

• Sneakers at Bouley? Not acceptable. You can wear them to Per Se, though, provided you also bring along a doctor's note. [TONY]
• A list of 75 outdoor cafés that have opened, in case you're feelin' brave. [GS]
• The Times would like to remind you that people are still spending big bucks to hit up brunch at Bagatelle and Merkato 55, recession or not. [NYT]
• Braeburn gets a middling, one-star review of in this week's New York. [NYM]
• A fire did serious damage to Coney Island's famed Totonno's pizzeria over the weekend, but the owners say they plan to reopen in six weeks or so. [NY1]
• Speaking of pizza, the highly-anticipated Kesté opens next week. [GS]
• Looking to open a restaurant? Cool! Here are some availabilities. [Eater]
• More trouble for Gordon Ramsay: A week after selling his LA eatery, he's been forced to sell off flagship in Paris because of the credit crunch. [NYP]
• Eric Ripert will tack one more honor to his resume tonight when he's awarded the Legion d'Honneur, France's highest award, at the French Consulate. [TFB]

Lycée Français de New York honored Dior president Sidney Toledano at its 10th annual gala at 7 World Trade Center on Friday night. The event, which was co-chaired in part by by Olivier Sarkozy and his wife Charlotte, attracted Eric and Sandra Ripert (left), Robbie Myers, Bernard Aidan, Bettina Zilkha, Catherine Malandrino Glenda Bailey, Cathy Horyn, Kassy and Liya Kebede, Delphine and Reed Krakoff, Susan Fales-Hill, Yannick Noah, Virginia Smith, Alejandra and Jeffrey Kluger, Stacey Bronfman, Assouline and Martine Prosper, Fabrizio and Maryane Freda, and Veronica Bulgari. [PMc, FWD, WWD, NYSD]

• Rachael Ray says her long-awaited burger joint will open in 2010. [TFB]
• A roundup of all the restaurants that shuttered this week. [Eater]
• Eric Ripert says he is not planning to launching a line of prepared foods, despite what you may have read elsewhere. [TFB]
• Allen & Delancey is offering for half-priced cocktails on Tuesdays. [GS]
• Butcher Bay opens up on East 5th Street tonight. [Eater]
• Patrón is launching a new line of super high-end vodka. Great timing! [WSJ]
• A look inside the recently-reopened Holland Bar. [GS]
• The yellow eel in John Dory's fish tank has gone missing, but Joe Bastianich has some theories on where it went. [NYT]

• Eric Ripert has signed on to host his own PBS show called Avec Eric. [THR]
• Frank Bruni gives the Plaza's Oak Room a single star in today's Times, describing it as more of a "looker" than a "performer." [NYT]
• UES staple Swifty's is opening a Palm Beach outpost. [PBDN]
• JGV is bringing back Vong's original menu from 1992. [JGV]
• Forge will officially change its name to Marc Forgione this week. [P6]
• More details about what's happening at Ago in the Greenwich Hotel. [NYT]
• The Flatiron's Fleur de Sel is closing on February 21st. [Eater]
• It's a tough time to be in the restaurant biz, in case you hadn't heard. [NYT]
• Possibly related: Starbucks is thinking of offering "value meals." [AP]

The New York iteration of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame celebrated its opening last night with a party in the new SoHo space. Attendees like Rolling Stone publisher Jann Wenner and Theodora Richards (left) mingled with Taylor Momsen, Molly Sims, Matthew Modine, Ciara, David Foote, Kelly Killoren Bensimon, Liz Lange, and Ryan Locke, listened to performances by Debbie Harry and Dave Mason, and inked their names on a plywood wall. [Paper, Wireimage, PMc, GoaG]

♦ Rumor has it Robert De Niro's Ago in Tribeca will be shutting down to make way for a new project by Jean-Georges Vongerichten. [Eater]
♦ John Dory hasn't opened yet, but the restaurant's reservation line has and it's booked through December 4th. [GS]
♦ Eric Ripert's suggestions on where to find the best fish tacos in NYC. [GS]
♦ Brother Jimmy's is being sued by a woman who says she was "engulfed in flames" after a bartender's stunt went wrong. [NYP]
♦ New York waiters report customers have been tipping less since the recession began. [GS]

• New York's Adam Platt visits Convivio and gives Michael White's kitchen three stars. [NYM]

1) The ACRIA benefit at photographer Steven Klein's Bridgehampton farm, sponsored by Calvin Klein Collection and Vanity Fair, invited guests for "Cocktails at Sunset." A boldface-heavy crowd including Bruce Weber, Jessica Stam, Donna Karan, Daphne Guinness, Rachel Zoe, Elizabeth Saltzman, Francisco Costa, Kelly Bensimon, Padma Lakshmi (above right), Carol Alt, Calvin Klein, Joy Bryant, Karolina Kurkova, Olivia Chantecaille, Mary Alice Stephenson, Anh Duong, Sessa von Richthofen, Zani Gugelmann, Jackie Astier, Lucy Sykes and Euan Rellie, and committee member/host Andrew Saffir (above left) ate mini-burgers and tater tots, and bid on a Steven Klein print of Madonna from W magazine. [FWD/Style.com]

One of the most acclaimed chefs in America, Ripert is the chef of world renowned, four-star French seafood restaurant, Le Bernardin.