“Julian Niccolini, a longtime co-owner of the Four Seasons, pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault on Thursday in a deal with prosecutors to resolve an allegation that he sexually abused a 28-year-old woman during a party at the celebrated Manhattan restaurant in May.”

Late yesterday, the New York Times reported that David Goldberg, SurveyMonkey CEO and late husband of Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg, had been killed after he slipped on a Four Seasons treadmill in Mexico. That’s a strange way to go—but even stranger is that the resort is now denying it.

Early Saturday morning, a trio of thieves made off with $2 million in jewelry from a Jacob & Co. case in the lobby of Manhattan's Four Seasons Hotel. Although the New York Post insists on identifying the robbers as "slick," this wasn't exactly Ocean's Three.

As part of our ongoing inquiry into the filthy elite of New York's food and restaurant scene, today we present annotated Health Department report cards for the least sanitary restaurants that also have Michelin stars.

It's wonderful that New York state passed gay marriage legislation, but now comes the really hard part: gay weddings. Yes, all that pent up wedding planning energy in the gay community is going to come flying out in one concussive burst, and here is the first set of grooms you're going to hate a little bit.

The country's most expensive hotel room (outside of Vegas) is at the Four Seasons in New York. It comes with free room service, private butler, chauffeured Maybach, and a $120,000 chandelier. You can even pick your own toilet paper!

The Way We Live Now: Cutting where it hurts. Cutting teacher salaries and cutting jobs and cutting your bank account—that we can deal with. But cutting back on fresh flowers at The Four Seasons? This has gone too far.

• NYC Winter Restaurant Week begins today, in case you weren't aware. [SE]
• A roundup of restaurants opening over the next week. [NYM, Eater, TONY]
• A few theories on the recent shakeup at the Four Seasons and the ouster of acclaimed chef Fabio Trabocchi just three months into his tenure. [NYP]
• Did your waiter use your Amex to go on a shopping spree? Maybe! [Eater]
• Burger King may soon start serving beer along with lousy burgers. [NYDN]
• Model/ex-City cast member Adam Senn has a new restaurant. [GS]
• In other reality TV news, here's what you missed if you didn't make it to the Midtown bar where Pauly D of Jersey Shore DJed on Saturday night. [TONY]

• The Tavern on the Green auction kicked off today and continues through Friday. Expect long lines if you plan on checking it out yourself. (But forget about meeting Regis Philbin if you go; he was already there today.) [Crain's]
• Four Seasons chef Fabio Trabocchi is out after only three months. [NYP]
• The critics: Sam Sifton of the Times gives one star to the Breslin; Bloomberg's Ryan Sutton also weighs in on the Breslin, as does the Village Voice's Robert Sietsema; Adam Platt of New York takes on Maialino, giving it three out of five stars; Time Out awards four stars to Purple Yam; and the Post's Steve Cuozzo makes the case that Robert in Columbus Circle offers the best views in town.

• A roundup of restaurants that just opened, or will be shortly. [TONY, Eater]
• Stephen Starr, the mega-restaurateur behind such intimate spots as Buddakan and Morimoto, may be opening a Vietnamese spot next. [GS]
• Le Caprice, the posh British import now open at the Pierre Hotel, hasn't wowed critics, but New York's Adam Platt gives it two stars this week. [NYM]
• Tavern on the Green closes in two weeks. Is a TotG hotel next? [Crain's]
• Cold weather special: A guide to the 50 tastiest soups in NYC. [NYM]
• The Christmas tree at Hotel Griffou went up in flames last week. [P6]
• A big bunch of dining recommendations for New Year's Eve. [Zagat]
• A Times article about power lunching at the Four Seasons managed to get the restaurant confused with the hotel. How unfortunate. [NYT via Eater]

They're back, baby! After killing six magazines and banishing hundreds to the unemployment line, Condé Nast has decided to go through with its annual holiday fete.

• Openings: Michael Huynh's OBAO opens tonight. Rye House, a Flatiron gastropub just opened; and a roundup of other spots opening shortly.
• Cafe Gitane's second location opens at the Jane Hotel tomorrow. [GS]
• Taavo Somer of Freemans and the Rusty Knot is looking to expand. [Eater]
• Add Boston to the list of locations where Shake Shack is expanding. [GS]
• If you turn up at the NYC outpost of Le Caprice and you're not famous or important enough, expect to be turned away. Even if it's empty. [NYP]
• Take the wine ratings and reviews you read with a grain of salt. [WSJ]
• A Q&A with Nick Anderer, the chef at the newly opened Maialino. [Zagat]
• The Four Seasons is going to war with a caterer by the same name. [NYDN]
• The life of a Michelin inspector doesn't sound like much fun. [NYer]

• The club atop Andre Balazs' Standard Hotel won't be known as the Boom Boom Room for much longer. It looks like it will be renamed "QT" instead, possibly because another venue by the same name raised objections. In other Standard news, the as-yet unopened bar across from the Boom Boom Room is going to sport a plunge pool and condom machine. [BlackBook, GS]
• Former Fiamma chef Fabio Trabocchi has been tapped as the new executive chef of the Four Seasons. He's succeeding Christian Albin, who died in June. [NYT]

• Graydon Carter's Monkey Bar is no longer accepting reservations by phone. In other Carter news, Carter's Vanity Fair has very nice things to say about Carter's Waverly Inn, which you'll no doubt be surprised to hear. [Eater, VF]
• Celebrity settings: A roundup of restaurants where celebs were spotted eating this week (or at least where gossips said they'd been spotted). [GS]
• Osteria del Circo is closed due to a gas leak. But Sirio Maccioni will be happy to seat you at Le Cirque instead and he'll give you 25% off, too. [Eater]
• JGV clears the record: He did not cook for four presidents past and present last week. Just one ex-president, a mayor, and UN Secretary General. [JGV]
• Teany caught fire today and will probably be closed for several weeks. [Eater]

The Four Seasons celebrated its 50th anniversary last night and a predictably large crowd of media personalities, politicos, and powerbrokers turned out for the occasion. Just a few of the people on hand to celebrate the event with co-owners Julian Niccolini and Alex von Bidder (left, Erin Fetherston): Barry Diller, Nicole Miller, Ralph Lauren, Mort Zuckerman, Ray and Veronica Kelly, Arthur Sulzberger Jr., David and Joyce Dinkins, Henry Kissinger, Aby and Samantha Rosen, Dolly Lenz, Tim and Nina Zagat, Steve Schwarzman, Fern Mallis, Jay McInerney, Jeffrey and Linda Chodorow, Steve Newhouse and Gina Sanders, Albert Maysles, Ruth Reichl, Robert Burke, Linda Fargo, Star Jones and Herb Wilson, Thom Browne, Don Marron, Drew Nieporent, John Gutfreund, Chuck Scarborough, Cindi Leive and Howard Bernstein, Terry Allen Kramer, Marjorie Gubelmann, Marina Rust Connor, and Salman Rushdie and girlfriend Pia Glenn. [PMc, Wireimage, NYO, Paper]

• Sam Mason's Tailor in Soho has filed for bankruptcy protection. [Crain's]
• More on how the downturn is hurting NYC's pricier places: Sirio Maccioni says his Las Vegas outpost keeps Le Cirque in NYC alive; Le Bernardin has yet to renew its lease; and rumor has it Chanterelle is seeking investors. [NYM]
• The silver lining: restaurant rents are down substantially, which may explain why there's been a spike in applications for restaurant permits. [AMNY, NYO]
• Larry Poston (Waverly Inn, Pastis) has teamed up with Johnny Swet (Balthazar, Freeman's) to take over the former Marylou's space. [P6]

• Frank Bruni weighs in on David Burke's Fishtail in the Times this week, giving the eatery a single star for its "real charms" yet "deeply fatiguing" menu. [NYT]
• A look at the menu at Table 8, which opens tonight. [GS]
• Jay Cheshes hits up Silvano Marchetto's two new outposts in this week's Time Out, Scuderia and Da Silvano Bistecca. [TONY]
• Oprah's KFC sandwich giveaway sparked a riot today. [Gothamist, Gawker]
• Eight "new" rules on ordering wine while dining out. [NYP]
• "Real Housewife" Alex McCord's top food pics in Cobble Hill. [GS]
• Four Seasons co-owners Julian Niccolini and Alex von Bidder were roasted in honor of the eatery's 50th last night. Daniel Boulud on the duo: "The only thing these guys know about food is how much to charge for it." [NYT]

The Four Seasons celebrates its 50th anniversary this spring and Vanity Fair marks the big occasion in the May issue with a "class photo," a collection of "some of the people who have long listed it on expense reports."

• A roundup of restaurants that may close in the near future if you don't do your part and patronize them. Like soon. Thanks for your cooperation. [CS]
• One thing to look forward at Keith McNally's revamped Minetta Tavern: A $26 Black Label burger that doesn't even come with fries. For shame! [TONY]
• Frank Bruni's thoughts on tipping: Never give less than 15% unless the service is "unequivocally dismal," but 17-18% if it's "above-average." [NYT]
• Speaking of tipping, ABC News's roundup of crappy celebrity tippers includes Madonna, Mariah, Gwyneth, and sushi addict Jeremy Piven. [ABC News]
• Tahini on Third Avenue has been closed by the Department of Health. [DBTH]
• Gordon Ramsay is having some money trouble, just so you know. [Gawker]
• Despite what the Times reported three weeks ago, going out to pricey lunches at places like Michael's and the Four Seasons is chic again. Yay. [AdAge]

• Madonna is supposedly furious with Alex Rodriguez for returning to his ex-wife Cynthia after the steroid scandal broke a few days ago; we're guessing she won't be too happy with the pics of A-Rod partying with a group of girls in the Bahamas the weekend before, either. [NYDN, NYP]
• Mandy Moore and Ryan Adams are engaged. [People, P6]
• Cops will reinterview Rihanna and Chris Brown in the coming days. [NYDN]
• Mort Zuckerman had a nice, long, expensive lunch at the Four Seasons right after slashing benefits at the Daily News. [P6]
• Prince Harry has been ordered to undergo "sensitivity training." [People]