• Now that the city has decided to hand over Tavern on the Green's operating license to Central Park Boathouse owner Dean Poll beginning on January 1, the restaurant has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. [NYT]
• Departures: Chef Jason Neroni has parted ways with 10 Downing; and mixologist Eben Freeman has left Sam Mason's (now bankrupt) Tailor.
• Morimoto has been given the community board approval to open a "low-key hangout" in the Church Street space formerly occupied by Dennis Foy. [Eater]
• A photo tour of Los Feliz, a new "tacos-and-tequila lounge" on the LES. [MM]
• A peek at Capital Grille, a new FiDi steakhouse opening on Sept. 28. [Eater]
• A visit to the penthouse of restaurateur Elaine Kaufman. [NYP]
• The city's very first Stumptown Coffee Roasters opened on the ground floor of the new Ace Hotel on West 29th Street this week. [NYT]

• It's two stars for 10 Downing and chef Jason Neroni in today's Times. [NYT]
• Chef Michael Citarella is out at Freemans. [TONY, TONY]
• It's confirmed: Michael Psilakis and Donatella Arpaia are expanding and opening a restaurant at the Viceroy in Miami. [NYP]
• Capitale's Seth Greenberg may make a bid for Tavern on the Green. [NYO]
• The Biltmore Room is reopening in April as The Gates. [BB]
• Matthew Schaefer is taking over the Mermaid Inn's East Village location. [GS]
• The old Florent space, which became R&L, is no more. [Eater]
• One rather unusual item on Silvano Marchetto's menu at Scuderia: limited edition hand-painted sneakers that are made to order and cost $895. [GS]

Nine months ago, Jason Neroni, the chef who got his start at the now-closed 71 Clinton, was booted from the kitchen of Porchetta under a storm of allegations of thievery. After a brief stop at the 76th Precinct House (he denies he was arrested), he landed at Jason Swami's Cantina on the Lower East Side. Now we hear that Neroni is planning on jumping ship and going to work for Stephane Dorian, the restaurateur who once ran the Waterloo Brasserie, the Spotted Pig of the mid-late 90s. The new restaurant, 10 Downing, was supposed to open this month; Dorian and his partners (who co-own 5 Ninth) signed the lease in June, and we hear they've already gone through two chefs, including Scott Bryan and Katy Sparks, of Quilted Giraffe fame.

The Porchetta affair, a narrative that has riveted New York's restaurant scene for weeks, has finally ended the only way it could have: with Shakespearean precision. Seldom have the unities aligned themselves to generate as many nefarious shenanigans, bitter recriminations or tragic figures. Jason Neroni, out on bail and out of a job, ranks with Willy Loman as one of modernity's great tragic figures, a proud chef laid low by the world. And then there's owner Marco Rivero, a rival Goofus or Gallant, depending on whether you believe his claims. And now Porchetta, that Carroll Gardens restaurant once one-starred by Bruni, is closed. Soon the space will be another restaurant with another menu and Jason Neroni and Marco Rivero will just be another pair of forgotten stories. Exit, pursued by a boar. Josh

Last night in a flurry of metro reporting, we noted former Porchetta chef Jason Neroni was currently a resident of the 76th Precinct House in Brooklyn, after being booked on charges of petit larceny. Details were few and far between, the air still thick with gunsmoke and sulfur. Now Neroni is out of jail and the particulars are starting to trickle in. Details are courtesy of PR fella Steven Hall, who appears to be acting as a pro tempor arbiter. The story has begun to take on the aspect of a Greek tragedy; we're thinking Antigone though we could go for Medea.

Our Correspondent for Chefs In Local Jails reports, "Today Chef Neroni was processed at the 76th Precinct on Union Street in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn. His lawyer accompanied him. Can't confirm all the details." We can! We called the Deputy of Public Information who confirmed that Jason Neroni, until recently the chef at Porchetta, had indeed been arrested and charged with petit larceny, a class A misdemeanor. It seems that Marco Rivero, Neroni's ex-employer at Porchetta and the Montague to Neroni's Capulet, knew what he was talking about when he claimed there was a warrant for Neroni's arrest after all. Mr. Rivero, of late markedly unenamored of Neroni, might have something to do with the claims even! Defined as the theft of less than $1,000, the charge carries a penalty of up to a year imprisonment. As of this writing, Mr. Neroni is still in the 76th.

Jason Neroni may be many things: A mercurial firebrand, a talented chef done in by hubris, an alchemist capable of combining pork and margarita into a pork margarita. The aftermath of his very ugly divorce from Brooklyn's Porchetta has resulted in his former employer claiming that he's a thief and wanted by the police—and today Neroni told us that he'll be fighting fire with legal fire. How could a deal so sweet—Porchetta under Neroni had in general received positive reviews—go so sour? And why do we feel like we're 13 again, cowering our bedrooms while Mom and Dad blast NPR to drown out the fighting?

Frank Bruni drops by Porchetta, our friend Jason Neroni's Carroll Gardens pig emporioum. Frank gives the place a respectable one star (which should count as two on the Brooklyn curve) and even enjoys the famous pork crackling margarita. And why not? The food sounds terrific, the preparations astounding, and if this photo accompanying the review is any indication, folks are clamoring to the establishment from all over the city, including metro airports. Nice vest, Greg!

Last week, the restaurant world was tittering about a post on New York magazine's food blog Grub Street about Porchetta chef Jason Neroni, who seemed to be soliciting votes for a Beard Foundation Rising Star Award, and while he was at it, noting that "Danny Meyer does it all the time." (Soliciting votes, that is.) Then Neroni emailed Grub Street defending himself.