♦ The 2009 Zagat guide to New York restaurants was released today. Momofuku Ko was named best newcomer, while Per Se led the pack in food and service. [Zagat]
♦ Vice just released a New York restaurant guide, too. [Vice via Eater]
♦ A list of bars where you can watch the debate. [NYM]
♦ What are Wall Streeters doing now that they have no money? They're skipping power lunches and opting for pizza instead. [NYP]

Ethan Hawke taking his dog for a walk ... Ashley Olsen leaving her apartment in the Village ... Whitney Port going for a stroll downtown ... Calvin Klein crossing the street ... Michelle Williams carrying daughter Matilda and a cup of coffee ... Regis Philbin and Kelly Ripa filming a segment outside ... Liv Tyler peeking out of the front door of her apartment ... Katie Lee Joel heading into the Hearst building for a luncheon ... Tyra Banks leaving the same luncheon a little while later ... Joshua Jackson shooting scenes for his new show Fringe in Queens ... Kiefer Sutherland walking with a friend through the West Village ... Dita Von Teese making her way into Marc Anthony's party at the Bowery Hotel, around the same time Kimora Lee Simmons and Djimon Hounson showed up ... Celine Dion performing at Madison Square Garden ... Mary-Kate Olsen covering her face while walking downtown late at night ... and Lindsay Lohan and Samantha Ronson leaving a dinner downtown.

1) Eric Villency and Kimberly Guilfoyle threw a cocktail party on Saturday evening at their house in Bridgehampton, where Richard Johnson, Dan Abrams, Dave Zinczenko, Geraldo Rivera and Erica Levy, Scott Currie, Rob Wiesenthal, Alina Cho, and Gigi Stone mingled. [Huffington Post/Pmc]

1) On Saturday night, Gwyneth Paltrow co-hosted "The Mane Event" to benefit Amaryllis Farm Equine Rescue with photographer Steven Klein at his West Kill Farm in Bridgehampton. Arden Wohl, Kiera Chaplin, Kelly Klein, Patrick McMullan, Sale Johnson, and Rory Tahari all made appearances, but hotly anticipated guest Madonna was a no show. [NYO/PMc]

1) Lisa Salzer had a party last night for her jewelry line Lulu Frost, where hosts Alexis Bryan Morgan and Elettra Rossellini Wiedemann were joined by Erin Fetherston and Hedi Ferjani, Derek Blasberg, Luigi Tadini, Kathryn Neale Shaffer, Peter Davis, Kate Schelter, and Carole Radziwill, who were rewarded for walking up the five flights of stairs with a live Cuban band and cocktails. [Paper/style file]

1) Donna Karan's annual designer garage sale in support of the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund was co-hosted by InStyle and Kelly Ripa on Saturday. Betsey Johnson, Lydia Hearst, Euan Rellie, Lorraine Bracco, Jessica Stam, Katie Lee Joel, Debbie Matenopoulos, Hana Soukupova, Charlotte Ronson, and Nanette Lepore browsed stalls manned by the likes of Rachel Zoe and Shoshanna Lonstein Gruss, raising $3.6 million. [FWD]

1) Rory and Elie Tahari hosted a bash at their beachfront house for God's Love We Deliver: 400 guests including Simon Doonan (above center) and Jonathan Adler, Martha Stewart, Arnold Scaasi, Kelly Klein, Debbie Bancroft, Richard Mishaan, Tory Burch, Kyle MacLachlan (above left) and Desiree Gruber (above right), Olivia Chantecaille, Dennis Basso, Melissa Berkelhammer, Gigi Mortimer, Karen Pearl, and Tiffany Dubin raised $1.3 million by bidding on auction prizes including lunch with Blaine Trump and Joan Rivers at Le Cirque. [Hamptons.com/Dan's Hamptons]

First, Billy Joel's wife Katie Lee Joel failed at hosting Top Chef. Then, she failed at attending P. "Sean" Diddy Combs' annual "White Party" by showing up wearing cream. And now, in a post that teases her forthcoming cookbook Katie's Comfort Table, she has failed at writing for the Huffington Post. Which, you wouldn't even think could be possible!

• The rep for High School Musical star Vanessa Hudgens says, "This was a photo which was taken privately. It is a personal matter and it is unfortunate that this has become public." Uh, or it's the best thing that's happened to her career yet. [TMZ]
  

Billy Joel on his child-bride Katie Lee Joel's singing abilities: "I just nod my head. I'm glad she's a good cook." After the cutaway: "Yeah, she's no Alexa Ray Joel, my daughter who's about her age!," Billy continued, and then Katie whispered the word "prenup" really softly under her breath through a taut uber-whitened smile, and then he rubbed the small of her back nervously and shut up. Thanks, "Extra"!

• Rich ladies are miffed that social-lites Olivia Palermo and Tinsley Mortimer, who were supposed to host that Darfur benefit Josh and Nikola dragged themselves to, were no-shows. "We think the only people who truly suffered from their selfish no-shows are the poor citizens of war-torn Darfur," one organizer hissed to Page Six. Seriously, talk about adding insult to injury. [Page Six]
  

• He's cute, okay, but he's no Brad Pitt. [People]
  

Sad news today for anyone who was predicting that Salman Rushdie and his fourth wife, model turned food writer and TV personality Padma Lakshmi, would go the distance: no less than Diane Von Furstenberg is spreading the rumor that they're through. And Padma is apparently the dumper, not the dump-ee: per DVF, she's thinking of leaving her marriage to focus on her hosting duties on Top Chef. While Padma's commitment to her career is laudable, it seems potentially ill-considered. After all, the producers of Top Chef clearly have a trophy-wives-only requirement for their hostesses—how else to explain Katie Lee Joel? If Padma does ditch Salman, they will no doubt immediately step up their efforts to recruit Melania Trump.