• A bunch of expensive restaurants are slated to open over the next few months. That kind of sucks for them, yes, although construction costs are down and rents are now negotiable, so it's not all bad news. Sort of. [NYT]
• Frank Bruni offers up his take on a bunch of "recession beaters" in today's Times, including Anthos Upstairs, Craft's DFF, and the lounge at Per Se. [NYT]
• Will swine flu finally kill the pork-belly trend? [GS]
• Despite the recession, steakhouses still seem full, says the Post's Steve Cuozzo, and Wagyu beef is still selling, "strangely." Strange, indeed. [NYP]
• Snapple is giving away free pizza from May 4 to May 7. [Slice]
• More immediately: 31-cent scoops at Baskin-Robbins tonight. [TFB]

• Frank Bruni takes on La Fonda del Sol and Txikito in the Times, giving the former two stars for Josh DeChellis' "less forced and more exuberant" cuisine, and the latter a single star for its "complicated" cooking. [NYT]
• The Post's Steve Cuozzo likes the murals, mirrors and lighting at Monkey Bar. But he thinks Graydon Carter could be doing a better job with the food. [NYP]
• Bradford Thompson, formerly the chef at the late Lever House in Midtown, is now behind the stove at Terrance Brennan's Bar Artisanal in Tribeca. [TFB]
• More on the Gates, the over-the-top lounge "with the attitude of Soho House, Rose Bar and GoldBar rolled into one marble-encrusted crazybox." [UD]

While the other Inn, the Beatrice, faces an uncertain future, and Graydon Carter is getting ready to open his approachable Monkey Bar, his Waverly Inn restaurant sounds easier to get into than Marc Jacobs' pants.

• It's not just high-end restaurants suffering due to the recession. Take a moment to think a good thought for Applebee's in Times Square. [NYT]
• NYMag's Adam Platt visits La Fonda del Sol, giving it one star for Josh DeChellis's "inherent talent" and another for its tapas. [NYM]
• Graydon Carter's Monkey Bar now has a reservations line. [NYT]
• The secret to Marquee's longevity, at least according to a Harvard Business School case study on the subject. [NYP]
• Jimmy Fallon took to Twitter after getting kicked out of Posto. [Slice via GS]
• Good World has closed its doors. [BoweryBoogie]
• A sushi spot in Midtown has a new roll: the Natalie Portman. [ML]
• Kate Moss may have a cookbook in the works. [Mirror]

• The Mets put on a "showcase" today of the "award-winning roster of dining options" available at Citi Field, one which "scintillated the senses" and "is sure to be one of the biggest hits of the year." Had enough yet? [Mets]
• Rumor has it that David Graziano and David Cabo, two of the dudes behind Pink Elephant and Bagatelle, are taking over the old R&L/Florent space. [GS]
• What's the appropriate tip on a drink, $1 or 20? Frank Bruni explains. [NYT]
• If you walk by Monkey Bar tonight, you may find it open for business. [Eater]
• Terrance Brennan's Artisanal is hosting a grilled cheese contest. [TFB]
• A roundup of some Easter and Passover dining options. [Zagat]
• '21' is extending its Restaurant Week prix fixe through Labor Day. [Eater]
• What does every product claim it contains antioxidants these days? Because gullible people buy them based solely on the label, of course. [Atlantic]
• A Brooklyn fast food joint has renamed itself "Obama Fried Chicken." [TSG]

Wispily pompadoured Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter's new midtown venture Monkey Bar is a bar/restaurant for rich people. There's even a giant mural commemorating some of between-wars New York's bestest richies. So who's in it?

• Monkey Bar doesn't open for another week—and good luck getting it once it does—but The Feed nabbed a copy of the menu at a friends-and-family dinner on Friday night. You know, just in case you're interested to see what Graydon Carter's friends will be eating for the next few months. [TONY]
• For its part, Eater has a sketch of where the important and not-quite-as-important will be seated once Monkey Bar opens. [Eater]
• A Shake Shack does not appear to be destined for Central Park, alas. [GS]
• Shake Shack is, however, open at Citi Field, and served up people who attended the Georgetown-St. John's game yesterday. [NYM, NYDN]
• A fire will keep David Rabin's Los Dados closed for at least a week. [Eater]
• In this week's issue of New York, Adam Platt gives Chelsea's Txikito and the Flatiron district's Bar Breton one star apiece. [NYM]
• Bob Lape is signing off after more than 20 years of food reviews. [Crain's]
• It was six years ago today that the smoking ban went into effect, FYI. [EVG]

• Bouley was on every critic's menu today: Frank Bruni handed it three stars ("only Daniel and Per Se give you quite the same feeling of giddy privilege"); the Post's Steve Cuozzo was extremely pleased ("heartstoppingly beautiful"); and TONY's Jay Cheshes was perfectly happy with the food, although he thought the service could have been a bit better. [NYT, NYP, TONY]
• Word has it that the new exec chef at Graydon Carter's Monkey Bar is Elliot Ketley, formerly of Soho House. Also: Not surprisingly, people who collect a paycheck from Carter think it's absolutely marvelous. [Gothamist, NYO]
• Per Se's new à la carte menu—revealed! [Eater]
• The best dive bar in NYC per Details? Jimmy's Corner on West 44th. [Details]
• A visit to Dutch Kills, the buzzed-about bar opening in Long Island City. [BB]
• Red wine increases the female libido, for your information. [Decanter]
• Rachael Ray will be at the 92Y tomorrow if you've got $27 to spare. [92Y]

• Following conflicting news reports, it now appears that Natasha Richardson was pronounced brain dead sometime yesterday following her skiing accident in Canada on Monday. She's now reported to be at Lenox Hill on the Upper East Side, where her family members have gathered to hold a vigil and say goodbye. [NYP, People, NYT]
• Rihanna and Chris Brown might be "taking a break," although neither one says it's a "formal breakup," whatever that means. [E!]
• Lindsay Lohan's driver crashed her SUV into a wall outside the Mondrian Hotel in Los Angeles at 3:30 am Tuesday morning. [E!]
• Graydon Carter has already started inviting friends to visit Monkey Bar, the restaurant he's opening on East 54th Street. [P6]
• Just what the world needs: Justin Timberlake recently returned from Mexico, where he's been working on launching his own brand of tequila. [P6]

"Carter notes in his Vanity Fair editor's letter that... [Monkey Bar investors] 'include four people who are a part of this year's New Establishment: Ronald Perelman, Jerry Weintraub, Jean Pigozzi and Bryan Lourd.'" [Post]

Vanity Fair editor (and Waverly Inn co-owner) Graydon Carter is coming clean about the investors in Monkey Bar, which is scheduled to open next summer. In addition to hotelier Jeff Klein and restaurateur Jeremy King, there's also billionaire Ron Perelman, mega-producer Jerry Weintraub, art collector/photographer Jean Pigozzi, CAA partner Bryan Lourd, and former Paramount president John Goldwyn. We'll also point out that Goldwyn is Jeff Klein's boyfriend. [Page Six]

Graydon Carter is paid a very comfy salary to serve as the editor-in-chief of Vanity Fair (it's reportedly in the neighborhood of $2 million a year) and the perks that come along with the job are priceless. But is it enough to plow your cash into various restaurants around town? Probably not. A couple of weeks ago, we learned that longtime Carter pal Ron Perelman happened to own the building occupied by Carter's Waverly Inn. Over the weekend, Page Six mentioned that Ron Perelman was possibly teaming up with Jon Bon Jovi to reopen the Blue Parrot, the Tex-Mex restaurant in East Hampton, and added that "[Perelman] is said to be a backer of Graydon Carter's Monkey Bar."