• How did the Tavern on the Green auction turn out last week? It could have gone better. The sale brought in a total of $3.5 million, which is considerably less than the $8 million the restaurant owes its creditors. [NYO, GS]
• Tom Colicchio's Craftsteak replacement, Colicchio & Sons, opened its doors last night. And …

• 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…

• A sneak peak at Marea, the buzzed-about seafood restaurant from Michael White and Chris Cannon that's scheduled to open in early May. [GS]
• Craft's Damon Wise will be offering his frugal menu six days a week. [Eater]
• Photos of the steakhouse that is coming soon to the Standard NYC. [HC]
• Restaurant Girl on…

• Payard Patsserie was shut down by the Dept. of Health today. [Eater, NYT]
• Susur Lee's Shang only earns one star from Bruni in today's Times: "The magic that Mr. Lee reputedly made in Toronto hasn't followed him here." [NYT]
• Is chef Damon Wise saying goodbye to Tom Colicchio's Craft empire? [NYO]
• More mixed…

• Why isn't your glass of water getting refilled? It might be because the restaurant decided to slash costs by firing all the busboys. [WSJ]
• E.U. in the EV is no more; a trattoria is set to take its place by March. [Eater]
• Jean-Georges Vongerichten now says he won't be taking over the Ago space inside Robert De…

• More trouble for the Ciprianis: The family's Rainbow Room lease has been terminated by Tishman Speyer for failing to pay millions in back rent. [NYT]
• The latest recessionary byproduct: restaurants are getting robbed. [Eater]
• Noah Tepperberg has won approval to open a new lounge in Chelsea. [NYP]
• Adam Platt…