• The critics: Sam Sifton of the Times surveys the new Oceana and isn't overwhelmed, giving it two stars; the Post's Steve Cuozzo is pretty pleased with A Voce and hands it three stars out of four; Time Out's Jay Cheshes bestows three out of five stars on Travertine; and Gael Greene heads to Jeffrey Chodorow's Tanuki…

• Vong closes tomorrow. Moving in is Wolfgang's Steakhouse. [JGV via Eater]
• Mario Batali says he decided to change up Del Posto because he's planning to get a second Michelin star and a four-star Times review this year. [TONY]
• Rumor has it Scott Conant may take over the Table 8 space. [Eater]
• The Mermaid Inn…

• Jean-Georges Vongerichten will close down Vong on Saturday. [Eater]
• A new restaurant/wine bar has popped up at the Four Seasons Hotel. [GS]
• A tour of Danny Meyer's Maialino, which opens in a couple of weeks. [Eater]
• Both Le Souk and The Mott have been closed their doors. [GS]
• Amy Sacco hasn't obtained a…

• Ed's Chowder House, brought to you by chef Ed Brown and restaurateur Jeffrey Chodorow, opens tonight on the Upper West Side. [F&T, Eater]
• Also new as of today: Macbar, a "gourmet" macaroni-and-cheese take-out/delivery spot that's attached to Delicatessen on Prince Street. [GS]
• A roundup of a few places that have…

• Danny Meyer will open a new restaurant in the Gramercy Park Hotel this November. Now it has a name. It will be called Maialino, or "little pig" in Italian, which was Meyer's nickname when he lived in Rome. [GS]
• Today in restaurant reviews: Frank Bruni issues his final review for the Times this week, giving the…

• Jeffrey Chodorow says he plans to turn his failed steakhouse, Center Cut, into a seafood shack-style spot called Ed's Chowder House. Ed Brown, the chef and owner of Eighty One, will be his partner in the venture. [NYT]
• Like father, like son, apparently: The new chef at Jean-Georges Vongerichten's Perry Street is…

• Payard has closed after more than a decade on the Upper East Side. [Zagat]
• The building at 347 Bowery, which until recently served as the Salvation Army's base in the East Village, may turn into another Koi sushi joint. [Curbed]
• Michael Psilakis reopens the former Kefi space as Gus & Gabriel Gastropub tomorrow.…

• A look around Ward III in Tribeca, which opens tomorrow night. [GS]
• Lever House on Park Avenue will reopen as "Casa Lever" this fall. [NYP]
• Frank Bruni downgrades JGV's Spice Market in the Times today, giving the spot owned by the "clone-happy" chef one star instead of two. [NYT]
• The New Yorker's Lauren…

• 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…

• It's a big night for Jean-Georges Vongerichten: He's cooking dinner at the United Nations for three past presidents (Carter, Bush I, Clinton) and one current president. Halibut's on the menu, in case you're wondering. [Crain's]
• Scott Sartiano and Richie Akiva of 1Oak and Butter are taking over the West 14th Street…

• The James Beard Foundation announced the final nominees for its 2009 awards today. The names in the mix for New York's "best chef": Michael Anthony, Terrance Brennan, Wylie Dufresne, Gabrielle Hamilton, and Gabriel Kreuther. The two New Yorkers competing for the "outstanding restaurateur" award: Keith McNally and …

• Michelle Obama started digging up part of the South Lawn of the White House today to plant a vegetable garden. In case you ever have to prepare a salad for the president, be advised that Barack is not down beets. [NYT]
• It's official: Per Se is introducing an à la carte menu on Wednesday. [NYT]
• Pichet Ong is…

• The Smile, Carlos Quirarte and Matt Kliegman's café/boutique on Bond Street, officially opened its doors today. One rare luxury: Regulars get their own custom-made, engraved Laguiole cutlery to use whenever they visit. [GS]
• Donatella Arpaia and Michael Psilakis's Kefi doesn't get much love from Frank Bruni: A…

• Eric Ripert has signed on to host his own PBS show called Avec Eric. [THR]
• Frank Bruni gives the Plaza's Oak Room a single star in today's Times, describing it as more of a "looker" than a "performer." [NYT]
• UES staple Swifty's is opening a Palm Beach outpost. [PBDN]
• JGV is bringing back Vong's original menu…

• 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…

• Add Bobby Flay to the list of chefs being sued by their waiters. [GS]
• The death toll mounts: A list of restaurants that closed this week. [Eater]
• Oh, the lengths restaurants will go to catch a critic in their midst. [GS]
• Not surprisingly, JGV is a fan of Co., which he invested in recently. [JGV]
• Got $395 to…

• Ago, the restaurant inside the Greenwich Hotel, will close at the end of the month when Jean-Georges Vongerichten takes over. He'll change the restaurant's name and chef, but says the menu will remain Italian. [TFB]
• Kefi is reopening tonight after it was shuttered by the Dep't of Health. [Eater]
• Buddha Bar has…