• Frank Bruni will soon step down as the Times' chief restaurant critic. Who will replace him? Eater rounds up some of the faves as well as a bunch of unlikely picks, like Katie Lee Joel, who has a 475,000-1 shot of landing the gig. [Eater]
• Bruni's first appearance (second coming out?) after he steps down from the…
• The restaurant formerly known as Ago will reopen next Tuesday under the name Locanda Verde. Andrew Carmellini is executive chef and a co-owner with Robert De Niro; Ken Friedman consulted on the new design. [NYT]
• Rumor has it Per Se's Jonathan Benno may be going off on his own. [TFB]
• Tasti-D-Lite isn't…
• The New York City outpost of Govind Armstrong's Table 8 opens tomorrow evening inside the Cooper Square Hotel. [Eater, Zagat]
• Now that Todd English is out, The Libertine has hired itself a new chef. [Zagat]
• Robert De Niro's universally reviled Ago has officially shuttered. [Eater]
• Some suggestions on where to…
Olivia Palermo carrying a Marc Jacobs shopping bag in Soho ... Sarah Jessica Parker shopping at Kidding Around on West 15th Street ... Edie Falco standing on the sidewalk holding a cup of coffee in Soho ... Hugh Jackman arriving at JFK ... Robert De Niro peering into the tinted window of an SUV ... Bar Refaeli hailing…
• Jesus Luz isn't making many friends with his fellow male models. At an event last week, the other models in the room were "gossiping like catty girls" about his "big, swollen head," and bitching that he's only booking work because of his relationship with Madonna. Really, you think? [NYDN]
• Lindsay Lohan flew to…
The Tribeca Film Festival opened last night with the premiere of Whatever Works, Woody Allen's latest production, which stars Larry David, Patricia Clarkson, and Evan Rachel Wood (left). In attendance at the Ziegfeld and afterparty at the Royalton: The writer/director accompanied by child bride Soon-Yi Previn, along…
Robert De Niro is Robert De Niro. But Bobby's brother uncle, The Real Deal informs us, goes by Jack DeNiro. Did you catch that? Yes, Jack intentionally spells his last name without a space between the "De" and "Niro." As for the actor's son, rising real estate broker Raphael, well, it appears to be a toss up. [Real…
The Tribeca Film Festival is only two weeks away, which means Robert De Niro's Greenwich Hotel must already be fully booked with attendees paying top dollar to stay around the corner, right? Not so much. It turns out plenty of rooms are available, according to the folks over at Hotel Chatter, who found run-of-the-mill…
• Tom Brady and Gisele Bundchen's wedding party in Costa Rica on Saturday was rather eventful: Two paparazzi photographers claim that members of the couple's security team opened fire on them as they tried to score shots of the festivities. [NYDN, NYP]
• A former nanny who worked for Robert De Niro and Grace…
Lawrence Salander, the former operator of a prominent Manhattan art gallery, was arrested todayon charges of stealing $88 million from clients like Robert DeNiro and John McEnroe. Is he the art world's Bernie Madoff?
• Whoops! Jeremy Piven was seen eating a mercury-laden plate of tuna tartare and calamari salad last weekend, although his publicist is now denying the account. [MSNBC]
• "Insiders" say that Ivana Trump and Rossano Rubicondi did not, in fact, marry because they were hopelessly in love, but because it was all part of…
• Lindsay Lohan says she wants to convert to Judaism so she can "prove her commitment" to girlfriend Sam Ronson. She even went to the great trouble of updating her Facebook status to "I'm converting." [Daily Mail, P6]
• Katie Holmes looked "gaunt and tired" at an LA restaurant over the weekend. It could just be the…
Philip Seymour Hoffman back in NYC (but still wearing a hat), standing on the set of his latest movie, Jack Goes Boating ... Keri Russell walking with her son and husband in Brooklyn ... Kate Winslet arriving at JFK after her jaunt to LA for the Oscars ... Alexa Ray Joel shopping and juggling two cups of coffee…
This isn't an easy time for anyone in the hotel business. It's especially rough if you happen to be Robert De Niro and the hotel you're involved with happens to be the Greenwich: De Niro's partners, Ira Drukier and Richard Born, admitted this week that the new, celeb-friendly hotel is running a 50 percent occupancy…
Recognize these spotlight-loving criminal defense attorneys? Their identities (and some of their more notable clients) after the jump.
Robert De Niro's Nobu has agreed to pay out $2.5 million to settle a class action lawsuit brought on behalf of 200 workers, who sued the sushi chain in 2007 for forcing them to share tips and failing to pay overtime wages. Each plaintiff in the case will receive $3,300, except for four workers who recruited other…
• Ago partners Robert De Niro, Richard Born and Ira Drukier have tapped Andrew Carmellini as chef; Ken Friedman is the design consultant. [NYT]
• Is Justin Timberlake opening a Southern Hospitality in Chelsea? [GS]
• Peasant in Nolita finally has menus in English. [Eater]
• Martha Stewart went to Momofuku Milk Bar on…
It's getting ugly out there for celebs who branched out into the hospitality business. Robert De Niro's Ago is on the ropes, Jay-Z's plans to open a hotel in Chelsea have been derailed, and now after 10 years in business, Chris Noth's Cutting Room will be closing in January. The sudden closure probably comes as…
While we've already long forgotten Righteous Kill—and the onerous sins of its one-sheet—England is only now becoming acquainted with its Pacino/DeNiro double-bed-shitting pleasures. It can't even seem to get an in-your-face tagline right.
