• Anita Lo hopes to re-open her fire-damaged Annisa next month. [TONY]
• Closings: Frederick Lesort's Frederick's Downtown closed up shop last Friday; and the UWS outpost of Blondies has been shuttered by the tax cops.
• Frank Bruni shares his thoughts on Bastianich and Batali's Casa Mono. [NYT]
• A rooftop beer…
Everybody already knows that the Hamptons is the universe's vortex of suck, but here's another reason why: Restaurant/club owners who, as a method of crowd control, roll up the awning sheltering the crowd outside waiting for tables during a downpour.
• 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…
• Suggestions on places to eat in the vicinity of the Tribeca Film Festival. [NYP]
• It's going to be hot this weekend. Luckily for you, the backyards at Bobo and Table 8 are both open for business (or will be by this weekend). [Eater]
• Balducci's on 14th Street closes this Sunday and there's a big sale underway, not…
You know the bottom is falling out of the economy when social scenesters are forced to turn to petty crime. Paul Johnson-Calderon—professional partygoer, Paper magazine writer, and ex-boyfriend of Peter Davis—apparently walked out of the Eldridge on Wednesday night in possession of a purse belonging to a hostess who…
♦ Sirio Maccioni is already looking at replacements for Le Cirque chef Christophe Bellanca. [Page Six]
♦ Julian Niccolini says says his customers at the Four Seasons aren't skipping power lunches because of Wall Street's woes, although they do seem to be ordering cheaper wines. [GS]
♦ The Eldridge's Matt Levine…
Nightlife is an ugly business full of pretty people. The rules for 26-year-old clothing designer Matt Levine's new thirteen-table LES bar, the Eldridge, are simple. "Friends and family. That's basically what it is," he told Grub Street. There will be 400 laser-engraved cards distributed to the rights kinds of people,…
