Maybe Rupert Murdoch should think about selling his place to one of NYC's celebrity chefs. According to Forbes Magazine, some of them are making some long green. On their list of the top 10 most influential chefs in America, we counted six who are doing business in NYC, and most of them (except poor Wylie!) are making a least a few million.

Mario Batali $4m/year (Babbo, Lupa, and a many others)
Lidia Bastianich $1.3m/year (Felidia and Becco)
Wylie Dufresne $100k (or less, from WD-50 on Clinton Street)
Alain Ducasse $6.5m, (eponymous restaurant)
Thomas Keller $1.25m (Per Se)
Jean-George Vongerichten $5.0m (Spice Market, Mercer Kitchen, etc)

So where's all that money coming from? Forbes has the answer to that too-- a list of the most expensive meals in the USA. Per Se and Masa both get mentioned. On principle, we will be eating nothing but Ramen noodles for the next month. Fight the culinary-industrial power complex!

Picture from Bluejake, of Vongerichten's unopened steak restaurant in the Time Warner Center.