Oh, remember how this time last year Le Cirque owner Sirio Maccioni thought nothing of dropping $7,000 on a 1.1 pound white truffle? Those were the days. Now, with Wall Street rapidly turning into Skid Row, it's hard out there for a truffle. Last week there was big buzz in the restaurant world when this 2.15 lbs white truffle—dwarfing last year's star—was flown in from Alba, Italy by Mikuni Wild Harvest rep Tyler Gray. He......

You'll recall how excited everyone was—EVERYONE—last October when Le Cirque owner Sirio Maccioni bought a "perfectly round, pristine" 1.1 pound white truffle for $7,000. Child's play! Behold the 2.15 lbs white truffle that has just arrived on our shores from Alba, Italy. It's been acquired by Mikuni Wild Harvest, whose representative Tyler Gray writes:A very excited Italian gentleman named Francesco the Forager stumbled / sprinted out of the forest mid afternoon in a haze......

Frank Bruni, the senior restaurant critic at the most influential paper in America, has submitted to a loooong Q&A from Times readers. Some fun revelations: His biggest tab was probably at Per Se, somewhere in the neighborhood of $1,300 for a party of four. He says there was "a Jeopardy answer/question thingie that said something like, 'Frank Bruni spends $325,000 annually on his beat.'" Not true; it's way less than that. He eats out at......

In two hours, the state of California will start issuing licenses for same-sex marriages. While ceremonies won't officially begin in Los Angeles County till tomorrow morning, the marriage of Robin Tyler and Diane Olsen will take place in Beverly Hills today. Tyler and Olsen are the who were denied a license at the Beverly Hills courthouse back in 2004 and "challenged that rejection all the way to the California Supreme Court." Tomorrow, Star Trek's George......

Photograph by joeholmes on Flickr The California Supreme Court struck down the gay marriage ban and legalized gay marriage. The decision will go into effect in 30 days. Chief Justice Ronald M. George wrote in the majority opinion, "In view of the substance and significance of the fundamental constitutional right to form a family relationship, the California Constitution properly must be interpreted to guarantee this basic civil right to all Californians, whether gay or......

The Gray Lady slums it out to far East Williamsburg to report on the hipster bohemian squalor of the sprawling McKibbin Street “dorms;” two hulking buildings converted from garment factories to lofts in the late nineties by a trio of savvy Stuyvesant alums. It’s since become a filthy, bed-bug ravaged rite of passage for the young DIY arts set, who pile on top of each other in warren-like lofts more crowded than one of Dan......

NJ Governor Jon Corzine spoke out against NYC's congestion pricing plan, citing the Port Authority's proposed $1 billion worth of involvement to sweeten the deal. The City Council approved the plan on Monday night, and now the State Legislature will decide. If passed without the Port Authority's involvement (and $1 billion), NJ drivers would face an additional $3-4 toll when crossing over into Manhattan below 60th Street. Corzine issued a statement: "I am dismayed at......

Today the alternative weekly New York Press announced the resignation of their new sex columnist, Claudia Lonow, after her debut column – and the cover story, no less – was found to have used some questions from old Dan Savage advice columns. The answers were her own, but, as Jezebel discovered, not questions like the one seeking advice about [paraphrasing] ‘what to do when you walk in on your girlfriend canoodling with her noticeably......