This week in the Times, Bruni three-stars Le Cirque, bumping the restaurant's rating up from the two stars he awarded it in 2006. Executive chef Christophe Bellanca’s menu “nimbly straddles the line between predictable decadence… and creative flair,” he says. He also says that you’ll pay—a lot—for what you get, and that Le Cirque isn’t quite as reliable as other three star restaurants. In $25 and Under, ">Peter Meehan is at Soba Totto, where he......

Imagine that final beach scene in Planet of the Apes, but substitute every small patch of sand for a chain restaurant and that’ll give you an idea of where the NY restaurant scene might be heading – all blown up, with Charlton Heston eventually smashing his fists into a huge pile of thermal cardboard coffee cup sleeves instead of foamy surf. Just a few weeks after Heston’s 2nd birthday in 1926, the very first White......

This week in the Times, Bruni three stars Fiamma and rates it a top pick. Says that the restaurant is not, by any means, classically Italian, but “when a restaurant turns out this many dishes that make you stop mid-chew, nudge a companion and nod your head vigorously—because you’re excited; because you need to start working off the calories any way you can—it needn’t worry about fitting into a tidy box.” Also in the Times,......

We're still working all the meat out of our system from Saturday's Gothamist-Serious Eats/AHT QBQ BBQ II, but we hope that those of you who made it had a good time. Thankfully, the forecasted rain held off as we served about 150 pounds of beef (600 burgers) during the event. A special thanks to Harry Hawk, the staff at Water Taxi Beach and some assistants from Gothamist, Serious Eats and A Hamburger Today, Six......

We just wanted to give you one final reminder about tomorrow's Gothamist-Serious Eats/AHT QBQ BBQ at Water Taxi Beach. The event starts at 5 pm and it's rain or shine. If it does rain, don't worry, we'll already be stationed in the covered area of Water Taxi Beach (pictured above). Those of you who attended last year may remember that there was stormy weather last year too. On the menu are the onion burger,......

July 28: 2nd Annual QBQ BBQ Burger Bash It's burger time! This weekend is the second annual Gothamist-Serious Eats/A Hamburger Today QBQ BBQ at Water Taxi Beach. Your votes determined the burgers on the menu: the onion burger, the butter burger (pictured), and the pimento cheese burger. Six Apart will be sponsoring the event with a keg of Orlio and Gothamist/Serious Eats/A Hamburger Today will also be supplying an additional keg of beer. Tickets, which......

Chicago's star chef Grant Achatz is battling cancer. As reported in the Times yesterday, Achatz released a statement through his publicist: "I wanted to personally report that I have been very recently diagnosed with an advanced stage of squamous cell carcinoma of the mouth. I have consulted several prominent physicians and will likely begin aggressive treatment within the next few weeks. I remain, and will remain, actively and optimistically engaged in operations at Alinea to......

For all of you that were waiting to find out which burgers would be served at Saturday's Gothamist-Serious Eats/A Hamburger Today QBQ BBQ at Water Taxi Beach, the burger menu has been finalized. The winning burgers, as determined by voters, were: the onion burger, the butter burger, and the pimento cheese burger. Here are the descriptions of the winning burgers again: The Onion Burger: Popular in El Reno, Oklahoma, the Onion Burger was born of......

If you have yet to vote what burger should be on the menu at next weekend's Gothamist-Serious Eats/A Hamburger Today QBQ BBQ at Water Taxi Beach, today is your last chance. Since we announced the event on Monday, the leading vote getter is the onion burger, followed by the butter burger and the pimento burger. Only the top three vote-getters will make the menu for the July 28th event. Also up for contention are......

We almost did a little jig on the street when we walked by Grey Dog's new location on University last night and saw the sign that said it would be opening on 7/19 at 7 a.m. Guess where we're having coffee before work on Thursday? Eater informants snapped a photo. Indian mangoes are no longer considered contraband in the U.S., much to the joy of everyone who has been craving them for the past twenty......

After the success of our Gothamist-A Hamburger Today QBQ BBQ last year (that's quality before quantity), we've decided to team up with Serious Eats/A Hamburger Today for another burger event at Water Taxi Beach in Long Island City. At last year's event, Chef Harry Hawk served up four regional burgers from around the nation. This year, you get to choose what burgers are served, with the top three vote-getters across Gothamist, Serious Eats, and......

Racked brings us the sad news of the demise of Gertel's Bakery, a Lower East Side institution. It will close up shop on Friday, after more than 90 years of challah, rugelach, and other baked goodness. And in other closing news, even bringing in Wayne Nish couldn't help Varietal. Restaurant Girl has the details. Gridskipper rounds up (pun very much intended) some of the city's best bagel shops. Why does H&H count twice and......

- As part of his "gearing up for Morandi" mode, Bruni takes a return trip to Balthazar and was not a happy camper. - The NY Sun brings us the fantastic news that the Mercadito team are expanding their empire. Callecito, which will focus on Mexcian street food, will be across the street from their Avenue B branch and is slated to open in June. - Grub Street's Josh Ozersky (a.k.a. Mr. Cutlets) recently taunted......

Some love it to the point of being freakishly cultish. Others don't see what the big deal is. But everyone can agree on one thing: you can do plenty of productive things with the time you spend waiting on line to get a burger at Shake Shack. We checked in hamburger expert Adam Kuban of A Hamburger Today, who wrote last week, "Ai yah. It hasn't even opened yet, I'm already getting sick of......

If you're serious about eating, you should check out the latest addition to the food blog/community scene, Serious Eats. The brainchild of Ed Levine, of Ed Levine Eats and author of New York Eats, the site bills itself as "the first website for serious eaters" with the goal in mind "to provide the best, most satisfying food- and drink-related experience on the internet." Ed is joined by other illustrious food bloggers, including Adam Kuban of......

- In case you somehow missed it here, on Eater, on Grub Street, or on A Hamburger Today, BLT Burger is now in its soft opening, with their official opening scheduled for Tuesday. - Remember Mad Libs? Food Candy has brought them back to life in the form of restaurant reviews, making it easy for anyone to jot down a few thoughts about recent dining experiences. - Ed Levine gorges at the Donut Plant, leaves......

- Due to a crappy cable set-up we don’t get this, but apparently people are taking a strong shine to Daniel Boulud’s new show. - A positive word about Craftsteak, with requisite food porn. It is our hunch that this spot has improved from the initial impressions most pros got. Feels like time for a test drive. - When we heard about it during William Tigertt’s posts skepticism was the first natural response. Mind you,......

-- Kenneth Cole deserves an honorable mention in our Most Inappropriate 9/11 Competition: "...It's not only important what you wear, but it's also important to be aware." -- David Berkowitz is back, but this time, he's taking instructions from Jesus, instead of a dog possessed by the devil. Phew. -- 3-bedroom apartment in Madonna's old building in the East Village: $568. -- "An MIT-educated former investment banker who fell into a spiral of mental......

Last night was the Gothamist-A Hamburger Today QBQ BBQ at Water Taxi Beach that, despite the weather, was a great success. There was a great turnout with people sampling four different burgers and some also eating an elk burger. In fact, Gothamist is still recovering from our meat induced coma! The first interpretive burger on the menu was the Motz Burger, followed by the Guber Burger, the Green Chile Cheeseburger and finally the Butter......

In case you haven't heard yet or forgot to buy your tickets, tonight from 6-10 is the Gothamist-A Hamburger Today QBQ BBQ (quality before quantity) at Water Taxi Beach in Long Island City. While tickets are no longer on sale online, you can head over to the beach to buy your tickets. We'll be serving up four famous burgers from around the country: The Guber Burger (1/4 lb burger with melted peanut butter), The Butter......

- AMNY looks ahead by 24 years at NYC's future - cue the "In the Year 2030" music - A glimpse into the Diamond District from The Morning News - Rikers Island geese control measures work, but what to do with the dead geese? - Governor Pataki tries to give his friends sweet jobs in the state government before the door hits him on his way out - A toddler drowned in a Queens......

Outdoor activities are going into overdrive this first weekend of summer. With a Mermaid Parade tomorrow afternoon, a Pride Parade Sunday, the Yankees hosting the Marlins, and the Gothamist-A Hamburger Today QBQ BBQ tomorrow evening there is no shortage of things to do outside. If you are attending any of these events you might want to have an indoor alternative available. Showers and thunderstorms are looking good from later this afternoon through tomorrow. A cold......

June 24: QBQ BBQ Burger Bash Gothamist and A Hamburger Today bring you the best burgers from across the nation right here at Water Taxi Beach. We've told you about it plenty -- all the details are here. June 24: Cheese and Wine at Telepan Telepan joins forces with cheese team Waldemar & Nadia for the second of a series of Saturday afternoon cheese and wine tastings. Taste summertime artisan cheeses paired with Telepan's wines......

Based on all the reader responses on our last Shake Shack post, we figure that the image that Adam over at A Hamburger Today found might please some of you. Adam writes:I was just on Windows Live Local, Microsoft's answer to Google Earth, and typed in "Madison Square Park" to see if there'd be a satellite image of the line at Shake Shack. There's no line in the photo because THERE'S NO SHAKE SHACK.......

On Friday A Hamburger Today and Cupcakes Take The Cake joined forces to take over a particularly niche spot, Burgers & Cupcakes. On a particularly unappealing stretch of Ninth Avenue (our closest landmark is B & H Camera) the restaurant is bright, colorful and more than a little kitsch-y. The staff remained bubbly, gracious and seemingly undaunted as the groups and their readers took all eighty seats hungry. The burgers, available in veggie and salmon......

Because as of 5:43:20 there's no line there. That's what we can see from Shake Shack's webcam which has finally gone live. The camera, which refreshes every 5 seconds, has been a long time coming since it was first announced way back in April when they first told Gothamist that they were buying one. No news on what the long delay was, but over the weekend, we were able to figure out how to set......

After the great success of our last food event, Gothamist has teamed up with the folks at A Hamburger Today for another event. With warmer weather in the air and grilled meat on our minds, the event will be at Water Taxi Beach in Long Island City. Sand, a great view of Manhattan, and burgers - how can you go wrong? The event, which takes place on Saturday, June 24th from 6 p.m. - 10......

- Burger tips for the summer, posted pre-Memorial Day by A Hamburger Today - Some Fresca love over on Slashfood. And yes, they do make Tab – it's an energy drink now. - Bruni Digest on the big Frank road trip fast food sprint from last week. - And this digest is sure to be a must-read, irregular read for those of us up to our eyeballs in this food thing. (Times Select is required,......

- The Place restaurant is engaged in a dispute with their landlords, Edith Rappy and Taube Management, who have decided not to renew The Place’s lease without any explanation. The community is rallying behind owner Alexander Achilleos and his restaurant at www.savetheplace.com; we encourage you to sign the petition if you'd like to help out this local favorite, which gives 10% of its proceeds to charity. The Place at W.10th Street is not impacted by......

- We have not perused it in full, but we are sure this site on the concept of eating local will consume a bit of our time this week. - Our friend Julia from Grip-n-Grin is hosting a chocolate tasting at Kanvas this Thursday to benefit the Special Olympics. For more information, please see the site. - Mr. Cutlets (aka Josh Ozersky) drops his list of top burgers – both locally and from national chains.......