Chef Justin Smillie, who took over the helm at E.U. after Akhtar Nawab's departure, was recently fired by owner Jason Hennings. According to Grub Street, Hennings blamed Smillie's unwillingness to cut costs by forgoing Greenmarket shopping: “After six months of 45 percent food costs in a recession, Justin paid more respect to the Greenmarket than to the restaurant.” Smillie reportedly took his entire crew with him. In the meantime, Hennings has put a replacement team......

Bruni hits Jean Georges' "fringe players," Mercer Kitchen and Vong. Between the two, Vong emerges victorious with one star: "you keep wondering if the food they deliver is really as it should be and all that it could be, if the restaurant is receiving Mr. Vongerichten’s most considered judgments . . ." while Mercer Kitchen rates a mere "satisfactory": Bruni calls their menu an "ethnically indistinct assortment of dishes with enough pro forma salads and......