A Filipino housekeeper who applied to work in the Upper East Side home of billionaire industrialist Leonard Blavatnik was allegedly turned down for the job because of her nationality. After spending a trial day working in the house cleaning the fireplace and vacuuming the floors, the woman, 55-year-old Esther Winkley, never heard back about the position. After a few weeks the headhunter who set her up with the job inquired with the Blavatnik's bulter, the magnificently named Wilfredo Balmaceda, who tersely replied, "No Philippines, thanks," in an email obtained by the Daily News. more ›

We recently interviewed chef Saul Bolton, whose eponymous restaurant in Boerum Hill just celebrated ten years in business. Today Pete Wells at the Times bestows two stars on the place, where the elegantly understated atmosphere provides a modest frame for Bolton's culinary ambition: "One of the first restaurants to bring a contemporary sensibility to Brooklyn when it appeared on Smith Street in 1999, it has neither faded, nor stood still, nor sought a personality transplant. Instead Saul Bolton, the chef and the owner with his wife, Lisa, has upgraded just about everything in their modest storefront. Saul is the same restaurant, but better." more ›

New York City has a strange relationship with fast food restaurants—our first McDonald’s, for example, opened in 1973, ten full years after the franchise had sold its one-billionth hamburger. McDonald’s initially took off in the Big Apple in part because diners accustomed to the joint’s kitsch and cheeseburgers were eager to share it with others. The opening of a new fast food restaurant within the five boroughs, it so happens, is hardly ever completely new to everyone. more ›

The blue awning above Tito Rad’s Grill and Restaurant, a homey spot situated next to a strip joint at the juncture of Queens Boulevard and Roosevelt Avenue declares “Finest Filipino Cuisine.” Culinary boasts aside Tito Rad’s might just win the prize for Queens' westernmost Filipino eatery. Little Manila lies some 20 blocks east. In any case Tito's menu has a cool logo: a slick dude in a Panama hat sits above the phrase, “Halika, kain tayo.” Below is the English translation “Cmon’ let’s eat!” more ›