You may have already learned, with equal parts dread and anticipation, that TV personality and terrorist-scarf-wearer Rachael Ray is writing a memoir. Working title: EVOhno. Anyway, now it looks like she’ll have to add another chapter about eating disorders and workplace sensitivity, as an anorexic ex-employee has just filed a lawsuit in New York State Supreme court against CBS and The Rachael Ray Show. Payroll accountant Aaron Ferguson, an admitted anorexic for the past six......

Some of us might think that New York is the center of the world for many things, including food. The point is debatable, but at least for a few nights a year, it will be. Lee Schrager, the mastermind behind the South Beach Wine & Food Festival, is putting together the first ever New York City Wine & Food Festival from October 9 - 12. And given what he's done with South Beach, it will......

Heads up, hipsters: Those keffiyeh scarves, long associated with Yasir Arafat and the Palestinian resistance, are officially ‘so over.’ While the choice of keffiyeh as fashion accessory – at least when sported by sweaty, coked-up white kids mincing for Cobra Snake – has about as much political heft as a neon Che Guevara thong, the trend’s death knell has been rung not by a sudden surge in good taste but by divisive food celebrity Rachael......

Oenophiles envious of the big wine expos held in Boston and D.C. can stop whining; this weekend marks the first annual New York Wine Expo at the Javits Center. Friday night and Saturday are open to the public, where more than 600 wines from over 170 vintners will be available for tasting. Here’s the list of all the wineries and vineyards at the Expo. And after sampling hundreds of different wines, what better way to......

Guys, it’s Rachael Ray’s world, we just eat in it – this was verified by Time Magazine when the Food Network host was declared one of the 100 people who “shape our world” last year. And now that world will continue turning for at least two more years; it was announced yesterday that Ray’s contract has been extended beyond the Bush administration. That means at least 120 more episodes of her daytime cooking show, 30......

After the outcry from families of September 11 victims as well as other members of the public, WABC 7 reversed its decision not to air the reading of 2,749 September 11 victims' names by yesterday afternoon and will now air the ceremony in its entirety. WABC 7 news director Kenny Plotnick had originally explained that the move would have given its audience a choice - and that the entire reading could be seen on the......

Hopefully Monday's season opener of Sesame Street will help in sweepin' these clouds away! The new season will begin how it always does, by determining the educational needs of their tv-watching tot demographic. Recent years focused on healthy eating in an effort to help the younger generation befriend veggies (they even have their own line of healthy foods). This year there are 26 new episodes all focusing on early literacy and language skills. USA......

Interesting, fluffy political article in the NY Times about the diverging political allegiances of two high-profile friends. Oprah Winfrey has made no secret of her support for Senator Barack Obama - she's throwing him a fund-raiser at her California home. Maya Angelou, however, has endorsed Senator Hillary Clinton (and even appears in a video on HillaryClinton.com). Neither woman had comment for the Times. We have to give the advantage to Obama. Angelou may have been......

Two weeks ago, our friends over at Bostonist posted a very scary map plotting more than 50 Dunkin Donuts locations within a five-mile radius of their city’s Downtown Crossing. The actual number of New York Dunkin Donuts locations, parameters widened to include Port Authority based kiosks and airport locations, is likely to be more than a baker’s dozen for any given five mile radius. So yeah, sure, it seems America runs on Dunkin and all......

There's a Page Six today about Rachael Ray being attacked by a dog. Apparently an unleashed dog in Union Square Park (we will guess it was at the dog run) was very aggressive and caused quite a bit of havoc. Ray's rep told the Post, "Rachael and some others shooed it away, but it came back and attacked Isaboo [Ray's pitbull mix]. Other dogs were involved, and Rachael jumped in and was bit by one......

- A lovely family story, centered around the casual Puebla Mexican Food restaurant in the EV, was recently told in the The Villager. Some of the food is quite good, we are partial to the roast pork tacos served just as they should be, simply dressed with cilantro, onion and a bit of tomatillo salsa. - A glimpse of early spring from Zoe Singer at Grub Street; early Greenmarket favorites – rhubarb and spring garlic......

Anthony Bourdain, who has taken to guest-blogging for Michael Ruhlman, has already offered his opinions on Top Chef contestants. Now, he's on to bigger and better targets -- the personalities on the Food Network. He admits to watching it, "I find myself riveted by its awfulness, like watching a multi-car accident in slow motion," and has plenty to say about those who grace its airwaves. Emeril: "I STILL find him unwatchable." Giada: "Food Net seems......

Nach Waxman is wearing a baseball hat decorated with the diamond shaped Avery Island Tabasco logo as he takes Gothamist around the stacks at Kitchen Arts and Letters, his 23 year-old Upper East Side bookshop. He is talking about Rachael Ray. “It’s a funny story,” says Waxman, describing his first impressions of the current Triscuit box doyenne. He shakes his head and laughs. “Nobody here had heard of her. We didn’t carry her books.......

Happy Holidays! Chances are, you're reading this the day after Christmas, back at your day job after all-too-short a holiday, and the last thing you want from us is stuff about the holidays. But that's just too bad. Because, see, here in the Ist-A-Verse, we do things ahead of time. It might be December 26 for you, but that's what you get for not checking your Favorite Local Blog on Christmas Eve. Austinist is......

We didn't make it to the Central Park Zoo for the icy food-for-animals competition, but luckily Julia Meredith Levy did. She sent us a detailed report:Ice replaced Iron in a Chef competition yesterday at Central Park Zoo. Fittingly, the contest's taste testers were Polar Bears Gus and Ida, weighing in at 1,000 and 700 pounds respectively. In the wild, their diets consist mainly of seals, eating as much as 100 pounds in one setting. On......

Just because we are fans of Gus, the formerly depressed polar bear at the Central Park Zoo, we want to bring your attention to the Times story of how the zoo's polar bears were keeping cool in the heat. Unlike humans, they do not get upset when the subway's power is out or when the thunder and lighting prevent them from watching TV (thanks, satellites!). Instead, Gus and Ida cope with not living in......

June 1: Grand Gourmet It's the seventh annual Grand Gourmet, a tasting event to benefit and recognize the work of the Grand Central Neighborhood Social Services Corporation, the largest not-for-profit homeless social services provider in New York City. Over 30 midtown restaurants, bars and merchants, including Pampano, The Campbell Apartment, and Métrazur will be sampling their wares in Vanderbilt Hall in Grand Central Terminal. 7:00 pm - 9:30 pm, East 42nd Street at Park Avenue,......

If you're going to do an issue about the 100 People Who Shape Our World, you might as well have a big party, right? Time magazine rolled out the red carpet last night for people on its list, their friends, and the press. Gothamist stopped by the party just ahead of Stephen Colbert. We were not wearing a bear costume, so he wasn't that afraid of us. And perennial favorite, Rachael Ray, showed up......

Rachael Ray has been named as one of this year's Time Magazine's Time 100: People Who Shape Our World. Her profile in Time is written by none other than Mario Batali. Apparently he and his kids had dinner at her house ("My boys went wild for the veal, meatball and pasta stoup, as she calls it...") We're a little confused here. Or maybe Mario wants some love from Oprah, as Harpo is working with Ray......

On Sunday afternoons, when we're getting slightly upset about the weekend coming to a close and not getting nearly enough done, we find solace in watching Lidia's Family Table on Channel 13. It is, by far, one of the best cooking shows, and that's because Lidia Bastianich is our secret Italian grandmother - and that's not just because she makes a mean beef short ribs braised in red wine. A good part of it is......

The NY Post goes after the Michelin Guide for its glaring mistakes, sort of the way Manhattan User's Guide nailed the 2006 Zagat guide a few weeks ago. The Post's restaurant critic, Steve Cuozzo, goes after Michelin, wondering if their highly trained inspectors even went to some restaurants and calls some of the advice "inane." Plus: The guide tells readers to take the "Metro," not the subway, to restaurants, mentions Le Bernadin's a la carte......

We'll refrain from commenting on how Rachael Ray's bra is totally showing in the NY Times photograph that accompanies her big Dining section feature, and we'll not take potshots at her because it's a little too easy (and there are people who do it better, anyway). But Gothamist would like to point out this part of the RR's history: She had grown up around Lake George, but the cycle of small-town life and low-paying jobs......