Bruni re-reviews Eleven Madison Park and the Bar Room at the Modern, bumping each up a star to three. He raves about chef Daniel Humm, who took over the kitchen at Eleven Madison Park early last year. Finds the beef tenderloin with bordelaise sauce thickened with marrow "druggy." As for the Bar Room, it's "an unpretentious character study," he says. more ›

The UK Observer has an amusing piece on great affair restaurants: where do you go for romance, discretion and good food? What do you eat and what do you avoid? (Garlic, lettuce and spinach made their avoid list, as did red wine with its unfortunate black-tooth effect.) more ›

Breaking Beverage News: Rap star, entrepreneur and Beyonce's boyfriend Jay-Z is boycotting Cristal champagne after some remarks Cristal management made about the rap world. Jay-Z is going to stop drinking Cristal in his personal life (note to all musicians about to appear on Cribs - get the Cristal out of the fridge!) and remove it from the bars of all 40/40 club locations. Here's a summary of what caused the boycott from the AP:

In a special summer issue of The Economist magazine, Frederic Rouzaud, managing director of Louis Roederer, said the company viewed the affection for his company's champagne from rappers and their fans with "curiosity and serenity." more ›

- Lots of talk these days about absentee Chef’s and their far-flung empires. Here is Frank Bruni's Diners Journal round up, where he makes this observation: "I’m betting that if we had copies of Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s daily planners for the last year, we’d see that he spent much more time at Perry St. and at Jean Georges than he did at Jo Jo, 66 or Vong. My assumption is based on my experiences at those restaurants and reports from other diners. At Perry St. and Jean Georges, a great meal was easy to come by. At the other three restaurants, not so much." And Beth linked to this UK Observer article yesterday. more ›

- New York magazine's Adam Platt pans Craftsteak, says it's essentially a one-star steakhouse, but that the quality of the Craft franchise knocks it up to two. Faint praise. Calls the desserts "reruns" of pastry chef Karen DeMascos' creations at Craft. more ›