When it comes to the age-old dispute over the relative greatness of Paris and New York, graphic designer and artistic director Vahram Muratyan refuses to play favorites.

The story behind Marlo Scott’s quaint Carmine Street cupcake, wine, and beer bar is more saucy than sweet. Vowing to take her ‘sweet revenge’ on a former employer after being laid off, Scott opened her unlikely concept bar in the West Village, earning her clientele from the ground up. Scott moved to New York in ’99, first working as an investment banker to learn the business ropes and subsequently opening her first venue in ’08, a tough time for even well-known hospitality pros. But Scott defied the odds for small-business owners. Recently, she and Sweet Revenge were featured in a TV spot for Chase’s Ink cards for small business owners (also in print, radio, and online ads). The results have been staggering, amping up demand for Scott’s exceptional beverages and goodies, including Savory Cakes (we recommend The Seville). More on the satisfaction of Sweet Revenge after the jump.

A working weekend kept me hot, bothered, and a little short on steam. But I was able to attend the Carrera Sunglasses party on the fabulous roof at 505 West 37th Street. The roof—some 40 stories over the Javits Center, train yards, and the Port Authority Bus complex—is so high that it made those places seem romantic. A pal asked me what that place across the Hudson River was, and I replied “America." New York did seem far away from America this week, with the World Cup bringing so many accented tourists to the haunts I hang in. The Carrera event had a slew of downtown types who followed GoldBar honcho John Lennon and downtown PR flack Dana Dynamite uptown. I chatted up a very nice Whitney Port, who I was told is in that show The City. Watermelon, cold cans of Café Bustelo, and clear views of places I rarely want to see up close kept me happy for hours. I visited an apartment downstairs where they hid the swag, and I was told that the one bedroom with those views goes for $2200 a month. Almost cheap enough to forget the $15 cab fare to anyplace I’d like to be. Still, I think there will lots of fabulous events at this sweet spot.

Keith McNally's the celebrity and buzz-magnetized brain behind New York's SoHo standby Balthazar, the center of gravity in the Meatpacking District, Pastis, the Lower East Side's de facto cafeteria of the young and moneyed (Schiller's), and The Hardest Table in Town of the moment, Minetta Tavern. Every opening of his is an event, and even when a restaurant of his doesn't blow away the critics, it still packs 'em in nightly (see: Morandi). Problem is, they tend to be just out of the price range of New York's young and hungry. Until now, or soon, as Pulino -- McNally's pizza place -- is coming, and it's coming downtown, to Bowery below Houston. Today, Pulino chef Nate Appleman twittered that he was hiring. Even better, NBC Local tossed Pulino's plans on their website. What's it (maybe) look like?

When the ladies who lunched at Mortimer’s learned that their landmark of choice was closing, they swooned right into the waiting arms of two young Mortimer's chefs who set out on their own and knew how to make their favorites perfectly. Just a few blocks downtown at Swifty's, Robert Caravaggi and Stephen Attoe's serve up everything from a mouth-watering childhood meatloaf at $25 a slice, to a soufflé so light it levitates. The foodie mecca is named after a dog rescued by the teams former boss, Mortimer’s owner Glenn Birnbaum.

At David Barton Gym annual toy drive: ● MARC JACOBS - "In Paris, there's a small club called Montana, and there's a restaurant called Thiou. Bars I really don't hang out in. Oh, there's this great club that happens once a month in Paris called Club Sandwich. And it's at the Espace Cardin. And everyone gets super dressed-up, so it's really, really fun. I try to go whenever I'm in Paris, if it's going on. And we stay out all night and just dance like crazy. And in New York, my favorite restaurants have always been the same. I love to eat at Pastis. I love the Standard. I love Da Silvano. I eat in the lobby of the Mercer a lot, the hotel. I usually go to Pastis for lunch, and there's a sandwich that was on the menu, but they don't make it anymore, but I always insist that they make it for me. And it's really fattening, so I shouldn't eat it, but it's chicken paillard and gruyere cheese and bacon. And it's so delicious. It's really good. And it's my weakness. It's just like the most perfect sandwich."

After a five year stint owning the Chelsea restaurant Naima , Roberto Vuotto is reintroducing himself as General Manager of the brand spanking new triple threat, Veranda. The bi-level West Village space is a restaurant, discothèque and hookah lounge all rolled into one, and Vuotto, a Capri native who came to New York as a busboy over 10 years ago, has the substantial task of making it all run smoothly. With his latest endeavor, Vuotto hopes to keep the hookahs lit and the music thumping for the next five years, and the five after that too.

Jean Adamson and Sam Buffa met while both were working at Freemans. Their relationship gave way to sharing a love of the food and aesthetic that formed Vinegar Hill House. Sam is also partners with Taavo Somer in the FSC Barbershop. Six months into their Brooklyn venture, the Vinegar Hill House team found Brian Leth, the chef de cuisine since April, formerly of Prune and Allen & Delancey. Leth excites patron with his locally sourced menu with ethnic flairs.

“I’m a product of the city. I learned this business and hopefully I’m going to stay here until I retire,” says Murat Akninci, manager and maître d’ of Keith McNally's Pastis and Morandi restaurants. The hospitality pro has worked in venues all around New York, starting when he arrived from Istanbul in his college years. With this experience under his belt, he has high expectations for the forecast of the business. “There was an inflation of restaurants that just opened up without smart planning. We’re seeing them actually disappear from the scene, opening up space and opportunities. In the next year and a half to two years, there’s going to be a new generation of restaurateurs in New York City.”

Larry Poston officially opened the West Village resto Hotel Griffou with business partner Johnny Swet on July 1. Poston made his name in New York restaurant circles as a manager at Pastis and the Waverly Inn, and Swet gained his hospitality know-how at Balthazar and Freemans. Most recently occupying the 9th Street space was notorious speakeasy Marylou’s, but the name of the new joint is after the original, French 1870s occupants. The modern dining rooms are themed as a salon, library, and artist's studio with a French-inspired classic cuisine menu. Poston gives us an inside look at the new spot.