“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.

I think it was sometime on the cab ride home from Minetta Tavern that the question hit me, like a velvet rope's brass clasp to the face: are restaurants the new nightlife? Are clubs -- once a standard for much of what simultaneously cultivated, codified, and confirmed what could be considered "culture" in New York -- incapable of doing that anymore? And are restaurants doing it in their place?

Dagny Mendelsohn is the front woman representing the 11 total owners at Macao Trading Company. She hails from the other serious foodie city, San Francisco, once she set foot in New York, she learned the heart of the restaurant business from one of the best, Keith McNally. She embraced the underground hipster scene from being part of APT, as well as gaining an education from the fashionistas (a.k.a. Richie Rich). At Macau, she brings it all together under one roof with dinners for people like Perry Farrell, Mick Rock and Morimoto.

After a few years, when you don’t hear about a notable artist you’ve come to know and love, you often wonder where they’ve gone. Typically, they’re up to something. Case in point with Diego Garica -- lead singer of New York City-based band Elefant and man about town. Rest assured, Diego's been hard at work at a new pursuit: crafting music solo. Diego first came onto the music scene around the same time I started to write about music. Back in 2003, he was one of the first artists I ever interviewed. We’ve remained friends through the years, and he’d give me updates along the way about new work. One night in particular, back in January of this year, I bumped into him at the Bowery Ballroom after seeing The Sword perform. Within seconds, right in the middle of Bowery’s beer-drenched floor, I found a set of headphones on my ears. “Jessica, you have to hear this new song I just recorded tonight,” said Diego.

As the economy recovers and money becomes available, places that were long ago shuttered or recently deceased prepare for rebirth. Restaurants lay around like old chairs and sofas covered with white sheets like in an old horror flick. The biggest prize in my eyes is Plumm, that ripe spot on 14th Street with a ton of tradition. Nell Campbell had her infamous joint Nell's there back in the day. It became famous for charging everybody -- and I mean everybody -- door admission. Cher refused, got turned away, and the little gimmick turned the place into a hit overnight. In later years, I would go and listen to jazz bands and eat good food before the mayhem of the dance halls. Noel Ashman took the joint over and called it NA. Some said it meant "Nell's Again," but most thought it was a tribute to his own dapper self. Noel eventually closed NA and transformed it into Plumm, with a gaggle of celebrity investors including Chris Noth, Damon Dash, Samantha Ronson, etc. Plumm proved to be a bitter fruit, never really catching on with a crowd that spent enough money to pay the rent.

The man who makes up the other half of Tenjune, on the opening of the Chandelier Room at the W Hotel in Hoboken tonight, his icons, and why New York's Meatpacking District is still the center of clubdom.

What's the story with the opening event for the Chandelier Room?
It’s tonight, 7 till midnight. The full facility will be open for all to see, even though the W has been open and operational for about a month. There will be a full red carpet outside and several live performances. There's a piano bar in the lobby -- very Frank Sinatra. There will be a lounge singer and a woman singing on the piano, like in The Fabulous Baker Boys. DJ Cassidy will be spinning. The Chandelier Room will be open inside, including the ballroom and outside. The Living Room Bar will host our surprise performer.

As a self-respecting woman -- or, for that matter, a New Yorker (one who, naturally, is trying to stand her fiscal ground in these tough economic times) -- I’m the first to say that eating disorders are unattractive on a physical, medical, and emotional level. However: this is The Big City, sweetie, and sometimes a girl’s got to stop, look around at all the gorgeous people surrounding her, and put down the pomme-frites, possibly followed by a pull-the-trigger trip to the commode. That being said, everyone loves going out to dinner here, and does it often. It’s an unavoidable part of our culture, and a way for us to leave behind the nightmares of work and stress in place of good conversation, good friends, and a stomach/liver satisfied with food/tasty libations (the ones we keep down). So here's a time-tested list of ten places where I’ve had a thrill without eating anything, where Shaq-sized Amazon beauties are found sipping glasses of champagne or drowning their hunger with empty vodka calories.

Because sometimes a diner just won’t do.

10. Rusty Knot (West Village) - For those butter and salt cravings.
9. The Box (Lower East Side) - A memorable meal for sure; whether you trust what’s on your plate and/or feel like eating after watching the show is another story.

Ever since bidding bon voyage to the Parsons School of Design in Paris, Fetherston has been making a splash among the New York fashion set. Her Autumn/Winter '09 show took place at the Fashion Week tents on February 15 and wowed spectators with super-feminine mini frocks, amazing gravity-defying teacup skirts, two-toned tights, lace gloves, flowing dress layers, rhinestone bows and accents, floral capes, and glittery mouse masks. The new collection is every girly girl's über fantasy.