Multi-City Edition

• – Is the next season of Top Chef an all-stars edition? Signs point to yes. [Eater]
• – Related: more folks wondering if Top Chef has “jumped the knife.” [Endless Simmer]
• – White Castle is testing three new restaurant concepts, including a noodle resto. [NRN]
• – Where have all the watermelon seeds gone? [WP]
• – Ladies nights are constitutional. For now? [NYP]
• – When it rains it pours: Gordo busted for hiring illegal immigrants. [Sun]
• – That “A” stamped on your egg doesn’t mean what you think it means. [WSJ]
• – Will McDonald’s “Moon Burger” ever leave Japan? [SoGood]
• – A brief history of the lunch box. [Smithsonian]
• – Ok, so booze will help you live longer. But how, and which types? [Slate]
• – Le Whif, the chocolate inhaler. [MealTicket]
• – Rachael Ray hits up Craig Ferguson. [Eater]
• – Lionel Richie is now pitching potato chips. [Videogum]
• – Today’s Tumblr du jour: Album Tacos. [Album Tacos]

When she’s not mixing up margaritas at the Lexington Avenue location of barbecue joint Brother Jimmy’s, Alice Hargrove is busy tickling the ivories. If you think her handiwork behind the bar is fast, you should see her work the keys – Hargrove is a trained classical pianist that accompanies instrumentalists, plays with singers and even gives lessons to some of the other staff members at the restaurant. We caught up with her to talk about her musically inclined side, and to see if we might run into her at a piano bar sometime soon.

ZB: How does your bartending work square with your piano playing?

AH: This job is so great. Since I don’t come in until six or seven in the evening, I’m able to teach lessons during the day. I teach a few people from Brother Jimmy’s, and I also teach young children. I also play for voice lessons. A girl that graduated with me used to work here, she does clarinet performance. I played piano for her grad school auditions. Also, in a weird way, when I’m having those times where I’m really busy preparing for something on the piano side, working at the bar gets to be my social life. Coming here doesn’t just feel like work.

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A rep writes into tell us that there has been a change in plans for Patch in Fulham Road, featured in our Fall Preview: it will no longer be art deco, and the members club and terrace are on hold. It’s still planned for November, however.

A little night market

Is your calendar not booked up with enough tasting events this month? Well, add one more on September 14. From 6:30–10:30 PM, the Chelsea Triangle in the Meatpacking District will play host to a Malaysian night market. Restaurants like Fatty Crab, Betel and Café Asean will dispense tastings of street food underneath tents and lanterns inspired by the open-air markets of Kuala Lumpur. Food ranges $4–$8 a plate, and a Malaysian dance troupe will perform. Get more information at the fest’s website (14th Street and Ninth Avenue).

Here’s our quick, poetry-inspired take on last night’s Top Chef. Submit your own in the comments. Note: spoilers ahead.

Angelo takes two.
Space, the final frontier,
takes Tiffany. Tear.

Nothing says Oktoberfest like a beer-soaked cruise up the Hudson River. On September 18, New York’s Pier 81 will play host to Oktoberfest on the Hudson. The event kicks off at noon on the dock with plenty of beer, German grub and an oompah band. Beer trailers will offer Gaffel Kölsch, Hofbräuhaus, Jever, Radeberger and Weihenstephan.

At 2 PM, it’s all aboard a World Yacht boat for a trip up the Hudson to see the George Washington Bridge and Riverside Park. Oh, and also to continue drinking beer. The cruise is optional and lasts an hour, while the party lasts from noon–4:30 PM. Tickets are $10 to the pier party and an additional $15 for the cruise, while drink and food tickets will be available for purchase at the event. You can get more information and buy tickets here (212-630-8100).

Le Bernardin

Photo: Noah Kalina

1. Yikes! Le Bernardin’s white tablecloths weren’t as clean as usual during a recent inspection. The spot scored in the “C” grade range. The restaurant promised to get its score back up on an upcoming reinspection, and it doesn’t have to post any letter grades until that goes down. [Grub Street]

2. Eater scored the first pics of Michael White’s new spot Osteria Morini. Let the plywood coverage begin!

3. Chef Laurent Tourondel was slapped with a lawsuit by his former partners in the BLT empire, who claim that his new Hamptons restaurant, LT Burger, is selling copycat burgers and boozy milkshakes. [NY Post]

We’re sure you checked out our list of Labor Day brunches, but maybe none of those options struck your fancy. Well, Uptown spot Vareli will serve brunch for the first time this weekend – think a $12 frittata with bacon, braised leeks, goat cheese and scallions and $13 corned beef hash. And, bonus: it’s serving on Monday as well. On the drink side, $9 scores you a passion-fruit Bellini or tangerine mimosa, but you should probably have more than one, since summer is over and all. Check out the full menu after the jump (11 AM–3:30 PM; 2869 Broadway; 212-678-8585). More

Act out your Don Draper fantasy.

Photo: courtesy the Big 4

For those who can’t get enough of Mad Men, the old-school Big 4 in the Huntington Hotel is hosting a weekly Mad Men dinner series starting tonight and running every Wednesday through October 27. The rotating three-course, $36 dinner features retro fare like clams casino, chicken Kiev and bread pudding with whiskey sauce. We have to admit all that fat-laden food offers a refreshing change from our usual San Francisco holier-than-thou lifestyle.

And if you’re looking to recreate the three-martini lunch, you’re in luck. The Big 4 is once again open for lunch on Thursdays and Fridays from 11:30 AM–3 PM. But if you’re going to imitate Don Draper, just try to be like the one from the first three seasons, not the one we’ve been seeing of late. Nobody likes a sloppy drunk (415-771-1140).

Photo: Natasha Bedu

That was fast. Last week, we looked at new Mexican spot Te’Kila, helmed by Sevan Azarian. And now the chef, who was formerly Adam Sandler’s private cook, has already left the spot after less than a month behind the stove. Feast has word that the restaurant is closed until the weekend while its retools after Azarian’s departure. There are no details yet on whether the spot’s menu will stay the same, or if chef Azarian plans to go back to cooking his former client, who played a chef himself in Spanglish (6541 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood; 323-960-2404).

Portage

Photo: stevenjohnsonphotograhy

Because everyone loves an affordable bottle of vino. American gastropub newcomer The Portage in Portage Park is now offering “Half-Price Wine Sundays.” As you might guess, that means every Sunday, any wine bottle from its list is available at half-price during both brunch and dinner (773-853-0779).