Dining Reviews

London Chefs Forecast Simpler Food, Lower Prices: Richard Vines If greed is good for restaurants, belt tightening must be bad. We asked chefs and restaurateurs what trends they see for London in 2009. Here’s what they had to say.

Ten Dining Hates, From Hidden Tips to Rude Staff (Update1) Eating out should be one of life’s pleasures, a mini-vacation from everyday reality in a place where charming people smile and appear to enjoy giving you a good time.

Buffett Was Teen Shoplifter, Murdoch Dyes Hair: Leading Reviews Warren Buffett discusses his teenage shoplifting and Rupert Murdoch is glimpsed dying his hair orange in two biographies topping the list of the most-read Bloomberg book reviews in December, Alice Schroeder’s “The Snowball” and Michael Wolff’s “The Man Who Owns the News.”

Why North Dakota Union Has ‘Green’ Restaurant in D.C. (Update1) Every week, chef Graham Duncan pores over lists of heirloom carrots, parsnips and other food from family-owned farms. It makes his restaurant’s owners happy.

Michelin-Feted Ishikawa Lures Gourmets Not Lovers: Tokyo Dining The Michelin guide spoiled my dinner at Ishikawa.

$1 Billion Plaza Revives Oak Room With $28 Burgers: Food Buzz The Oak Room, in The Plaza Hotel on Manhattan’s Central Park South, has always been better known as an old bar than as a good restaurant. Well, it’s still old and there’s still a bar. And after an elaborate renovation, the restaurant still charges exorbitant sums for uninspired food.

In Paris, Bargain Bistros Await With 39 Euro Menus, Snail Tarts Back in the good old days -- last summer, say -- a champagne-fueled business meal at a Michelin- starred restaurant in Paris seemed essential. Now, though, it’s more likely to take place in a reliable bistro, where what’s left of expense accounts still goes a long way.

Hong Kong Richest 1% Keep Michelin Eateries, Priciest Bars Open Hong Kong businessman Dino Sadhwani spends HK$10,000 ($1,290) on a typical, twice-a-week night of dining and partying at the city’s top-end restaurants and clubs. That’s after some belt tightening.

Free Wings, Cheap Drinks at New York Bars Help Ease Market Pain Trinity Place in Manhattan’s Financial District has a catchy slogan: Market tanked? Get tanked! The bar cuts the prices of beer, Champagne and most hard liquor to $3 from $6 when the Dow Jones Industrial Average closes in the red.

London’s Cafe Royal Closes: Farewell to Scandal, Wilde, Murder Oscar Wilde’s favorite bar and restaurant, the 143-year-old Cafe Royal in London, is to close its doors for good this weekend.

London’s 2008 Best Eateries Offer 40-Second Pizzas, Hake Steaks A pizzeria in a south London market was one of my favorite new eateries in a year that ends with party cancellations and empty tables for many restaurateurs.

Momofuku Ko, Bar Boulud Are Manhattan’s Best New Restaurants I am heavier than I was last year. For that I blame the French. After eating at over 100 New York restaurants in 2008, here are some of the year’s best meals and deals, a number of them French.