Huckabee Loves Salad and Bread Sticks; Domino’s Still Won’t Deliver in 30 orPresidential candidate Mike Huckabee chose T.G.I. Friday’s when a Times reporter offered to take him to lunch anywhere in the city, but Huck ultimately settled for the Olive Garden. [NYT via Serious Eats]
The Food Network’s ratings are hurting, which might help to explain why Emeril Live got canned. [NYT]
How do Thomas Keller and Mario Batali fare against McDonald’s when it comes to calories? Keller’s veal breast and polenta and Batali’s pork loin are worse for you than a Big Mac, but who cares? [WSJ
Mediavore
Theater-District Restaurants May Lay Off Workers; Where the Chefs GoAfter three weeks of declining customers, theater-district restaurants fear layoffs. [NYP]
Related: Theater Strike Could Drop Curtain on Midtown Restaurants
Chefs including Tom Colicchio, Nicole Kaplan, and Marco Canora reveal where they really eat in the city (think Wing Wong and Bellavitae). [Diner’s Journal/NYT]
From the in-laws to the office party, a list of restaurants to turn to for every holiday scenario.[Strong Buzz]
Neighborhood Watch
Cheesesteak Sliders Coming to the Lower East SideBedford-Stuyvesant: The hippie operation at eight-year-old Doctor’s Cave Cafe still beats out the coffee at new spot Common Grounds, though the later has chess. [Eat for Victory/VV]
Flatiron: The crime rate in West Chelsea’s clubland may have dropped more than 30 percent over the last month, but Eugene’s, duvet and Avalon seem to have just dragged the debauchery east. [NYP]
Harlem: There’s a new greenmarket at East 99th Street between Madison and Park that will be open Fridays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. through mid-November. [Uptown Flavor]
Lower East Side: Get ready to dig into the menu of oysters, double-cut pork chops, and “cheesesteak sliders” at the sports bar coming to the old Tenement space, the Blue Seats. [Eater]
Nolita: The petite, new Noble Food and Wine on Spring Street, near Sweet & Vicious, will open to the public on Wednesday. [Down by the Hipster]