A List Of Things Thrown Five Minutes Ago

PHILLY REPRESENT! The NYT's Frank Bruni, surprising himself, really liked Buddakan NYC:

If a restaurateur is going to enter the competitive downtown arena of pseudo-Asian pleasure domes, he might as well go for broke. . . . [T]he real surprise is how good many of Buddakan's alternately faithful and fanciful interpretations of it are. A restaurant this sexy doesn't need to be smart.

The Philadelphia original is still going strong, almost a decade later, with a menu that contains my single favorite dish in the city -- their lobster fried rice, which is ridiculously addictive. Starr's restaurants thrive because on top of all the style and spectacle, the food still remains top-notch, so I hope his NYC venture thrives. (Now when are they bringing back my Blue Angel?)