Cityfile: New York's Most Notable and Influential

• Our guide to New York's celebrity-owned restaurants and bars. 
• Guess the socialite baby!
• The co-op campaign: who is giving to who at 895 Park.
• Max Chodorow, the son of Jeffrey Chodorow, has a legal record just like his dad.
• Harvey Weinstein isn't so generous. But his mom was generous with Hillary Clinton!
• Regis and Joy aren't at home.  Neither is Suze Orman or Jim Cramer.
• Buyers & Sellers: Duncan Sheik sold, Liev and Naomi sold, and Mitch Minskoff bought. Edgar Bronfman Jr. sold, Bill Brady bought, Thomas J. McInerney bought, and Jamie-Lynn Sigler sold.

The New York Post's Steve Cuozzo has never been much of a fan of Arrigo and Giuseppe Cipriani's restaurant empire—he once described Giuseppe as "Public Enemy No. 1"—but he stuck up for them this morning, railing against the Liquor Authority for threatening to yank the restaurateurs' precious license. Cuozzo argued that taking away their license would cost 1,000 employees their jobs and leave several iconic venues empty for the foreseeable future. His argument seemed reasonable enough. And apparently it was pretty convincing to the State Liquor Authority, too: They voted today to allow the Ciprianis to hold on to their license in exchange for paying a $500,000 fine. Commissioner Jeanique Green, who cast the group's deciding vote, said she made her decision out of concern for Cipriani employees. Sound familiar? Someone is going to enjoy (or suffer through) a complimentary dinner at the Cipriani venue of his choice in the near future!

There's probably been a time or two when you've been tempted to check out a restaurant or bar simply because some celebrity supposedly "owns" it. Maybe I'll see Justin Timberlake devouring a plate of ribs at Southern Hospitality! Or I'll spot Robert De Niro slurping on some pasta at Ago! Restaurateurs know this, too, of course, which is why they're all so eager to attach a celebrity name—any one will do!—to their ill-conceived bistro, brasserie, speakeasy, lounge, or barbecue shack. We don't want to be the ones to crush your dreams and tell you that there's no chance you'll see these famous faces at these venues. Just in case you're the more optimistic type—or just curious who has a stake in what—we happily introduce the Cityfile celebrity-owned restaurant/bar map!

• Celebrity Restaurant/Bar Map

• Jeffrey Chodorow's Borough Food and Drink—located in possibly the most cursed space in the city—will close this fall to make way for a "French-influenced American bistro," says Gail Greene. [Grub Street]
  
• The Post offers up its list of the 20 best brunch spots in the city. [NYP]
• La Côte Basque and La Caravelle closed ages ago, but the Times reports that the "Gallic influence is alive and well" in the West 50s. [NYT]
• Get those mediocre $20 bellinis while you still can: Page Six magazine suggests the end is near for Giuseppe and Arrigo Cipriani's dining empire. [P6 Mag]
• Whiskey Tavern in Chinatown opens tonight. [Thrillist]

Today the Times details the pervy nightmare endured by Martha Nyakim Gatkuoth, a 25-year-old former hostess at Tavern on the Green and the lead complainant in a federal discrimination lawsuit against the restaurant that was settled last month for $2.2 million. Among the indignities Gatkuoth says she had to put up with: regular boob and butt-grabbings by the restaurant's director of operations; docked pay when she refused to perform sexual favors on said director; and frequent racial epithets (she's an Ethiopian immigrant). Of course, restaurants have long had a rep as ridiculously brutal places to work—see Anthony Bourdain's Kitchen Confidential or Bill Buford's Heat—but the proliferation of suits also has some (like, uh, the restaurateurs who are getting sued) wondering if it's all part of a shakedown to extract cash. (Presumably, a multi-million dollar settlement is cushier than collecting 18% tips every night for the next decade; when you factor in having to deal with the press—and lawyers!—perhaps not so much.) A sampling of sexual harassment suits at high-profile restaurants—including both the absolutely horrific and not-so-serious—below.More

• For what may be the 273th time, the Ciprianis are once again in legal trouble. This time Giuseppe Cipriani's company is being sued by the security guards who staff the celeb-heavy events they host for not paying overtime. [NY Post]
• How to do reinject a little life into Sasha Petraske's faded Milk & Honey? Pull a Rao's and start selling off tables to bidders. [Elle]
• Patricia Yeo's former haunt, Sapa, is going to be rebranded as a Nuevo Latino spot called Nuela. [Strong Buzz]
• Padma Lakshmi is developing a cooking show with IMG, the agency that reps her and whose owner, Teddy Forstmann, she may or may not still be dating. [LA Times]
• The abrupt closure of David Rabin's Lotus  this Sunday might have something to do with a couple of small problems. You know, like the suspension of its liquor license and $40,000 worth of fines. Oh, and did you know the place is actually legally named Lulu's? Part of the fine was for operating under an alias all these years. [Grub Street]

Happy Birthday | Join us in wishing a hearty happy birthday to Natalie Portman, who turns 27 today. Actor and Parkinson's poster-boy Michael J. Fox is 47. Johnny Depp is 45. Neurologist and author Oliver Sacks will be celebrating his 75th birthday today. And restaurateur and playboy Giuseppe Cipriani turns 43.