EaterWire: Beyonce and Jay-Z love Lucali, Marchetto Signs Lease on 10 Downing, Franny's Open Mondays, Barber Gets a Book Deal

CARROLL GARDENS—Where do Beyonce and Jay-Z go when they want a romantic night out? Why, Lucali of course: "So it was hardly surprising, last week, when a Presidential-calibre motorcade pulled up out front. Beyoncé Knowles and Jay-Z emerged, and were quickly ushered to a table near the chef. Their bodyguard, a man roughly the size of the three-hundred-and-fifty-thousand-dollar Maybach sedan idling at the curb, settled into a chair on the sidewalk...Four civilians enduring a long wait on the bench out front...Iacono left his station and came over to the foursome’s table to apologize for the hubbub. 'They didn’t even tell me they were coming!' he said. 'Usually they tell me first.'" [New Yorker]

WEST VILLAGE—Though it's been reported before that Da Silvano's Silvano Marchetto would be buying the space at 10 Downing, it was just least week that he finally signed the lease: "Italian restaurateur Silvano Marchetto signed a 15-year lease last week for 2,500 square feet at 10 Downing Street, said the building's owner, Ofer Yardeni, a managing partner at Stonehenge Partners. The rent for the space on the building's south end is $150 per square foot. The new restaurant is slated to open in four or five months, Yardeni said...the new restaurant will also serve Italian food, but will have a new name." [The Real Deal]

PROSPECT HEIGHTS—Popular pizza joint Franny's will no longer be closed on Mondays. If only they'd start taking reservations: "franny's will be open Monday nights, beginning May 5th!! Our new hours will be as follows: Monday-Thursdays 5:30pm-11:00pm, Fridays 5:30pm-11:30pm, Saturdays Noon-11:30pm Sundays Noon-10:00pm." [EaterWire]

WEST VILLAGE— Dan Barber's book, which he was shopping around to different publishers last month, got picked up: "According to his literary agent David Black-- whom Mr. Barber met when he came to dinner at Blue Hill-- the book was acquired by the Penguin Press about a week after the proposal went out. The Penguin Press, one of the most prestigious publishers of non-fiction in town, is a logical home for Mr. Barber, a vocal advocate of sustainable agriculture and locally-grown food whose intellectual predelictions are not dissimilar from those of Michael Pollan, who is also published there." [NYO]