Dinner Series at Fatta Cuckoo; 'Take Two' on Mad Ave

LOWER EAST SIDE ? In collaboration with SideTour, Chris Mitchell of Fatta Cuckoo is hosting a dinner series called "Friends with Benefits." The first one is September 12 and features Jon Bignelli of wd~50.

UPPER EAST SIDE ? A number of Madison Avenue restaurants are taking part in a promotion called "Take Two," benefiting Citymeals on Wheels. Throughout September, a $64 pass gets diners two-for-one drinks or appetizers at the participating restaurants, which include Café Boulud, The Carlyle and Serafina Osteria. [EaterWire]

TIMES SQUARE ? Effective September 1, Salume will no longer keep a food cart in Times Square, devoting their attention instead to their brick-and-mortar expansion. [EaterWire]

FORT GREENE ? Over the weekend, Filipino joint Maharlika held a balut-eating contest. The winning eater, Wayne Aleginio, ate 18 of the boiled duck embryos within five minutes to take home the trophy. [FitR]

BOOK CLUB ? Eater National takes a closer look at Cover Me With Offal by Ruth Bourdain. Can a mysterious anonymous Twitter parody mashup between Ruth Reichl and Anthony Bourdain generate enough content for an entire book? Yes, yes it can. [Eater National]