![[The bar at Root & Bone in the East Village]](https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/e-EkNY77tXYMuEk6HjmNto_7yNQ=/55x0:942x665/1200x800/filters:focal(55x0:942x665)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/50118497/14850935640_1e1d3fde98_o.0.0.jpg)
— A bunch of A-list chefs — including Thomas Keller, Michael White, and Jean-Georges Vongerichten — jumped in the Four Seasons pool after cooking a benefit dinner for City Meals on Wheels last night. Tickets to this benefit dinner started at $1,250. A lot of people have been taking farewell dips in the pool this week, actually. Seagram Building landlord Aby Rosen is not amused:
The legendary restaurant’s final night in the Seagram Building is this Saturday.
— Le Cirque’s Tuscan-focused spinoff Circo is expanding to Dallas, TX. The Maccioni family will open the new restaurant in a two-story space inside the One Uptown Building in February 2017. The family also operates locations of Circo in Orlando, Abu Dhabi, and Casa De Campo.
— Chef/restaurateur Ken Addington has left Five Leaves and Nights and Weekends in Greenpoint, as well as LA Chapter in the Ace Hotel LA. The chef tells Eater: "I’m really proud of the team at Five Leaves and what we accomplished together in the past eight years. I wish them all the best for the future." Addington hints that he’s got another mystery project in the works. Stay tuned for more details on his next move, as they become available.
— Today is the 20th anniversary of Magnolia Bakery, the tiny little West Village shop that launched the cupcake craze. The bakery is offering throwback cupcake pricing today at the original Bleecker Street location — they're $1.25 each — and from now through Sunday, Black Tap is serving a special $17 Magnolia birthday milkshake, adorned with mini cupcakes. Guests can also stop by any Magnolia location for a birthday scratch-off ticket for a chance to win some extra bakery loot. Stay tuned for a look back at the history of Magnolia later this week.
— Fredrik Berselius is still waiting on a liquor license for his revival of Aska, but he hopes to open within the next few weeks. The Michelin-starred chef tells Grub Street about how this will be different from the old Aska: "The whole idea is to create an environment where we can start fresh, but also allow ourselves to continue to grow and find better purveyors, build better relationships with the people we get our ingredients from, and just to be able to cook in a somewhat more controlled environment where we can experiment."
— Ligaya Mishan loves the tapioca crepes and other Brazilian delicacies at Beach Bistro 96 at Rockaway Beach: "Tapioca flour likewise lends stretch to pão de queijo, Brazilian cousins to French gougères, rich with eggs and Parmesan beaten into the dough. The ones here are among the best I’ve had, barely there puffs like held breaths, with stray volcanic fissures and an escalation of texture, from thin crispy shell to implosion."
— A kosher vegan restaurant called Har Sinai is coming to the Forest Hills space that housed Lebanese favorite Wafa’s until earlier this year. The menu will have a "Wafa’s Corner" section, with dishes from the previous tenant. It’s slated to open the first week in September.
— After two years in business, Red Koi Organic Sushi restaurant on First Avenue has closed.
— And finally, here’s a look at how the Otafuku team makes takoyaki: