Actors, politicians, athletes, musicians…they all eventually make their way to the Old Ebbitt Grill. So what’s the attraction? It’s not just the food, says GM Kyle Gaffney. It’s the busy-ness of the place.

Breakfast, lunch, and dinner, the place is always hopping. “There’s an energy where people’s awareness is not so acute,” says Gaffney.

Which means that the rich and famous can often eat here without drawing a lot of attention. The list of stars who have dined here is deep: athletes like Randy Johnson and Curt Shilling; musicians like Stevie Wonder, Prince, and The Grateful Dead (yes, the Grateful Dead dines at the Ebbitt); and actors like Sean Penn, Tom Hanks, Tom Cruise, and Harrison Ford.

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Thefts! Celebs! Confessions! Free food! C’mon, folks, let’s not be so damn predictable in our reading material! Frankly, this week, I’m taking small pleasure in the fact that none of top items contained a question as a headline. Y&H has a bad habit of overusing the question-as-headline gimmick. Oh, the shame…

1. Credit Card Theft a Common Occurence in Restaurants
2. U.S. News’ Bedard Lists the Top 10 Restaurants to Spot Celebs
3. Best of D.C.: A Confession About Best New Restaurant
4. Joking Aside, Free Sandwiches Tomorrow at Pollo Campero
5. Eric Ziebold Responds to Y&H’s Pot Shot at South by Southwest

Paul Bedard over at U.S. News & World Report runs down the 10 restaurants where you’re likely to spot what passes for celebrities in this town—lobbyists and legislators, in other words.  It’s a handy list, I suppose, if you actually know what Bob Goodlatte looks like and care about where he dines.

Frankly, I’ve eaten out hundreds of times and have rarely spotted anyone famous, perhaps because my definition of famous run more along the West Coast/Hollywood axis than the East Coast/Wonk axis. Of course, it could be that I also don’t have a table reserved at Cafe Milano, Bedard’s No. 1 spot. Don’t see that happening anytime soon either.

Bedard is promising more restaurant lists in the future, such as “the dives favored by Hill staffers, and where top federal officials huddle for after-dinner drinks…” I’m tingling in anticipation, but for now, check out his top star-magnet restaurants after the jump.

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I love the Chairman Mao dog toy, but really, Moby, how much tea does one man need?

It’s nice to see the new, streamlined ABC News using its resources wisely. The news-gatherers recently put together an online slide show dedicated to lousy celebrity tippers. It carries the not-clever-enough headline: “Check please? Tip, maybe.”

It clicked through all 12 celebs. I feel gross.

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This is depressing. The No. 1 item for the week was last week’s celebrity-sighting post from the inauguration, which I’ll dismiss faster than Lindsay Lohan from her latest rehab session. So starting with the No. 2 most popular post, here’s this week’s Top 5:

1. The Obamas Hire Their Own Personal Chef, After All
2. Urban Bar-B-Que Upgrades Its Smoker at Rockville Location
3. Our Super Round-Up of Super Bowl Recipes
4. The General Store Opens with a Growl
5. JohnPaul Damato Is Back at Jaleo, and You Can Taste It

I have just one word for you: celebrities. Y’all love ‘em. They dominated the top two spots this week on the Young & Hungry blog.

1. Jessica Alba, Tom Hanks, and Others Seen Dining at D.C. Restaurants
2. Denzel, Dustin, and Tyra: You Know You Want to Know Where They Ate
3. Can’t Get into Your Favorite Restaurant on Inauguration Night? Just Wait
4. Inauguration Drinks: Party Like It’s 1829
5. Johnny’s Half Shell Figured Out How to Deal with Inaugural Traffic: Never Go Home

I’m no Reliable Source, and the City Paper  is not exactly known for its celebrity gossip. But these are trying times, and the Young & Hungry blog could use the hits that will no doubt come his way once he types “Halle Berry” into the meta-tag field.

• Berry is supposed to be dining Monday night at Teatro Goldoni, as part of a private party at the K Street institution, now under the creative command of chef Enzo Fargione. According to Fargione, the party will also include the likes of Spike Lee, Ron Howard, and Susan Sarandon. But you autograph seekers should just cool your jets. All the celebs will be safely ensconced in private rooms, and there will be security at the front door. You could nurse a few drinks at the bar, and sample a few plates from Fargione’s dynamite bar menu, in hopes that you might still be there when the famous folks walk out the door. But that’s as close as you’re gonna get.
• NewsHour host Jim Lehrer and Joel L. Klein, chancellor of New York City’s public schools, will be dining at Ardeo on Inauguration Day, presumably separately. They’ll have a chance to sample the cooking of Alex McWilliams, a promising chef who took over the kitchen late last year.
• Washington Post Chairman Donald Graham is planning to eat at the Oval Room on the big day. Lucky him. Tony Conte, I think, is the most underrated chef in town.

Oh, and just to mess with the Google search engines: Halle Berry, Halle Berry, Halle Berry.

Image by Flickr user tostie14

Citing a worsening economy that won’t allow it to employ four food critics, New York magazine confirmed yesterday that it has fired the iconic Gael Greene. Today marks Greene’s last official day at the magazine, ending a 40-year run as a food writer and critic for the publication.

For all the good work Greene did during her four decades, I’m afraid I’ll always remember her most for having sex with Elvis Presley. Greene led off her 2007 memoir, Insatiable, with the anecdote. Here’s the memorable moment in all its sticky, elliptical details:

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