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We had kind of been wondering what, if anything, was up with OON, the Randolph Street spot coming from chef Matt Eversman (Saigon Sisters). Unusually for a Randolph Street spot, it had been very quiet... almost too quiet. But we guess if you need a brash move to crank things up, snagging the GM of the hottest restaurant on the strip and setting him up across the street from his old job will do. Eater reports that Tony Cournia, a veteran manager whose resume includes L2O and other Lettuce spots, Per Se, Province and Girl & the Goat, is leaving the last of these places to join on with OON as a partner. We think this is a smart move because Eversman, though clearly talented, must be the youngest chef to open his own place along the strip, certainly when compared with other recent or upcoming arrivals like Elliot, Van Camp, Duffy, Kim, etc., and OON looks more solid knowing that Eversman has the backup of someone of Cournia's experience.

Oops! The Santa Barbara Independent found out that Cat Cora, Food TV staple and host of the show-that-nobody-really-watches Around the World in 80 Plates, was cited last month for driving under the influence after her Chevy Tahoe rear-ended a BMW at low speed. Cops arrived and conducted a field sobriety test and discovered that, yes, Cora's BAC was more than twice the legal limit. Cora reportedly told officers that she'd had three beers that night, after she and her partner got into an argument. In hindsight, maybe all those ouzo shots she threw back on Iron Chef America were really just a cry for help. [Santa Barbara Independent via Eater National]

We're not going to claim The Chicago Diner, the vegetarian restaurant in Boystown, is high on our personal list, but as a place that's a year from celebrating its 30th anniversary, it's obviously a spot with a devoted following in the vegetarian community and among those looking for a quick bite that doesn't have to have meat in it. And now that following will be getting a little bigger and broader as Chicago Diner plans to take over the space of the now-closed Logan Square Kitchen at 2333 N. Milwaukee in Logan Square. No word on any differences in format or offerings yet, but the Diner says that the second location will open this fall. [Chicagoist]

Is there any holiday closer to the hearts of Americans than Bastille Day? We know we can't wait to fire up the grill and throw some morteau on, to celebrate the liberation of political prisoners in 1789 before settling in with the family for our annual screening of A Tale of Two Cities. It's Saturday— like we have to remind you!— and there are some things planned at Frenchy places around town, starting with the French Market downtown. From 1 to 3 p.m. on Saturday, singer Greta Pope will perform French cabaret songs as you munch on Montreal smoked meat, French wine and cheese from Pastoral, and whatever else French is around the market... like banh mi. More Bastille festivities follow.

Every weekend Chicago has two or three St. Valentine's Day Massacre's worth of murder. Mayor Emanuel and Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy, pressed to do something about it, announced that one key anti-gang initiative would be to crack down on businesses which seem to help foster and encourage gang activity. The idea is that if the city acts more quickly against, say, quickie marts that sell crack pipes or empty buildings serving as gang hangouts, that will reduce crime. In the process, the city released a list of 37 businesses it planned to take stepped-up action against. And what were the crimes that these businesses— including one of the city's most acclaimed taquerias— were engaged in that allowed the drug trade or whatever to flourish? They were often garden variety offenses that seem to have nothing whatsoever to do with gang activity— suggesting that, as so often, anti-violence measures, like the wars on drugs or "terror," are merely cover for a more general power grab on the part of government.