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Curtis Duffy's Grace was one of the most highly anticipated (if not the most highly anticipated) restaurants to open last year. From the moment it was announced, food media — Grub Street included — covered every detail of Grace's debut. Despite being open just under a month, Grace has seemingly already solidified its place in the annals of restaurant greatness. Early reviews from both critics and diners alike, including Zagat naming Grace as one of the ten hottest restaurants in the world, have been nothing short of glowing. But here's the thing: As long as you don't want to go on a Friday or Saturday night, reservations are still fairly easy to come by. Day-of availability is often an option, thanks to cancellations. And the restaurant, which takes reservations two months out, has sporadic availability for many weeknights. All of this is to say, go now, while you still can, because it's just a matter of time before the national media converges on this place and makes it near-impossible to get in. [Earlier, Related]

Call it tables for Tetris: The arcade game division of video-game manufacturer Namco Bandai is developing a prototype for a new, "upscale entertainment restaurant concept" that will likely debut in the Chicago area, reports gaming site Polygon. Few details are available about the restaurant; Namco started off as the producer of Golden Age arcade games like Pac-Man and Pole Postion, but now mostly produces games and rides for places like Wal-Mart and multiplexes. So this could either be the restaurant of the future or the second coming of Chuck E. Cheese.

"I’m a big fan of leaping before I look," Alex Stupak says. By now the chef's trajectory — moving from pastry chef jobs at Alinea and wd~50 to opening Empellón Taqueria and, less than a year later, Empellón Cocina — is well known. "We opened the second restaurant, like, way too fast." The move seems to have paid off — lots of critics around town have recognized Cocina as one of last year's best new restaurants. That doesn't mean a third Empellón will happen anytime soon, though: "For 2013, I really just want to put my head down and focus on the two restaurants we have." To see what it takes to fuel that — including candy, homemade sausages, a self-described "unlealthy" relationship with mayonnaise, and a New Year's juice regimen that was perhaps inspired by Stupak's previous cleanse — read on in this week's New York Diet.