Dining and Wine Wednesday

A selection, and summary, of the best articles from today's NY Times Dining and Wine Section:

Comrades at Arms: Two Food Writers in a Kitchen Smackdown: 2 dinners, each will feed 6 people and cost no more than $50. Two NY Times writers are put to the test and Frank Bruni weighs in on the results. Great source for some ideas the next time your friends are coming over for dinner and you need to stay within your budget without feeding them peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

Related Links:

A Mexican Feast With Artisanal Technique: Meal number one, including all recipes and cost breakdown.

Old World With New Twists: Meal number two, including all recipes and cost breakdown.

Bouley Quietly Uproots, Conjuring a French Countryside: Frank Bruni reviews the recently relocated David Bouley flagship restaurant, Bouley,awarding it 3-stars. The atmosphere is romantic and the dessert is always at least 3 courses, but the food remains slightly more uneven than that enjoyed at 4-star establishments such as Per Se and Daniel.

Chardonnay in Aisle 3?: Is wine coming to grocery stores in New York? It's part of Gov. Paterson's 2009 budget, the question is, will it pass by the April 1st deadline. This one is igniting some fierce debate.

Yankee Stadium Has a Full Plate: Scoring a seat in one of the new club or suite areas will get you more than just a plush seat at the new Yankee Stadium, it will also get you exclusive dining options including meals prepared by such famed chefs as Masaharu Morimoto and April Bloomfield.

For Mets Fans, a Menu Beyond Peanuts and Cracker Jack: Obviously, the revamped Mets Stadium would not be complete without revamped food choices, so Danny Meyer is taking the lead with this one. Choices will include items such as pulled-pork sandwiches on brioche buns and shrimp rolls. For the high rollers among us, there will be a restaurant-cafe-bar-lounge area just behind home plate where seats start at $175.

Off the Menu: The all important list of restaurant openings and closings.

Dining Calendar: Food related events happening during this and upcoming weeks in and around NYC.