Welcome to our exciting new partnership with Eater. For this weekly Friday column, Eater editor Paolo Lucchesi gives his opinionated report on all the restaurant news that's fit to print, including chef gossip, a bit of PlumpJackin', hot openings, sad closings, and even some Top Chef updates.

1) As the calendar changes, the final tally of all the restaurant closures in the month of January topped 25, so to commemorate the fallen, it was time to take one last look back at those that passed away. Godspeed.

2) But it’s not all depressing news: Nopalito, the Mexican spinoff of the beloved Nopa, finally opened this week.

3) Given the economic climate, ‘tis no country for white tablecloth restaurants … especially ones that have fallen into mediocrity with multiple chef changes in the last year. Hence, PlumpJack Cafe will go on hiatus at the end of the month in order to “reconcept.”

4) Everyone’s been wondering about Quince’s impending move to the old Myth space in Jackson Square, and at long last, the Tusks released some juicy, juicy details about the bigger version of Quince, its casual offshoot Cotogna (Italian for “quince”, natch), and—bonus!—their new hotshot pastry chef.

5) Clearly, something went very, very wrong on Wednesday’s episode of Top Chef.

6) Eater Inside took a tour of the latest Charles Phan-Olle Lundberg collaboration, Heaven’s Dog. It’s much prettier than it sounds, trust me.

7) In the wake of all the recent criticism regarding Alice Waters’ slightly-hypocritical inaugural feasts, Slow Food Nation fired back at its critics, saying that it is “easy to dismiss these green apple gelee and celery root remoulade glorified meals as oh so rococo and, to some cynics, a bit Marie Antoinette-ish,” but they were necessary to start a conversation about food in this country. Um, ok.