Sunday's planned soft opening of Table 31, the steakhouse in the Comcast Center from chefs Georges Perrier and Chris Scarduzio, has been pushed to Thursday, when dinner and drinks will begin; lunch will start a week or so after. There also will be a Plaza Cafe serving lighter fare outside.

Scarduzio says he got the certificate of occupancy at close of business Friday.

Perrier and his family celebrated the CO with dinner Friday at the Water Works. They were served by the more than 10 Le Bec-Fin alumni who work there, including general manager Jeff Clauso, dining room manager John Gates and legendary maitre d' Andre Darwish. Upon seeing his old employees, Perrier said something to the effect of: "Theese looks like Le Bec-Fin 2."

Watch this space for Table 31's menus.

Murray's Deli, on Montgomery Avenue in Bala for about 35 years, was sold Thursday (5/15) by the Teti family to the Wakim brothers, who own Al Dar next door, as well as Evivva in Narberth.

Joseph and George Wakim didn't return calls seeking info on their plans for the deli, which was functioning normally Friday.

Options seem to be: (1) spruce up the deli and spice up that age-old ongoing corned-beef rivalry with Hymie's across the street, or (2) close the deli, expand Al Dar and sell Murray's beer license.

Hymie's aside, Option 2 seems to make the most sense. I'll go out on a limb here to venture that there are not too many Jewish delis in the United States owned by Lebanese Americans.

The Murray's name still flies over the Murray's operation in Berwyn, run by Bob Teti and his wife, Gayle. They have a walk-in deli on one side, and a sweet little BYOB called bistro M on the other.

Bob Teti is one of five sons of Bill Teti, who took it over at least 35 years ago from founder Murray Chudakoff, who had it previously nearby at 54th and City Line and before that, during World War II, on 60th Street in West Philly.

The Wakims over the years also owned Marbles (later Citron) in Bryn Mawr, now John Mims' Carmine's Creole Cafe. For nine weeks in 1995, Joseph Wakim was part-owner of an African American-themed restaurant called Heritage at Broad and Chestnut Streets, where Capital Grille is now.

Todd Lean, last chef at Deuce after a solo turn at Old City's Mandoline, is now a sous chef at Pod (3636 Sansom St.).

You've heard of the restaurant that closes or burns down just before a review comes out.

Jasper in Downingtown, reviewed last Sunday by The Inquirer's Craig LaBan, is closed temporarily. Last Thursday, the day before the review was posted at Philly.com, Jasper chef-owner Nick DiFonzo was admitted to Thomas Jefferson University Hospital for what manager Becky Ely told LaBan today was a “minor brain aneurysm.”

Ely said he is expected to be discharged by this weekend, and that he should be OK. But the restaurant is temporarily closed, and won’t be taking reservations until June 24, when she expects to reopen at half-speed.

With yesterday's news that Chicago had repealed its two-year-old ban on foie gras, I asked the aide to City Councilman Jack Kelly about plans for his pending measure in City Council.

Kelly has been lobbying for a ban for about a year, and last year told The Inquirer that he wanted to wait until January's new Council session to raise it officially.

Kelly aide John Cerrone said Kelly has the city budget on his mind right now and also wants to explore the reasons for Chicago's repeal before he brings it up.

Morton’s The Steakhouse -- one of the more curiously constructed steakhouse names, on the order of "Ruth's Chris" -- is offering a Father's Day barbecue party for 10 people. Family and friends can nominate a father online at www.mortons.com/philadelphia-dad or mailed to Dad’s Day Off, Morton’s, 1411 Walnut St., Philadelphia, PA 19102. Nominations must be received by June 10, 2008, and the father should live in the greater Philadelphia area. The winning family will be notified June 12.

While you're at the computer, enter Morton's national recipe contest, whose prize is a trip to Chicago, dinner at Morton's, and the recipe's inclusion in Morton's cookbook. Submit by June 2 at http://www.mortons.com/recipecontest.

Chris Leonard of the General Lafayette Inn & Brewery in Lafayette Hill reports that a lease has finally been signed for The Tiedhouse, a gastropub inside the CityView Condominium at 2001 Hamilton St., where Goji was.

But any ties between the General Lafayette and The Tiedhouse will be only coincidental and tangential. The Liquor Control Board prohibits brewery owners like Leonard from also holding individual restaurant licenses. So while the project will reflect the style and atmosphere of the General Lafayette and will serve its beer, it will not be legally affiliated. Leonard's mother, brother and wife will be primary partners in The Tiedhouse.

Since the LCB also prohibits brewery employees from working at indivdual licensed establishments, General Lafayette chef Phil Falcone won't be The Tiedhouse's chef. The Glenside-raised, CIA-trained chef, whose resume includes the old Tony Clark's, the Bostonian, and Susanna Foo, will inspire the menu of small plates. Style will be more refined than the food served in the historical confines of the General Lafayette.

Plans are for dinner/late-night eats Mondays through Fridays, with brunch on Saturdays and Sundays. Midweek lunch is not in its opening plans, but could develop should demand dictate.

The plan is to be open some time in July.

10 Arts will be a breakfast-lunch-dinner-late-night operation, as it will serve the Ritz-Carlton.

The existing restaurant known as The Grill will close in early June, and the space will become private dining. 10 Arts (hate starting a sentence with a numeral, but...) also will have a private room.

Here are the menus for 10 Arts' breakfast, lunch, dinner, lounge, and dessert. (I'll take blame for shortcomings in formatting.)

Any comments, folks? I see a standard breakfast menu. BLT with pork belly on the lunch menu looks interesting, as do the pork pate and "pork and beans" apps; it looks like Ripert is going hog-wild here. Dinner entrees don't seem outrageously "out there." Lounge menu's soft pretzels look intriguing, though I'm sure the cheese sauce will have actual real cheese in it.

Saxbys Coffee, which started in Atlanta and relocated to Philly when developer Joe Grasso's Walnut Street Capital bought it last summer, has announced its first Center City location.

It's going into The Aria, a new condo building at 15th and Locust Streets (entrance on 15th), and opening is projected for August. There are Saxbys (grammarians, note there's no apostrophe -- or should that be Saxbyses? -- oh, forget it) open at Temple U, Abington, Lansdale, Wayne and Malvern.

Of course, there's no coffee to be had in the immediate vicinity of 15th and Locust, unless you count Cosi, Hausbrandt, Starbucks, Cafe Loftus, or Juan Valdez ...

10 Arts, the splashy eatery backed by Eric Ripert, opens May 20 in the Ritz-Carlton's lobby. It's been tucked behind playwood during construction.

Tuesday, I took better overview photos from the balcony overlooking the lobby. There were shot from the Broad Street side. The large red panels at the rear light up.

The first photo covers the lounge, which is the hotel lobby. Note how the wine rack has been contoured around the circular skylight above the basement ballroom, which is directly beneath the rotunda. At left is one of several light-up archways in the dining room. At the rear, beneath the red panels, is the bar, which is topped with white granite. Color scheme throughout has lots of fuchsia and brown. The room looks dramatically sexy at night.

See menus here.

The bottom photo includes part of the 10 Arts dining room, which is on the Chestnut Street side, beside the columns and tucked behind them.