As you've probably heard, everyone is gaga for something new in 2008, and even John McCain and Co. have hopped on board the change-wagon.

But why stop at changing the occupant of the Oval Office? In January, the Storefront for Art and Architecture, a nonprofit urban planning group in New York, figured they would push the whole change thing as far as possible and offer up some ideas for changing the White House itself.

After much summer anticipation, Bravo has finally released the list of chef-testants who will be competing on Top Chef Season 5, confirming all your ferverent stalking.

But the best thing about Bravo's promotion for the new season, which starts November 12, has got to be this ad, in which host Padma Lakshmi thoroughly enjoys a trip on the New York City subway system while seductively devouring a hot pretzel.

Hello, New York!

Related Stories:
· Top Chef Season Five [Official Site]
· Top Chef 5: Stalking Future-Almost-Kinda-Celebs [Jaunted]
· Top Chef coverage [Jaunted]

Two is a trend when it's this random. What's up with faux-restaurant sneaker shops? First, Philly starts selling sneakers from an undercover Chinese joint, and now New York's latest sneaker shop is disguised as a soul food counter.

At SoleFood NYC, you can check out rare Nikes or bring in your own sneaks to be customized by local graffiti artists. The sneakers are stored in deli-style display cases, and you can try them on while hanging out at diner-style booths.

SoleFood NYC does one-up the Philly joint: On Sundays, they even operate as a bit of a real restaurant, too. You can take your new kicks home along with a takeout container full of collard greens, candied yams, and other soul food goodies.

Related Stories:
· SoleFood NYC [Official Site]
· Secret Sneaker Shopping: The New Speakeasy [Jaunted]
· Sneakers coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Jonathan Sloan]

The World War II aircraft carrier Intrepid has returned to its berth on Manhattan's West Side following a two-year refurbishment in Bayonne, New Jersey and Staten Island, New York. The decommissioned ship had served as the centerpiece of the Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum at Manhattan's Pier 86 since 1982, but two decades of visitors stomping through its narrow passageways had left it looking worse for wear, so an ambitious renovation was initiated in late 2006.

When the museum reopens on November 8, visitors will be able to explore parts of the ship that were previously off-limits, including the forecastle and machine shop, as well as gawk at several new aircraft on the flight deck. The hangar deck, meanwhile, will contain a host of interactive exhibits that tell the story of the ship's history in periods of both war and peace.

The Intrepid is one of only a handful of attractions in the city solely dedicated to the military, and its return to the West Side Piers should give a welcome bump to tourism in an area that was once one of the busiest ports in the country.

[Photo: The New York Times]

Related Stories:
· Floating Proudly, a Warship Returns to Its Mission [The New York Times]
· Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum [Official Site]
· Museum Coverage [Jaunted]

Ah! So that's why we didn't hear more about Vikram Chatwal's brand new Stay.Hotel before its official unveiling earlier this week: the property morphed into the Stay from its former identity, The Quality Inn Times Square, relatively seamlessly.

And now we're kinda wondering if maybe the place is basically a Quality Inn with a baller lobby.

Here's what happened: we hopped over to TripAdvisor this morning hoping that perhaps someone had already submitted the hotel's first TripAdvisor review. But when we found a handful of Stay.Hotel reviews from September, we were disappointed in ourselves for not stalking Tricky Viky with our usual gusto: it turns out the place was quietly operating as the

Dear Madonna and A-Rod: We understand you had dinner last night in New York, a fact that we don't find particularly untoward let alone damning for your marriage (M) or your divorce (A). But why, oh why, did you choose Dos Caminos?

A weak and watery margarita and a surly waitstaff are not our idea of an enjoyable dining experience! In fact, it's probably there that John Mayer chose to break up with Jessica Simpson because of her lame taste in Mexican restaurants.

Take our advice and try one of these for your next night out:

Your body is a roundhouse punch: John Mayer puts up the dukes with a trainer at Rich Barretta Private Training, a Krav Maga studio in New York City yesterday.

Krav Maga is an Israeli martial art focused on hand-to-hand combat and self-defense in real life (as opposed to in-studio) situations.

Hilary Swank is a fan and Matt Damon studied it to prepare for his role as Jason Bourne--the practice emphasizes using all available objects to disarm your opponent, something which Bourne has clearly mastered.

Related Stories:
· John Mayer Embraces His Bromantic Side [Popsugar]
· Gansevoort South Not Open Yet But David Barton Gym Memberships are For Sale [HC]
· Celeb Travel coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Healthy Hollywood]

Back when Restaurant Week started in the 1980s, it was an idea anyone could get excited about: A one-week-only chance to dine at New York's top restaurants for a fraction of the price.

RW was so successful that every city in the high-end food game now has an annual restaurant week (or two or four), and the idea has gone from great deal to unbearable promotional event, with tiny menus, not-that-great prices and waiters irritated by stingy crowds.

So it only follows that someone would try to make RW cool again, and we're excited to learn the concept of sub-restaurant week is finally here. Presenting: Korean Restaurant Week.

Now through Saturday, 19 Manhattan Korean restaurants are offering a $15, three-course meal, all centered around bibimbap--the iconic Korean rice bowls topped with meat, vegetables, fried egg and assorted other goodies.

Related Stories:
· Korean Restaurant Week [Official Site]
· New NYC Restaurant: Persimmon [Jaunted]
· We're Suckers for Korean Food [Jaunted]

[Photo: aemosion]

Our dream team: Todd English and Jason Pomeranc.

GQ -- the dude magazine for dudely dudes -- went inside The Libertine Restaurant, Todd English's brand new outpost in NYC's Gild Hall, and found it to be the perfect spot for a lovely, unusual romantic bromantic dinner. Plus, the reporter saw dead people and himself some fried chicken.

Right then!

Apparently, the place has a men's room and not a ladies' room immediately accessible. Whatevs. But it seems he wasn't quite expecting something so...over-the-top and seriously Thompson-esque with the ambiance.

We knew space for restaurants was tight in NYC, but is nothing sacred?

Apparently not, as the latest hot spot restaurant just opened inside St. Bartholomew's Church on Park Avenue. The church's community house was converted into the 140-seat Inside Park, a modern dining room that retains details like the 15-foot-high stained glass windows and the 86-year-old wood floor.

Inside Park has built up some buzz due to the presence of executive chef Matthew Weingarten, formerly of Savoy, who has the audacity to call his dishes "simple plates," despite the fact that most diners will need a dictionary and an encyclopedia to decode the menu, with items such as chiogga beets in poppy cream, limousin veal roast with chanterelle preserves, and sizzled rouget in corn cream.

Related Stories:
· Inside Park [Official Site]
· New New York Restaurants Coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Inside Park]