Restaurant

NEWTON - Dan Kennedy will graduate from Boston College on Monday, summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, and the recipient of the school's most prestigious prize, the Edward H. Finnegan Award. Winners of the Finnegan, given to the student who best exemplifies the BC motto, "ever to excel," tend to go big - top grad schools, Wall Street, overseas fellowships. Kennedy is planning to give away his computer, recycle his Blackberry, and move to a modest communal house in St. Paul, Minn.

Olives, opened in 1989, was a legend in its time. Chef Todd English won fans with big flavors and a rustic Mediterranean focus. In more recent years, the restaurant has spent a lot of time with its doors closed. A grease fire shut it down in May 2010, and it struggled to reopen. Earlier this month, it finally succeeded. In Charlestown, Olives is back in business. The restaurant has been renovated. The bar, which previously sat 15, can now accommodate around 45 people.

Globe Staff File Photo/Mark Wilson Olives has been unofficially feeding people for a few days now, getting back in gear and using guests as guinea pigs to try out dishes new and old. (The food was free, but they paid for their own drinks.) Thursday, the reopening is official. "So many people have come up and said, 'We're so happy to have you back,'" says chef Todd English. But don't expect English and crew to be serving the kind of Big Food pictured above, the way Olives served customers circa 1996.

Restaurants are going to the dogs… and the cats, and various other friends of the four-legged variety. From Doggie Happy Hours to seasonal dinners raising money for animal charities, the white tablecloth set is serving up a little pet philanthropy. The eat well, do good movement marries two trends — the fascination with things furry (kitten videos, anyone?) as well as our nearly insatiable appetite for great, memorable food. "I think we're a good match with a lot of charitable events because of the nature of our business," points out Ron Patak, vice president of student...

Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg updated his status to "married" on Saturday. Zuckerberg and 27-year-old Priscilla Chan tied the knot at a small ceremony at his Palo Alto, Calif., home, capping a busy week for the couple, according to a guest authorized to speak for the couple. The person spoke only on the condition of anonymity. Zuckerberg took his company public in one of the most anticipated stock offerings in Wall Street history Friday. And Chan graduated from medical school at the University of California, San Francisco, on Monday, the same day Zuckerberg turned 28,...

Charlie Sarkis, as is his habit, is in the middle of a fight. On the March voice mail, the raspy voice is unmistakably that of the legendary impresario behind such dining destinations as Abe & Louie's steakhouse and Joe's American Bar & Grill. Sarkis can be heard beseeching a politically-connected friend to remove "a pain in the ass" from a Back Bay architectural board, someone he considers a nuisance to his restaurant empire. Then there is the threatening memo from a lawyer for Sarkis warning one of his company's top executives to sign a noncompete agreement...

ARTISAN BISTRO The Ritz-Carlton, Boston Common 10 Avery St., Boston 617-574-7100 www.ritzcarlton.com Longtime Ritz-Carlton restaurant Jer-Ne closed over the summer, and tourists no longer have to puzzle over how to pronounce its name. Last month, a new restaurant with a straightforward title took its place. Artisan Bistro now serves theatergoers, Ritz-Carlton guests and residents, and anyone else in the neighborhood who is looking for a croque-monsieur; a flatbread topped with lobster, artichoke, and Gruyere; or steak frites.

Extraordinary Excellent Good Fair (No stars) Poor ISLAND CREEK OYSTER BAR 500 Commonwealth Ave., Boston. 617-532-5300. Skip Bennett and his crew at Island Creek Oysters have been cultivating shellfish in Duxbury for nearly 20 years now. It makes sense, then, that oysters are the restaurant’s greatest strength, featured in many varieties. (Clam chowder and fried clams are good, too.)

Police Commissioner Ed Davis , Jenny Johnson of “TV Diner,’’ high-profile lawyer George Jabour , and Magellan Jet bosses Josh Herbert and Anthony Tivnan were among the 200 people at the opening of 49 Social on Wednesday. The new Downtown Crossing restaurant, where Ivy used to be, was opened by Talal Zaiter and his nephew Samir Zaiter . Serving as beverage manager will be Kim Frankson , who used to work at Radius.

Spice of Melrose, a new Thai restaurant that opened last month at 530 Main St., has applied for a beer and wine license. On Thursday, the city's Licensing Commission will hold a public hearing on the request filed by Sarunya P. and Jin Chen on behalf of their company, S.J. Chen Corp. The hearing will begin at 7:30 p.m. in the mayor's conference room at City Hall. - Kathy McCabe

Gem Restaurant & Lounge, the latest project from Big Night Entertainment Group (Red Lantern, Shrine), bills itself as "a fusion of gastro-lounge and ultra exclusive supper club. " Although a dress code is not spelled out, the restaurant claims to have a very strict one: Entry will be denied, says its website, to anyone who does not meet "management dress satisfaction. " Will you be allowed in? Will your outfit make the cut? It's time to find out. Climb a flight of stairs to a small, plush space decorated in the rococo style of a bordello catering to Francophiles...

The Randolph Chamber of Commerce will hold its fourth annual Best Taste of Randolph Wednesday, from 5:30 to 8 p.m., at Randolph Community Middle School. Attendees will be able to sample food from local restaurants, including Fat Cactus, Fresser's, Lombardo's, and Not Your Average Joe's. Anonymous judges will determine the best dishes in various categories. The event will include raffles and musical entertainment. Tickets are $25, $20 for seniors and students (13 and under), $50 for a family of four.

Celebrity chef Todd English, who owes more than $1 million in back rent and other charges related to his Kingfish Hall restaurant, left the space with thousands of dollars in damage after shuttering the location at Faneuil Hall Marketplace several weeks ago. Photos obtained by the Globe show what appear to be ripped ceiling tiles, torn duct work, exposed wires, and garbage strewn throughout the historic property, which is owned by the City of...

An Anchorage seafood restaurant heralded its grand opening Friday by mimicking Alaska Airlines' splashy salmon show in Seattle. The Seattle-based airline makes a big production each year of delivering the first-of-the-season Copper River king salmon from Alaska to Seattle for preparation by top chefs, who got their celebrated bounty earlier Friday. Hours later, an Anchorage-based seafood processor delivered a 30-pound king and a seven-pound sockeye salmon with much fanfare at The Bridge Seafood Restaurant, which was set for its grand opening later in the...

In the Harvard Square space that was formerly Redline, the Grafton Group has opened the new Park Restaurant & Bar. As the name suggests, Park is multipurpose. There is a tavern-esque dining room and a horseshoe-shaped oak bar. Then there are areas called "The Den," a cocktail lounge with vaulted ceiling and shelves of vintage books; "The Classroom," a more intimate dining space with a fireplace; and "The Back Room," decorated with counterculture artwork and photography, featuring circular black leather booths for large parties.

A San Diego restaurant opened by Junior Seau in 1996 has closed its doors two weeks after the NFL star's suicide. Trustees of Seau's estate say they made the decision to close Seau's The Restaurant in Mission Valley on Wednesday. Trustee Bette Hoffman says in a statement that the decision to close the restaurant was made to honor Seau's legacy. She also says trustees felt the restaurant's future profitability could be in question without Seau's leadership. The eatery's website describes it as San Diego's largest sports-themed restaurant, with 60 TVs offering...

By Patrick D. Rosso, Town Correspondent The city's Licensing Board on Thursday approved the transfer of a liquor license to Empire, a new bar and restaurant located at 1 Marina Park Dr. on the South Boston Waterfront. To read about Empire's hearing before the Board Wednesday, click here . The license was previously held by a Roxbury-based bar, Packy's. --- Email Patrick D. Rosso, patrick.d.rosso@gmail.com. Follow him @PDRosso , or friend him on Facebook .

Liz Bramwell hosts a dinner party for 22 paying guests ($75 each) every Friday night in downtown Boston. Bramwell (above in green) is the chef for "The Cooking Show," filmed in a state-of-the art studio inside the Rustic Kitchen restaurant in Boston's Park Square. The show features a how-to meal paired with wine, which guests enjoy during the filming. The petite Bramwell, 27, a Culinary Institute of America grad, is the star here. Last Friday, she made baked stuffed sole over saffron orzo with baby artichokes and tomatoes, served with a...