Slate, the gastropub that I wrote about in yesterday's Table Talk, will open Wednesday -- not tonight (1/30).

Owner Laurentiu Muras says he had some family issues.

Gerard Butler with Jamie Foxx at last week's City Hall news conference.

More images

A news organization's main mission should be to serve the needs of its readers.

And if the readers' needs include photos of Scottish-born actor Gerard Butler ...

Inquirer photographer April Saul took these shots at a Jan. 23 City Hall ceremony at which Mayor Nutter gave Liberty Bells to "Law Abiding Citizen" director F. Gary Gray and stars Jamie Foxx and Butler.

The Last Airbender, the new M. Night Shyamalan movie, has quite a list of requirements as it searches for extras:

CRAFTSMEN, ARTISTS, DANCERS, PUPPETIERS,
GYMNASTS, ATHLETES, SOLDIERS & GRANDPARENTS
Basket weaving, Candle making, Painting, Ceramics, Needle Point,
Whittling, Silk Screening, Jewelry making, Cooking & Fishing……
Searching for…..
Physically fit MEN & WOMEN 18-85 yr. Old - Boys & Girls 6-16 yr. Old.
NEAR EASTERN, MIDDLE EASTERN, FAR EASTERN,
ASIAN, MEDITERRANEAN & LATINO Ethnic groups….

Oh, and if you have martial arts and/or military training, it's a plus.

The open call will be Feb. 7 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Independence Visitor's Center at Sixth and Market Streets.

Here's the flyer.

After months and months of designs and hammering and concrete pouring and general overall futzing, two significant Philly restaurants are preparing to open a day apart.

Oh, and they're next door to each other, too.

The eateries in question are Union Trust at 717 Chestnut St. and Chifa at 707 Chestnut St. -- separated by a parking lot.

Union Trust, a huge, independent steakhouse, has its private opening party on Feb. 7 with its public opening on the 9th.

Chifa, a Jose Garces-run restaurant featuring a Peruvian-Chinese fusion, has penciled in its friends-and-family on the 9th with a public opening on the 10th.

Mike "Lionel" Rodia, in a Comcast SportsNet screen grab from ESPN.com

Mike "Lionel" Rodia's great talent is getting into places where he shouldn't be -- such as in the Phillies' clubhouse after they won the Series, where he kissed Jamie Moyer on the cheek, head-butted Matt Stairs and poured a bottle of champagne over the head of Ryan Howard.

On ESPN.com today (and in the magazine out tomorrow), Rick Reilly tells the previously untold tale of this guy from Delaware County, who had managed to get into World Series Game 5 for free and slipped onto the field behind Bud Selig.

Rodia tells me about his first big "sneak-in." I'll have that in tomorrow's INQlings column.

I always thought we rowhouse dwellers had an element of toughness:

Philadelphia RowHome magazine, which targets South Philly, has postponed tonight's ribbon-cutting of its production facility because of a couple inches of snow and a little freezing rain.

In fairness, the facility is in New Jersey.

John Mims at Les Bon Temps in April. (Peter Tobia / Inquirer)

John Mims has been run out of town, you might say.

The chef-restaurateur, who earlier this month put the "Mims Food + Drink" name on the old Freehouse at 110 N. Wayne Ave. in Wayne, was booted from the operation by a judge. He's also been barred from working in much of the Main Line until July 1, 2011, under the ruling signed yesterday by Judge Harold Thomson and received today.

The order stems from a lawsuit filed by Mims' former financial partner, Howard Taylor, who says that Mims violated a clause in his contract prohibiting him from working for, consulting for or owning a restaurant or "competing business" within 10 miles of 808 W. Lancaster Ave. in Bryn Mawr -- the site of Carmine's Creole Cafe.

Mims founded the restaurant in Havertown in 1998 and in 2004 moved it to Narberth. In late 2006, Taylor and his wife provided the $650,000 to move the well-regarded restaurant into Bryn Mawr, the suit says. It opened in January 2007.

Taylor and Mims had a falling out last summer over the operations of Carmine's and their newer restaurant, Les Bons Temps in Washington Square West. Taylor's lawsuit describes "certain detrimental conduct regarding the handling of funds and other matters germane to managing certain affairs of the business, which I had entrusted to Mr. Mims." Taylor said that after they spoke, "misappropriation of funds, falsification of records and theft continued." Mims was terminated in July, the suit said.

When Mims surfaced last fall as a chef at The Freehouse, Taylor mapped the distance from Bryn Mawr to Wayne at 4.1 miles. Taylor's suit says he sent Mims a demand letter to move.

The crux of Taylor's complaint was that through Mims Food + Drink, chef Mims was siphoning off business from Carmine's.

A rep for Mims had no comment this afternoon. Mims' attorney was in court and did not return a call seeking comment.

It's not clear what Mims' partners at Mims Food + Drink plan to do, or if Mims plans to appeal.

There's some backstory here.

For the first time ever, morning show rivals Artie Lange (of Howard Stern fame) and Jim Norton (of Opie and Anthony) will take the stage together at the Tower Theater in Upper Darby.

The show, expected to be announced on the air Tuesday, will be Feb. 21.

Live Nation will put tickets on sale Friday at 9 a.m. only at LiveNation.com, by phone at 1-877-598-8696, at the EFC Box Office (111 Presidential Blvd., Bala Cynwyd) and the Tower box office (69th and Ludlow Sts.; first day of on-sale and day-of-show only).

An orange sign has popped up on the spot in the Windsor (17th and the Parkway) that formerly housed Peacock on the Parkway, followed for about five minutes by Kujaku.

Its name will be SnugBar, which sounds Irish. Fittingly, talk is that a former owner of Tir na Nog, the bar a block away in the Phoenix, is behind the project. Stay tuned.