• The big news in the neighborhood yesterday was Chanterelle‘s announcement that it won’t be reopening after all. Eater: “It was somewhat curious when the restaurant decided to close for such a long renovation at the end of summer, and people in the industry had been whispering about its troubles for the better part of a year. So this is a sad one, but not a complete shocker.” Grub Street: “No word yet on what’s happening with David’s consulting role with Macao Trading Co., but we’re told the Waltucks plan to remain in New York City for their next project.” The Feedbag: “The restaurant personified the mom-and-pop restaurant: haute cuisine as a labor of love. Its owners, David and Karen Waltuck, personified integrity, and the restaurant served a timeless, meticulous food that totally transcended all fashions and fads. (It’s testament will be the Chanterelle book, which totally captured the spirit of the place as well as its food.) Chanterelle was so pure in motivation that it didn’t even have a bar! But I have a reason for mourning the place more personal than that.” (It’s a sweet story, read it.) Chanterelle was the site of my first fancy meal in New York, almost 20 years ago, and even though my friends and I didn’t behave as well as we might have, we were treated impeccably. I have to wonder how much blame can be places on the restaurant’s awful luck: Between the orange-fenced warzone that is Harrison Street and the scaffolding—the Waltucks tried to dress it up with chandeliers—that has been on the building for years now, how many of us even saw Chanterelle when we passed by?

• …And in with the new: The New York Observer got a tour of Frank Gehry’s rising Beekman Tower, east of City Hall. (If you haven’t swung over there for a look, you should: It’s getting very interesting.) Bruce Ratner, chairman of Forest City Ratner, which is developing the site, showed the Observer around. There’s a slideshow at the link. The building is currently 67 stories—it’ll be 77 when it’s done, making it the tallest residential building in the city—and FCR says a floor gets added every two days. Topping off is likely to happen in November, and the building is scheduled to open in March of 2011.

• Listings for the 2009 Open House New York Weekend (Oct. 10–11) have been released. Tribeca area sites include Control Group Offices/Woolworth Building, a Duane Street Work/Live Loft, 7 World Trade, Smyth Tribeca, Teardrop Park, and the Visionaire building. (Find the whole list here.) The event is free, but many of the tours require reservations, and they’re all first-come-first-served.

• Fashion designer Gary Graham‘s new boutique has opened at 176 Franklin Street, between Hudson and Greenwich, in what was most recently Moulin Bleu.

• Downtown Express reports that “A new ad hoc committee on Pier 40 has been formed at the Hudson River Park Trust to come up with ideas to renovate and redevelop the critical but crumbling 14-acre pier.” Suggestions range from the quotidian to the outrageous: “[One] group—with past ties to Hudson River Park—is said to have mentioned a plan to bring a giant Ferris wheel to Pier 40, along the lines of the London Eye.”

• Eater came up with a list of the top 10 restaurant deals “right now,” and included Tribeca Grill (“50% off the entire bar menu, select $5 beers, $6 wines, and $8 specialty cocktails, Mon.–Fri., 4–7 p.m.”) and Dylan Prime (“corkage for just a penny through Thanksgiving”). And then, not even a full 24 hours later, Eater released its list of the 38 essential restaurants in the city—and included Locanda Verde and Blaue Gans.

• The next Tribeca Meet & Greet will be held Tues., Oct. 13, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the new Gymboree Play & Music (100 Reade St., between West Broadway and Church). Grandaisy Bakery is providing snacks and Frankly Wines is bringing the wine. While the gathering is primarily for local merchants, organizer David Cleaver of Tribeca Performing Arts Center says, “anyone with an interest in Tribeca or Lower Manhattan” is welcome, “and no one makes any boring speeches” (or any speeches at all). Plus, this marks the official launch of… Tribeca Citizen! Hope to see you there.