Cyclone relief benefit tomorrow at Yoma, the Burmese restaurant in Allston.

Cantrabrigie raves about the new Cafe Crema in Harvard Square.

Anybody who drives on Washington Street south of Forest Hills knows the Puritan Ice Cream building - that sad looking brick building with the "Retail Store in Back" sign that never actually looks like it's open.

Rhea Becker reports that not only is it open, but it's 100 years old this year.

But, have any of you ever actually bought any of its three-gallon tubs of ice cream? Maybe that's why they're not better known.

Miss Von Schtoop reads this Globe story about panhandling at Mass. Ave. and Melnea Cass Boulevard and finds it pretty funny, from the Bulwer-Lytton opening sentence to the lack of any mention of all the Boston Chargers kids who equally annoy motorists:

... They open the article with such a cheeseball line: "The call went out: "Yo, po-po!" and within seconds, the panhandlers who meander with regularity through the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue and Melnea Cass Boulevard near Boston Medical Center scattered to parts unknown." Really quite unforgivable writing.

Pretty soon someone there is going to start an article with the line "It was a dark and stormy night.." at which point we can just hire a few wreckers to tear down 135 Morrissey Boulevard because all hope will have been lost. ...

Alicia was fairly revolted at lunchtime today when she noticed the way one of those colonial-garbed tour guides interacted with the nut guy outside the State Street T stop:

... One of the guides dips his hand into the copper bowl that holds the roasted nuts, scoops out a handful and keeps on walking. The vendor didn't even blink an eye, which made me think that this is a reoccuring event. If you're friends with the nut guy, do you get a complimentary handful of nuts each time you pass by?

When you're buying food off the street, I realize that you're sacrificing a bit of cleanliness; however, this is pretty disgusting. ...

Mike Mennonno reports he's now gone to Mr. Crepe in Davis Square enough to conclude that it is staffed entirely by grumpy people:

... [N]o human kindness escapes any of them. At least not towards me. And they have trained me not to attempt to show any myself by answering my innocent smiles with glares, or by returning my "good morning" with a brittle "can I take your order?" ...

Plus, they shed eyelashes on the crepes.

The Missus explains why she won't be stepping foot in that South End restaurant ever again.

An 85% rent increase will do that; Bella Luna, however, will relocate.

The Square Corner Cafe on Washington Street is getting closer to opening - they've posted menus in the window.

And those menus look a lot like the menus at the area's other "cafe" - the Checkmate: Pizzas, subs and pasta, with a few things such as salmon thrown in. No breakfast listed.

Adam Reilly compares the way the Globe and Herald covered the case of the ugly threats against the owner of two Beacon Hill restaurants. In both cases, the papers agreed to her request for anonymity, but the Herald named her restaurants, which means he was able to find her name in roughly 10 seconds on Google.