On the site now and on newsstands tomorrow, my colleague David Bernstein's piece on Mitt Romney's "shadow years" - the three years he ran the Olympics while remaining, at least on paper, the CEO of Bain Capital. That period, of course, has been the subject of intense media scrutiny in recent days, as journalists and the political class parse what Bain deals he can or can't be held accountable for in that time.

Dear readers, N4N will be out on a little mini-vacation for the next couple of days. But fear not. A new edition of the Phoenix drops tomorrow. My cover story looks at the winners and losers from the November elections - not the pols, but the interest groups. With a new governor set to take office and a new General Assembly in place, who will triumph? And who will not? Whither gay marriage, education reform, and the labor agenda?

N4N was amazed by how few other motorists were on the road this morning as he creeped into work in the snow. Is most everyone -- from little kids to adult workers -- taking the day off because of a little snow?

On the lighter side, restaurateur Bob Burke is having some fun with the old bread and milk concept:

The just-past holiday has a big food component, so if you missed the Q+A with David Byrne in last week's Phoenix, check out the musician's answer to this all-important local query:

I'VE SAVED THIS QUESTION FOR LAST, BUT I AM COMPELLED TO ASK. IT IS DEEPLY ROOTED IN LOCAL LORE THAT THE FOREARM-CHOPPING MOVEMENT IMMORTALIZED IN THE "ONCE IN A LIFETIME" VIDEO IS, IN FACT, A NOD TO YOUR DAYS WORKING IN A PROVIDENCE WIENER JOINT.

While we Rhode Islanders are well-versed in the typical one degree of separation hereabout, Boston, our big city neighbor to the north, is also a very small town when you get down to it.

Case in point is how No. 9 Park, a lovely upscale restaurant in the shadow of the Massachusetts State House, is among the places where evidence was collected against state Senator Dianne Wilkerson, who was arrested this week on federal corruption charges.

Some years back, when Jack White joined Mr. and Mrs. N4N for a game at Fenway, Jack's lovely wife, Beth, a vegetarian, was hard-pressed to find appealing menu choices from among the traditional ballpark offerings. Yet the outlook is a lot brighter at McCoy Stadium, according to the creative minds at PETA:

Kudos and congrats to Josh Miller and his crew at Local 121, which is due to celebrate its one-year anniversary on Thursday. The downtown Prov boite has emerged as a popular watering hole and venue for all manner of entertainment, including DJ's in the tap room and film discussions and political get-togethers downstairs.

Everyman, the new bar and bistro by former Custom House Tavern proprietor Leah Reynolds -- whose coming was first reported here -- is getting ready to open:

Dear Friends,

I am excited to let you know that my new place, EVERYMAN, is just about ready to open! If all the stars align, and all the red tape unwinds, EVERYMAN should be up and running by the end of June.

The dining reviews in the New York Times are always fun to read -- and not just because the writing is damn good. They also serve as a counter-balance to the costly meals and excessive attitude being tossed toward a hungry public.

There's the legendary tale of how Ruth Reichl used to dress in wigs and other disguises to get treated like the common Jane.

One of my favorite New England seafood shacks, Evelyn's Drive-in in Tiverton, sends word that it has opened for the season. Evelyn's does a great job with its seafood -- the gut-busting fisherman's platter is enough for two -- and it's a great stop while coming or going from Little Compton. The venerable establishment was recently featured on the Food Network to boot.

How to overcome the cheeseburga-cheeseburga mentality? Yes, by understanding that sex sells (but where's Gina Gershon?).

What: Wearing nothing but strategically placed lettuce leaves, a pair of PETA's Lettuce Ladies will hand out free Tofurky brand mock-turkey sandwiches and gift cards for 2 gallons of gas to the first 50 people at a Providence Shell gas station on Tuesday.

George Germon and Johanne Killeen, the famed duo behind local culinary landmark Al Forno, are working to create what may be the smallest restaurant in the smallest state.

Workers are toiling in the former New Yorker lunch counter, at 200 Washington Street in downtown Providence, to create a 20-seat Mediterranean-influenced restaurant in the diminutive 450-square-foot space.

Speaking of Local 121, the Providence restaurant continues to offer some informative events, such as this one on Thursday:

On Thursday, May 1st from 7:00 – 9:00 p.m., Local 121 presents Real Meals from Local Fields. Local 121 brings you into the food security movement, a movement that shows how our food system is connected, how our food grows, how it’s processed, who grows it, what we eat, where it comes from, who goes hungry and why.

Yes, the budget stuff is a lot more important, but Trader Joe's will be in the house (this fall), and I'd been meaning to do a related post for some time.

It's been something of a parlor game in Providence to ponder the question of when Trader Joe's might come to the area. Some perceived such a development as an ultimate sign of end-game gentrification, while others who've shopped at the distinctive, reasonably priced grocery store, N4N included, felt like it couldn't arrive soon enough.

A few St. Patrick's notes of interest:

-- The Wild Colonial will be offering its excellent annual corn beef and cabbage event today, with some of the proceeds going to the Rhode Island Community Food Bank.

-- House Speaker William J. Murphy will present "Murphy's Law" at Bob Burke's Federal Reserve.

-- There's a different kind of Green Drinks, the environmental variety, slated for Thursday, at Olives, North Main Street, Providence, from 5-8 pm.