Laurel Touby couldn't get out of Chicago in time for lunch, so she asked me to fill in. Mind you, diners, I am more of a reading-and-writing type. I know all the boldfaced names in print, but alas, not so much in person. Laurel will be back next week with better coverage. And oh, did you notice her and Michael's in The Washington Post today? The clip was passed around the restaurant and was a "so did you see..." topic among diners and staff alike.

Below is only the boldest of the bold, with a little intelligence from the fantastic staff of Michael's and mb's own Galleycat duo Ron Hogan and Sarah Weinman, who were in the back room. Barricaded behind two giant autumnal floral arrangements at the bar made table numbers tough, so all we've got is front room/back room coverage.

FRONT ROOM

• NYC Police Commissioner Ray Kelly with Tom Kelly. Likely that it was Tom Kelly the MTA spokesman, but we could be wrong. If we're right, let's hear it for holiday fares and a low crime rate! UPDATE! We were wrong. It was Tom Kelly, the author. Our apologies to both Toms.

• Liz Smith at a table for two in the front half of the room, with an unidentified man who looked like Aaron Brown, but wasn't. UPDATE! Some very insistent (and insistently anonymous) tipsters have recommended an eye doctor and scoffed at our notion that the man with Liz Smith was NOT Aaron Brown. It seems television adds 10 not only pounds, but also 10 shades of hair color. You have an adamant fan base, Mr. Brown.

• Seventeen's Atoosa Rubenstein with a blonde we could only see from the back. And we weren't staring at you, Atoosa — you were about the only thing we could see past those planters.

• Michael Eisner with an unknown older woman who Michael's staff called "very nice"

• Fox news honcho Roger Ailes

• Power lawyer and pater publicist familias Allen Grubman

• CNN founding president Reese Schoenfeld

• Emmy honcho and National Television Academy president Peter Price

• Fashion designer Arnold Scaasi. He's not in media, but media people wear his clothes to events like the Emmys. Synergy!

• A tipster tells us that David Zinczenko of Men's Health was eating at Table 9 with Michael Caruso, late of Men's Journal

BACK ROOM

Ron Hogan reports that AOL Coaches sponsored a big lunch today at Michael's (that explains why the place was so packed). Ron and Sarah were seated with Brenda Copeland of Hyperion Books and Carol Fitzgerald of BookReporter.com. The guest speaker was Jake "Body By Jake" Steinfeld. So if you were trying to track down your publisher today, they were probably at Michael's.

If you dined at Michael's today (or any day) please forgive us for missing you. Please send any omissions to aileen AT mediabistro.com. And don't worry diners, Laurel will be back next week.