The Trough Il Gatto closes and other food-related non-surprises 

• Yesterday morning brought news of the end of the ill-fated Il Gatto restaurant in Calhoun Square. The closing, which parent company Parasole blames upon being “unable to align the economics of operating the restaurant with the cost of occupying the premises,” comes after just two years of operation. The eatery will be missed by people in Uptown who can afford to eat at Il Gatto.

• Last week, Eagan’s installment of the industrial-style pizza buffet chain CiCi’s also closed shop, leaving a pizza buffet-shaped void in the city’s dining scene. The terrifyingly low-priced restaurant’s slogan is “almost too good to be true!” though once you’ve eaten there, the “almost” part seems superfluous. Former customers blame the closing on food that makes you feel like shit while, and for hours after, it is consumed.

• City Pages has compiled a list of “gifts for foodie geeks,” which is not to say a list of items for your molecular gastronomy chef friends, but rather a list of geek-themed kitchen tools that any person could probably use. We just wanted to point that out. Anyway, cooking stuff always seems to make a good holiday present, and the guys in your Star Trek fan club chapter have to make dinner just like everybody else.

• It’s Cheap Date Night at Bryant Lake Bowl, which means you and a friend or sexual partner can get dinner, a bottle of wine or four beers, and a game of bowling for under 30 bucks. Sounds like the perfect prelude to a night of watching TV and/or exploring one another’s crevices. Cheap Date Night starts every Monday at 6 p.m. and goes ’til midnight.