This is the time of year when the restaurant news starts to slow down - and this week is no exception.

This week we learned that Que Pasa, the little Latin restaurant in Church Hill, is amending their hours to three days a week. The important ones, in the land of Richmond restaurants: Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

Also, as we speculated last week, Dora’s Brazilian Grill is now officially open for business, so head down to the Slip and check it out.

I'm not sure if I mentioned it yet or not, but the new, improved Lemaire is now open for lunch in addition to dinner. So if you're looking to check out the menu and aren't ready to commit to dinner, this is the perfect compromise. Don't forget about the free parking.

According to the rumor mill, a new restaurant has signed a lease in the old Magnolia's Wine Bar & Bistro on Three Chopt. We'll keep you posted on that.

And to all those Restaurant Week lovers out there, you can pat yourselves on the back. According to Acacia, this year's Restaurant Week raised $23,039.17 for the Central Virginia Food Bank and Meals on Wheels. This donation will provide 115,000 meals to Richmonders in need. Wasn't it worth it? If you're looking for more great restaurant events, check out our calendar here.

Of course, we already hit on the biggest restaurant story of the week: that's the smoking ban that officially outlawed smoking in Richmond restaurants.

How are local restaurants taking it so far? It seems completely in stride.

I was at Sidewalk Cafe on Day 1 of the ban and, much to my surprise, the regular regulars were all still at the bar, drinking and chatting away. Of course, there were a few times when the patio looked more crowded than the bar but, eventually, everyone headed right back inside to reclaim their drinks.

The big controversy of the night came when one patron actual lit up. The rest of the clientele looked on with glee. We were witnessing defiance in action … or so we thought. A waitress quickly headed over to tell the smoker to put it out.

"I can't smoke in here?" he said. "I was just here on Sunday, smoking."

"You don't really watch the news, do you?" the waitress quickly replied.

He took it outside and, inside, the restaurant returned to normal … or at least, the new normal: a smokeless Sidewalk. Who knew!

Restaurant owners, do you have an event coming up that I failed to mention? Shoot me an email at kpeifer@richmond.com and I’ll tell you how easy it is to get it on our calendar. Or, anyone else, if you have any restaurant news to dish, drop me a line.

And if you’re not following me on Twitter @KarriPeifer you’re missing all kinds of dining news and updates, not to mention my hilarious tweets.