Among my few deeply-held beliefs, there lives a hatred of Facebook apps. I had nearly stopped using the site for about a month before I learned that LivingSocial and its inane cousins could be blocked from my news feed. All the rage on Facebook right now? Running your own virtual restaurant. Whomever designed this one pictured above will assuredly fail, as we all know the only money to be made as a restaurateur is at the bar. (Really interesting link, there – does throwing a napkin in front of you cause a Pavolvian signal, whereby you salivate and think of hops?)

Ridiculous as this Facebook app is, it has some roots in reality as well. We at LOLFed have been on the hunt for the infamous green shoots lately – whether in the Spam market, the commodity market or even sadly in Mickey Drexler’s retail outlets – and here’s another one of sorts. As retail rents drop, New Yorkers get more options for chow:

For whatever reason, there has been a 25 percent jump in applications for new restaurant permits in New York City in the first three and a half months of 2009, as compared to the same period last year, according to preliminary data provided by the New York City Health Department. At the same time, rents on the storefront spaces ideal for restaurants continue to fall, according to a recent report issued by the Retail Committee of the Real Estate Board of New York.

The first paragraph of the report sums it up nicely: “Manhattan average asking rents for all available space declined 11 percent from the Fall 2008 to $115 [a square foot annually]…”

Meanwhile, online restaurant-reservation site OpenTable’s IPO is this week, suggesting that demand for decent dining will continue to outpace supply enough that things like reservations will be necessary – and the National Restaurant Association (NRA), which is meeting in Chicago this week, thinks the worst of restaurant layoffs should be over. Hmm – looking at the skinny recent issue of Fortune next to me on the coffee table right now, maybe Steve F. should consider a special all-”Go, Consider, Stop” edition.

Green shoots? Well, it does sound like despite all that crap we yuppies are growing in our AeroGardens, we probably don’t know how to cook it, so we’re still dining out. Nom nom nom.