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Access Atlanta > Blog > Archives > 2007 > August > 27
Monday, August 27, 2007
Oct. food gig to offer taste of celebrity
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Oct. food gig to offer taste of celebrity
Foodies will get to ogle three of their favorite TV reality stars this fall when the annual Taste of Atlanta food festival flings out the flatware Oct. 13 and 14 at Atlantic Station.
“Top Chef” and “Iron Chef America” judge Ted Allen is flying in to help attendees pair wine with the right recipes. New York chef and former boss of “The Restaurant” Rocco DiSpirito will host a cooking demonstration and book signing. Jonesboro resident and former Waffle House short-order cook Julia Williams, meanwhile, is due to offer the crowds inspiration and a few perspiration prevention skills she learned recently while participating on Fox’s “Hell’s Kitchen.”
As usual, the weekend also will offer tastes and tips from more than 70 of the city’s best restaurants, lots of cooking demonstrations and a “wine experience” at Ten Pin Alley.
For details, www.tasteof atlanta.com.
Still on the menu: Flaming Falcon
Michael Vick’s third-person-laden, “I found Jesus” public mumblings Monday didn’t exactly slow the contributions of Falcons No. 7-related trinkets at Vito Goldberg’s N.Y. Pizzeria in Marietta.
“We’ve now got a bag full of stuff that customers have brought in,” Vito’s Larry Preston Jr. told Buzz. “Our bar customers have been talking about it today, but I don’t think he really changed a lot of people’s minds.”
As Buzz readers will recall, when the Atlanta Falcons prepare to kick off at the Metrodome against Minnesota on Sept. 9, the pizza joint will be preparing a Vick souvenir bonfire outside in the parking lot as a benefit for local humane societies and animal shelters. Organizers are also encouraging any animals in attendance to heed nature’s call on the assembled Vick memorabilia prior to ignition.
The oddest piece so far donated?
“This little hard plastic statue of him that someone brought in,” says Preston Jr.
A Vick bobblehead?
“No, it’s not a bobblehead, unfortunately,” sighed Preston Jr. “It would be awesome if someone brought one in though! Most people get that this is all tongue in cheek. Let’s face it — he’s only apologizing not because he’s sorry but because he got caught.”
Urban cowboy
It’s not often that a Wild West cowboy sitting astride his quarter horse (complete with mule in tow, no less) ambles through downtown Atlanta. But for the next day or so, you might come across Couy Griffin perched atop Daisy with Black Jack trailing close behind. It’s his second year riding across the United States in what he calls “horseback street ministry.” Last year alone, he passed out more than 4,500 pocket-size Gospels of John to people who came up to visit with his animals. And it’s not just show. Griffin, 33, is a real-life cowboy. He grew up rodeoing and spent six years as a professional cowboy in Paris working as part of the Wild West Show in EuroDisney. As his stint in France was coming to an end, he had been praying for guidance as to his place in the ministry. “I noticed how the animals were a non-threatening draw,” says Griffin. “So I call Black Jack my bait.” But traveling cross country is not inexpensive, so to earn money for his journey from San Francisco to New York, he’s spent the last few winters working in his family’s saw milling business and guiding elk hunters on their quest in his hometown of Reserve, N.M. “It’s a tiny one-horse town, at least it is when Daisy and I are there.”
For more on his travels, go to www.ridingforisrael.com.
Early retirement? Not so much
Despite what you may have read in this space on Saturday, Buckhead Coalition president Sam Massell was at his desk as usual when we rang the former Atlanta mayor to apologize Monday. Due to a last-minute reworking of a sentence, we inadvertently retired the Buckhead institution in Saturday’s column.
“Since it was the weekend, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect when I came in today,” Massell quipped. “After all, with prior positions I’ve held, the locks have been changed on me.”
Still, our blunder had its upside.
Said Massell: “For about a minute there on Saturday, my wife was extremely happy.”
OVERSCENE
Four nights of back-to-back capacity crowds can apparently make a stand-up comic hungry. Between his Tabernacle gigs, Dave Chappelle became a fixture at Midtown’s South City Kitchen over the weekend. Chappelle was spotted at the eatery three times, enjoying spicy creole tagliatelle with crab and seared scallops, Dorothy’s chicken salad sandwich, the chilled cucumber soup du jour and the crab hash. On Monday, Chappelle was spotted signing autographs outside Rosa Mexicano at Atlantic Station.
HGTV host Vern Yip and a male companion shopping at the new guys and gals downtown boutique, 1-FIVE-0.
ON MY iPHONE
Jermaine Dupri, Atlanta producer, rapper and record label president:
“I’ve got pretty much everything on my iPhone. It’s old music, stuff that I can’t find anywhere anymore, that I go on iTunes and try to pull. I had to find my own bass compilation— ‘So So Def Bass All-Stars’ — because I didn’t have that. I had to actually buy that. That was kind of sad for me not to have that. I don’t even have my own [1998] album — ‘Life in 1472.’ ” Considering the mixed reviews on the new iPhone, Buzz couldn’t help inquire about Dupri’s: “It doesn’t have ring tones. It’s not loud enough. You can’t make your own ring tones. There’s just a lot of stuff they ain’t offering us.”
With that, Dupri pulled out his BlackBerry. Then his T-Mobile Sidekick. Then, a Boost Mobile phone. “I’ve got every phone — like five — on me,” he announced. And which one has the most important number (i.e., which is the hotline for girlfriend Janet Jackson)? “The one I answer,” he replied.
Contributing: Elizabeth Cobb, Sonia Murray and news services.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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Ciara plays coy on 50 Cent dating rumors
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Ciara fans, we asked. Really, we did. Many of you are dying to know if she and rapper 50 Cent are the latest hip-hop juggernauts to hook up since Janet and Jermaine and Beyonce and Jay-Z.
So when we met up with the R&B darling Sunday during an interview at Lenox Square’s Macy’s store prior to her autograph signing and promoting Jay-Z’s Rocawear clothing line, we pressed the issue:
Buzz: Are you dating 50 Cent, yes or no?
Ciara: [with the biggest, probably most adorable smile to come out of Riverdale High] We’re good friends.
Buzz: C’mon, Ciara, that was a yes or no question. We’re trying to break some news here.
Ciara: [after a hearty laugh] We’re just good friends.
Buzz: OK, so who would you like to date past or present if not 50 Cent?
Ciara: Oh! Tupac … he was soooo fine!
Buzz got to thinking — date Tupac, eh? Let’s see, he was a bad boy rapper. Had gotten shot. Not afraid to ruffle feathers. ‘Tats everywhere, chiseled abs. Hmm. Who else fits that description?
OK, so moving on, Buzz, feeling a connection since we were decked in the same style Rocawear jeans as Ciara (we mentioned she was worth hammering out a few wrinkles even though we detest ironing), enjoyed speaking with the ScreamFest Tour artist. We found her to be cordial, down to earth and a pure sweetheart.
She explained she wasn’t satisfied with her 3.4 grade point average at Riverdale High and that if she wasn’t a singer she’d like to be CEO of a modeling and acting company. She’d also like to run hair salons. Ciara’s most happy when she makes other people happy, she said, and her favorite fast food? Chick-fil-A — with barbecue sauce.
Buzz got a slight tummy ache after the singer explained why she only had water for breakfast Sunday morning.
“Last night, I pigged out on a cheeseburger with Swiss cheese and grilled onions with french fries that you put on the burger. Then, I had ice cream with strawberry shortcake.”
And, miraculously, she was able to still fit into her Rocawear low-risers the day after.
Verve serves up music, good menu
Buzz had an interesting evening out Friday at Verve Lounge. Soul singers Donyale Renee and Kermit Quinn spun a mesmerizing web of R&B, jazz and funk on the second level as guests sipped cocktails and noshed on dinner. The range and prowess of the melodies against the Teddy White Band made us wonder why these guys aren’t on tour somewhere.
Our suggestion for the lounge would be to perhaps turn those amps down. The live and DJ grooves should caress and complement the ambience, not put it in a choke-hold. That way, diners won’t have to fight to hear each other. Speaking of dinner, we took in grilled wild salmon fillet with roasted ancho chili glaze and wild mushroom pancakes, charred corn and Swiss Chard. When we say a primo dish, we mean primo! Never mind our companion Jarvis spilled his Hennessy martini all over the place and later had his car towed. Oh well, you can’t win ‘em all.
Sony gloats with ‘Superbad’ summer
For a second week, enough moviegoers chugged down “Superbad” to keep it the No. 1 film over the weekend.
Sony’s flick, about three dorky high-schoolers trying to score booze for a party, racked in $18 million in ticket sales, according to The Associated Press. The movie raised its 10-day total to 68.6 million.
“It just goes to show, you make them laugh, and they’ll come,” says Rory Bruer, head of distribution for Sony, which kicked off Hollywood’s big summer with a record-breaking debut weekend of $151.1 million for “Spider-Man 3” in early May. “To start the summer with ‘Spider-Man’ and end it like this is an absolute blast.”
Pavarotti goes home to recuperate
Tenor Luciano Pavarotti, who has pancreatic cancer, was released from the hospital Saturday after being admitted two weeks ago with a high fever, according to The Associated Press.
In a statement, the Modena, Italy, hospital where he was treated said the 71-year-old opera star left his room at 6 a.m. for home, where it said he could continue his recovery and stay in contact with doctors.
Overscene
Celebrity chef G. Garvin, outside Verve Lounge Friday night chatting with security. He was in town for the Ebony Black Family Reunion Tour Saturday morning.
Celebrity birthdays
Actor Paul Reubens (Pee-Wee Herman) is 55. Gospel singer Yolanda Adams is 45. Actress Chandra Wilson (“Grey’s Anatomy”) is 38. Bassist Tony Kanal of No Doubt is 37. Rapper Mase is 30. Singer Mario is 21. Actress Alexa Vega (“Spy Kids”) is 19.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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