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Access Atlanta > Blog > Archives > 2008 > February > 25
Monday, February 25, 2008
Kevin Rathbun, brother win on ‘Iron Chef’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
At Kevin Rathbun Steak on Sunday night, the “Iron Chef America” viewing party was busy toasting the owner and his brother Kent, a chef in Dallas. The pair managed to beat Iron Chef Bobby Flay on the latest episode of the Food Network series. The secret ingredient the Rathbuns had to work with?
Elk.
The Rathbun boys dazzled the judges with their dishes, including elk carpaccio, seared chili rubbed tenderloin, elk meatballs, fajita marinated elk loin, and manchego gougeres stuffed elk liver. The benefit screening raised $11,000 for the Atlanta Community Food Bank.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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LL Cool J will dress you like a star
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Ladies still Love Cool James, judging from the crowd gathered at Macy’s Lenox Square on Saturday afternoon, where LL Cool J —- aka James Todd Smith —- launched his new Todd Smith Collection for men.
The lip-licking, ChapStick toting rapper and actor told Buzz it was a lifelong dream to have his own clothing line, and it didn’t come easy. It took 5 1/2 years to get it right, he said.
“I didn’t want it to be some sort of glorified T-shirt deal,” said Smith, who has been involved in fashion in some capacity since the beginning of his career. “When I woke up in the morning and knew I had a clothing line, I wanted to feel great, and that takes time to achieve.”
Smith said he put his heart and soul into developing the brand, which is designed for “a person who wants to feel like a star.”
The company logo, based on one of Smith’s tattoos, represents bravery and fearlessness, he said. Some of the other designs on the rhinestone- and stud-embellished denim, tanks, T-shirts, hoodies and jackets also mimic his personal body art. Prices range from about $39 to $159.
A Todd Smith Collection for women is scheduled to debut in July, Smith said. That may make it a little easier for fan Diane Geddings, 37, of Cartersville, to get Smith’s signature on her chest. When asked what else she might have Smith sign if he declined to touch pen to skin on Saturday, Geddings was quick with a backup plan. “I want him to sign my checkbook,” she said.
Jill keeps it ‘Real’
“The Real Thing,” the song, has “got a little highs…got a little lows,” according to R&B singer Jill Scott’s lyrics. But “The Real Thing,” the tour that Scott brought to the Fox Theatre on Friday and Saturday, had little in the low department. For two hours each night, the three-time Grammy winner entertained capacity crowds that included WSB-TV’s JaQuitta Williams and V-103’s Porsche Foxx and Miss Sophia. (Williams, by the way, had her last dose of chemotherapy for breast cancer Wednesday. Two nights later, the closely cropped anchor and reporter was on her feet at the Fox in one of the first rows, singing along to Scott’s “Golden.”) Meanwhile, Scott’s opener, Raheem DeVaughn, took full advantage of his weekend in metro Atlanta, holding post-show parties each night at Sugar Hill in Underground Atlanta. “Atlanta, Chicago and D.C. are some of my top markets,” said DeVaughn, recently nominated for a Grammy for his uplifting R&B single “Woman.” “And Atlanta has been there, like, from the start. Appreciate you, Atlanta!” (For pictures of the show see the gallery on ajc.com).
PHOTO CREDIT: RODNEY HO/Staff
‘Hell’s Kitchen’ fave stays mum
Julia Williams (right) is no longer in the scattered, smothered and covered business.
The former local Waffle House cook was a favorite on Fox’s “Hell’s Kitchen” last summer. Lacking in experience but full of heart, she surprised everyone by making it to the final five and melting the ice-cold heart of Gordon Ramsay. Ramsay liked her so much, he offered her a return visit to the show once she got more cooking chops.
Buzz caught up with Williams at a Chamblee Wal-Mart cooking demonstration Saturday where she handed out free samples of tasty, healthy turkey burgers with a special mayo concoction featuring roasted bell peppers and garlic.
Unfortunately, she couldn’t tell us anything yet about the fourth season of “Hell’s Kitchen,” which has already taped and debuts in April. But she’s kept busy over the past year as a chef at Ocean’s 66 Sports Cafe in College Park, a step up from Waffle House. She recently added a day job working the kitchen at the trendy West Egg Cafe on Howell Mill Road in the west side.
She also looks much thinner than she did on the show. “When they say the camera adds 10 pounds, that happened to me!” she told Buzz.
A-Team to the rescue
Buzz is so proud. Hot-107.9’s A-Team morning show held a donation drive for families burned out of their homes not once, but twice, this past week at The Park apartments on Candler Road. Listeners responded by filling two 27-foot trucks with everything from bedroom sets to “the shoes they had on,” said Hot-107.9’s Beyonce. She and her fellow A-Team members Rashan Ali, Emperor Searcy, Griff and Akini broadcast from the site of the fires (2751 Candler Road) from noon to 6 p.m. Wednesday. And more than 40 families were assisted by the effort, done in conjunction with Hosea Feed the Hungry and Homeless.
If you want to donate clothing, nonperishable food items and toiletries call Hosea Feed the Hungry and Homeless, 404-755-3353, or go to hoseafeedthehungry.com.
CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS
Country singer Ralph Stanley is 81. CBS newsman Bob Schieffer is 71. Actress Tea Leoni is 42. Comedian Carrot Top is 41. Actor Sean Astin is 37. Actress Rashida Jones (“Boston Public”) is 32.
OVERSCENE
Usher, wife feather their nest
Usher and his wife, Tameka, were seen Saturday shopping on Howell Mill Road. Their final stop in the Westside Urban Market was Bungalow Classic, where accent pillows and a rawhide stool were among the items the couple purchased, presumably for their new Roswell digs.
—-Contributing: Rodney Ho, Katie Leslie, 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.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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Sir Elton hosts big bash, raises big bucks
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Thanks in part to the writers’ strike-related cancellation of the celebrity-sucking Vanity Fair magazine party, Sir Elton John’s 16th annual Oscar party was also its most successful.
The evening raised more than $5 million for the Elton John AIDS Foundation.
Even Atlanta EJAF board member Barron Segar — who’s attended every one of the Oscar night soirees with the singer — was stunned.
“We’re a million dollars over our projected goal,” Segar told us early Monday morning. “We’ve been worried about the recession and how the strike might affect Oscar night. But this is just amazing. Elton is incredibly happy tonight. I’ve never seen so many Oscars floating around.”
Among those celebrating: “La Vie en Rose” “Best Actress” winner Marion Cotillard working her fish scale-inspired gown at the party. Other celebrities spotted included: Stevie Wonder, Minnie Driver, Lionel Richie, Sean Penn, Ellen DeGeneres, Portia DeRossi, Simon Cowell, Al Roker, Larry King, T.R. Knight, Mary J. Blige, Billy Joel and Scissor Sisters frontman Jake Shears.
Inside a massive white tent at the Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood, guests dined on a dinner of fillet of sole with lobster mousse, beef tenderloin with red wine sauce, risotto with saffron and salsa, a seasonal salad with pear, white celery and mustard vinaigrette, and a bitter chocolate mousse with raspberry ragout.
At last August’s Fashion Cares benefit, Intimacy undergarments founder Susan Nethero bid $23,000 for the opportunity to walk the red carpet at the bash with about two dozen fellow Atlantans.
The self-described “bra whisperer” businesswoman was demonstrating her wares as well, with a cleavage-enhancing push-up undergarment.
“This was worth every penny,” Nethero told us. “Plus, I managed to help someone out in the ladies room with her bustline too! I’m not going to say who. But it was fun to use what we do at Intimacy in Atlanta out here in Hollywood.”
While on the left coast, Nethero told us she’s looking for retail space in Los Angeles for a potential Intimacy expansion as well.
Buckhead resident Lynn Guyton attended the bash with her mother Sandy Smith.
“I’m on the moon right now,” Guyton gushed. She was seated at a table next to Blige’s. “I had to go up to Ellen to tell her that I TiVo her everyday.”
The evening’s live auction alone raised $2 million for the charity, thanks to a pricey Helmut Newton photograph and a surprise item, courtesy of Sir Elton’s old friend Sharon Stone. The actress donated a vintage 1974 Corvette Stingray.
The bidding soared to $1 million after the auctioneer told the crowd: “Sharon will take a ride in it with you.”
Elton and his band also performed a mini-concert for the first time at the fund-raiser Sunday night.
Wearing basic black with a gray tie, the singer cracked to cameras on the red carpet about what he was looking forward to: “Hopefully some great music because I’m performing.”
Traditionally, the singer has asked performers he admires to supply the tunes for the party. But feedback from EJAF donors encouraged the singer to perch behind the piano this year.
Lending vocal assist during the pop star’s set: Blige and Shears.
And as always, the charity’s namesake paid a visit to every table during the Oscar telecast. Unfortunately, nature was calling Guyton when John called on her table. Said Smith to Sir Elton: “My daughter is going to die if you don’t come back!”
True to his word, Sir Elton later returned to the table to greet a refreshed Guyton.
A STYLISH DELIVERY
Back in Atlanta, the Oscars arrived in a stretch limo at the Shepherd Center, courtesy of Southeastern Domino’s Pizza franchisee Mike Orcutt. Wanting to bring the Academy Awards experience to a group of folks who might have otherwise missed out, Orcutt and staff surprised about 200 patients at the spinal cord and brain injury rehabilitation hospital with a pizza party. With red carpet in tow, Domino’s delivered 40 large pizzas and 24 orders of Buffalo Chicken Kickers to the patients, who happily munched away while watching the telecast. In the pizza biz, Oscar night has begun to rank right up there with the Super Bowl in terms of business.
CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS
Singer Fats Domino is 80. Singer Michael Bolton is 55. Singer Erykah Badu is 37. Singer Kyle Norman of Jagged Edge is 33. Singer Corinne Bailey Rae is 29.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“Red carpet secrets? Spanx!”
ACTOR STEVE CARELL with wife Nancy Wall, giving a shout out to Atlanta businesswoman Sara Blakely’s company to “Good Morning America” reps on the Oscars red carpet Sunday.
Contributing: 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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