Recently in Celebrities Category

Last week I read, in the Sun-Times Showcase section, that celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay, star of the shows, "Hell's Kitchen," "The f Word," and "Kitchen Nightmares," has signed a deal for a new show on Fox, tentatively titled "Master Chef."

In it, Ramsay will attempt to take people who have no experience in the food industry into expert cooks. The contestants will whip up dishes that will then be judged by a panel of expert chefs. Are they kidding? Really? I'm sure that Fox will have no trouble finding people to take part in this because people will do anything to get on TV, but what sort of masochistic person, with no professional kitchen experience, would ever subject themselves to the foul-mouthed, short-tempered Ramsay? It's one thing for Ramsay to shout and swear at professionals who can't run a restaurant or cook food worth putting in front of a paying guest but I don't see how his act will work on those who haven't worked in kitchens before. Restaurants, like bars, are among the best places in the world to work, but much like newsrooms, the folks who work in these places are quite a different breed. Everyday behavior in working restaurants (like newsrooms) might get you fired from just about any other workplace, with the exception of perhaps a pirate ship.

I predict lots of tears, some people storming out of the kitchen, some on-camera asides from the contestants remarking about how mean Ramsay is, and maybe a few people who will swear and scream back at him. Fox may as well call it, "So You Think You Can Cook?" The carnage could be horrible. And I can't wait to tune in.

The Drake Hotel is hosting another tea event this weekend -- with a distinguished guest.

It's an Afternoon Tea Dance & Tea Reading in the hotel's beautiful Palm Court, complete with afternoon tea, live jazz, dancing and, yes, the reading of tea leaves. (Don't know about you, but I could stand a little fortune-telling about now ...)

What makes this event intriguing is the presence of John D. Harney, the master tea blender at Harney & Sons. Harney's story is interesting, having waded into the tea business in his 50s and now offering some of the more interesting blends available (his English Breakfast is delish and will spoil you on all other poseurs).

He'll also be discusisng a new book, The Harney & Sons Guide to Tea, full of good information on how to develop one's palate for tasting the ever-widening offerings of tea the world over.

The event is this Sunday: reading from 3 to 5 p.m., dancing from 4 to 6 p.m., tea service throughout. Cost is $30 per adult.

Despite this blogger confusing breaking "news" with being a jackass (and the inevitable virtual domino effect), we still were psyched about the second installment of Bravo's "Top Chef Masters" last night, particularly because it was Graham Elliot Bowles' turn in the spotlight.

Bowles is comfortably cheeky in front of the camera (some would say too much so, as the video below suggests) and he didn't disappoint Wednesday. Having his bud Wylie Dufresne of New York's wd-50 in his competitive quartet helped.

The episode started off as the Wylie-and-Eliot show, with Bowles really in his element; the quickfire challenge was to make something out of vending machine fare, and he didn't disappoint with his version of tuna salad. Dufresne, meanwhile, was flustered and cursing (leave it to the young 'uns to get the bleep machine working after last week's oh-so-genteel premiere).

Dufresne improved in the elimination challenge, which was to cook dinner for the producers and writers of "Lost" using boar, papayas and other wild and tropical fare, plus only canned/shelf stable pantry goods. But in the end, it was L.A. chef Suzanne Tracht's calm, collected cuisine that edged out Bowles' by two stars. So close, GEB, so close.

If there's one quibble we have so far, it's that the pace of the editing leaves us feeling a little stiffed. You get glimpses of insight into the chefs' techniques. At judges' table, for example, Bowles quickly explains that since he couldn't use fresh garlic or herbs, he pressed salsa he was allowed to buy through a chinois strainer, then rinsed off the residual garlic and onion bits and used those in his tuna trio. We just want more of that.

Also: We miss Tom. Judges' table is just not the same.

Next week: Rick Bayless. And quesadillas.

Addendum: Get your vote on - who would you want to be stranded on a desert island with? Bowles, Dufresne, Tracht or Elizabeth Falkner, last night's fourth cheftestant? Free dinner at the chosen one's restaurant at stake.

So ... didn't you just want to tickle Hubert Keller?

True, there were no childish spats, no F-bombs launched on last night's premiere of Top Chef Masters on Bravo. But what sets "Masters" apart from the original is just that -- a certain level of class, seeing as how these are world-class chefs and all. Doesn't mean the show (so far) doesn't lack drama and excitement. This is serious cooking at its core, albeit in sometimes ridiculous settings. We found the dorm room cooking challenge riveting (not to mention amusingly mind-blowing in its "Really? Really?" moments -- as with Keller's absolute ineptitude with that thing called a microwave).

Next week: Get ready for Graham Elliot Bowles.

Soccer superstar David Beckham, now playing for international powerhouse AC Milan, has a passion for pigs' posteriors, a UK Web site says.

Now, before you think, "Oh, Posh Spice, poor gal. Hope she doesn't catch anything from her hubby," you might want to know that said pig butts are a delicacy that David Beckham has come to enjoy recently.

Beckham, according to The List "reportedly has a huge appetite for Culatello - which translates as "little bum" - an Italian delicacy made out of pig's rears."

Beckham, "The List" reports, "was first given the food by his club's former manager Carlo Ancelotti, and the pair have been spotted eating it on a number of occasions."

"A source" told the site, as if it was reporting on an extra-marital affair, "David can't get enough of this fine delicacy. It's got a much lighter and less meaty taste than most other prosciuttos. He's dying to get Victoria to try some."

Culatello, we learn, is a refined type of prosciutto made from heavier pigs and cut to a fraction of the thickness of normal prosciutto and aged, and may be cured with wine. It is most commonly served as a starter with melon or figs.

Hmmm. Well, put it that way, it doesn't sound so bad.

Last chance to get your hands on Hugh Jackman's Tim Tams....

Now, don't get all flustered. Let us clarify. Tim Tams are the favorite cookie of the hunky Australian actor, who cleverly hawked them, and his movie, "Australia," last fall. Pepperidge Farm agreed to make the chocolate treats exclusively for Target, but only through March.

A Tim Tam, according to Wikipedia: "Two layers of chocolate malted biscuit, separated by a light chocolate cream filling, and coated in a thin layer of textured chocolate." Sounds kind of like an all-chocolate Kit Kat, which can only be good.

Now comes word that there is a single case of Tim Tams left, autographed by Jackman and up for auction on eBay. Bidding (which hovered today around $237) ends Thursday.

The whole promotion is a bit silly, but people's love for Tim Tams apparently isn't. Here's singer Natalie Imbruglia demonstrating how to do a Tim Tam Slam (biting off the ends to make an edible straw).

All this got us thinking about people's candy bar loyalties.

We don't need Jackman to get us all excited about candy bars. Our recent favorite (and believe us, we discuss these things) is the Take Five bar -- chocolate, pretzels, peanut butter, caramel. Don't know how this has escaped our radar for so long, but it's scarily good.

As candy bars go, what's your fave?

Tom Colicchio is like the new guy who came along around sophomore year of high school, the one you misread as mostly a jerk but who ended up being your crush for the next two years. In other words, Tom Colicchio grows on you.

Here's a cozy little Q&A with he of Top Chef fame, which only adds to his appeal. (We always have Fresca in our fridge, too, Tom! And tequila also makes us crazy.)

Three great little nuggets for us regular cooks:
"You don't need to have a Rolls-Royce kitchen to make a great meal."

"Recipes tell you nothing. Learning techniques is the key.

"Buy the best you can find or afford and don't overmanipulate it."

By guest blogger and Swap Shop columnist Sandy Thorn Clark

Crooner extraordinaire Frankie Valli loves pasta - especially his own - and admits he would eat it every day if he didn't "have to watch his weight."

Wow. That's like a size-0 model lamenting about her waist size.

At a Saturday luncheon in his honor (at, appropriately named, Frankie's Scaloppine & 5th Floor Pizzeria in The 900 Shops on the Mag Mile), Valli was astonishingly thin as he made his grand entrance via escalator to his hit "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" and the welcoming applause and screams of his loyal fans.

If Valli - who will be 75 on May 3 - always dines with fans whose eyes adore him, it's easy to see how he's been able to avoid the very paunch he fears. Selecting from a family-style spread that included chicken Caesar salad, gnocchi pomodoro, wood-fired pepperoni pizza, and spaghetti, the jeans-clad headliner would take a small bite of pizza, cordially yak with a fan, take another bite, sign an autograph, take another bite, pose for cameras.

The bespectacled Valli rarely had time to exchange words with his tablemates, the current stars of "Jersey Boys," the Broadway in Chicago mega-hit which chronicles his life with The Four Seasons.

"The pizza is pretty good," observed Valli, who loves to cook and rates his spaghetti and meatballs second to none. His secret to fab spaghetti? "Lots of love."

"I use my mom's recipe, and I cook with love just like she did," Valli confided.

And soaking breadcrumbs first in warm milk is the key to great meatballs.