"celebrities" news and stories

Wonder what foods those amazing, incredible, ever-so-unreachable celebs crave during their pregnancies?

The same things everyone else does, duh.

Apparently, Angelina Jolie, who is rumoured to be pregnant with twins, has been eating, well, like a pregnant woman. At a recent dinner outing with Baby-Daddy Brad Pitt, she ate: penne arrabiata, two starters, several rolls, profiteroles for dessert, and took an apple pie to go. Earlier during her pregnancy, she Angelina craved mustard-smothered onion rings and cinnamon chilli chocolates, and has since been eating cupcakes made by her kids.

I bet I could eat all of that - onions rings included - and I'm not even pregnant!

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Citing 19th century French food writer Brillat-Savarin's assertion that food preferences offer great insight into one's personality, Mimi Sheraton, writing in Slate, dissects Hillary Clinton's love of "oliveburgers" and popcorn with extra butter.

The presidential hopeful favors lamb (a gamier, more complex meat suggesting a certain sophistication?), enjoys spicy curry (a risk taker?) and digs into Dairy Queen blizzards on the campaign trail (woman of the people, or just pandering?). You'll have to check out the story for an analysis of the symbolism of carrot sticks versus onion rings...

Next up: McCain cuts the crusts off! Huckabee gets MSG headaches! Obama likes tangerine jellybeans, but can't stand the cherry ones!

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For over ten years now, Wolfgang Puck has been serving the stars at the Governor's Ball - also known as the official "after party" for the Academy Awards, where all the nominees congregate to look glamorous, talk to the press and eat dinner. Not all of the secrets of the Oscar ceremony itself, like what the stage is going to look like, are revealed ahead of time and the menu for the Ball was clearly a bit hush-hush to start. Fortunately, little by little, information leaked out.

The Ball is not going to be a sit-down affair, but an elegant/casual cocktail-type of party, an the overriding theme this year will be "Oscar goes organic." The food, in addition to being organic and/or humanely raised will be small or bite-sized, and will include favorites (and Puck standbys) like sushi, grilled Kobe beef, Spicy Tuna Tartare in a Sesame Miso Cone, Smoked Salmon Oscars with French Farm-Raised Osetra Caviar and Roasted Pumpkin Squash Ravioli with White Truffles. And, of course, there will be plenty of champagne and chocolate Oscar statuettes to go around.

Click past the jump for a preview of the whole menu.

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With the all the scurrying around that preceded Christmas, I missed the obit for Jerry Berns, the longtime host and co-owner of New York City's famed 21 Club. Berns, who welcomed presidents and celebrities, until he sold the onetime speakeasy in 1985 for $21 million died at the age of 99.

The number 21 figures not only in the club's address (21 W. 52 St.), but it also happens to be the date that the affable Berns passed away, December 21, 2006, to be exact.

Known as Mr. Jerry, Berns was associated with 21 for 50 years. During that tenure he warmly welcomed everyone who walked through the doors from the likes of Frank Sinatra and Humphrey Bogart to more ordinary folks. Berns also served as a trustee of the Culinary Institute of America. Thanks to his efforts to spur the directors to move the CIA to Hyde Park, N.Y., he was one of the first people to be named to its Hall of Fame.

Incidentally the number plays another eerie role in the restaurant's history. Pete Kriendler, the other co-owner also died on December 21, five years earlier in 2001. As far as I can tell the number 21 has nothing to do with the number of chutes and levers that helped the club avoid detection by the police during its heyday as a speakeasy.

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I don't know if it's more disturbing or more reassuring, but it seems that Americans are more likely to trust an actor like Brad Pitt before they trust a Senator like Ted Kennedy.

According to organizational behaviorist James Bailey, we trust actors because we associate them with the characters they play on tv or in movies. Forbes has listed the 10 Most Trustworty Celebrities, as measured by Los Angeles-based Davie-Brown Talent, which measures more than 1,500 celebrities' trustworthiness. Not surprisingly, actors like Tom Hanks appear on the list, as does Oprah Winfrey. And most surprising of all to me?

Rachael Ray was #2.

How cool is that?!?!