B-Side Blog

‘Famous Food’ Trailer Promises D-List Dining Disaster

Get More: Famous Food, Reality TV Shows, Reality TV Shows 6

Is there life after reality star fame? On VH1 there is. Introducing Famous Food, the show that brings together such luminaries as Heidi Montag, Danielle Staub, and Ashley Dupre and lets them battle for the chance to work for Mike Malin, a.k.a. Boogie from Big Brother. If that seems like a strange prize, don’t scoff just yet: Mike is partners in the Dolce Group, which owns and operates various restaurants and nightclubs here in Los Angeles (and across the country). At the end of the series, Mike and his business partner Lonnie will select a “celebrity” to receive a stake in a new restaurant.

Sounds like a cool prize, but then again, I can’t imagine any restaurant with Jake Pavelka or Three 6 Mafia at the helm being a major draw; so the earnings might not be the windfall that these D-listers are hoping for. Either way, I might tune in just to see Danielle “I will not clap” Staub attack a doe-eyed Heidi “Boobs” Montag.

File this one under “Disaster.”

Check out the Carmageddon Food Deals and Events! – Updated

Disaster is coming to Los Angeles. In ten days, the 405 highway will be closed for 48 hours between the 10 and the 101 freeways. In other words, there will be hella hella gridlock. The city is bracing for total transportation paralysis, but just because a massive artery will be shut down doesn’t mean residents can’t enjoy themselves. There are actually a variety of culinary deals around town as well as two separate food and drink festivals worth checking out.

A brief guide after the jump… Continue reading “Check out the Carmageddon Food Deals and Events! – Updated”

REAL HOUSEWIVES OF NYC PHOTOCAP: Systematic Bullying!

Oh those McCord-Vankempens can’t seem to stay out of trouble. After a week of peace and calm on The Real Housewives of New York City, all hell broke out once again when Simon, an alleged cyberbully, got into it with Jill and Kelly. The whole scenario was quite silly and totally avoidable. But what fun would that be?

It all started when Simon approached Jill at Cindy’s party and told her he still had some issues with her. He requested that they go have lunch and clear the air. Jill was rather surprised by this, but she decided to go along with it. Kelly, however, was horrified by it all. The moment Simon left Jill’s side, Kelly got right in her ear and expressed how strange the scenario was. I agreed — it was strange. Everything had been smoothed over between Jill and Alex; so why rock the boat now? That being said, I didn’t agree with Kelly’s suggestion that Jill just outright turn Simon away. Please remember that this is a woman who hates confrontation so much she probably gallops out of every DMV the moment someone tells her to stand in a different line. Getting sound advice from her is probably not the wisest decision (even though Kelly has been the unlikely voice of reason all season long).

Continue reading “REAL HOUSEWIVES OF NYC PHOTOCAP: Systematic Bullying!”

And Now The Latest Music Video from Countess LuAnn De Lesseps

It’s been all of about forty-eight hours since we last saw a Real Housewife attempt to scale the Billboard charts with a pop performance, and we already have a rival. Enter Countess LuAnn, who has finally released a follow-up video to her much-lauded debut single, “Money Can’t Buy You Class.”

The song in question is “Chic C’est La Vie,” which like its predecessor is also a spoken word, soon-to-be gay club classic featuring The Countess delivering haughty proclamations in her gravelly voice. This time around, she takes great joy in pronounce “elegance” as “eleGAAAAANCE,” and to spice things up, she recruits fellow Real Housewives of New York City stars Jill Zarin and Kelly Bensimon to join her on screen. It’s not as much of a mess as you’d think, and the musical arrangement isn’t awful… I just wish a true vocalist were on hand to elevate “Chic C’est La Vie” to the level of, I don’t know, a real song. Enjoy.

Via People.

Thanks @kristikeeler!

HOUSEWIFE HOEDOWN Season Finale! Wherein We Talk About EVERYTHING

Video streaming by Ustream

In case you missed it, I hosted the final episode of Housewife Hoedown today, and joining me were Sita Young, Matt Whitfield, and Ronnie Karam. Our full panel discussed the latest episode of Real Housewives of New Jersey, and when we were done with that, we spent a half an hour reminiscing on all the Housewives activity since the web show began back in January. There was much to discuss, and plenty of fun was had (particularly thanks to Sita, who ravished us with an elaborate costume-change mid-show).

Be sure to check out the video above, and thanks to everyone who’s supported Housewife Hoedown the past few months. We’ll be back in September!!

Real Housewives Fans: The Season Finale of Housewife Hoedown Is Today!

Hey everyone, today is the last episode of Housewife Hoedown for the rest of the summer. The web show will be back in the fall, but we’re going on hiatus, which means you must, must, must call in (424-238-0611)! I’ll be having a full house today: Ronnie Karam, Sita Young, and Matt Whitfield will all be joining me on the show, and we’re going to spend the hour talking about nothing but the Housewives, as usual.

The show goes live at 12:30 PDT / 3:30 ET at talkmediantworks.com/live. Be sure to set your alarms so you don’t miss it. Looking forward to your calls!

REAL HOUSEWIVES OF NJ PHOTOCAP: The Catskills Adventure America Has Been Waiting For!

Sunday’s supersized episode of The Real Housewives of New Jersey gave us what we’ve always wanted: an hour of frolicking in the Catskills. Yes, upstate New York finally got the close-up it deserved, and it was oh so… rustic? Perhaps woodsy? Certainly not glamourous. For those of you unfamiliar with the Catskills, the mountain region was once the hottest destination to spot both Jackie Mason and raccoons. It’s the home of the Borscht Belt (see: Jackie Mason), and while the raccoons may still be around, the cachet may have taken a hit or two.

When it comes to the New Jersey crowd though, I’m not sure fancy is a requirement for vacations. All that matters is that everyone has a bed, there’s a giant pot of pasta bubbling away, and enough guns, quads, and wine around to make the weekend a tragedy waiting to happen. Thankfully, no one was harmed (physically) in the making of this episode.

Continue reading “REAL HOUSEWIVES OF NJ PHOTOCAP: The Catskills Adventure America Has Been Waiting For!”

Ten Celebrities Who Should Be On ‘Celebrity Rehab’

Check it out, people: I just wrote a piece that’s running on TheFix.com. It’s a slideshow that dares to suggest ten celebrities who might be strong candidates for the next season of Celebrity Rehab. Please read it, and let me know which stars I may have left out…

The Fix: Celebrity Rehab: The Next Generation

Trip to Bridlewood Estate Winery Predictably Leads to Beautiful Scenery, Mild Drunkenness

This past weekend, the good people from Bridlewood Estate Winery shuttled a variety of bloggers and media types up to Santa Ynez, CA to enjoy wine, art, and tranquility. I was one of the lucky ones who nabbed a seat on the mini-coach (thanks to Esi at Dishing Up Delights), which meant that I spent my entire Sunday in the throes of wine tasting MADNESS. Actually, it wasn’t quite madness. It was all a rather refined affair full of mature sips and tasty hors d’oeuvres. And yes, it was awesome.

For those who haven’t been, Bridlewood is a bucolic and downright gorgeous winery just north of Santa Barbara, and I can speak from experience that they crank out some delicious wines. In fact, when I went wine tasting with my parents last summer in the region, Bridlewood was our favorite vineyard (we even emerged with several bottles, much to my delight).

Anyway, this time around, the focus wasn’t just on the wine. It was also on the local artists from the Central Valley of California whose art draws deeply from both Bridlewood and the surrounding environs. We got to meet many of the artists as well as the people behind the wine, and I can assure you it all made for one of those unapologetic “I’m living the yuppie dream” afternoons. If Ina Garten were ever to branch out to California, this would surely be where she’d wind up (and yes, I must always bring everything back to Ina Garten).

Pictures from the excursion after the jump…

Continue reading “Trip to Bridlewood Estate Winery Predictably Leads to Beautiful Scenery, Mild Drunkenness”

ADVENTURES IN DOMESTICITY: Ina Garten’s Roasted Shrimp Salad Edition

A friend of mine celebrated his birthday yesterday, and he requested that I write less about the Real Housewives and more about cooking. I can’t promise that I’ll reduce the Housewives coverage (there’s a new episode on every NIGHT it seems), but it did occur to me that I haven’t cooked anything for the blog in quite some time (garlic contest holdouts — I will be attacking those recipes this week). Anyway, I decided this afternoon would be the perfect time to take on a recipe for lunch, and who better to offer up a wonderful noontime option that my favorite Food Network personality: Ina Garten.

I immediately leafed through Ina’s new cookbook, How Easy Is That? and decided upon a delicious looking roasted shrimp salad. This was exciting to me because not only was I trying a new Ina dish, but I was actually hoping to conquer a demon from my past. You see, back in 2004 or so, one of the very first recipes I attempted to make was a shrimp salad. I was a naive lad back then, and I just plucked whatever recipe I had found off of the Food Network site. Just my luck that it was a Paula Deen dish. I didn’t know who Paula was or what her reputation was. Needless to say, the combination of her excess and my ineptitude made for a very sad, very mayo-intensive disaster.

Taking on Ina’s shrimp recipe would be my first stab at such a dish since the 2004 disaster. Would I triumph at last or drown in a pool of mayonnaise yet again. Pics after the jump… Continue reading “ADVENTURES IN DOMESTICITY: Ina Garten’s Roasted Shrimp Salad Edition”