You may have seen every episode, purchased all the official gear, and now even have a Padma ringtone on your cell, but if you're a truly dedicated Top Chef fan, you should probably consider renting the Williamsburg pad that housed season five's cast. It's on the market for $12,000-a-month! Housewarming party hosted by Tom not included. [Craigslist via DBTH]
When we unveiled our Anna Wintour ringtone the other day, we naturally didn't dare to dream of an endorsement from the hallowed dominion of Vogue itself. Alas, we still have no idea what Anna thought of it. But that didn't stop French Vogue, whose beloved editor Carine Roitfeld has been the subject of rumors that she'll replace Wintour in New York, from happily informing readers about the sonnerie de téléphone with "the invaluable recommendations of Madame Wintour herself!" Merci, Carine! [Vogue.fr]
Ron Burkle, the lecherous billionaire and former pal of imprisoned con man Raffaello Follieri, just bought a stake in Whole Foods! So the next time you spend $11 for two tomatoes, feel free to ponder whether your hard-earned cash will go pay for his $30,000-a-month suite at the Bowery Hotel, a new Polo shirt, or to buy bottles of Cristal at Marquee. [NYT/Dealbook]
• It's not just the Manhattan real estate market that's stressing out Alex Rodriguez: He's having difficulty selling his mansion in Coral Gables, too. The slugger has cut the price of the manse from $14.9 million to $12.3 million, which is just $300,000 more than what he and ex Cynthia paid for it in 2004. [WSJ, CB]
• Troy Roberts, a correspondent on CBS's 48 Hours, has paid $2.275 million for a two-bedroom apartment at 135 Watts Street in Tribeca. [Cityfile]
• Monster.com founder Andrew McKelvey has listed his 6,000-square-foot apartment in The Sovereign on East 58th Street for $7.9 million. [WSJ]
Model Maggie Rizer is turning 31 today. Dave Matthews is turning 42. Times book critic Michiko Kakutani is 54. Hot 97 host Angie Martinez is 37. Internet tycoon Lockhart Steele is 35. Indie film honcho Michael Barker is turning 55. Earl Graves, the founder of Black Enterprise, is turning 74. Author Judith Krantz is 81. Singer Joan Baez is 68. And Kate Middleton, who stands to become a princess if Prince William ever pops the question, turns 27 today. Weekend birthdays—including that of Jared Kushner—after the jump!
Sean Penn could woo Lindsay Lohan with an Oscar invite and Graydon Carter can woo a Waverly Inn neighbor with a spot in Vanity Fair and museums can. Seduction is everywhere.
• More than 2.6 million jobs were lost in 2008, the most since World War II ended in 1945. The unemployment rate now stands at 7.2 percent. [CNN]
• Steve Rattner may be Barack Obama's car czar, assuming several potential conflicts of interests are sorted out. [ABC, NYP]
• Hedge funds lost 18.3 percent on average in 2008 [DB]
• Merrill Lynch exec Gregory Fleming is headed off to teach at Yale. [DB]
• Dick Parsons says he has no plans to become Commerce Secretary. [DB]
• Sometimes there is justice in this world: Marc Rich was a victim of Bernie Madoff, too, and lost $10-15 million as part of the scheme. [BN]
• Bernie Madoff's home in the south of France is actually fairly modest. [BN]
Maimon Kirschenbaum, the lawyer that restaurant owners love to hate, has a new target: He's filed a class-action lawsuit against Le Cirque on behalf of cater-waiters. So if in the future you have to start tipping the guy who hands you a glass of champagne at a party, now you know who to thank! [Grub Street]
• Did Lindsay Lohan split up with Samantha Ronson? Is she now in "complete denial" about it? And what's going on with her and Sean Penn? All good questions! [P6]
• Graydon Carter's plan to win over neighborhood critics of the Waverly has been revealed: He gives them tables at the restaurant and puts their pictures in Vanity Fair and, sure enough, his foes magically turn into friends. [P6]
• On the View yesterday, Tom Cruise described the death of Jett Travolta as "horrific," but said that Scientology had absolutely nothing to do with it. You've been warned, people. [People]
• Remember Lisa Bonet? Well, she just had a baby girl who she named Nakoa-Wolf Manakauapo Namakaeha Momoa. Yes, she stole the name you were planning to use. [NYDN]
Oh, look, it's a self-described 1980s radical casually explaining how he turned our president-elect into a Black Panther who got, uh, "open minded" at "jazz concerts," hint hint.
The residents of North Devon, England don't know what to make of the fanged creature found on a local beach. Seal? Sea lion? BEAST OF EXMOOR, PERHAPS?
Can Wenner Media go three weeks without another spurt of layoffs? Probably not, judging by its recent history. The latest seemingly whimsical cuts came earlier today.
Good news for all the chain-smoking, emotionally inaccessible men and the girls who love 'em: AMC just announced a return date for the third season of Mad Men! There's just one problem.
Che is a hit! Kind of! After grossing nearly $250,000 in three weeks — in only two theaters, screening twice a day — IFC Films is literally, unexpectedly taking its "roadshow" version on the road.
How soul-draining it must be to work at the world's best company! Hence the introduction of Google's School of Spiritual Growth, an arm of the search engine's in-house university.
