I Double Dared Me

When I was a kid, I used to chug Hershey's Syrup straight from the bottle when no one else was in the kitchen. Not much has changed, really.

This weekend I went to a party for The Food Network's "The Next Food Network Star" at Bobby Flay's Bar Americain. I've been following the show, which wrapped its second season tonight (I voted for the very "sassy" Reggie, but Guy equally deserved to win), and was thrilled to ogle some of my favorite Food TV stars (George Duran, Iron Chef Japanese, Dave Lieberman). As Mr. Flay is married to Stephanie March, who stars on NBC's new "Conviction," I had the champagne-induced pleasure of introducing myself to her very cute co-star, J. August Richards, aka Gunn from "Angel." (RIP Buffy.) Not much to report since I scurried off to the restroom after our brief howdy-do. I later ran into him at the bar (more champagne, please), and we smiled at each other!

Culinary highlight of the week, if not my lifetime: While I was waiting in line at the raw bar, Marc Summers, as in the former host of "Double Dare" and current host of "Unwrapped" and "Food Network Star," walked by and we made eye contact. Before I could contain myself (and really, when can I ever contain myself?), I blurted out my childhood fantasy to him: I wanted to dive into a large, "Double Dare"-like tub full of M&M's and swim through with my mouth open. I added that now I don't like M&M's as much (maybe Vosges chocolates?). Food fantasy shared, Marc put his arm around me and asked how old I am now, made a not too snide remark, and continued towards the crab and mango ceviche.

Word to the wise: Even when it'’s been raining non-stop all morning, there is still a line at Shake Shack at 2 p.m. on Sundays. I was on my way to Whole Foods today, previously used WF bags in tow (.10 cents off this month! It's usually .05), and stopped at the Shake Shack for a Shack Burger, no cheese. I recycled one of the bags right then and there as a bench cover and slurped down my lunch in front of my favorite fountain, until the squirrels attacked.

Next week: A slice of L.A.

Photo by: Shayne Leslie Figeuroa