Seen: Tom Brady + More Celebs in the 401

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Leah Michaels, GoLocalProv Contributor

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Shooting for charity: Tom Brady

Last week, Mapleville was crawling with Patriots! The occasion was offensive tackle Matt Light's seventh annual Celebrity Shootout at Addieville East Farm, which raises money for academic scholarships and programs for at-risk teenagers. Many of his teammates showed up to shoot some skeet, including tackle Vince Wilfork (who was more interested in fishing with his wife), wide receiver Deion Branch, and the big man himself Tom Brady. The star QB who can hit his man from 50 yards is a pretty good shooter, and also a good sport. He agreed to model a special Patriots bathrobe for the event's celebrity live auction, which only sold for $2,600 despite the potential of some left over Brady DNA. Unfortunately the team's acknowledged best shooter, center Dan Koppen, couldn't make it due to a broken ankle. Also in attendance was Mike Fourtner of TV show Deadliest Catch. Let's hope the Pats' good karma from the shootout will start to help them win some games...

Food Network fans gathered yesterday at Dave's Marketplace in East Greenwich for a chance to meet culinary giant Bobby Flay. The Iron Chef was at the supermarket signing copies of his new cookbook, Bobby Flay's Bar American Cookbook. Although a book had to be purchased at the store during the event in order to get signed, there was still a huge line of eager foodies waiting to meet the celebrity chef in person (and maybe get some cooking tips). People came from far and wide to Dave's, as this was Flay's only signing in all of New England for this cookbook tour. The shopping mart has brought other celebrity chefs in before, such as Boston's Ming Tsai, so I wonder who will be stopping by next...

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Chillin' and grillin' in EG: Bobby Flay

And another big food event happened just last weekend in Newport. The 6th Annual Newport Wine and Food Festival took place at the Rosecliff & Marble House from Friday to Sunday, and visitors experienced some great gustatory pleasures from famous chefs. International wine personality Mark Oldman (from the PBS show The Winemakers and the Food Network), executive wine editor of Food and Wine magazine Ray Isle, and more industry experts led educational seminars at the Hotel Viking. Chefs from many of the area's best restaurants, including Fluke Wine Bar, Tallulah on Thames, and Local 121 provided food and free cooking demonstrations. And the featured special guest of the weekend was celebrity chef and restauranteur Lidia Bastianich. A mainstay of public TV cooking shows (her current show is called Lidia's Italy), she has collaborated with Iron Chef and Italian cuisine master Mario Batali, and her son Joe is one of the judges on Fox's show Masterchef. She hosted a unique jazz brunch on Sunday at which she spoke and designed the menu, and she also appeared at Sunday's Grand Tasting to sign her cookbooks. What a great weekend for food-loving Rhode Islanders...

Now you have an excuse to pick up a copy of Playboy besides just liking the "articles." Nicole Jaye, bartender at Alibi Cafe on Bassett Street in Providence, has been chosen as the "barmate" for the October 2011 issue. The East Providence girl was chosen because Playboy says she is one of the "hottest bartenders in America." Apparently she has never heard a good pickup line at her bar, and now she may never hear one that doesn't reference her magazine spread (although I would say those are unlikely to be successful). Maybe she'll even get to meet Heff...