Icepack Illustrated: Kroll, Starr, Thicke, etc.
Please note: This article is published as an archive copy from Philadelphia City Paper. My City Paper is not affiliated with Philadelphia City Paper. Philadelphia City Paper was an alternative weekly newspaper in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The last edition was published on October 8, 2015.
News, gossip, goings-on.
If Icepack Illustrated looks a little short this week, it’s due to some physical health issues involving my father, the man longtime readers know as St. Alfonso’s Pancake Breakfast Where I Stole the Margarine (thank you Frank Zappa). All the well wishes and prayers are and have been appreciated.
Stephen Starr is having either a very good week or a lousy one, depending on who you are. If you’re a Philly school kid, Starr’s announcement that his restaurants will host a “Support Our Schools” fundraiser throughout the March (maybe longer), to benefit the School District of Philadelphia via customer donations (a $100,000 goal with an additional $25,000 from the Starr Group itself) is cool. Wait. Is that why my lobster mac-n-cheese at Continental MidTown cost $125? OK, just checking. The eh news for Starr is that his further-up-on-Frankford Avenue new restaurant with Aimee Olexy that we gave you the exclusive first on, is now not happening. It seems as if since the 1500 block space can’t be ready for spring/summer 2014, the concerned parties would probably rather not do it. OK. In more Starr news, his events division just hired NYC-based Jeff Stillwell as its director of standards. Wow. I love the title. I should have a director of standards.
I know that Nick Kroll’s Comedy Central show Kroll Show just got renewed for a third season, and that everyone is into its Philadelphia/Pittsburgh bit. Just imagine if Kroll and co. was actually funny and wrote amusing, unique lines with dynamic delivery. He’d really be onto something.
Mazel tov to one time University of the Arts student Jared Leto for winning a little ole Academy Award for his daring role in Dallas Buyers Club. He and Thirty Seconds from Mars are planning a gig with Linkin Ppark for the Susquehanna Bank Center this summer.
WHOWHATWHERE: Hey, everybody is very excited that Robin Thicke had a nice meal and wore a good coat while leaving Philly’s Capital Grille before his Susquehanna Bank Center show (the Brits, oi) and may have even stopped at Delilah’s afterwards. My questions are, as follows: Leather pants? Really? Speaking of steakhouse chains, we mentioned in Icepack in Print how Del Frisco’s made Carmen Tedesco its general manager. The other night, D-Frisc threw a big party for Tedesco’s hire. ActionAIDS Philadelphia held its Glamsino event at Hotel Palomar last week with Project Runway’s Viktor Luna (we interviewed him) playing host to a crowd of concerned well wishers. Along with stopping by several Xfinity/Comcast parties in Center City (like the one at Positano Coast), TMC host Robert Osborne stopped by the Ritz East to screen Casablanca on Tuesday. On Monday night, Robyn Hitchcock celebrated his birthday at the Sellersville Theater where the crowd even hailed him with a song and loud cheers. Pop-hop sensations Little Mix hit up Q102’s Bala performance theater. I was crazy about last year’s Bubby’s Cook Off kick off, so having it happen again this year at Vie was a real treat. Julia Deppe and Laura Frangiosa were Bubby’s Cook Off 2 winners. Sharon Pinkenson and Joe Weiss were the big guests, and Rabbi Shemtov was behind the whole event, with his blessings. Kal and Lucille Rudman brought MSNBC president Phil Griffin to Drexel University last week through the couple’s Institute for Entertainment Industry Studies. They met to discuss Griffin’s lengthy career in broadcast journalism.
