Unfiltered

Meredith Vieira does an I Love Lucy, Captain Picard's wine is worth more than Pétrus and chef Hubert Keller can cook and spin tunes

Posted: October 11, 2006

• Forget the winery. All you really need to make Zinfandel is the Today Show plaza in New York City's Rockefeller Center--and Meredith Vieira. On Oct. 5, local restaurateur Joe Bastianich, a partner with Mario Batali in several restaurants, including Del Posto and Babbo, led a segment on the red winemaking process--and it was the new girl who got to hike up her skirt and have all the fun. With Matt Lauer and Bastianich looking on, Vieira stumbled around in a tub of grapes, exclaiming, "Mama likes ... It feels really good, very sensual." She abandoned the slush to help Lauer grill Bastianich about destemming and torquing, but it was her grape-skin-covered feet that stole the spotlight. ("Toe jam," quipped Al Roker.) Her footwork even earned Vieira the right to try out the bottling machine and swig 30 Rock Zin--with its own special Today Show label--straight from the bottle. Despite pretending that she was going to spit the wine out, the new queen of morning TV gave it a positive review: "It's actually good!" Bet you're sorry you left now, huh Katie?

We hear it's a bit fruitier than Klingon blood wine.

• Star Trek artifacts live long, and those who sell them tend to prosper. Three-thousand Trekkies placed bids at last week's auction in honor of the cult hit's 40th anniversary, and CBS Paramount Television Studios raked in a whopping $7.1 million auctioning off 1,000 lots of costumes, props, weapons, set dressings and more from the Star Trek television and movie series at Christie's of Manhattan. Earnings were more than double presale expectations said Rik Pike, a Christie's spokesperson. Among the booty: two empty wine bottles from the Labarre, France family estate of Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the Starship Enterprise. The bottles, which appeared in the 2002 film Star Trek: Nemesis, snagged a mind-boggling $6,600--despite a paltry pre-auction estimate of $500 to $700. "The price reached for these prop bottles reflects the continuing allure and the dedication of the global Star Trek community," said Pike. Still, for that kind of money, the winner could have gotten a couple bottles of 2005 Pétrus. And the bottles would be full.

So now that Hubert Keller's DJing, does this mean Oakenfold and Digweed will start cooking?

• You may know Hubert Keller as a talented French chef capable of making critics and diners swoon. But did you know that he's also a roof-raising DJ? Keller, the chef and co-owner of Fleur de Lys in San Francisco and Las Vegas, has long been a fan of "house" music--continuous, repeating bass lines and electronic samples. In fact, Keller has installed a makeshift DJ studio in the basement of the original Fleur de Lys in San Francisco, and diligently practices his spinning skills after closing the kitchen each evening. So to celebrate the recent two-year anniversary of his Vegas outpost, Keller pushed back the tables and chairs, rolled up the rugs and turned his elegant dining room into a nightclub. After performances by musicians Chris Clouse, DJ Solomon and Frenchy Le Freak, Keller distributed Água Luca frozen mojito shots to the pumped-up crowd and took center stage as DJ Duck Confit. Those who worry that his house music sideline will distract him from the kitchen, fear not: While the chef has recently spun sets at a handful of San Francisco nightclubs, he limits his public performances to five or six per year. Said Keller, "While it is truly wonderful to move a crowd on the dance floor, my first love is still the kitchen."

• Unfiltered doesn't exactly have an army of "spies" on the street, like some celebrity gossip outlets, so since we don't have the time to stake out someone's home and sort through the trash for empties, we have to take celebrities' word for it when they tell us about their wine consumption habits. Our faith is a bit stronger now. Last Friday night, Unfiltered happened to be sitting at the back corner of the bar at Olive's in the W Hotel Union Square, when up to the bar sauntered none other than fashion icon Betsey Johnson. No case of mistaken identity here--she's pretty hard to miss. Anyway, if you recall, she proclaimed to Unfiltered, "I'm a Champagne girl," as she sipped Moët White Star in the Moët Be Fabulous Lounge at New York Fashion Week. But we were a bit doubtful after she compared the beverage to drinking Alka Seltzer. Well, at Olive's, she got herself a nice, tall glass of bubbly from the bar, and promptly disappeared back into the restaurant. Cheers, Betsey, for being honest about being a Champagne girl. Our trust in celebrity fashion icons has reached new heights.