Garvin, who didn't attend culinary school but learned to cook from his hands-on experience working at Ritz-Carlton Hotels, wants to inspire young people who want to get into the culinary business. Next summer at the Taste of Chicago festival in Chicago, Garvin will launch his G. Garvin Culinary Camp, a 14-day cooking camp for teenagers.
Known for his resemblance to rapper
LL Cool J, Garvin has prepared meals for the likes of
Michael Jackson,
Elizabeth Taylor,
Bill Clinton,
Madonna and
Janet Jackson. One time, I was dining with friends at his former Los Angeles restaurant and
R. Kelly sat at a neighboring table, where he celebrated the birthday of his publicist Regina Daniels. Kelly came over and served Garvin's red velvet cake to my entire table and invited us to join in the fun.
Garvin's weekend at the Epcot International Food & Wine Festival culminated with him preparing a delectable Maryland crab, bay shrimp and avocado salad during the Party of Senses, a three-hour party where more than 20 chefs prepare scrumptious dishes in the beautiful ballroom on the Epcot property.
Terry Talks!Terry McMillan is not happy with the news that singer/actor Ray J will be releasing a book next year detailing his sexual exploits. (For details on the tome read Karu F. Daniels' 'BV Newswire Blog'
here. What has outraged the 'How Stella Got Her Grove Back' and 'Waiting to Exhale' author the most is that the book is being penned by celebrated author Karen Hunter. Hunter also penned McMillan's ex-husband
Jonathan Plummer's book, 'Balancing Act.'
In an e-mail to friends and a post she placed on the message board for the 'BV Newswire Blog,' McMillan lashed out: "For someone who is supposed to be an award-winning journalist, it is amazing to me that Karen Hunter has opted to take the low road in publishing. Look at the titles she is associated with. Almost all of them are demeaning, salacious, scandalous, downright tacky, and devoid of any literary integrity… From
Karrine [
Steffans] to my ex and now this young man, and
Karen Hunter seems to be standing in the wings waiting to help anyone who has a degrading and demeaning "story" to tell all for the going rate of $$$ As Black people, we are buying into this racket which is nothing but exploitation and we are showing the world that we are obsessed with behaving like sexual buffoons, and that nothing we do is sacred or off-limits
The best-selling author continued: "We need to stop supporting this stuff because it is embarrassing to think that as Black people we don't have enough decency anymore to value the beauty of our lives and try to paint literary pictures of how we get through hell and come out ahead and happy versus allowing a writer known for such gems about how to be a pimp and giving blow jobs and how someone appears to have been struck by gay lightening."
Despite denial from
Ray J's rep (who is also denying the truth), the book is slated to drop next spring on Hunter's imprint with the book publisher Simon & Schuster.
Crazy Is…As Crazy Does!Last Tuesday night
Bobby Brown checked into the Tarzana Regional Medical Center in Tarzana, Calif., after feeling some "tightening in his chest and tingling in his arm." It was determined that Brown was having a mild heart attack, and a scared Brown recorded a farewell video just in case he didn't make it.
By the time news broke on Wednesday afternoon that Brown was in the hospital, his attorney
Phaedra Parks released a statement confirming the heart attack and denying a video had been recorded. Like many times before, Parks was proven wrong when the paparazzi agency X17 purchased the videos from his camp and posted it online. (I'm told Brown's people were trying to get as much as $100,000 for the tape, but X17 only paid of fraction of that asking price.)
"This is…uh, Bobby Brown…ah, I'm about to go under the knife. So, uh, whatever happens - I know, uh, nothing's guaranteed," Brown began on the video. He went on to offer potential last words to his children, his parents, his siblings and the members of New Edition. The 'My Prerogative' singer vowed his love for girlfriend/manager Alicia Etheridge and then offered a middle finger to his ex-wife Whitney Houston. The cameraman even pans over to the video monitor that shows all of Brown's vital signs.
But despite Brown's own acknowledgement of going "under the knife" on tape and his camp confirming the heart attack, Brown spoke with media vet Lee Bailey and denied that he had a heart attack. "I heard that I had a heart attack earlier, but I didn't," he told Bailey.
Well, maybe selective amnesia is a new symptom of a mild heart attack!
BuzzworthyNew on DVD: 'Evan Almighty' (starring
Steve Carrell,
Wanda Sykes and
Morgan Freeman); BET's 'College Hill: Virginia State University;' 'A Boo Crew Christmas' (starring
Shawn & Marlon Wayans,
Kym Whitley,
Countess Vaughn and
Charlie Murphy); and 'I Think I Love My Wife' (starring
Chris Rock and
Kerry Washington).
New on CD:
Ann Nesby's 'This Is Love': A soulful journey of love, romance and inspiration. /
Ricky Dillard & New G's '7th Episode: Live in Toronto': Really the way church is supposed to be! /
J. Holiday's 'Back of My Lac': Thug soul with a tinge of hip-hop.
Can't Say Names ...Sources say this television personality is fuming mad that her ex-boyfriend has been referencing their relationship in recent interviews to promote his latest project. Said TV talent and her one-time love ended on really bad terms. Now that her ex has indirectly mentioned her and is dogging their relationship in numerous interviews, she's contemplating disclosing personal information she discovered about him.
