Monday, November 11, 2002
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

COLUMN: Norm!

Romantic Kid Rock just can't stop popping the question

Pamela Anderson was a wedding no-show Saturday in Las Vegas -- but it wasn't hers.

The wedding involved a member of Kid Rock's road crew, not the rumored onstage nuptials featuring Kid Rock and Anderson after his show at the MGM Grand.

Kid Rock not only attended the wedding but popped the question to the surprised bride-to-be at Whiskey Sky at Green Valley Ranch.

Kid Rock reportedly approached the woman at Whiskey Sky and said, "Hey, do you want to get married?"

When she rejected him politely, Kid Rock added, "Then will you marry my buddy?"

The no-frills nuptials were completed in five minutes, and Kid Rock partied with the bride and groom.

Anderson, who accompanied her boyfriend to Las Vegas on Friday, had returned to Los Angeles on Saturday and couldn't come back for his show because of bad weather, a source said.

Truffle Time

Truffle lovers, rejoice.

Several pounds from the latest crop are on their way to Las Vegas kitchens after the annual truffles auction, which took place Sunday.

Star chefs Wolfgang Puck and David Robbins, representing Spago and Postrio, and Jean-Georges Vongerichten of Prime Steakhouse snagged several of the 30 pricey, pungent delicacies that went up for bid by a TV satellite hookup.

They paid between $3,500 and $4,500 per truffle, which weigh about a pound.

A year ago Puck shocked the chef world by paying almost $20,000 for the largest truffle harvested in the heart of the Piedmont, near Alba, Italy. This year's trophy truffle, which weighed a little more than 2 pounds, fetched a record-breaking $45,000, from Joe Pyta, owner of the new Restaurant Bastide in Los Angeles.

Robin Leach hosted the New York leg of the three-continent closed-circuit hookup.

The Scene and Heard

Look for afternoon deejay Chris Ripley to be back on air at KXTE-radio, FM107.5 this week after a one-week suspension. Callers to the station are being told his sin was talking up his favorite local politicians on the eve of the election, a major no-no with all sorts of equal-time implications. ...

Polo Towers owner Stephen Cloobeck and his wife, Chantal, leave this week for a $2 million European shopping spree. They are heading for the outskirts of Paris to purchase furnishings for his planned 34-story time-share building scheduled for completion in late 2004 next to his Polo Towers. He's been telling friends he'll be "the Steve Wynn of time-shares on the Strip."

VIP pals of Rick Zeller, vice president of Paris Las Vegas and Bally's, are getting together Saturday for a roast on his 50th birthday.

Sightings

Brian Stafford, outgoing director of the U.S. Secret Service, catching some laughs at The Second City (Flamingo) on Saturday. He served as a bodyguard for a number of presidents, including Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton, before being named director by Clinton in March 1999. ... Dining at Morton's on Sunday night: former President Bush. ... At Studio 54 (MGM Grand): Patrick Cassidy of the legendary Cassidy family; George Maloof, co-owner of the Palms; and Michael Morton of N9NE Group after taking in Kid Rock and Aerosmith. ... Wayne Gretzky and wife Janet at Olio! (MGM Grand) on Saturday night.

The Punch Line

"Fall is my favorite season in Los Angeles, watching the birds change color and fall from the trees." -- David Letterman

Norm Clarke's column appears Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Friday. You can reach him at 383-0244 or norm@reviewjournal.com.