Dateline: The chow line ... It's supposed to be hush hush, but Sneed hears President Obama and his family were personally cooked lunch Tuesday by Oprah's former chef, Chicago restaurateur Art "Table Fifty Two" Smith.

Clammed up: When contacted by Sneed, Smith was under strict orders not to divulge any White House secrets. "I can't talk about it," said Smith, who recently hosted former President George H.W. Bush and wife Barbara at his D.C. eatery, "Art and Soul."

Opening up: However, Smith did tell Sneed: "I'm in pursuit of cooking for the Dalai Lama, but apparently it takes six months of clearance before you can cook for him."

What is a friend for?

Here's what: Business consultant Steve McClure, who headed the State Commerce Department during the administration of Gov. Jim Thompson, secretly commissioned a recent poll for potential Cook County Board Presidential candidate Paul Vallas -- without telling him.

The backshot: The recorded telephone poll pitted former Chicago Public Schools CEO Paul Vallas/Republican and Cook County Board Commissioner Forrest Claypool/Democrat, against each other for the job. Left OFF the list of potential candidates was current Cook County Board President Todd Stroger .

The kicker: McClure told Sneed: "Paul only learned about the poll after it was completed -- that's when I told his wife to tell him about it."

The upshot: "Vallas won with 44 percent of the vote; Claypool came in with 23 percent; and 33 percent were undecided," said McClure. "I'm told Paul was very pleased," McClure added.

The endshot: Neither Vallas nor Claypool have formally entered the race, and Ald. Toni Preckwinkle, who is also eyeing the Stroger seat, was not included in the poll.

The Sneedshot: The empowered African American voter is not going to want to lose this bastion of power in the black political community. Translation: Ald. Preckwinkle could pull it off.

Scratch the Forgedddaboutit! The Long Island estate of the late mob boss John Gotti's daughter, Victoria Gotti, which was featured in the cable TV show "Growing Up Gotti," has gone into foreclosure, according to a report in the New York Times. Wow.

The School set: Single mom Bristol Palin, 19, daughter of Alaska's Gov. Sarah Palin, just graduated from high school with a 3.497 grade point average; is planning to go to a local business college for two years; and is hoping to settle into a career in real estate, according to a report on People magazine's Web site. And, yes, Palin's baby, Tripp, was in the audience being bottlefed during the graduation ceremony.

Sneed hears actor Dennis Farina, a former Chicago cop, was in town last week scouting locations for a movie entitled "The Last Rites of Joe May."

?176-129?Locate 'em: Farina, who will star in the flick was spotted scouting locations at the Lincoln Park Hospital and the Pilsen neighborhood. "If things go well filming could begin by the end of the summer," said a source.

Freddy Krueger and lemonade?

?176-129?To wit: Scared or not, a group of enterprising kids set up a lemonade stand next to the filming location of "Nightmare on Elm Street," which was being filmed in Barrington last week. Cast and crew drank it up -- ostensibly when dry mouth set in after screams of horror.

Chicago Bears Jay Cutler and Greg Olsen spotted playing whirleyball at the Whirleyball location in Vernon Hills ... TV talkie Jerry Springer at Portillo's last Tuesday.

Happy belated 65th wedding anniversary wishes to Stanley and Helen Pokrzywa ... Today's birthdays: Robert Morse, 78, and George Strait, 57.

Posted by Cook GOP in Uncategorized on 5/19/2009






Posted by Cook GOP in Uncategorized on 5/7/2009