The Real Housewives of New Jersey??

Seriously - this crap is FOREALS. Bravo will roll out a new set of Housewives on May 12 - and this time they're headed to Dirty Jerzey!! Read the story HERE.

I never watch those HouseHo's shows - I just CAN'T. Besides, there will only ever be one true set of Real Housewives of New Jersey...

Carmela Soprano...

Rosalie Aprile and Gabriella Dante...


And my GIRL, Ginny Sacrimoni...


Now THEY were some fierce Jersey Housewives.

John "Johnny Cakes" Costelloe Dead in Suicide

John Costelloe - the actor who played gay short-order cook "Johnny Cakes" on The Sopranos was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in his Brooklyn apartment on December 18. Read more HERE.

The Sopranos was one of my all-time favorite television shows, and one of the biggest shockers happened when Vito turned out to be gay. While on the lamb, Vito found volunteer fireman and short-order cook "Johnny Cakes", and the two had a short-lived romance.


Costelloe, 47, was a real-life former New York City firefighter - and was appearing in an off-Broadway comedy (Gang of Seven) at the time of his death.

Celebrity Sightings...

After work tonight (Friday) I got on the subway near my job and headed uptown toward my neighborhood. After the subway doors closed, I saw a familiar face sitting and chatting with his wife, at least one daughter, and I'm assuming some of his daughter's friends.....

It was Steve Schirripa, better know as Bobby Baccalieri on The Sopranos! He was cute as a button talking to his wife (Laura - above) and the other members of his party. And since this was a Friday rush-hour crowd consisting of mostly New Yorkers, no one bothered him at all. In fact, a group of loud teenage boys and girls got on the train and walked past him and only one girl silently smiled and waved - he waved back. I have to say - I am always so proud of New Yorkers for not making a fuss in front of well-known people. Of course then we rush home and blog about it in the privacy of our apartments, because that's what us cool New Yorkers do.

Mr. Schirripa and his gang got off at the same stop as I did - 34th Street. They were headed to Madison Square Garden to see the New York Liberty (WNBA) play. And I was going to ... wait for it ... the Dollar Store. Which is ALSO what cool New Yorkers do.

Actually, this wasn't my first brush with Steve (we're pretty much on a first-name basis these days). Schirripa and a few of his Sopranos cast mates (Uncle Junior, Silvio, and Johnny Sack) attended an event at my restaurant in honor of ... wait for it ... Adrienne Barbeau!!!

Dominic Chianese, Steve Van Zandt with wife Maureen, Steve Schirripa, Adrienne Barbeau, the late Peter Boyle and Vince Curatola

OK - I guess I'm not that cool...