Seen: McLovin, Jill Zarin, & More

Seen: McLovin, Jill Zarin, & More

Real Housewife of NY Jill Zarin was seen eating dinner at Rue de L’Espoir in Providence on Friday night, following her talk at Brown’s Reality TV Symposium (and afternoon book signing at the Brown Bookstore). She broke Passover law by indulging in some of the restaurant’s famously delicious fresh-baked bread, and made sure to take home a loaf, plus a doggie bag for pooch Ginger. She stayed with her husband on Thursday and Friday at the Renaissance Hotel, and she was so enthralled by Providence that she mentioned getting a place here and pursuing an Executive MBA at Harvard (like Tyra Banks). And considering that her daughter Ally has applied to transfer to Brown from Sarah Lawrence College, maybe she’ll have one more reason to stick around. Real Housewives of Newport, anyone?

Famed screenwriter Aaron Sorkin and actor James Franco, who were both in town for the Ivy Film Festival, were seen eating at Downcity restaurant in Providence. The restaurant itself is a bit of a celebrity having recently hosted Gordon Ramsay and appearing on Hell's Kitchen.

You probably know him best as McLovin’ from Superbad. Christopher Mintz-Plasse was spotted at new Providence bar Aruba Steve’s on Thursday night. The Kick-Ass actor, who is now involved in three movies in pre-production (including How to Train Your Dragon 2) was probably there partying it up in celebration of the Celtics’ big winning

streak against the Knicks. Although he’s from California, Chris is a huge Celtics fan, so I’m sure he was welcomed with open arms by the friendly Rhode Islanders…

This one’s for the foodies. One of New England’s biggest chefs, Brown graduate Chef Jody Adams, cooked a special dinner at Brown’s Sharpe Refectory on Thursday evening. Adams is a James Beard-award winning chef who appeared on the second season of the Bravo TV show Top Chef Masters (in the Champions’ Round, no less), and is the head chef of highly rated Cambridge restaurant Rialto. Her “Visiting Chef Series” dinner was open to the public and included dishes that utilized great local Rhode Island products like Narragansett Creamery cheese and Seven Stars Bakery bread. Since Providence has been getting acclaim as a big food city, maybe the next season of Top Chef will film here…

Cranston-based jewelry brand Alex and Ani has chosen American Idol contestant Jimmie Allen for their new radio

campaign. Allen’s song “It’s a Beautiful Day” will now be heard all across Rhode Island, and Allen feels that the positive energy of Alex and Ani is perfectly reflected in his song. The brand has worked with the singer from Tennessee before, so he was an obvious choice to endorse their new Goddesses of Summer Collection. Who needs American Idol, when you can be the Rhode Island Idol?

And what would a Rhode Island celebrity update be without something new from DJ Pauly D? This time, he’s making the country of Italy mad. In response to the restrictions that the Mayor of Florence has placed on the Jersey Shore cast for their time in their “homeland,” Pauly said, “Forget all that, rules were made to be broken, I know that.” Let’s just hope he toes the line enough to avoid an international incident…