NAMES & FACES
Saturday, May 27, 2006; Page C03
Cafe Milano's Power Couple
A little shout-out never hurt business.
Cafe Milano owner Franco Nuschese picked up the Excellence in Business Award on Thursday night at the Sons of Italy Foundation's annual awards gala and profusely thanked fellow attendee Bill Clinton for helping his business from the very start.
  So happy together? Bill and Hillary Clinton, shown at the April 24 unveiling of their portraits for the National Portrait Gallery. (By Michel Du Cille -- The Washington Post) |
Nuschese opened his Georgetown restaurant Nov. 3, 1992, the same day Clinton was elected to his first term as president: "The bar was packed," he recalled. "I couldn't figure out if the people were drinking because they were sad or celebrating."
Also on hand at the Omni Shoreham Hotel was Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton with a new, softer-looking hairdo. Both Clintons were mobbed by photographers and well-wishers before ducking out early.
The power couple was later spotted dining at Cafe Milano with BET bigwigs Robert Johnson and Debra Lee . The group dined on baby lobster, followed by risotto with mushrooms and truffles for Hillary, and Mediterranean sea bass for everyone else. Two days after a front-page story in the New York Times raised questions about the state of their union, the Clintons seemed happily ensconced at their table -- they didn't leave until after 1 a.m.
A Newsman Goes Hog Wild
CNN's John Roberts plans to leave the camera crew behind tomorrow, stick his well-coiffed head inside a motorcycle helmet and join Rolling Thunder when the biker vets hit Washington for their annual memorial tribute to veterans, POWs and MIAs.
"I don't think I'm as straight as viewers may think," said Roberts. "I listen to rock-and-roll music and ride a Harley," a 2005 Fat Boy he bought last year. "I love it."
Roberts has been riding since he first tried to attach a motor to his bicycle at the age of 10. (That didn't work out so well.) The 49-year-old gave up motorcycles when he became a father at 28, but embraced the bike again last year. He rode with the Thunder with his teenage son last May. This year, his wife will be along for the ride.
"It's such an amazing show of respect of patriotism with such a broad spectrum of America," Roberts said of the gathering. "The guy who is wearing the brain-bucket helmet with the three-day stubble is just as likely to be the CEO of a company or a garage mechanic."
The End of Swank/Lowe
After five months of separation and attempts at reconciliation, Academy Award winner Hilary Swank is filing for divorce from Chad Lowe . "Still friends," said their flacks. "Utmost respect." You know the drill.
The couple were married in 1997 and announced their separation in January. Swank, 31, told interviewer Isaac Mizrahi at this year's Academy Awards that she and Lowe, 38, were "trying to work our marriage out." They were also spotted lunching in Malibu in February. They have no children.
End Notes
· Babies! They're everywhere! "Entourage" star Kevin Dillon, 41 , and his wife, model-actress Jane Stuart , 28, had a daughter, Ava , last week. The child is their first, making an appearance five weeks after their Vegas wedding. And Gwen Stefani , without hollabacking, yesterday had a boy, Kingston James McGregor Rossdale . It's the first child for the rocker girl, 36, and the second for her rocker husband, Gavin Rossdale , 40, who has a daughter, 16, from a previous relationship.
· Hermit alert! Michael Jackson emerges from self-imposed exile today to accept MTV Japan's "Legend Award." Or so his publicist says. This will be the singer's first public appearance since he was acquitted of child molestation charges last June.
-- Korin Miller
