Steve Schirripa Is the Cannoli WhispererWe just came across this picture of Steve Schirripa, formerly of The Sopranos, and the ten-foot-tall cannoli tree that Veniero’s put up the other day in celebration of the launch of his cable show, Hungry. What struck us about the photo was not the 3,000 cannolis that the tree is made of, but Steve’s reaction to it. Look how he’s fully engaged with the cannolis, like he’s sort of leaning into them, almost as though he’s talking to them. As we observed this, we realized: This is not the first time we’ve seen Schirripa making love to the cream-filled flute. When our friends at Grub Street spoke with him recently about his show, he posed with an entire tray of them, and come to think of it, there was a glint in his eye then, too. The man is crazy for cannolis! Seriously. We mean it. He might, like, have a problem.
party lines
Bobby Baccalieri Has Some Advice for Britney SpearsThe Sopranos may have ended, but the cast is still partying. “The West Wing never partied like The Sopranos, trust me when I tell you,” Steve Schirripa told us at the Quill Awards at Jazz at Lincoln Center last night. “So half the cast lives downtown, we’ll call, we’ll check in. We have dinners, go out for a couple drinks,” he said. What are their favorite hangouts? “Oh, that I can’t tell you,” he said. Dare we guess Little Italy? “Il Cortile’s one of our hangouts. You can go to see a Soprano there. It’s on 125 Mulberry.” And we thought we were just being cute! So what does he think of another known partier, Britney Spears? “I think Britney Spears is absolutely insane. I think she — I know she calls the paparazzi, she tells them she’s going down to Starbucks. Why doesn’t she stay home? She’s got all of these handlers and she can just stay home — let them go to Starbucks, let them go to Dunkin’ Donuts. Why is she always going for the coffee? Stay home. Let somebody else — she’s always got her hands full. There’s cigarettes, the phone, the drink. Doesn’t she have lackeys to hold her stuff?” Yeah, really! Brit, honey, put that Jamie Lynn to work. —Amy Odell
Find out about Gay Talese’s guilty pleasures in our complete coverage of The Quills Awards.