She may not be the most domestic of the Desperate Housewives, but Eva Longoria Parker actually knows her way around the kitchen, and she’s got a nice big one to play in now.
She has joined forces with restaurateur Todd English to open an upscale Mexican eatery called Beso—“kiss” in Spanish—and celebrated its Mar. 6 opening in Hollywood with a party attended by celeb friends including Sheryl Crow, George Lopez, Roselyn Sanchez, Mario Lopez, Constance Marie and Housewives co-stars Felicity Huffman, Nicollette Sheridan (with Michael Bolton), James Denton, Dana Delany and Ricardo Chavira.
“I love to cook for my friends, so this is just an extension of my house,” said Parker. “I’m excited that it’s finally opening, here on Hollywood Blvd., with the Walk of Fame. It’s a new territory for me. But I’m not cooking tonight so I’m not that nervous!”
Wearing a Marchesa mini, Christian Louboutin shoes and Jean Dausset jewelry and flying solo–husband Tony Parker had a basketball game in San Antonio–Parker explained that she learned to cook from her mother and provided her guacamole and tortilla soup recipes for Beso’s menu. “Better than in Mexico,” she boasted.[PAGEBREAK]
Parker was also hands-on with the high-ceilinged restaurant’s décor, “from the design, the curtains, the tables, the chairs, the paintings” to the trio of crystal chandeliers and the wait staff’s uniforms. “It’s been a long time coming but worth it,” she confided. Even though she’s back on the Desperate Housewives set now, she’ll be at Beso as often as she can. “You find the time when it’s important,” she said, but won’t commit to the idea of a second outpost in her other home city, San Antonio. “I have to see how much work this one will be,” she laughed.
Praising Parker’s culinary talents and hard work, partner English, also a Texan, explained how Beso was born. “We met through mutual friends several years ago. We were sitting around drinking some wine late at night, and we said, ‘Let’s open a restaurant together.’ It was a joke, but here’s our reality.” He, too, was non-committal about expansion. “We never look too far ahead,” he said. “One at a time.”
Besides the aforementioned guacamole, guests feasted on shrimp, mussels, leg of lamb, feta cheese risotto, assorted desserts, and enjoyed free-flowing drinks, courtesy of Hornitos tequila, the party’s sponsor. Most were eager to sample the fare. “I love Mexican food. One of the valet guys told me the steak here is amazing,” said Felicity Huffman. Asked what she’d serve if she could open her own restaurant, “At this point in my life, cold broccoli and pizza. That’s basically what we eat,” she quipped. “I don’t think we’d get very many patrons.”[PAGEBREAK]
Also a Mexican food fan, Dana Delany said her hypothetical restaurant would be Mediterranean style, “but just appetizers and dessert because that’s all I care about.” Kim Kardashian would offer “either soul food or dessert. I make sweet potato soufflé, mac and cheese, fried chicken, and cookies” while James Denton would serve barbecue: “I’m a griller.”
But at least two Beso guests were hoping for meatless options. Lake Bell is a vegan and Constance Marie, a vegetarian. She has thought about opening a restaurant with her fiancé, Kent Katich. “If I find I can take a year off to devote to it, I might do it,” she said.
George Lopez, however, is already getting into the eatery game. He and his wife Ann are involved with restaurateur Michael Mina in developing a chain of Mexican-fusion restaurants in Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Texas. Meanwhile, Lopez will be heard later this year voicing the role of a dog in Beverly Hills Chihuahua, the love interest of the title character (Drew Barrymore).[PAGEBREAK]
The red carpet was also a good source of Desperate Housewives scoop, straight from the cast and creator Marc Cherry. Back April 13, with the first of five new episodes plus a two-hour finale, “We had to condense the season a little bit but it’s going to be really exciting,” Cherry promised. “Carlos is blind and Gabrielle finds out in a very funny way in our first episode. Mike’s in rehab and we’ll be dealing with a lot of fun complications there. Edie is going to do some really wicked stuff that is going to get her in trouble with every woman on the Lane. And Chris Carmack is playing Teri Hatcher’s nephew. He ends up in bed with someone very surprising.”
Dana Delany added that her “evil ex,” played by Gary Cole, will show up, and Felicity Huffman was relieved to put the cancer episodes behind her. “We’ll be back in the restaurant, and there will be a lot of people doing funny, wacky things,” she said. James Denton, who spent the Writers Guild strike break on the campaign trail with John Edwards, is glad to be back at work, even though the show is on a six-day schedule to make up for lost time. As for Mike’s rehab, “Two or three episodes and I’m out,” he said.
Mario Lopez, with Dancing with the Stars–and real-life–partner Karina Smirnoff, talked about his upcoming Broadway debut in A Chorus Line, a four-month stint as director Zach that begins in April. He’ll dance in the musical but not sing, “Thank God–for the audience,” he said.[PAGEBREAK]
Lake Bell, Parker’s Over Her Dead Body co-star, looked forward to the May 9 opening of her next movie, What Happens in Vegas, in which she stars with Ashton Kutcher, Cameron Diaz and Rob Corddry. Julie Benz, who’ll begin shooting a new season of Dexter in May, explained why she chose a floaty pink Badgley Mischka dress for the occasion. “There’s a lot of room to eat,” she said. “Going to a restaurant, I figured ‘nothing constricting.’”
The more casually fashionable Constance Marie, who mixed a black jacket and cropped pants from her own Constance Marie Collection for Mervyn’s with Christian Louboutin shoes and a Prada bag, couldn’t wait to congratulate Parker, who she met long before her Housewives days. “She has the Midas touch and she doesn’t do anything half-assed. I’m here to support her for that,” Marie said. “I’m really proud of her.”
