Texas Celebrity Travel, October 2007

Austin

Austin’s own Benjamin McKenzie recently grooved at Gruv nightclub to tunes spun by DJ Boombai, the Austin American-Statesman reports. Back in the Live music Capital of the World in mid-October, the star of the cancelled FOX favorite “The O.C.” will soon step in front of the cameras for his role in “The Stanford Prison Experiment.”

Actor Scott Porter said so long to September at an event held at the capital city’s Shoreline Grill, according to the Austin American-Statesman. Like other patrons at the elegant Austin eatery, perhaps the “Friday Night Lights” star was fortunate enough to catch a glimpse of the city’s local celebrities, the Mexican Free-Tail bats, as they left their roost under the Congress Avenue bridge and embarked on their evening escapades– a sight that can be savored nightly from the restaurant’s terrace, which overlooks the recently redubbed Lady Bird Lake.

Lone Star siblings Luke and Owen Wilson were spotted in the capital city in mid-October. According to the Austin American-Statesman, the Dallas-born duo booked suites at the Four Seasons Hotel.

“Spider-man” villain Willem Defoe, who was recently in the Bastrop area filming “Fireflies in the Garden,” was spotted by the Austin Chronicle in mid-October at Whole Foods Market, checking out the store’s organic gastronomical treats.

In town to promote his latest silver screen venture, “The Darjeeling Limited,” The Austin American-Statesman conducted an interview with actor Jason Schwartzman at Austin’s hippest hideaway, the Hotel San Jose on South Congress Avenue. The reformed 40’s era motor court, which offers its patrons the use of an extended CD library filled with blues and jazz standards and a weekly showing of a cinematic cult classic along with entertainment by a local band, is a magnet for A-listers, with visits by Drew Barrymore and Luke Wilson in September.

Dallas

Several stars dined out in The Big D this October. The Dallas Morning News reports that actor John Cusack, who will soon be seen on the big screen in “Martian Child,” and lady friend Jodi Lyn O’Keefe (Prison Break) were among the first to sample the culinary creations offered at The Club, a swank supper sanctuary in The Centrum Building which opened its doors in September 2007…..From lobster pasta to a 16 oz. New York sirloin, “One Tree Hill” star Sophia Bush had a wide variety of culinary delights from which to choose when she mulled over the menu at N9NE Steakhouse recently with Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo…..Globe-trotting songstress Annie Lennox recently enjoyed the Japanese cuisine served at Nobu, one of six epicurean establishments located at Hotel Crecsent Court.

San Antonio

Congratulations to Ricardo Chavira, better known to TV viewers as Carlos Solis on the ABC hit “Desperate Housewives,” who said “I do” to longtime love Marcea Dietzl in the Alamo City on September 22, 2007. The television star, while born in Austin, was raised in San Antonio.

–by Grace Sydney