[ Metro | Metroactive Central | Archives ]

Public Eye

World Cup A new eatery named Double D's Sports Grille, out at 354 N. Santa Cruz Ave. has raised the hackles of some Los Gatos residents who find the name demeaning to women. But owners Dean and Darin Devincenzi swear the pub's name was innocently taken from childhood nicknames and that reference to women's bra sizes was never their intention. ... "It never even crossed our minds. It's a nickname. There's no other meaning," insists Dean. "It was 36 and a half years until someone pointed out that the nickname was also a reference to the female anatomy. I didn't even know double D's existed." Like several other Los Gatans, Deborah Deverse-Gaches, who wrote a letter of protest to the Metro-owned Los Gatos Weekly-Times, still finds the name brimming with innuendo. "I have no doubt that the name has personal meaning and that's fine," says Deborah D. "The issue is that the people in Los Gatos don't know what that personal meaning is, so they take the name at face value and extract a negative meaning from it."... There has also been speculation that -- because of its moniker -- the grill will be a restaurant of the Hooters variety. The Devincenzis, however, assure us that Double D's, slated to open mid-July, will be an "upscale grille" where employees will wear baseball jerseys and khaki pants, not tight tees and Daisy Dukes. "There are a lot of things that you could interpret in the wrong way. There's Lay's Potato Chips or Fantastic Sam's, or AAA Insurance," points out Dean, who refuses to let go of the original name. "We're just asking for a chance. Once people come in and talk to us and see what we're doing, they won't think that we had negative intentions." Vic-tory At Sea After a brief moment adrift at sea without a skipper, it's full steam ahead for Pete McHugh's county supervisorial campaign. Veteran political handler Rich Robinson is now at the helm, taking over after the departure of hardball consultant Vic Ajlouny. McHugh faces Pat Sausedo in the November runoff election for outgoing Supe Ron Gonzales' office. ... Primo Pete says Ajlouny quit the political game after deciding that it was "a little too stressful." The move caught the Milpitas mayor "completely by surprise." Vic must have been resting up, because he didn't return our call by press time. ...Robinson was brought on board just in time. Next month, McHugh faces a hearing before the Santa Clara County Ethics Commission regarding a complaint filed by Sausedo's camp. Seems Pat's people think McHugh has been playing fast and loose with his campaign reporting forms. He denies the charge, saying Sausedo is just digging for dirt. "She is apparently going to scrounge around for whatever she comes up with." Celebrity Shorts A shopper tells us she couldn't resist the pair of DKNY shorts hanging on the Nordy's rack-- black, tropical-weight wool crepe, for half price. "They practically leapt off the rack and into my shopping bag," she explains. However, once home, the customer found not only food stains on the seat, but a clue in the pocket. It seems the shorts contained evidence of prior celebrity ownership: a torn-up and uncashed check, dated June 14, 1995, signed by known Peninsula clotheshorse Joan Baez, written to longtime associate and human rights activist Ginetta Sagan. ... When the customer returned the used britches and confronted saleswoman Betsy Conners of Nordstrom's Savvy department, she was met with the following explanation: "You don't want to get in a customer's face by asking them if [returned] clothes have been worn." ... Cooler heads in management agreed not only to clean the pants but to research their fascinating history. ... It seems that Baez, on tour in Germany, discovered the shorts had grown a bit snug. She phoned Nordy's in a panic and got salespeople there to FedEx her the next larger size. The outgrown pair then reportedly hung in Baez' Woodside closet for nearly a year before she or some hapless functionary got around to returning the well-traveled trou to Valley Fair. And much to the delight of the customer purchasing the recycled shorts, Nordy's did spring for the cleaning (though not the delivery). Baez was unavailable for comment, but when told of the short story, her assistant Nancy Lutzow just laughed. ... "It doesn't surprise me, let's put it that way." Lutzow said. Public Eye welcomes tips. Leave messages 24 hours a day by calling 408/298-7818 and then pressing 2, followed by 412, to reach Eye's voice mailbox. [ Metro | Metroactive Central | Archives ]