Tracy Rathbun and Lynae Fearing, owners of the Pan-Asian and sushi restaurant Shinsei, have never felt competitive toward their husbands, who are two of America's most famous chefs: Dean Fearing, owner of soon-to-open Fearing's, and Kent Rathbun , owner of Abacus on McKinney Avenue.

But things may get interesting now that Shinsei's executive chef, 29-year-old Casey Thompson, is about to appear on Bravo's reality show, Top Chef.

That's because she'll be competing against 30-year-old Tre Wilcox , chef de cuisine at Abacus.

The new season premieres June 6. Casey, Tre and 13 more of the country's most promising young chefs will try to whisk their way to fame under the gaze of judges like Gramercy Tavern and Craft chef and owner Tom Colicchio, Food & Wine magazine special projects editor Gail Simmons, Queer Eye for the Straight Guy cooking expert Ted Allen and the Top Chef host, model and actress Padma Lakshmi.

The winner will get $100,000, be featured in Food & Wine magazine, appear at the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen and get a new kitchen from Viking.

"Of course I'm pulling for Casey," says Ms. Rathbun. "It's a double whammy: She's a female and she's my chef. We want Tre to do really well, too. We'd like him to come in second."

Walter Isaacson's publicist must think it queer to stop without a bookstore near. But he's on a book tour that isn't cheap and he has miles to go before he sleeps, and miles to go before he sleeps.

The former managing editor of Time and former chairman and CEO of CNN sits at the top of the New York Times best-seller list with his biography, Einstein: His Life and Universe.

On Thursday, Mr. Isaacson is going to try for a Texas twofer, hitting both Dallas and Fort Worth for talks and book signings sponsored by the World Affairs Council of Dallas/Fort Worth

He'll see familiar faces both places. He is president and CEO of the Aspen Institute, headquartered in Washington, D.C., but with a campus in Aspen, Colo. Lots of Texas heavyweights journey regularly to Aspen to participate in the institute's nonpartisan policy conferences.

The Dallas luncheon at the Hilton Anatole should draw such Aspen-Dallas regulars as World Affairs Council board chairman Pat Patterson, former J.C. Penney chairman Allen Questrom and his wife, Kelli , and civic leaders Bess and Ted Enloe.

For the early evening book signing at the City Club of Fort Worth, look for such powerhouses as philanthropists Sid and Mercedes Bass and Fort Worth civic leaders Ann and Ed Hudson.

For ticket info, call 214-965-8400.

Since the much-mourned closing of the restaurant Iris, its owner, Susie Priore, has been consulting for a cute new place on Worthington called The Cape. She reports that multi-instrumentalist Gabe McNair dropped in recently as an advance man for his band mates backing Gwen Stefani. (The keyboardist and horn player has also toured extensively with Green Day.)

After dining at The Cape, he ordered dinner for the entire band to be delivered the next night by chef Israel Fearon to the Smirnoff Music Centre.

"I do it on airplanes," says Vanna White. "I do it behind the puzzle board at Wheel of Fortune between rounds." What does she do? On the DIY Network's recent Craft and Hobby Show, America's letter turner revealed her favorite places to crochet.