Heads of lettuce, heads of state

We’ve heard of public officials being spotted in the produce aisles of Safeway, but not on the checkout monitors.

The image of Madeleine Albright appeared at the Georgetown Safeway (i.e. the “Social Safeway”) on Sunday. The caption reads: “We honor Madeleine Albright, the first female Secretary of State and, at the time of her confirmation in 1997, the highest ranking woman in the history of the United States government.”

A Social Safeway spokesman said it’s not just for the benefit of Washington’s political junkies, but part of the national grocery chain’s efforts to recognize women’s history month. He said to look for Albright’s visage in the weekly circular as well.

Andrés cooks up a show for American eyes

Yet another D.C. chef is preparing to don pancake makeup and show off his culinary tricks to a national TV audience.

José Andrés, the mind behind Jaleo, Zaytinya, Café Atlantico/Minibar and Oyamel, begins filming in June for a new PBS show that aims “to tell Americans what Spain is all about … to meet the unsung heroes of the food chain.”

He said each episode of the show, tentatively titled “Passport to Spain,” will begin in the States before moving to Spain “to see where the cheese comes from, where the tapas come from, the people who surround it; their way of living.

“It’s a lot of eating and cooking.”

Andrés will produce the 26-episode run in conjunction with Full Plate Media, which produces the public television series “Chef’s Story.” It is expected to air nationally beginning in the fall of 2008.

So is our local star (Andrés is the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington’s reigning chef of the year) ready to become the next Jacques Pepin, Emeril Lagasse or (shudder) Rachael Ray?

His resumé certainly indicates he is. He hosted and produced 250 episodes of “Vamos a Cocinar,” his cooking show on Spanish TV, during the last three years and is gearing up for another season. Last month, he was a guest on the Food Network’s “Sugar Rush,” hosted by D.C.’s own Warren Brown. And, he said, he appeared on the “Today Show” “six or seven times” in 2006.

“TV is a funny thing,” he says, but “the success of my show in Spain has to do with me getting ready for American TV.” Not that he needs more work: In addition to the two shows of his own, he’s going to be a contestant on “Iron Chef” April 1. Just last month, he relocated his Mexican restaurant, Oyamel, to Penn Quarter. And he’s working on his second cookbook, also called “Passport to Spain,” which is slated for publication next year.

RAMW Executive Director Lynne Breaux said that whatever Andrés’ workload, “D.C. is proud to share one of our culinary geniuses via TV with the rest of the nation.”

The Straw Man steps out in D.C.

Word traveled quickly among the patrons of Blue Gin in Georgetown Saturday night that a slugger was among them, after former eight-time National League All-star Darryl Strawberry strolled in just after midnight.

Strawberry, bedecked in black and sipping a beverage that included cranberry juice at a minimum, quickly attracted a throng of fans and, yes, young ladies.

Strawberry’s son, D.J., a standout basketball player at the University of Maryland, poured in 16 points against N.C. State earlier in the day.

When we asked Strawberry — who played for both the Mets and the Yankees — which baseball team he prefers, he admitted that his first loyalties will always lie with the Mets.

And no, that wasn’t legendary musician Chuck Brown’s great-granddaughter dining with him Friday night at McCormick & Schmick’s seafood restaurant on K Street (Brown is 72 years old). Brown’s 15-year-old dinner guest was there because she won the chance to dine with the “Godfather of Go-Go” in an auction benefiting the Duke Ellington School of the Arts.

Harman’s $19.5 million idea

For once, a member of Congress has thrown money at a project without raising cries of runaway pork spending.

At Sunday night’s Will Awards to benefit the Shakespeare Theatre Company, Sidney Harman took the stage to discuss the Harman Center for the Arts, which will add a 775-seat theater to the Company’s offerings.

It was ironic that co-chair Kathleen Matthews had just auctioned off a trip to Venice, Italy, said Harman, because it was “a lady from Venice, California” — his wife, Rep. Jane Harman — who should be thanked for the new space.

“The Harman Center for the Arts was Jane Harman’s idea,” Sidney said. The couple and their foundation contributed $19.5 million toward the project.

Sidney Harman, the philanthropist and businessman who founded the Harman/Kardon hi-fi company, proved himself a Renaissance man at a company news conference on Monday morning, as he recited a fairy tale he wrote for his grandkids, composed solely of phrases coined by Shakespeare.

Nic uncaged in D.C.

Fresh off having his head repeatedly burst into flames in the movie, “Ghost Rider,” we hear Nicholas Cage will spend the better part of a month in the District filming “National Treasure 2: The Book of Secrets.” The Oscar winner will begin his stay later this month.

According to the Internet Movie Database Web site, Cage’s character seeks “to discover the truth behind the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, by uncovering the mystery within the 18 pages missing from assassin John Wilkes Booth’s diary.”

Given the historical nature of the story, it only makes sense that Cage will likely shack up at the historical Hay Adams hotel, according to our source. The hotel is right near the White House.

Cage’s publicist did not respond to a request for comment.