LA will be Orlean's new home

It wasn't so long ago that we used to run into Susan Orlean everywhere. Not anymore. The bestselling author of "The Orchid Thief" has put her fancy pad in Fort Point Channel on the market, and is off to LA. "We're semi-winging it," she said yesterday. "Not having a job gives you a tremendous amount of flexibility." She's kidding, of course. Orlean is working on a book about Rin Tin Tin, and all of the ephemera related to the canine film star are out West. She and her husband, John Gillespie, like to joke they'll be forgotten but not gone. That's because in addition to their 3,000-square-foot loft at Fort Point Place -- it's yours for $1.5 million! -- the couple own a summer house in upstate New York. (The place, profiled in The New York Times last year, was designed by Bill Gates's architect, James Cutler.) "It's heart breaking to leave Boston because in about five minutes that neighborhood's going to be the coolest place in the world," she said. They decamp for California this summer, but not before Bernie Toale bids them adieu with a bash at his gallery.

‘Gone, Baby, Gone’ is on track

Miramax executives are predicting big things for Ben Affleck's directorial debut. Studio suits screened "Gone, Baby, Gone" in New York the other day, and apparently liked what they saw. The movie, based on Dennis Lehane's bestseller, is still set for an October release , and word is the muckety-mucks at Miramax are planning a bash in Boston to celebrate the opening. Shot around South Boston last summer, the movie stars Ben's brother Casey, as well as Michelle Monaghan, Morgan Freeman, and Ed Harris.

Beard honors L’Espalier’s McClelland

L'Espalier's chef-owner Frank McClelland was named best chef in the Northeast last night at the James Beard Foundation Awards dinner -- considered by many to be the food world's biggest night. McClelland, who had been nominated in the category in previous years but never won the coveted honor, was in New York City to receive the award. McClelland's luxe Back Bay eatery with its modern New England-French cuisine regularly ranks among the best restaurants in the region. Star chef Todd English won an award at Sunday's James Beard Awards .

Chef Oringer cookin’ up a storm

There's busy and then there's chef Ken Oringer's schedule. His KO Prime at Nine Zero Hotel will be unveiled tonight at an invite-only bash, and he's fresh off opening La Verdad on Lansdowne Street. And on Sunday night, acting siblings Andrew and Elisabeth Shue hosted a group of about 30 at Oringer's Clio. The Shues were in town for a screening of the flick "Gracie," which they star in and produced. Elisabeth's husband, Oscar-winner Davis Guggenheim, directed the soccer movie, which opens June 1.

Katie Couric killed some time Sunday at the Bunker Hill Monument. Apparently in the mood for a workout, the anchor of the "CBS Evening News" walked to the top of the city's oldest free-standing stairmaster, striding all 294 steps. Yesterday, Couric met with hundreds of advertisers at a WBZ function, and later went to Mass. General Hospital to report a piece for "60 Minutes." . . .

Former "The Young and the Restless" star Victoria Rowell was back in town last night at Boston University's Barnes and Noble to sign copies of "The Women Who Raised Me." In her memoir, the former area resident chronicles her childhood in foster care . Rowell also met with participants from the Big Sister Association of Greater Boston. . . . Joe Pernice's "Chicken Wire" has been dubbed the "most exquisitely sad song in the whole world" by AOL/Spinner.com, beating out Billie Holliday's version of "Gloomy Sunday" and the Beatles' "Eleanor Rigby." The song, about a woman choking to death on exhaust fumes, is found on the Pernice Brothers' 1998 debut album "Overcome By Happiness." . . . Could be a while before Jamie Kennedy plays Boston again. We're told the Paradise was not pleased last week when the "Kickin ' It Old Skool" star cancel ed his stand-up show -- for the second time in as many months. . . . Boston Culinary Group boss Joe O'Donnell, who's been buddies with President Bush for some 35 years, was one of the 7,000 big shots invited to last night's white-tie White House dinner, which honored Queen Elizabeth II and her husband, Prince Philip. The son of an Everett cop, O'Donnell doesn't own a white-tie tux, we're told, so he rented one.

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