Penny Parker’s On The Town: Charcoal chef is all heart with a new valve

Charcoal’s Swedish super chef Patrik Landberg was nearly out of the frying pan and into the fire after being hospitalized last week with congestive heart failure due to an issue with a valve from a 2005 surgery.

“The valve (had) deteriorated – as is expected with these valves – but suddenly got much worse following a possible infection,” his wife, Jenny, wrote in an e-mail to friends. “He will have a new valve replacement surgery…we have excellent doctors here and are certain everything will go well.”

I am happy to report that the surgery on Sunday was a success.

“The hardest part will be the recovery, which takes six-plus weeks and can be very painful,” Jenny wrote. If you’d like to send get-well wishes, you can e-mail Jenny at jkeyerle@hotmail.com.

There’s a special place in my heart for Landberg who generously free run 6 femmes participated in the recent Evening of Decadent Delights, a dinner I support where local top toques create a multi-coursed feast to benefit Sense of Security, a Colorado breast cancer charity.

Skal, chef!

Author, author

Actress Tinsley Mortimer, star of the WB series High Society, will be launching the Denver debut of her book Southern Charm from 6 to 8 tonight at Neiman Marcus in the Cherry Creek mall.

Fierce fashionista Carson Kressley said about the book, “Tinsley Mortimer’s first book, Southern Charm, is just that: CHARMING! It’s like a mint julep—sweet, sassy and with a kick, all set against the glittering backdrop of the New York social scene—a modern day fashion fairy tale!”

The event, hosted by Neiman’s along with Denver’s own divas Monica Owens, Lauren Cannon Davis, Rachel Gruskin and Auna Jornayvaz, will take place in the ladies shoe salon and  includes HPNOTIQ Harmonie signature Southern Charm champagne cocktails and sweets for the sweet. Reply to: rsvpdenver@neimanmarcus.com.

Party with a purpose

There are still tickets available for the ninth annual For the Love of Raymond Wine Tasting & Silent Auction from 6 to 9 p.m. Saturday at the University of Denver’s Knoebel School of Hospitality Management, 2044 E. Evans Ave.

The event, a benefit for The Raymond Wentz Foundation that provides financial assistance to cancer patients, features limited production wines from the world’s premiere wine-making regions.

Tickets at (where else)  www.blacktie-colorado.com/tickets/

Celeb sighted

Veteran broadcaster Keith Morrison from Dateline NBC was spotted at Racines Monday night.

I’m told that Morrison is in town working on a long piece on Travis Forbes, who confessed to the murder of 19-year-old Kenia Monge, who was found buried in a shallow grave in Weld County. Forbes was sentenced to life in prison without parole.

Eavesdropping on a Denver Post employee when a reader called to cancel his subscription: “Won’t you miss the coupons?”

My Facebook page has moved. Be sure to like it! Also, here’s where you go to get my column emailed to you Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. My email: penny@blacktie-llc.com.