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Inqlings: 'Temporary closure' for La Terrasse on Penn campus

The Penn dining institution La Terrasse, which has had a revolving door of operators over the last 15 years, is shut tight.

The Penn dining institution La Terrasse, which has had a revolving door of operators over the last 15 years, is shut tight.

A spokesman for the university, which owns the property, which has been in the 3400 block of Sansom Street since 1966, calls it a "temporary closure." The answering machine mentions that it would be closed after Christmas Eve and would reopen in early January.

The rep says the owners have informed Penn that they are "in the process of repositioning the restaurant for a future opening." State records identify the owners as Anthony and Susan Rufo, who could not be reached for comment.

Cube or not cube

An animated video cube was lifted into place Saturday in front of the Kimmel Center at Broad and Spruce Streets. It will be unveiled about 5:30 p.m. next Tuesday, in connection with the Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts.

In her (new) shoes

Billie Diaz

shopped Saturday at Head Start Shoes off Rittenhouse Square, telling owner

George Patti

that she had to bring her daughter in. When Diaz did just that on Sunday, Patti realized that Billie's daughter is the actress

Cameron Diaz

, who picked up a pair of

Roberto Del Carlo

wedges, size 381/2. Patti said the Diazes could not have been sweeter. The Diazes and a friend had dinner Saturday night at Alma de Cuba (1623 Walnut St.), as they were in town for GlobalDESIGN, the International Showcase of Exceptional Jewelers, at the Convention Center. The shoe-shopping sighting was fitting: Cameron Diaz hit the Rittenhouse Square boutique scene hard in 2004 when she was here shooting

In Her Shoes

, based on Philly author

Jennifer Weiner's

best-seller.

Airing their beef

Beef-brisket grinders - and civic pride - are at stake at 8:30 p.m. Wednesday when

Bobby Flay

challenges

Peter McAndrews

to a

Throwdown

on Food Network. McAndrews, who owns the restaurants Modo Mio and Monsu and the Paesano's sandwich shops, shot the episode in November. McAndrews and family have booked a spot in the SugarHouse Casino in Fishtown for a private viewing party. (McAndrews doesn't sell a grinder, per se; he's putting his "Paesano" with beef brisket, tomato, and fried egg out there.)

In brief

Action News

alpha male

Brian Taff

and the station's creative-services producer,

Mara Webb

, have identified themselves as a couple on Facebook.

The comedy Cedar Rapids, playing at the Ritz theaters, has been drawing fire on blogs since the release of its trailer in December. Director Miguel Arteta uses a pre-Comcast Center skyline of Philadelphia in place of the notably lower-rise Iowa city. The kicker: The film was made mostly in and near Ann Arbor, Mich.