Big Choices for Obamas: Chef, Church

With the incoming first family's private decisions being scrutinized as breathlessly as the president-elect's cabinet picks, you already know about the battle over the puppy, and the private-or-public-school competition. New York reports on three other hotly contested issues:

• The French-trained chef hired by Laura Bush may be replaced to reflect the incoming multiculturalism, but by whom? On the short list are Oprah's former chef and that of the Denver Nuggets' Carmelo Anthony.

• Washington churches are clamoring for the Obamas' Sunday mornings. Will they pick the traditional choice of presidents, St. John's Church, or one of several predominantly black congregations?
• The president will need a place to shoot hoops, but where will it be? Blue-collar folks may resent Obama if he razes the bowling alley for a court, as he once vowed.

(More Barack Obama stories.)