Fabio, the famous Italian hunk, hung around at the 24th annual National Italian American Foundation awards dinner at the Washington Hilton on Saturday night, picking up women.

Women flocked to the man whose square jaw, long blond mane and muscular chest decorate the covers of countless romance novels. They hovered around him like bees around a blossom. Occasionally, one would whisper something in his ear and he'd reach over, effortlessly pick her up and cradle her in his arms, smiling broadly, while somebody snapped a picture.

Fabio wasn't the only famous babe-magnet at the dinner. President Clinton appeared, too. But he did not pick up any women, literally or figuratively, perhaps because he was accompanied by his wife. The first lady is pondering a run for the Senate next year against New York's Italian American Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, who did not attend the dinner, although he'd been invited. Nobody in the room discussed the race--at least not publicly.