By Paul Goldfinger, Editor @Blogfinger.net (Don’t miss the comments—wonderful celebrity stories!)
Yesterday was a bit chilly by Tampa standards. About 60 degrees in the evening. The three of us were going to spend our last meal in Florida going to a trendy gourmet eatery.
Restaurant BT is in an artsy neighborhood. Michael, our youngest son, who lives in Tampa, parks his Jeep Wrangler in their private lot, next to a long BMW sedan—black and exquisitely shiny. Eileen tries to climb out of the back seat of his Jeep. It is a terrifying thing to watch, but we finally help extricate her.
She regains her composure, and we sashay into the restaurant, a very fine French-Vietnamese place where sophisticated people go.
The crowd is in its 30’s and 40’s. Three young couples sit at one table, but the three women huddle together at one end, laughing and chattering. They all have straight long hair, and the blond wears black with a plunging neckline—plunging in the back. Many of the men wear jackets. Glasses are clinking all over the room, and the music is so subtle that all you can hear are the swishes of a snare drum.
I’m very sensitive to music in restaurants. This place wants to appeal to your subconscious. The decor is minimalist/elegant. The menu is exotic and complex. The chef, a tiny but beautiful Vietnamese woman, circulates around the room in her short white cook’s jacket.
The host, dressed in a suit, seats us in the corner, but it is a small place, and you get a good look at everyone. A couple walks in. They are dressed in black, head to toe, but he is wearing a T shirt and some cut-off pants with flip flops. He is a giant who could easily be an NFL lineman. She is stylish and she is all over him. “They should get a room,” whispers Eileen. “Why,” I said, “They’re just having fun.” Michael takes it all in. He says nothing but sees everything. It’s the nature of his work. We order—just ordering is a sensory experience because of the menu descriptions.
The food is marvelous—who cares about the price?—-gulp! This is a special night. But then, something happens that changes everything.
A group of 3 walks into the place and heads towards the bar while their table is readied. I look at them (I am an unrepentant people-watcher). The man in the middle, also all in black, is short but has a commanding presence. I study his face—BAM! It’s Emeril Lagasse. No doubt .
I grab Eileen’s arm. As he walks by our table, our eyes lock, and I know instantly that he knows that I know. The moment ends in a flash, and he sits at the bar, back to us. I look around the room. No one has noticed.
Then, as if someone has set off an alarm, the room comes alive as most everyone looks over at the bar. Emeril is very cool and seems oblivious, chatting with his friends. Evidently he has recently launched a TV show about Florida cuisine. He now lives in the Sunshine State.
Soon, as they lead him and his party towards the best table—the one near the door—the three sophisticated ladies jump up simultaneously and, like teenagers at an Elvis concert, they grab Emeril and insist that he pose for a photo with them. The heck with the men at the table—it’s Emeril and them. They shoot two photos and then he moves on. I noticed that as he posed, he did not stretch his arms around them. The ladies sat down and began to post on their Facebook pages.
Of course the staff catered to him, and rightly so. This was his second visit to BT, according to our waitperson who was taking care of us.
As we left, I didn’t dare take his photo or even look in his direction. I wish I knew what he ordered, but no way. After all, we Grovers are also very sophisticated.
Editor’s note: Did you ever spot a celebrity in a restaurant ? Please comment below. –PG
EARL HINES plays “Sophisticated Lady” by Duke Ellington.
This was a fun post two years ago on Blogfinger; read the comments too.—Paul
Reblogged this on Blogfinger.
In 2010, in a very small and exclusive vegetarian restaurant in Amsterdam. Saw this woman from the back when I walked in and thought, “Wow, what pretty hair.”
We were seated with her catty-corner behind me. All of a sudden my friend Jim became very animated and in his best stage whisper, “That’s Natalie Portman behind you!”
I had to think who she was and glanced over to her profile and thought, “Yep, that’s her.” I also thought to check out the man who was with her so I could Google it later and see if it was her boyfriend (later confirmed it was).
My friend was so excited, “Oh my god, it’s Queen Amidala! I can’t believe I’m watching Queen Amidala eat dinner!! I have her poster over my computer in my office.”
I, on the other hand, could only think, “Who’s Queen Amidala? I thought it was Natalie Portman?”
You could tell by the chatter in the room that some people did recognize her, but most did not. She was left alone to eat in peace. After they left, my friend asked our waitress if that was indeed Natalie Portman. All she said was, “Yes, she comes in here a lot when she’s in town. Now, what would you like for dessert?”
Doh!! Shot down for more gossip by the no-nonsense waitress. But we came back to America with a great tale of having dinner with Natalie Portman while in Amsterdam.
I was in NYC waiting on line to buy tickets for a movie ( don’t remember which one) John Lennon & Yoko were a few people ahead of us. People whispered but no one approached them.
Last summer my daughter and I rode our bikes over to Asbury to have breakfast at Toast. As I was locking up our bikes my daughter said, “Mom that guy behind you looks just like Bobby Flay.” I looked up and said, “That’s because it is Bobby Flay.” We proceeded to follow him into Toast but never did see where he sat or what he ordered.
Re David Brenner: He was on Johnny Carson. He told how he was sitting on his newspaper in the subway. A guy across the aisle said to him, “Are you reading that?” Brenner said “yes.” Then he stood up, turned the page, and sat down again.
—Paul
Remembrances of celebrity spotting over the decades:
70’s–Woody Allen eating pizza at John’s Pizzaria on Bleecker Street. Am sure I must have bored my date with bite-by-bite detail.
Early 80’s–Comedian David Brenner sat down next to us at a restaurant someplace near Bloomingdale’s. Brenner was brash, overly loud and continued to look around the room as if to say, “recognize me.” My friend and I decided to keep our eyes straight ahead.
Mid 80’s–Christmas Eve at the Russian Tea Room. My husband and I sat next to Alan King who was dining solo. To our left was Judy Collins and date . Across the floor: Margaret Whiting and entourage.
90’s–My work colleagues and I had our eyes glued to Matt Lauer and Bryant Gumbel who were seated at the bar at The Breakers in Palm Beach. We watched as an over- eager fan touched Matt’s leg. After that, he and Bryant bolted out of there!
I lived near UCLA for 1 summer in the mid 80s and my friend was a waiter in a Westwood restaurant. He served many famous folks including Kareem Abdul Jabbar and Ryan Oneal, to name a few. I couldn’t afford that restaurant at the time so I didn’t meet any of them but I did meet Rodney Dangerfield crossing the street at Santa Monica beach. He had a gorgeous young lady at his side and was wearing a light blue bathing suit with a yellow mustard stain on the leg which I thougth was strange. Anyway, I happend to see him again 2 weeks later – different girl – same bathing suit with the mustard stain. Wierd! Still love Rodney though – he was one of the best.
We were in an Indian restaurant in Manhattan. A sitar player was serenading in front, and a group of people were at a large table on the other side of the room. All of a sudden in walks Bill Murray. He goes over to that table, but he didn’t sit down. He shmoozed for a while–there was laughter, but we couldn’t make out the words. I guess they got lost in translation.
Then he said good bye and walked out. It’s always a thrill to see a celebrity unless you are a really jaded New Yorker. It’s not always a thrill to listen to sitar music for two hours.
Waterseller, ….My family’s bar, Buckley and Ferry, was in an old two story “taxpayer” (later demolished) on NE corner of 74th and York, the bar was on ground level with two party rooms on the 2nd. We had our 1952 wedding reception up there.
We had an almost celebrity sighting. While vacationing in California, we visited the quaint town of Carmel-by-the-sea. Clint Eastwood owned a restaurant there called the “Hog’s Breath Saloon.” It was a tourist attraction where you could buy a “Dirty Harry” burger.
But the way that we almost experienced Clint’s presence had to do with the fact that he was the mayor there at that time. When we bought ice cream cones downtown, we were warned not to eat them on the street because the mayor didn’t like his town to be messy. You don’t mess with Dirty Harry.
Love these stories. Did you hear him ask, “Who loves you, baby?” —Paul
Waterseller: Perhaps you recall the night we were with you at the Club Cache. In the audience was the cabaret singer Maude Maggart. She didn’t sing, but she waved. Also that night, if I recall correctly, was Eddy Cantor’s grandson who did sing for us. Paul
Last I heard, Woody plays jazz clarinet with the Eddy Davis New Orleans Jazz Band every Monday night at 8:45 at the Carlyle. But watch out, it will cost at least $195.00 per person. —Paul
The Woody Allen at The Red Blazer years ago. He jammed with the band for a few numbers on the clarinet. He stayed for dinner after the show. Much later I found out he did it all the time when in town.
Ken, you reminded me of another funny story of ” drinks for the house”. Up in that same area of Yorkville in the early 70’s, a drunk would order drinks for everyone and then disappear when it came time to pay. One night after last call, a bunch of us were in a diner on first by 86th st. The drunk comes in and shouts give everyone a drink. The counterman tells him that it is not a bar. The drunk looks around and shouts, give everyone a donut. True story. By the way, I used to frequent a place on 74 and york in the 70’s. Northeast corner across from the church. It was called Huey’s. Up on 75th was Gleasons.
In the early ’50s I was summer night bartender in my father’s bar at 74th and York Ave. One busy Sat. night around 2 or 3AM an already half-loaded Lawrence Tierney, the actor, came in. He played Dillinger in the movies a few years before but never got over the “Big Shot” tough guy stuff. He ordered :”Drinks for the house”; even guys nursing along a beer for hours ordered a shot and a chaser. Everybody cheered Tierney and flocked around him. In a short while he yelled “AGAIN”. When I asked he pay for the first round before I started pouring he screamed that I was insulting him, backed well away from the bar, and started coming at me as if he were going to vault over the bar. When he’d started screaming I had reached for the “billy stick” kept behind the bar (Yorkville was a tough neighborhood in those days) and waved it high in the air. He stopped short , turned and stormed out, probably to another bar .
Next morning when I excitedly told my dad what happened he only said: “You should not have poured the first round until you saw the cash”. Lesson learned.
While enjoying the show at the Club Cache where The Vince and the Nighthawks play, we saw several celebrities at various times. Liza Minelli and Michael Feinstein came in together, Hal Linden played a tune with the band on the clarinet, Margret Whiting was there several times. NY Met Ron Swoboda is a regular when he is in town from N’Orleans.
For 6 weeks I lived at a hotel in Universal City right outside of Burbank. Telly Savalas lived there as well with his Mother and brother George. Mama and Telly had breakfast everday at the same table. For the most part, everyone left him alone except for some tourists who could not resist asking for an autograph. (For those old enough to remember Kojak, never saw Telly with a lollipop but did see him and his brothet by the pool with some real babes.)
Delightful story! See, you were cool and let the man try to have a peaceful evening. My most unexpected celebrity sighting in a restaurant was in 1974, when I saw Kitty Carlisle, Orson Bean and Tom Poston dining together with three others at Ilvento’s West End Manor in Long Branch. I was their college student waitress and they were friendly, sophisticated and very funny. 🙂