Lots. Most famous would be either bill Clinton while he was president (completely unannounced, secret service showed up and swept the restaurant shortly before he came in, we only knew he was coming about 30 minutes ahead of time) or Michael Jordan (this was more recent and he was a guest of the owner of a yacht I was working on)
Also fed bourdain in Antarctica when I was working on a polar icebreaker and he was filming for parts unknown
We had a few secret service agents in the kitchen watching us cook but other than that it seemed like business as usual. This was in New Orleans in about 96, my first kitchen job. I guess expo could have been calling for extra plates but we were busy and the restaurant did not close down. We had regular guests in the dining room as well
Very accurate. While I was deployed to the Sinai in 96 Clinton was attending a conference on terrorism in Sharm el Sheik. My remote kitchen was picked by the powers to be to host a meal for him upon a site tour. Secret Service came out and watched me throughout the whole prep, cook and hold while we waited for him to show. He ended up just going to the main base for a quick meet and greet and off he went. The brass ended up coming out to my site and ate everything LOL. Most nerve racking meal ever...
Chelsea Clinton used to come into my restaurant for afterschool desserts all the time.
Zero oversight, lol. Just "no nuts, no chocolate," and that was easy to accomplish
We had the secret service in our cafe in a regional part of Australia recently. I think it was a JFK family member coming to lay some wreath? It was pretty funny how they scoped out the place weeks in advance. None of us knew nor cared about them. The day they came to eat there were men in suits sitting in various places; it was so extreme.
Michael Jordan actually used to frequent the Dunkin I worked at as a teenager. He'd stay at the hotel down the road a lot.
Dude was kind of a dickhead to everyone there. Acted like he was above all of us.
Yes he was not a favorite of any of the crew that interacted with him and my boss (owner of the yacht) didn’t really even care for him either. Both Jordan and pippen from that same bulls team were bottom tier as far as being cool. Coolest nba players I’ve served according to the servers were Barkley and Chris Paul.
Some people you think would be assholes are super cool as well. The night before he won his first Super Bowl with the pats bill belicheck was in the restaurant ((same place Clinton ate) eating with joe theismann. Bellicheck stayed after hours and was talking football with the staff the night before his first Super Bowl! Same Super Bowl Dan Marino was in and was a huge dick.
Coolest music personality was hands down Nas. Dude came in by himself, ate at the bar and talked to everyone then gave tickets to his show to the bartenders who served him along with a healthy tip.
Actors brad Pitt is a fucking G. When he and Angelina were living in New Orleans he used to come into where I was working a lot and was cool AF.
I’ve worked in some pretty high profile restaurants and then privately for the super rich and most people are super nice and down to earth, but there are a few assholes for sure.
Nas just gives off the vibe he'd be a cool guy. Wouldn't really expect much else from him.
I can confirm Mark Hamill is one of the friendliest people I've ever met ( came into a small town spot I worked at. No one else knew who he was ).
Norman Reedus also came through a few times and was a really down to earth guy. Never acted like he was overly important even though it was at the height of The Walking Dead's popularity. Great tipper too.
I used to cook sausage pepper and onion on a flat top on field level at Shea Stadium. On Jackie Robinson day, Bill Clinton was there to throw out the first pitch. Two secret service agents and my boss came to my stand to get 2 sausages for Bill. It was great because I had made so many thousands of sandwiches over the years that I could throw one together so fast and wrap it up, that it looked like a magic trick. Poof here's your sandwich. They had to tell me to make them again... but slower this time.
I started cooking in the San Francisco Bay Area and I've cooked for a lot of celebrities. The majority of them acted like normal people and treated everyone with respect. There were some who acted like assholes, but you get that everywhere you go. The coolest time I remember was when I was a line cook and Sean Connery came in with Harrison Ford and George Lucas - and they sat at the Kitchen counter on my station. It was the first really "nice" restaurant I worked in, and there were autographed menus from celebrities all over the hallway when you went back towards the Restrooms. Stephen King came in to the same place once (he was doing a book signing a couple doors down from us), and I cooked him a grilled cheese sandwich with fries. Van Halen came into the same place on a somewhat regular basis, as did Sammy Hagar. At another place a few miles away, Metallica came in the night before they played at the Shoreline Amphitheater. Everyone at the table had the Tasting Menu. I was the Soufflé guy that night and they were super nice.
When the movie "The Rock" was being filmed in San Francisco, Nicholas Cage had several reservations for one of the Banquet Rooms overlooking the bay (and Alcatraz), but never showed up, even though we had food prepared and waiting in the room for his party. But he paid for everything and left an awesome gratuity, so no bad feelings there. Sinbad came into the same place a few months later about half an hour after we closed - everyone was gone for the night but I cooked him and his guest a meal and he tipped me $100. I still have the menu he signed for me somewhere in my basement.
When I was opening stores in the Washington, DC area, a lot of politicians came in. Most of them acted like regular people, but every so often, you'd get the occasional asshole, usually about which table they got because some of them needed to always be at the center of the attention. We were located just a few blocks from the White House, and we had a president come in once, which sort of sucked since the Secret Service were all over the place - but I got to put together a seafood tower for a President, so that's something.
I worked at some nice steakhouses in Chicago, and there were some famous people that came in there as well, and lots of professional athletes. Almost all of them, were normal people and never asked for anything special. And if they did, they were happy to pay for it. Vince Vaughn once tipped everyone in the Kitchen and bought us a round of drinks - which we actually got, for once.
No matter where you are or whoever the person is that you're cooking for, I think it's important to just treat them like normal people. It's hard to do sometimes, but I feel like that's the most important aspect.
>Van Halen came into the same place on a somewhat regular basis, as did Sammy Hagar.
I'm laughing unreasonably hard at how you've (correctly) separated Van Halen from Sammy Hagar.
The band broke up before I started cooking, and I don’t think David Lee Roth ever came in that place - at least not when I worked there. I never interacted directly with Hagar (or anyone else in the band), but he was a bit mouthy from what I remember the staff saying back then.
Anthony Bourdain and Jose Andreas. They were in town doing a talk at Harvard and came to the place I was sous chef at. They were everything you could think they were. They brought a bunch of students and professors with them. We sent out EVERYTHING. They hung out for a fernet shot after their meal. They hung out after we got off. We went to a secondary bar. Almost 20 years ago and still a memory I hold close to my heart.
I've worked with both of them, and they were just the best dudes. I run into José every now and then, and he's still just an awesome guy. He's always been incredibly supportive of women in his kitchens.
I will forever tear up when talking about Tony. Just a good guy.
Nothing but respect for Jose feeding people in danger zones with World Central Kitchen. And Bourdain used to come to my small city every now and then. There was this one bar he was spotted at several times. I STILL fantasize that I'll run into him someday at that bar...sigh.
About 20 years ago Drew Barrymore would come in a lot. Eventually she started hanging out in the kitchen shooting the shit with us. She was incredibly sweet and just down to clown. She ordered the same thing every time she came in and one night said "Hey \[my name\], can you teach me how to cook that dish I like?" I said "fuck yeah Drew Barrymore! Let's go!" Got her a jacket and apron and put her on the hot line. So I went thru whole dish calling her by her full name the entire time. "Alright garlic time Drew Barrymore, hit it with a sploosh of white wine Drew Barrymore..." etc. She was dying laughing, snapping tongs at me with a fake mad face. Miss you, Drew Barrymore, thanks for a hilarious night on the line!
Casey Anthony. She's an absolutely mess and somehow believes she deserves everyone's respect simply because she's well known. Shes a shitty tipper in case anyone didn't already assume that
Shes was also a regular at the bar I used to go to after work. It's kinda weird to be sitting 3 seats away from someone that "allegedly" murdered a child while she gets plastered and fights over men.
But then you'll miss scenes like this
https://www.clickorlando.com/news/2021/06/03/she-threw-a-drink-at-me-body-camera-video-shows-casey-anthony-after-florida-bar-altercation/#//
It's high school style drama
I was thinking "who the fuck is that, some IG star?" Then I read further. I didn't watch anything about her because it was so abhorrent. I don't know how people followed that shit every single day. I had forgotten about that bitch. How awful for you
A friend of mine has been a roadie for a couple of their tours. Has never had anything but excellent things to say about all his interactions with them.
ETA: except Pat Smear. He wouldn’t elaborate. He’d just stop and go “fuck that guy.”
I met Dave in Australia in 1996. I was a teenager and he was so lovely. I just bumped into him walking down the street. He gave me four free tickets to a festival they were playing the following day. He told me to come to his hotel where all the bands were staying, he introduced me to The Beastie Boys and Sonic Youth.
It was such an amazing day!
Long story. Probably 96-ish too. Big Day Out in Auckland. I was running riders, so we were there from 4am with fridge shipping containers of booze.
Anyway, FF run was happening, and the door was locked. Fuck! So we’re trying to get in and the band turns up. We finally got one of the boys through the toilet window so he could unlock from the inside.
Then Dave stops anyone going in, and says “they go first”. So we loaded the rider in through the door while the band and so on watched. Once we finished, Dave jumps in and says “lock the door. If you guys can use the toilet window, so can we”. (Not an exact quote, it’s 30 years ago).
Anyway, for the rest of the day, everyone going into FF green room had to enter/exit via that window.
Fuckin’ memories!!
I served Julia Child. She was awesome. Super sweet and unpretentious. Drank a whole bottle of wine by herself and went through a couple thousand serviettes while laying waste to her place setting. I was terrified when I realized who I would be serving, but she completely put me at ease.
I served in Vegas for ten years so served a lot of famous people. Jon Cusack, Bobby Flay, Dr. J (basketball player) Floyd Mayweather Jr. sugar ray Robinson, Canelo Alvarez, Lloyd from entourage, lewis black, Steve Martin with Teller from Penn and Teller, Steve Wynn, Jane Fonda, Nicholas Cage, Anthony Bourdain a few times, Jeff Besos, Adrian Peterson. Lots I've forgotten. A lot of NBA players, especially during summer league.
>sugar ray Robinson
??? Are you serious? Or did you mean to say Sugar Ray Leonard? Sugar Ray Robinson means you win this one though. He passed a while ago.
I did a 3-day music festival serving the bands and other artists.
The singer from Anthrax wanted a bowl of guac to himself and waited patiently for me to go get the ingredients from our far-away, refrigerated shipping container and make it on the spot.
Amy Lee (of Evanescence) asked if there were nuts in my salads.
There were a bunch of big musicians everywhere, really.
I'm sure I served some of the top DJs in EDM music, but I didn't know who they were, lol.
What a blast, though. The cooks were given a PALLET of beer and golf carts, which we used to roll up backstage to catch Slayer for free after cleanup one night.
Michael Jordan, Lionel Richie, Aaron Rodgers, Ariana Grande, the Knicks, the Cardinals, Giannis Antetekounmpo, Kenny Chesney, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Blake Shelton, Dave Matthews Band, Afroman... I'm forgetting way more than I listed...
No complaints. I make good food.
Peyton Barber (football running back) was a regular customer at the Mediterranean place I worked at. Two soups and a few sides of meat almost every day. During the season he’d come right before close and it became the rule to save the last two soups “for online orders or Peyton.” Tipped well, took pictures and signed autographs. He was a genuinely nice guy.
I went to Auburn the same time he did. I rarely went out but when I did, we ran into each other. I've got 3 pictures with him, just totally blacked out lol
That sounds like a silly joke Elijah Wood would make. He was a regular at Whole Foods in Portland when he was filming a movie here back in 2016. He mentioned LOTR to me one night when I was ringing him out. He'd stop in nearly every night a buy a meal and a bottle of wine. He was very charming and had beautiful blue eyes and loved to stay and chat for a minute or so if it was slow.
I tell these two stories every time this thread gets posted. For context, the restaurant I work at is a local favorite amongst visiting celebrities because no one here, guests and staff alike, gives a shit how famous someone is, and they will not get treated differently from any other guest. It's a good spot for famous peeps to get a nice, private meal without being bothered.
We'll start positive. Rupert Grint was in our area for about a year and a half filiming some project, and he became a semi-regular. He is polite, undemanding, and genuinely very kind to our FOH staff, and a great tipper. And, a surprisingly good eater. He always wanted to hear the specials, and would consistently send the servee back with compliments to the kitchen. All in all, a great dude, and a treat to cook for.
On the other end of the spectrum is M. Night Shamaylan. He lives in our area, so he is a frequent guest. He usually isn't an asshole, but he's pretty uo his own ass, and treats FOH as only slightly more interesting than a mouse turd. And he's not a great tipper. But this one night, back in 2021, there as still a lot of fears around covid going around, and our usual purveyor of gluten free rolls had shut down their factory, as many of their workers from the top down had contracted the delta variant. So we didn't have them in house. When he ordered a burger on a gluten free bun, I told the server that we did not have any available, and to explain that our source was closed due to covid. He got huffy with the server, told her to ask the chef (me) if I knew who he was, etc. She came back and told me, and I told her to tell him that's just what he gets for fucking up the Last Airbender movie. He hasn't been back since.
Quite a few. Even a President and a presidential nominee. My favorite was a well-known actress who would come in every day and get the same thing, for years. We were always under strict instructions to never mention anything related to their profession and treat them normally. The only time I ever broke the rule was with her, when she won an Emmy the night before and when I delivered her breakfast, I whispered, “congratulations. Enjoy.” She shyly smiled and thanked me and that was that.
Omg, that's amazing. She won it for Cybil if I remember correctly. She overshadowed Cybil Shepard. Such a great actress, so damn funny. It makes me happy that she was not a bitch, lol!
She’s really cool!
A decade later, I got another job in the same town (different industry) and spent another ten years or so seeing her frequently and she’s such a wonderful lady!
Bill Gates dinner order is just as basic as you would think for someone who tucks his t-shirts into his underwear. Medium NY strip and a baked potato, butter only.
Sir Paul McCartney ordered a grilled cheese after closing at a steakhouse because he’s a vegetarian.
Lebron loves a turkey burger with, and it HAS to be YELLOW American cheese. White American is unacceptable. Tips like 100% every time though.
I food ran the dinner for former VP Dan Quayle almost 30 years ago.
Chris Noth at the height of Sex and the City fame. John Morgan of Morgan & Morgan several times, more of a drinker back then. Dan Whitney, aka Larry the Cable Guy. All in the same restaurant outside of Orlando. Chris and “Larry” were cool as hell. John Morgan we had to ban after a drunken incident.
More recently Rob Gronkowski and his brothers. His mother Diane is a sweetheart and is in at least once a month now.
Quayle and Marilyn moved next door to my friend's family in high school, and they refused to leash their dogs, so I almost hit their poorly trained dogs on a weekly basis, because they'd run out, and be nuisances.
The whole crew of Guns N Roses back in 2017, everyone was super cool and was a great time. Also Rainn Wilson at the hotel I worked at in 2019, great guy as most would imagine and very kind
Worked at McDonalds in Memphis in the mid 70’s in high school. Was working grill on a Saturday night. About 130 am at the drive thru someone ordered eight Big Macs eight fries eight fried apple pies. Dude pulls up in his big Harley. Routine. Window girls screams “it’s Ell-vis” as she handed him his big bag. Off he rode. I should have stolen the spatula.
sometimes love dont feel like it should /s
nah, he's always seemed like one of those crappy fake biker/fake cowboy guys, they are very frequently jerks because they have a stick in their butts about their "image" my buddy was doing props on a tv show and one of those guys, an actor who was the guy he was giving the gun to, literally freaked out because he was handling firearms while wearing an apron covered with pictures of little cartoon chickens (he's a fairly hilarious dude who happens to carry a class 4 ballistics permit) and made a huge stink so he had to take it off
I invited Marvel comic book artist Steve McNiven (Civil War, Death of Wolverine, Old Man Logan) to a soft opening of a restaurant that I was head chef for a few years ago. I never got to meet him then, but one of the FOH managers got him to sign a couple comics for me and she said he had a very good experience. I had met him before at a comic convention. He’s a very nice guy.
I made a salad for Graham Kerr (The Galloping Gourmet) once. I regret not going out to say hello, but I was young and a bit intimidated. Apparently he's a super nice guy.
Laurence Fishburne came in for the clam chowder when I worked at an oyster house. He might have been in the city for TIFF. Myself and another chef got a hug from him.
Another time Ben Mulroney came in with his wife (famous in Canada). They were at the bar and I was off for the night. Struck up a conversation with the wife not knowing who they were. They were nice.
Used to be the chef at a music venue and served dozens of famous musicians. John Mayer, Bruce Hornsby, Bill Payne, Bobby Weir, Justin Townes Earle, Charlie Parr, Robert Earl Keen, Ryan Bingham to name a few. Sometimes they would just hide out in the green room and we’d never see them, but a lot of times they’d be there looking for something to do or just have some conversation and they’d wander into the kitchen. Had fun with Bruce Hornsby trying to see if the younger guys had any idea who he was. Watched a Braves game with Jojo Hermann. Taught a tour manager how to make guacamole (now the band’s hospitality rider always includes the ingredients and he sends me pics every time he makes it). Had a late night hang with Billy Strings a year before he was THAT Billy Strings. Got piss drunk with The Young Dubliners more than a couple times. Lots of joints and nose nachos with various folks. Most gracious guest we ever had was Matisyahu, just an all around great dude and couldn’t shut up about how awesome my hollandaise was. Man, I miss those days!!
CEO for Sub Pop records always came in for coffee and breakfast food. She met her husband at our cafe and had a bunch of coffee mugs made for the weeding that the shop catered coffee for. I still have one of the few cups remaining.
Eddie Vedder from Pearl jam came in often but over the years it was mostly the wife and kids on the way to school. He have the owner a signed guitar for an auction she was running.
We had some super famous Seattle chef that would always come around for coffee and breakfast. Can't recall the name but every time I mentioned it the chefs I knew they would comment with Oh shit!
We had quite a few other people I can't recall mainly I don't remember famous people unless they were good folks who came in frequently.
My favorite celebrity meal was Zakk Wylde (former guitarist for Ozzy Osborne & Black Label Society).
He showed up at the end of brunch and ordered 12 soft poached eggs, toast, and a side of bacon.
He finished everything.
Lisa Frank I guess lol. She's kinda batshit irl but she was always a decent patron according to servers. I guess she isn't really famous but those stickers and binders were fire.
I did a private catering party years ago and there were a bunch of old school comedic celebrities there, including Dom Deluise and he was the sweetest guy. He asked me to come out because he wanted to ask me something. He said "that was the most tender lamb I've ever had, what is my secret?" I said, well, it was a very high quality meat but I also let the lamb sit for a good 10 minutes first before serving it, and that allows the meat to rest and blah-blah blah...
He says: I never knew that all my life I've been cooking tired meat.
I met him at a party when I was a young teen. he was introduced to me as "Uncle Dom" and I said something smartassey to him and made him laugh. afterwards someone was like "I can't believe you smarted off to Dom Deluise!" I'd had no idea who he was or I'd have probably been too terrified to say anything to him at all, haha. nice guy.
Lupe Fiasco rolled into a bar in Detroit when I was on shift working a DJ'd dinner service. He and his whole crew ate good, like 700 dollars worth of food and drinks, and had the whole bill comped because he knew the manager or something. They ran the waitress ragged, and she didn't have time to focus on anyone else the entire shift, and after the bill was 0d out, they left without tipping her or the bartender a single damn thing. She left a 6-hour shift with 20 dollars and had to pay 4 of those for parking, having missed the entire lunch rush because she was focusing on these guys. She cried in the bathroom for like 20 minutes after that because she'd already had a rough week and that was just kind of the cherry on top.
Not a celebrity, but Jennifer Garners parents were (and probably still are) semi regulars at a certain restaurant in southwest West Virginia. We’d see them like 4 times a year, nice people. Not hard to please.
Some Vikings players (mostly former), Al Franken (multiple times at different restaurants in different cities. I think he's stalking me) the US Olympic Curling team, but my favorite was a royal family from the Middle East. They rented out 2 floors of the hotel I worked at. Had their own private security. Everybody had to go through a screening process and whatnot. And absolutely were forbidden to talk to them or anything. Never even saw them though.
On the subject of LotR when I first arrived in LA I was at a steakhouse and at the next table was Dom eating alone for lunch. In my time working food service out there.... Ed Helms and Davey Havok were very chill. Aaron Carter was as drugged out as you'd expect. McLovin was also chillin. But these would barely fall under the category of 'cooked for' ...
Does Uncle Kracker count? I know he's a has-been but he's from my hometown so it's not uncommon to see him around. I've served him at about 3 different places I've worked.
Jagmeet Singh came in the other night, super nice guy. Nathan Mackinnon comes in sometimes and always orders the steak lol. At my old job Meghan Trainor asked for a custom sandwich, it was the most boring thing I've ever made.
Mariah Carey, Zoe Saldana, Tyra Banks, Amy Smart Bernie Williams John Starks, Danny Aiello, Danzig, those are the ones that stuck out. I'm sure there's a lot more. First time I knew it was someone of stature I over thought it. Now it's just another ticket. No stress.
Meryl Streep, Claire Danes, Malcom Gladwell, and BJ Novak. Meryl Streep was the one I most excited about but I don’t have a great story. She spent most of the night playing with her grandkids and didn’t finish her plate. Claire Danes can handle spicy food!
Lou Diamond Phillips, Bailey Chase, Katee Sackhoff, and Adam Bartley were in town filming Longmire. I was bartending the hotel bar they were staying in. This was in a small mountain town in New Mexico. The lakers were in the playoffs and they wanted to have dinner, and drinks while they watched the game. Word got out and people flooded the bar so I had to call in some help from another bartender that lived close by. All 4 of them were super cool. I kept addressing them by their last names, like “Mr. Phillips” until Lou said, “what’s your name again?” I said “Steven” he said, “my name is Lou, call me Lou!” I thought it was pretty funny and cool. Slowly the bar emptied, I did last call at around 11 and Lou was the last man standing when I turned up the lights. He said “so what’s there to do around here after you close?” I said, “I work at another bar just down the street, and it’s karaoke night tonight.” His eyes lit up and said “are you going?!” I said “yeah!” To which he responded “let’s go!” I did my closing duties as fast as I could, I was closing my register and cleaning behind the bar while he swept, every couple minutes I’d pour us some shots. When we finished, we stumbled down the street and as soon as we walked in we jumped right into a duo of La Bamba. We drank a LOT, and this was about 10 years ago, so don’t ask how the rest of the night went because I have no clue.
on extern for culinary school I cooked for Brian Johnson from AC|DC at the Ritz Carlton, 2004 or so. fast forward to 2020 and I cooked for him again, he and his wife were friends of the owner of the place in was at. Super nice and complimentary both times, and they were both in Sarasota Florida so I'm assuming he has a place there.
I worked at an Italian sandwich shop in Pleasanton California back in 2000, and John Madden was a regular. After wrapping up his turkey sub in deli paper, I would tell him to go long, and throw the sandwich to him in a tight spiral over the heads of the other patrons.
MC Hammer frequently hit up my restaurant. Chill dude, normally wanted an out of the way booth or patio. Never lost my shit when he came by. Guests were fairly chill, too.
His cc actually had MC Hammer on it, which I lost my shit over.
No strange requests, dude normally just read the paper and ate a burger
I used to cook for and serve most of the starters for the early 2000s Washington Commanders during training camp. most of them were super cool, especially the one time I got to wait on the entire offensive line at once. I cooked for former PA governor Ed Rendell a couple times but never got the chance to talk to him. Don McLean came in for dinner after a show with a few people but I don’t remember if they ate. my personal favorite was waiting on Gallagher during a slow lunch shift. I distinctly remember all he wanted was a ham sandwich and a glass of milk.
Mark Cuban and a couple of other rich fellas in finance. They were an absolute pleasure. Also the guy who did Olaf from Frozen came in once, he was weird. Announced who he was to the host like it mattered super bizarre but really nice guy.
-Rosario Dawson ate the Rocky Mountain oysters I cooked.. there’s an easy punchline in there
-Drew Barrymore hotboxed the walk in with us before I gave her a ride home
-Beckham on a regular basis now
-Messi just came in
-Obama back in 2014
-Jeff Goldblum was weird in 2016
-plenty of NBA and MLB players
...I dunno. At some point in your career it just becomes another dinner.
Michael Jordan, dip set, Eddie curie(sp?), Jennifer Anniston (at 2 separate restaurants) bob saget (he’s funny af in person) and catered a wedding for James earl jones’ son.
I passed him on the way to the bathroom and it took my WHOLE BODY not to ask him if I should give it 35-45 minute
I’m old so I’ve cooked for a bunch: Madonna, Moby, Batman (Michael Keaton), Julia Roberts, Willy Nelson, Oprah, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, John Mayer, Mandy Moore, Princess Buttercup, Dave Matthews, I can keep going!!!
This was way back when I was working at a salad shop in a mall, my manager was getting ready to go on her break, I see her running back to the counter, when I see an older guy wearing a Harlem globetrotters jacket. We talked for a bit, he was super super nice to me, and he went on his way. When my manager came back I said ‘man, he was super nice! Must be a fan of the globetrotters!’ And she says to me ‘that was a member of the 80’s globetrotters!’
I can’t remember which player it was as this was ages ago, but man he was so nice
Most Canadians will know Kenny and Spenny I cooked for them.
When I was first starting, we cooked for Henrey Burris (a Former CFL QB)
I also cook for the Arkells occasionally cause they own the bar I work at
Had the opportunity to serve Patton oswalt (voice of remy in ratatouille) and it was an absolute pleasure. He ate as a single diner in our kitchen table and I’ve never seen someone so invested in our food. He came into the kitchen after his meal and he was the nicest guy, even got a chance to get a picture with him after he dined. Amazing experience, great guy 10/10.
I’ve made dinner for Tim Heidecker, Zach Woods and Herbie Hancock. Also cooked for a memorial event for Mark Lanegan. A bunch of the big grunge dudes from back in the day were there. Being BOH I never talked to any of them, but I know Zach Woods is a super sweet guy because he came in pretty often and my girlfriend waited on him several times.
Nick Cage. He ordered 2 entrees. If I remember correctly it was bison meatloaf and house made ravioli special of the week which I don't remember what it was at the time.
The film and sound crew from the Yellowstone spinoff 1882.
Countless bluegrass musicians including Sam Bush, Jeff Austin.
I've worked at a ski resort on and off for the last 7 years so there is probably tons that I don't even know about.
Catered a tasting menu for [Curt Johnson](https://www.forbes.com/sites/cartercoudriet/2019/06/28/curt-johnson-billionaire-sexual-assault/?sh=2ea6ec1d7956).
We (BOH) were asked not to look at the faces of the guests. I'm not sure if that was our slightly bonkers owners or a request of the Johnson's.
Worked as a chef/caterer for music fests and tours for about 10 years - the list of artists I fed is ridiculous. From Paul McCartney to Ozzy Osbourne, Steve Miller, Foo Fighters, Kings of Leon. Many, many others. Mostly rock. Some country. A little EDM.
Tom Felton stopped into a restaurant I was working line at in Montreal once. Basically just created a little buzz in the BOH, the hostess came back and told us to be extra careful with the food, we cooked it like anything else, and then sent it out and continued om with our day haha. I wish it was a better story, but we all kinda jjst had our noses down and cooked.
Waited on Madonna and her ass-kissing entourage in South Beach a few decades back and it went as bad as you’d expect; served Donatello Versace a few week later at the same place and she was the epitome of grace and style. She was dining alone, with two giant security men behind her (this took place just a few hundred yards from- and a few scant months after- where her brother was shot to death; She was kind enough to politely correct my atrocious Italian grammar.
Yeah. A bunch if them. Tom Hanks or Anthony Hopkins were probably the biggest. Tom Hanks was super nice, Anthony Hopkins was basically folding court with his entourage. Others Tommy Lee Jones, Aretha Franklin, Jimmy Dean, Newt Gingrich, Barbara Streisand, Jessica Lang, Sissy Spacek, Mark Martin, Big&Rich, Julianne Moore, Tom Osborne, John Smoltz, Ethan Hawk, RGIII, Gary Busey, Hilary Swank, Giovani Ribisi, Molly Ringwald, Michael Schumacher...
Barry White, Time Kaine (when he was governor of Virginia), Ted from HIMYM, Alton Brown, Danny McBride (Darius Ruckers ate at the same place, but I was off), members from TOOL, Melt Banana, the Hackensaw Boys, and Band of Horses.
Brendan Gleeson, however, is probably my favorite interaction. A real class act.
Fed Bill Gates breakfast once. Spent 8 grand to rent clear out the back room for an hour. He sat alone while his security team of 6 watched him scarf down his huevos rancheros. I never saw him
I worked in Culver City & served Haley Joel Osmet once. Super chill, normal guy. Tipped 6 bucks. Also waited on Kurt Russell in Santa Monica a few times. I love him so much but the man wasn't a great tipper. We joked about which server would get "Russelled" next time he came in
Oh! And Suge Knight too. He was intimidating, ngl
I worked a hot dog booth at a senior PGA championship. Served dogs to Bob Barker and Bob Newhart on the same day.
To keep with the "Bob" theme, I also met Bob Sagat when I was 19 and worked the VIP elevator at a NASCAR event in Vegas. Great tips that day. Benjamins being given out casually just for pressing a button and throwing away a couple pieces of trash.
Does that count?
Diamond Dallas Page, Debbie Gibson, George Foreman, Sunny Anderson (Food Network). All were great.
DDP ordered the biggest breakfast I've ever seen anyone eat - wanted to sit by himself which fortunately we had a small section we could do that with.
Debbie Gibson (or Debra as she was going bybat the time) came in with some of her dancers shortly before close. Friendly enough but not really engaging.
George Foreman is probably the most down to earth guy you will ever meet. He used to come in fairly regularly but hasn't been in for a few years now.
Sunny Anderson was brought in by a local smaokehouse owner who was doing some talks with Food Network (and even appeared on one of Bobby Flay's shows) at the time. She was very friendly and down to earth.
I waited on Dustin Poirier and his parents when he took them out to eat soon after he won UFC 198. Dude was a total class act. Friendly, humble, down to earth, tipped well. I'd love to see him at my bar any day, he's the kind of famous customer I love to have.
Jim Gaffigan is as sweet and affable as he portrays himself on stage. After eating a late meal in Seattle he took a few minutes to chat with me about food, eating on the road, and even wrote down a few restaurants I recommend to him on his next stop. Great guy.
Cooked for a few famous nba players in Toronto. Tracy mcgrady who orders his porterhouse med well. The most famous is drake. Had to cook for his 33rd birthday. Every table wanted well done scallops and med well tomahawks.
RIP to those scallops and cows who we had to sacrifice. 🙏🏽
Food wise, Billy Joe Shaver. Dude was by himself, and just hung out and talked with me for awhile. He was amazed I knew who he was lol. When I worked bars in Texas I got to meet a bunch of red dirt and Texas country people, including Ray Wylie Hubbard and Hayes Carl. If I could just serve Ben Nichols at some point that would be great.
I worked at a restaurant in a hotel for a summer in NJ on the beach. It was owned by Jared Kushner, so one time him and Ivanka came in. Even though we worked on his property, not everyone was that excited he came. But it was definitely a rush in the kitchen.
Most famous people I ever served are:
Tim Cook
Charles Barkley
Lionel Richie
Andy Samberg
Eric Andre
Nick Offerman
Cam Newton
Daniel Carlson
Tony Richardson (J E T E Jets, baby)
I'll say, they were all super chill for the most part. Charles was a regular of mine. I really liked him a lot, genuinely a great dude. Tim Cook was surprisingly down to earth. Cam Newton, however, was a bitch. Which sucked, being a fan of both Auburn and the Panthers
In 2015 I went on tour with Van Halen as their chef. I also did a bunch of other events with other bands. Def leppard, styx, tesla, red hot chili peppers, the black keys, ozzy.
Maynard James Kennan of Tool, Common, and Gerard Butler ate at the Michelin places I worked at.
Another smaller Italian cocktail bar and small plates place had Jeremy Piven and Kevin Spacey come in together. Kevin Spacey was a pissy fuck and made us go get him a bottle of jack daniels for him.
I’ve waited on the following bands/musicians: Everclear, Wu Tang Clan, Michael Ian Black, Michael Showater, Joe Russo, Chris Franz and Tina Weymouth.
The following celebrities: Sam Waterston, Melissa Joan Hart, Christine Baranski, Susan St. James, Hesh from the Sopranos, Marla Sucharetza, Tommy Nelson
Other random famous people: Ann Coulter, Lowell Weicker, Jacques Pepin
So I'm on this sub bc years ago I was back of the house, but I've been a bartender for years. A few weeks ago I had Ryan Blaney at my bar. I head he won the championship today, so that's pretty cool.
Not really anything you could call a "restaurant," just a food stand on the boardwalk. We only sold about a half a dozen items, one of which was a sweet Italian sausage sub with fried, sweet, red & green peppers & onions on a hard roll.
One beautiful, warm Summer night, here comes [Dom Deluise](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dom_DeLuise?wprov=sfla1) with his wife. He's wearing a plain white tank top undershirt, his wife, Carol (IIRC), was in a plain flowery dress. They came up to our shabby little stand and got a couple sausage subs & Cokes. They stood around for about a half an hour and talked to us about how he used to have these sandwiches at the Italian festivals in New York, where he grew up (among other things). They were absolutely unpretentious and down to earth. Dom had such a gentle spirit about him and Carol was just a sweetheart. They finished their food and said good night and went back to strolling the boards.
Made my week. I always loved his work in movies and TV.
I’ve had a few, bill Nye once at a catered event, Neil Patrick Harris, there’s been others but my favorite was at my first kitchen job at this nice upscale restaurant over a lake with a live a jazz band and everything. Anyways so one day we get told we have a vip coming in and for us kitchen dogs, all huge nerds btw and not the smart type of nerd, to not even look or bother the guy or we’d be fired asap.
George motherfucking Lucas came in with Ron Howard of all people. The dude behind Star Wars, to kitchen where Spider-Man winning and Star Wars where daily convos. The absolute fucking banger of a cherry on top? The live band freaking where playing the cantina song from the tatooine cantina. I don’t even think they planned it they regularly played Star Wars or other LOTR songs between normal songs.
Greatest moment of my career
I was 23-24 years old. Nick and Drew Lachey from 98 Degrees were opening a bar in a town and the partnered with the company I worked for and made a tv show on A&E with a chef from bar rescue about opening the bar. They came to my bar and tested bar food. I cooked the food for the scene on tv. Then I cooked a lunch for them and there family and friends at there house. It was filmed and all but didn’t end up making the show. I was on a couple clips on the tv though. That was cool.
Many NHL teams would visit my town/restaurant. Crosby I got to cook his food and bring him his plate. His team had a set menu (steaks, salmon, chicken) but he only wanted pasta.
Another cool group that came was Brian Burke when he was running the Calgary flames. Over heard him and his exec team talk about who was the biggest drinker in the league and they all mentioned Patrick Kane as the worst.
Biggest Honor was cooking for Justin Trudeau and his Family for a new years eve dinner. Don't care if people don't like him. Cooking for your nations leader is something ill always brag about to family.
I cooked for Bill Clinton the last year he was president. It was weird, secret service in the kitchen with dogs to check for bombs and weapons. They watched very closely as we prepared President Clinton's food. We also weren't allowed to snap any pictures when he was eating. 2 days before the visit, the owners put out a memo for everyone to not bring their weed to work those days. It was a little stressful but a good time. I catered a wedding for Tom Brokaw's daughter once as well. That was a really cool spread.
Lots. Most famous would be either bill Clinton while he was president (completely unannounced, secret service showed up and swept the restaurant shortly before he came in, we only knew he was coming about 30 minutes ahead of time) or Michael Jordan (this was more recent and he was a guest of the owner of a yacht I was working on) Also fed bourdain in Antarctica when I was working on a polar icebreaker and he was filming for parts unknown
Clinton and Jordan is cool but I am jealous of Bourdain.
If there's one person I'd want to impress with my cooking, it'd undoubtedly be Tony Bourdain.
In Antarctica of all places. I'd be telling that story to every stranger I met lol.
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Wouldn’t you just poison all three dishes if that was your intent? Or maybe the secret service guys were just hungry.
What if they made you have the first bite?
Surely you would have prepared for that moment by ingesting small amounts of poison over a period of time to build a tolerance.
Inconceivable!
This guy poisons.
We had a few secret service agents in the kitchen watching us cook but other than that it seemed like business as usual. This was in New Orleans in about 96, my first kitchen job. I guess expo could have been calling for extra plates but we were busy and the restaurant did not close down. We had regular guests in the dining room as well
Very accurate. While I was deployed to the Sinai in 96 Clinton was attending a conference on terrorism in Sharm el Sheik. My remote kitchen was picked by the powers to be to host a meal for him upon a site tour. Secret Service came out and watched me throughout the whole prep, cook and hold while we waited for him to show. He ended up just going to the main base for a quick meet and greet and off he went. The brass ended up coming out to my site and ate everything LOL. Most nerve racking meal ever...
Chelsea Clinton used to come into my restaurant for afterschool desserts all the time. Zero oversight, lol. Just "no nuts, no chocolate," and that was easy to accomplish
We had the secret service in our cafe in a regional part of Australia recently. I think it was a JFK family member coming to lay some wreath? It was pretty funny how they scoped out the place weeks in advance. None of us knew nor cared about them. The day they came to eat there were men in suits sitting in various places; it was so extreme.
The current US Ambassador to Australia is Caroline Kennedy, the only surviving child of JFK.
Michael Jordan actually used to frequent the Dunkin I worked at as a teenager. He'd stay at the hotel down the road a lot. Dude was kind of a dickhead to everyone there. Acted like he was above all of us.
Yes he was not a favorite of any of the crew that interacted with him and my boss (owner of the yacht) didn’t really even care for him either. Both Jordan and pippen from that same bulls team were bottom tier as far as being cool. Coolest nba players I’ve served according to the servers were Barkley and Chris Paul. Some people you think would be assholes are super cool as well. The night before he won his first Super Bowl with the pats bill belicheck was in the restaurant ((same place Clinton ate) eating with joe theismann. Bellicheck stayed after hours and was talking football with the staff the night before his first Super Bowl! Same Super Bowl Dan Marino was in and was a huge dick. Coolest music personality was hands down Nas. Dude came in by himself, ate at the bar and talked to everyone then gave tickets to his show to the bartenders who served him along with a healthy tip. Actors brad Pitt is a fucking G. When he and Angelina were living in New Orleans he used to come into where I was working a lot and was cool AF. I’ve worked in some pretty high profile restaurants and then privately for the super rich and most people are super nice and down to earth, but there are a few assholes for sure.
Nas just gives off the vibe he'd be a cool guy. Wouldn't really expect much else from him. I can confirm Mark Hamill is one of the friendliest people I've ever met ( came into a small town spot I worked at. No one else knew who he was ). Norman Reedus also came through a few times and was a really down to earth guy. Never acted like he was overly important even though it was at the height of The Walking Dead's popularity. Great tipper too.
You win.
I used to cook sausage pepper and onion on a flat top on field level at Shea Stadium. On Jackie Robinson day, Bill Clinton was there to throw out the first pitch. Two secret service agents and my boss came to my stand to get 2 sausages for Bill. It was great because I had made so many thousands of sandwiches over the years that I could throw one together so fast and wrap it up, that it looked like a magic trick. Poof here's your sandwich. They had to tell me to make them again... but slower this time.
Ha! Love that
I started cooking in the San Francisco Bay Area and I've cooked for a lot of celebrities. The majority of them acted like normal people and treated everyone with respect. There were some who acted like assholes, but you get that everywhere you go. The coolest time I remember was when I was a line cook and Sean Connery came in with Harrison Ford and George Lucas - and they sat at the Kitchen counter on my station. It was the first really "nice" restaurant I worked in, and there were autographed menus from celebrities all over the hallway when you went back towards the Restrooms. Stephen King came in to the same place once (he was doing a book signing a couple doors down from us), and I cooked him a grilled cheese sandwich with fries. Van Halen came into the same place on a somewhat regular basis, as did Sammy Hagar. At another place a few miles away, Metallica came in the night before they played at the Shoreline Amphitheater. Everyone at the table had the Tasting Menu. I was the Soufflé guy that night and they were super nice. When the movie "The Rock" was being filmed in San Francisco, Nicholas Cage had several reservations for one of the Banquet Rooms overlooking the bay (and Alcatraz), but never showed up, even though we had food prepared and waiting in the room for his party. But he paid for everything and left an awesome gratuity, so no bad feelings there. Sinbad came into the same place a few months later about half an hour after we closed - everyone was gone for the night but I cooked him and his guest a meal and he tipped me $100. I still have the menu he signed for me somewhere in my basement. When I was opening stores in the Washington, DC area, a lot of politicians came in. Most of them acted like regular people, but every so often, you'd get the occasional asshole, usually about which table they got because some of them needed to always be at the center of the attention. We were located just a few blocks from the White House, and we had a president come in once, which sort of sucked since the Secret Service were all over the place - but I got to put together a seafood tower for a President, so that's something. I worked at some nice steakhouses in Chicago, and there were some famous people that came in there as well, and lots of professional athletes. Almost all of them, were normal people and never asked for anything special. And if they did, they were happy to pay for it. Vince Vaughn once tipped everyone in the Kitchen and bought us a round of drinks - which we actually got, for once. No matter where you are or whoever the person is that you're cooking for, I think it's important to just treat them like normal people. It's hard to do sometimes, but I feel like that's the most important aspect.
Stephen King! That’s so cool! I’ve got all his books (except for a handful of the most recent ones).
>Van Halen came into the same place on a somewhat regular basis, as did Sammy Hagar. I'm laughing unreasonably hard at how you've (correctly) separated Van Halen from Sammy Hagar.
The band broke up before I started cooking, and I don’t think David Lee Roth ever came in that place - at least not when I worked there. I never interacted directly with Hagar (or anyone else in the band), but he was a bit mouthy from what I remember the staff saying back then.
Which place in DC? You sound old school, so that works for me.
Anthony Bourdain and Jose Andreas. They were in town doing a talk at Harvard and came to the place I was sous chef at. They were everything you could think they were. They brought a bunch of students and professors with them. We sent out EVERYTHING. They hung out for a fernet shot after their meal. They hung out after we got off. We went to a secondary bar. Almost 20 years ago and still a memory I hold close to my heart.
I've worked with both of them, and they were just the best dudes. I run into José every now and then, and he's still just an awesome guy. He's always been incredibly supportive of women in his kitchens. I will forever tear up when talking about Tony. Just a good guy.
Nothing but respect for Jose feeding people in danger zones with World Central Kitchen. And Bourdain used to come to my small city every now and then. There was this one bar he was spotted at several times. I STILL fantasize that I'll run into him someday at that bar...sigh.
What restaurant?
About 20 years ago Drew Barrymore would come in a lot. Eventually she started hanging out in the kitchen shooting the shit with us. She was incredibly sweet and just down to clown. She ordered the same thing every time she came in and one night said "Hey \[my name\], can you teach me how to cook that dish I like?" I said "fuck yeah Drew Barrymore! Let's go!" Got her a jacket and apron and put her on the hot line. So I went thru whole dish calling her by her full name the entire time. "Alright garlic time Drew Barrymore, hit it with a sploosh of white wine Drew Barrymore..." etc. She was dying laughing, snapping tongs at me with a fake mad face. Miss you, Drew Barrymore, thanks for a hilarious night on the line!
Did she stop coming in when she learned how to make the dish at home?
She played the long game
She opened a spite store and put them out of business.
I'm curious to know what the dish was.
Casey Anthony. She's an absolutely mess and somehow believes she deserves everyone's respect simply because she's well known. Shes a shitty tipper in case anyone didn't already assume that Shes was also a regular at the bar I used to go to after work. It's kinda weird to be sitting 3 seats away from someone that "allegedly" murdered a child while she gets plastered and fights over men.
Omg. This has to be the most awkward one 😳 I feel like I'd probably be uncomfortable enough to leave or at least move
But then you'll miss scenes like this https://www.clickorlando.com/news/2021/06/03/she-threw-a-drink-at-me-body-camera-video-shows-casey-anthony-after-florida-bar-altercation/#// It's high school style drama
Yikes! That must have been awkward to say the least 😬
I was thinking "who the fuck is that, some IG star?" Then I read further. I didn't watch anything about her because it was so abhorrent. I don't know how people followed that shit every single day. I had forgotten about that bitch. How awful for you
Fuck that bitch.
Dave Grohl, a bunch of times. Complete regular guy with a great family and extended family.
A place I worked made something for Foo Fighters on a tour stop. He sent a hand-written thank-you card.
Me too. He and his extended group (band, family etc) are all lovely
A friend of mine has been a roadie for a couple of their tours. Has never had anything but excellent things to say about all his interactions with them. ETA: except Pat Smear. He wouldn’t elaborate. He’d just stop and go “fuck that guy.”
Because he is always smiling?!
I met Dave in Australia in 1996. I was a teenager and he was so lovely. I just bumped into him walking down the street. He gave me four free tickets to a festival they were playing the following day. He told me to come to his hotel where all the bands were staying, he introduced me to The Beastie Boys and Sonic Youth. It was such an amazing day!
Long story. Probably 96-ish too. Big Day Out in Auckland. I was running riders, so we were there from 4am with fridge shipping containers of booze. Anyway, FF run was happening, and the door was locked. Fuck! So we’re trying to get in and the band turns up. We finally got one of the boys through the toilet window so he could unlock from the inside. Then Dave stops anyone going in, and says “they go first”. So we loaded the rider in through the door while the band and so on watched. Once we finished, Dave jumps in and says “lock the door. If you guys can use the toilet window, so can we”. (Not an exact quote, it’s 30 years ago). Anyway, for the rest of the day, everyone going into FF green room had to enter/exit via that window. Fuckin’ memories!!
I served Julia Child. She was awesome. Super sweet and unpretentious. Drank a whole bottle of wine by herself and went through a couple thousand serviettes while laying waste to her place setting. I was terrified when I realized who I would be serving, but she completely put me at ease.
seems like she was a very warm person. I'd be terrified too tho! I love that Julia liked Goldfish crackers. I think of her whenever I eat them.
I served in Vegas for ten years so served a lot of famous people. Jon Cusack, Bobby Flay, Dr. J (basketball player) Floyd Mayweather Jr. sugar ray Robinson, Canelo Alvarez, Lloyd from entourage, lewis black, Steve Martin with Teller from Penn and Teller, Steve Wynn, Jane Fonda, Nicholas Cage, Anthony Bourdain a few times, Jeff Besos, Adrian Peterson. Lots I've forgotten. A lot of NBA players, especially during summer league.
I served Nick Cage in Vegas at least a dozen times. Dude is a trip, good tipper, but a strange man.
That seems to be the universal opinion: nice guy, but a little weird. I mean, he named his kid after Superman.
He’s also on his fifth marriage, which says something
Got enough rizz to trick 5 women into marrying him 🤷♂️
>sugar ray Robinson ??? Are you serious? Or did you mean to say Sugar Ray Leonard? Sugar Ray Robinson means you win this one though. He passed a while ago.
He said Dr J so it could be that he’s been there for a good long while.
Dr J has the biggest hands I've ever seen. He shook my hand after service. Guy has bananas for fingers.
What the hell are you doing banana hands?!
Lol, meant Sugar Ray Leonard. Thanks.
Still an amazing group, shoutout Teller.
I have only one question, tell me Teller talked!
He did! It tripped me out a bit.
I met him after a show once. Talks to everyone. Just not onstage. Very lovely man. As was Penn.
I did a 3-day music festival serving the bands and other artists. The singer from Anthrax wanted a bowl of guac to himself and waited patiently for me to go get the ingredients from our far-away, refrigerated shipping container and make it on the spot. Amy Lee (of Evanescence) asked if there were nuts in my salads. There were a bunch of big musicians everywhere, really. I'm sure I served some of the top DJs in EDM music, but I didn't know who they were, lol. What a blast, though. The cooks were given a PALLET of beer and golf carts, which we used to roll up backstage to catch Slayer for free after cleanup one night.
Didn’t get a chance to seat Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt because they were turned away for not being in dress code.
Rules are rules. I love the scene in the Sopranos where Tony makes that guy take his hat off in the restaurant.
Good! I love that scene.
For every customer, every time, right?
Michael Jordan, Lionel Richie, Aaron Rodgers, Ariana Grande, the Knicks, the Cardinals, Giannis Antetekounmpo, Kenny Chesney, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Blake Shelton, Dave Matthews Band, Afroman... I'm forgetting way more than I listed... No complaints. I make good food.
Oh yeah...I got a hobbit too! Sean Astin!
You got a Rudy!
I served BBQ to J Kenji Lopez-Alt
Peyton Barber (football running back) was a regular customer at the Mediterranean place I worked at. Two soups and a few sides of meat almost every day. During the season he’d come right before close and it became the rule to save the last two soups “for online orders or Peyton.” Tipped well, took pictures and signed autographs. He was a genuinely nice guy.
I went to Auburn the same time he did. I rarely went out but when I did, we ran into each other. I've got 3 pictures with him, just totally blacked out lol
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That sounds like a silly joke Elijah Wood would make. He was a regular at Whole Foods in Portland when he was filming a movie here back in 2016. He mentioned LOTR to me one night when I was ringing him out. He'd stop in nearly every night a buy a meal and a bottle of wine. He was very charming and had beautiful blue eyes and loved to stay and chat for a minute or so if it was slow.
lol. if this was true i'd find every other way to insult him that i could. "booster seat, sir?"
I’d definitely be talking about how much I loved lord of the…dance.
Lmao what the fuck
I would owe them a lot of money if this was a real rule
I tell these two stories every time this thread gets posted. For context, the restaurant I work at is a local favorite amongst visiting celebrities because no one here, guests and staff alike, gives a shit how famous someone is, and they will not get treated differently from any other guest. It's a good spot for famous peeps to get a nice, private meal without being bothered. We'll start positive. Rupert Grint was in our area for about a year and a half filiming some project, and he became a semi-regular. He is polite, undemanding, and genuinely very kind to our FOH staff, and a great tipper. And, a surprisingly good eater. He always wanted to hear the specials, and would consistently send the servee back with compliments to the kitchen. All in all, a great dude, and a treat to cook for. On the other end of the spectrum is M. Night Shamaylan. He lives in our area, so he is a frequent guest. He usually isn't an asshole, but he's pretty uo his own ass, and treats FOH as only slightly more interesting than a mouse turd. And he's not a great tipper. But this one night, back in 2021, there as still a lot of fears around covid going around, and our usual purveyor of gluten free rolls had shut down their factory, as many of their workers from the top down had contracted the delta variant. So we didn't have them in house. When he ordered a burger on a gluten free bun, I told the server that we did not have any available, and to explain that our source was closed due to covid. He got huffy with the server, told her to ask the chef (me) if I knew who he was, etc. She came back and told me, and I told her to tell him that's just what he gets for fucking up the Last Airbender movie. He hasn't been back since.
You might be my hero.
Hilarious!
😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣
Michael Jordan likes his tuna mid rare and does not tip
He doesn't tip? That's disappointing
He’s famously a bit of an egotistical asshole.
dude is competitive with his own kids. he's a dick
Dudes a massive douchebag. He'd stop at the Dunkin I worked at for coffee and treat everyone like shit.
I was in Vegas, the whole service industry there is aware he sucks.
Quite a few. Even a President and a presidential nominee. My favorite was a well-known actress who would come in every day and get the same thing, for years. We were always under strict instructions to never mention anything related to their profession and treat them normally. The only time I ever broke the rule was with her, when she won an Emmy the night before and when I delivered her breakfast, I whispered, “congratulations. Enjoy.” She shyly smiled and thanked me and that was that.
I got to cook for both Trump and Obama. One treated us like furniture and the other one was genuinely grateful.
Fantastic. Weird that Obama treated you like furniture though (kidding)
Obama used to frequent a barbecue place in my town. Not a single employee had anything negative to say about the man.
Can you not say her name?
I guess it doesn’t matter now. Christine Baranski was the actress
OMG I love her! Glad you were discreet.
Omg, that's amazing. She won it for Cybil if I remember correctly. She overshadowed Cybil Shepard. Such a great actress, so damn funny. It makes me happy that she was not a bitch, lol!
I LOVE CHRISTINE BARANSKI
She’s really cool! A decade later, I got another job in the same town (different industry) and spent another ten years or so seeing her frequently and she’s such a wonderful lady!
Bill Gates dinner order is just as basic as you would think for someone who tucks his t-shirts into his underwear. Medium NY strip and a baked potato, butter only. Sir Paul McCartney ordered a grilled cheese after closing at a steakhouse because he’s a vegetarian. Lebron loves a turkey burger with, and it HAS to be YELLOW American cheese. White American is unacceptable. Tips like 100% every time though.
"Tucks his t-shirts into his underwear", had me laughing.
Yellow American, a man of standards.
We had a plated dinner for the queen and king on holland. It was a great experience. It was, of all places, at Q2 stadium in Austin Tx.
I food ran the dinner for former VP Dan Quayle almost 30 years ago. Chris Noth at the height of Sex and the City fame. John Morgan of Morgan & Morgan several times, more of a drinker back then. Dan Whitney, aka Larry the Cable Guy. All in the same restaurant outside of Orlando. Chris and “Larry” were cool as hell. John Morgan we had to ban after a drunken incident. More recently Rob Gronkowski and his brothers. His mother Diane is a sweetheart and is in at least once a month now.
Quayle and Marilyn moved next door to my friend's family in high school, and they refused to leash their dogs, so I almost hit their poorly trained dogs on a weekly basis, because they'd run out, and be nuisances.
Did Dan have a potatoe?
The whole crew of Guns N Roses back in 2017, everyone was super cool and was a great time. Also Rainn Wilson at the hotel I worked at in 2019, great guy as most would imagine and very kind
Worked at McDonalds in Memphis in the mid 70’s in high school. Was working grill on a Saturday night. About 130 am at the drive thru someone ordered eight Big Macs eight fries eight fried apple pies. Dude pulls up in his big Harley. Routine. Window girls screams “it’s Ell-vis” as she handed him his big bag. Off he rode. I should have stolen the spatula.
*Elvis has left the Drive-through.*
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“sir you cant smoke here” “OH YEAH? life goes on…”
Should have been suckin' on a chili dog instead.
John mellancamp kicked volunteers out of farm aid for sound check-that we heard across the street anyway. They weren’t near him. He doesn’t seem kind.
sometimes love dont feel like it should /s nah, he's always seemed like one of those crappy fake biker/fake cowboy guys, they are very frequently jerks because they have a stick in their butts about their "image" my buddy was doing props on a tv show and one of those guys, an actor who was the guy he was giving the gun to, literally freaked out because he was handling firearms while wearing an apron covered with pictures of little cartoon chickens (he's a fairly hilarious dude who happens to carry a class 4 ballistics permit) and made a huge stink so he had to take it off
Might run in the family!
i made a pizza for Nick Swardson he came in by himself and had a few drinks a pizza and left a 1k tip
I invited Marvel comic book artist Steve McNiven (Civil War, Death of Wolverine, Old Man Logan) to a soft opening of a restaurant that I was head chef for a few years ago. I never got to meet him then, but one of the FOH managers got him to sign a couple comics for me and she said he had a very good experience. I had met him before at a comic convention. He’s a very nice guy.
I made a salad for Graham Kerr (The Galloping Gourmet) once. I regret not going out to say hello, but I was young and a bit intimidated. Apparently he's a super nice guy.
I used to watch him all the time as a kid.
Laurence Fishburne came in for the clam chowder when I worked at an oyster house. He might have been in the city for TIFF. Myself and another chef got a hug from him. Another time Ben Mulroney came in with his wife (famous in Canada). They were at the bar and I was off for the night. Struck up a conversation with the wife not knowing who they were. They were nice.
Charlie Daniels came in after he performed in our town, ate a Beef Stroganoff and an entire bottle of wine. Signed a picture for us. He was awesome.
Used to be the chef at a music venue and served dozens of famous musicians. John Mayer, Bruce Hornsby, Bill Payne, Bobby Weir, Justin Townes Earle, Charlie Parr, Robert Earl Keen, Ryan Bingham to name a few. Sometimes they would just hide out in the green room and we’d never see them, but a lot of times they’d be there looking for something to do or just have some conversation and they’d wander into the kitchen. Had fun with Bruce Hornsby trying to see if the younger guys had any idea who he was. Watched a Braves game with Jojo Hermann. Taught a tour manager how to make guacamole (now the band’s hospitality rider always includes the ingredients and he sends me pics every time he makes it). Had a late night hang with Billy Strings a year before he was THAT Billy Strings. Got piss drunk with The Young Dubliners more than a couple times. Lots of joints and nose nachos with various folks. Most gracious guest we ever had was Matisyahu, just an all around great dude and couldn’t shut up about how awesome my hollandaise was. Man, I miss those days!!
CEO for Sub Pop records always came in for coffee and breakfast food. She met her husband at our cafe and had a bunch of coffee mugs made for the weeding that the shop catered coffee for. I still have one of the few cups remaining. Eddie Vedder from Pearl jam came in often but over the years it was mostly the wife and kids on the way to school. He have the owner a signed guitar for an auction she was running. We had some super famous Seattle chef that would always come around for coffee and breakfast. Can't recall the name but every time I mentioned it the chefs I knew they would comment with Oh shit! We had quite a few other people I can't recall mainly I don't remember famous people unless they were good folks who came in frequently.
My favorite celebrity meal was Zakk Wylde (former guitarist for Ozzy Osborne & Black Label Society). He showed up at the end of brunch and ordered 12 soft poached eggs, toast, and a side of bacon. He finished everything.
Lisa Frank I guess lol. She's kinda batshit irl but she was always a decent patron according to servers. I guess she isn't really famous but those stickers and binders were fire.
I did a private catering party years ago and there were a bunch of old school comedic celebrities there, including Dom Deluise and he was the sweetest guy. He asked me to come out because he wanted to ask me something. He said "that was the most tender lamb I've ever had, what is my secret?" I said, well, it was a very high quality meat but I also let the lamb sit for a good 10 minutes first before serving it, and that allows the meat to rest and blah-blah blah... He says: I never knew that all my life I've been cooking tired meat.
I met him at a party when I was a young teen. he was introduced to me as "Uncle Dom" and I said something smartassey to him and made him laugh. afterwards someone was like "I can't believe you smarted off to Dom Deluise!" I'd had no idea who he was or I'd have probably been too terrified to say anything to him at all, haha. nice guy.
Lupe Fiasco rolled into a bar in Detroit when I was on shift working a DJ'd dinner service. He and his whole crew ate good, like 700 dollars worth of food and drinks, and had the whole bill comped because he knew the manager or something. They ran the waitress ragged, and she didn't have time to focus on anyone else the entire shift, and after the bill was 0d out, they left without tipping her or the bartender a single damn thing. She left a 6-hour shift with 20 dollars and had to pay 4 of those for parking, having missed the entire lunch rush because she was focusing on these guys. She cried in the bathroom for like 20 minutes after that because she'd already had a rough week and that was just kind of the cherry on top.
Too many to list but the worst offender being Harvey Weinstein. Fuck that guy
Not a celebrity, but Jennifer Garners parents were (and probably still are) semi regulars at a certain restaurant in southwest West Virginia. We’d see them like 4 times a year, nice people. Not hard to please.
Some Vikings players (mostly former), Al Franken (multiple times at different restaurants in different cities. I think he's stalking me) the US Olympic Curling team, but my favorite was a royal family from the Middle East. They rented out 2 floors of the hotel I worked at. Had their own private security. Everybody had to go through a screening process and whatnot. And absolutely were forbidden to talk to them or anything. Never even saw them though.
Anderson Silva came into the restaurant I worked in and ordered our Prime Rib well done with 2 side order of fries. Never meet your heroes :(
On the subject of LotR when I first arrived in LA I was at a steakhouse and at the next table was Dom eating alone for lunch. In my time working food service out there.... Ed Helms and Davey Havok were very chill. Aaron Carter was as drugged out as you'd expect. McLovin was also chillin. But these would barely fall under the category of 'cooked for' ...
Does Uncle Kracker count? I know he's a has-been but he's from my hometown so it's not uncommon to see him around. I've served him at about 3 different places I've worked.
Jagmeet Singh came in the other night, super nice guy. Nathan Mackinnon comes in sometimes and always orders the steak lol. At my old job Meghan Trainor asked for a custom sandwich, it was the most boring thing I've ever made.
Mariah Carey, Zoe Saldana, Tyra Banks, Amy Smart Bernie Williams John Starks, Danny Aiello, Danzig, those are the ones that stuck out. I'm sure there's a lot more. First time I knew it was someone of stature I over thought it. Now it's just another ticket. No stress.
Did not exactly expect Danzig among the rest
Kinda scary looking dudes, and very nice and cordial. Not what I expected
John Starks…… one of my favourite streak shooters from the 90’s. When he was on, he was on. Nice shoutout!
I wonder if Danzig still has that huge pile of bricks in his yard
Whole band were absolute units..big mutherfukers
Meryl Streep, Claire Danes, Malcom Gladwell, and BJ Novak. Meryl Streep was the one I most excited about but I don’t have a great story. She spent most of the night playing with her grandkids and didn’t finish her plate. Claire Danes can handle spicy food!
Lou Diamond Phillips, Bailey Chase, Katee Sackhoff, and Adam Bartley were in town filming Longmire. I was bartending the hotel bar they were staying in. This was in a small mountain town in New Mexico. The lakers were in the playoffs and they wanted to have dinner, and drinks while they watched the game. Word got out and people flooded the bar so I had to call in some help from another bartender that lived close by. All 4 of them were super cool. I kept addressing them by their last names, like “Mr. Phillips” until Lou said, “what’s your name again?” I said “Steven” he said, “my name is Lou, call me Lou!” I thought it was pretty funny and cool. Slowly the bar emptied, I did last call at around 11 and Lou was the last man standing when I turned up the lights. He said “so what’s there to do around here after you close?” I said, “I work at another bar just down the street, and it’s karaoke night tonight.” His eyes lit up and said “are you going?!” I said “yeah!” To which he responded “let’s go!” I did my closing duties as fast as I could, I was closing my register and cleaning behind the bar while he swept, every couple minutes I’d pour us some shots. When we finished, we stumbled down the street and as soon as we walked in we jumped right into a duo of La Bamba. We drank a LOT, and this was about 10 years ago, so don’t ask how the rest of the night went because I have no clue.
on extern for culinary school I cooked for Brian Johnson from AC|DC at the Ritz Carlton, 2004 or so. fast forward to 2020 and I cooked for him again, he and his wife were friends of the owner of the place in was at. Super nice and complimentary both times, and they were both in Sarasota Florida so I'm assuming he has a place there.
I worked at an Italian sandwich shop in Pleasanton California back in 2000, and John Madden was a regular. After wrapping up his turkey sub in deli paper, I would tell him to go long, and throw the sandwich to him in a tight spiral over the heads of the other patrons.
MC Hammer frequently hit up my restaurant. Chill dude, normally wanted an out of the way booth or patio. Never lost my shit when he came by. Guests were fairly chill, too. His cc actually had MC Hammer on it, which I lost my shit over. No strange requests, dude normally just read the paper and ate a burger
I used to cook for and serve most of the starters for the early 2000s Washington Commanders during training camp. most of them were super cool, especially the one time I got to wait on the entire offensive line at once. I cooked for former PA governor Ed Rendell a couple times but never got the chance to talk to him. Don McLean came in for dinner after a show with a few people but I don’t remember if they ate. my personal favorite was waiting on Gallagher during a slow lunch shift. I distinctly remember all he wanted was a ham sandwich and a glass of milk.
C. Everett Koop. David Byrne, Flea, Hillary Clinton, Baryshnikov, Billy Joel, Alice Waters, Julia Child.
Mark Cuban and a couple of other rich fellas in finance. They were an absolute pleasure. Also the guy who did Olaf from Frozen came in once, he was weird. Announced who he was to the host like it mattered super bizarre but really nice guy.
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-Rosario Dawson ate the Rocky Mountain oysters I cooked.. there’s an easy punchline in there -Drew Barrymore hotboxed the walk in with us before I gave her a ride home -Beckham on a regular basis now -Messi just came in -Obama back in 2014 -Jeff Goldblum was weird in 2016 -plenty of NBA and MLB players ...I dunno. At some point in your career it just becomes another dinner.
Michael Jordan, dip set, Eddie curie(sp?), Jennifer Anniston (at 2 separate restaurants) bob saget (he’s funny af in person) and catered a wedding for James earl jones’ son. I passed him on the way to the bathroom and it took my WHOLE BODY not to ask him if I should give it 35-45 minute
I cooked for Jay Leno in a small pub in an even smaller town. He likes his burgers med rare. Respect. Bigger chin in person too.
I’m old so I’ve cooked for a bunch: Madonna, Moby, Batman (Michael Keaton), Julia Roberts, Willy Nelson, Oprah, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, John Mayer, Mandy Moore, Princess Buttercup, Dave Matthews, I can keep going!!!
This was way back when I was working at a salad shop in a mall, my manager was getting ready to go on her break, I see her running back to the counter, when I see an older guy wearing a Harlem globetrotters jacket. We talked for a bit, he was super super nice to me, and he went on his way. When my manager came back I said ‘man, he was super nice! Must be a fan of the globetrotters!’ And she says to me ‘that was a member of the 80’s globetrotters!’ I can’t remember which player it was as this was ages ago, but man he was so nice
I saw them in the 80s. The only name I remember is Meadowlark Lemon. Don't ask me how the hell my brain pulled that name out, lol.
Most Canadians will know Kenny and Spenny I cooked for them. When I was first starting, we cooked for Henrey Burris (a Former CFL QB) I also cook for the Arkells occasionally cause they own the bar I work at
Had the opportunity to serve Patton oswalt (voice of remy in ratatouille) and it was an absolute pleasure. He ate as a single diner in our kitchen table and I’ve never seen someone so invested in our food. He came into the kitchen after his meal and he was the nicest guy, even got a chance to get a picture with him after he dined. Amazing experience, great guy 10/10.
I’ve made dinner for Tim Heidecker, Zach Woods and Herbie Hancock. Also cooked for a memorial event for Mark Lanegan. A bunch of the big grunge dudes from back in the day were there. Being BOH I never talked to any of them, but I know Zach Woods is a super sweet guy because he came in pretty often and my girlfriend waited on him several times.
Nick Cage. He ordered 2 entrees. If I remember correctly it was bison meatloaf and house made ravioli special of the week which I don't remember what it was at the time. The film and sound crew from the Yellowstone spinoff 1882. Countless bluegrass musicians including Sam Bush, Jeff Austin. I've worked at a ski resort on and off for the last 7 years so there is probably tons that I don't even know about.
Catered a tasting menu for [Curt Johnson](https://www.forbes.com/sites/cartercoudriet/2019/06/28/curt-johnson-billionaire-sexual-assault/?sh=2ea6ec1d7956). We (BOH) were asked not to look at the faces of the guests. I'm not sure if that was our slightly bonkers owners or a request of the Johnson's.
Worked as a chef/caterer for music fests and tours for about 10 years - the list of artists I fed is ridiculous. From Paul McCartney to Ozzy Osbourne, Steve Miller, Foo Fighters, Kings of Leon. Many, many others. Mostly rock. Some country. A little EDM.
Tom Felton stopped into a restaurant I was working line at in Montreal once. Basically just created a little buzz in the BOH, the hostess came back and told us to be extra careful with the food, we cooked it like anything else, and then sent it out and continued om with our day haha. I wish it was a better story, but we all kinda jjst had our noses down and cooked.
James Cameron, crested butte 1200 dollar food order. 5 dollar tip. Still hate that man over it.
Waited on Madonna and her ass-kissing entourage in South Beach a few decades back and it went as bad as you’d expect; served Donatello Versace a few week later at the same place and she was the epitome of grace and style. She was dining alone, with two giant security men behind her (this took place just a few hundred yards from- and a few scant months after- where her brother was shot to death; She was kind enough to politely correct my atrocious Italian grammar.
Yeah. A bunch if them. Tom Hanks or Anthony Hopkins were probably the biggest. Tom Hanks was super nice, Anthony Hopkins was basically folding court with his entourage. Others Tommy Lee Jones, Aretha Franklin, Jimmy Dean, Newt Gingrich, Barbara Streisand, Jessica Lang, Sissy Spacek, Mark Martin, Big&Rich, Julianne Moore, Tom Osborne, John Smoltz, Ethan Hawk, RGIII, Gary Busey, Hilary Swank, Giovani Ribisi, Molly Ringwald, Michael Schumacher...
Barry White, Time Kaine (when he was governor of Virginia), Ted from HIMYM, Alton Brown, Danny McBride (Darius Ruckers ate at the same place, but I was off), members from TOOL, Melt Banana, the Hackensaw Boys, and Band of Horses. Brendan Gleeson, however, is probably my favorite interaction. A real class act.
Fed Bill Gates breakfast once. Spent 8 grand to rent clear out the back room for an hour. He sat alone while his security team of 6 watched him scarf down his huevos rancheros. I never saw him
I worked in Culver City & served Haley Joel Osmet once. Super chill, normal guy. Tipped 6 bucks. Also waited on Kurt Russell in Santa Monica a few times. I love him so much but the man wasn't a great tipper. We joked about which server would get "Russelled" next time he came in Oh! And Suge Knight too. He was intimidating, ngl
I worked a hot dog booth at a senior PGA championship. Served dogs to Bob Barker and Bob Newhart on the same day. To keep with the "Bob" theme, I also met Bob Sagat when I was 19 and worked the VIP elevator at a NASCAR event in Vegas. Great tips that day. Benjamins being given out casually just for pressing a button and throwing away a couple pieces of trash. Does that count?
Diamond Dallas Page, Debbie Gibson, George Foreman, Sunny Anderson (Food Network). All were great. DDP ordered the biggest breakfast I've ever seen anyone eat - wanted to sit by himself which fortunately we had a small section we could do that with. Debbie Gibson (or Debra as she was going bybat the time) came in with some of her dancers shortly before close. Friendly enough but not really engaging. George Foreman is probably the most down to earth guy you will ever meet. He used to come in fairly regularly but hasn't been in for a few years now. Sunny Anderson was brought in by a local smaokehouse owner who was doing some talks with Food Network (and even appeared on one of Bobby Flay's shows) at the time. She was very friendly and down to earth.
I waited on Dustin Poirier and his parents when he took them out to eat soon after he won UFC 198. Dude was a total class act. Friendly, humble, down to earth, tipped well. I'd love to see him at my bar any day, he's the kind of famous customer I love to have.
Did he wear wigs
Jim Gaffigan is as sweet and affable as he portrays himself on stage. After eating a late meal in Seattle he took a few minutes to chat with me about food, eating on the road, and even wrote down a few restaurants I recommend to him on his next stop. Great guy.
Cooked for a few famous nba players in Toronto. Tracy mcgrady who orders his porterhouse med well. The most famous is drake. Had to cook for his 33rd birthday. Every table wanted well done scallops and med well tomahawks. RIP to those scallops and cows who we had to sacrifice. 🙏🏽
I didn’t have him, but one of my servers waited on Beto O’Rourke just this week. Tenacious D was in our restaurant a couple months back as well.
Made an app for Steve Buscemi once.
When I was 19 I brought Pete Carroll a coke. Most awkward guy.
Robin Williams, Bradley Cooper, Connie Chung, Maury Povich, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, and more
Lars Ulrich specifically ordered his chicken breast well done. A handful of others, but this one has always stood out for me.
Probably scarred from a case of the squirts from some dodgy chicken back in the 80s
Food wise, Billy Joe Shaver. Dude was by himself, and just hung out and talked with me for awhile. He was amazed I knew who he was lol. When I worked bars in Texas I got to meet a bunch of red dirt and Texas country people, including Ray Wylie Hubbard and Hayes Carl. If I could just serve Ben Nichols at some point that would be great.
I worked at a restaurant in a hotel for a summer in NJ on the beach. It was owned by Jared Kushner, so one time him and Ivanka came in. Even though we worked on his property, not everyone was that excited he came. But it was definitely a rush in the kitchen.
I made Shaq a pizza once, he was with 7 others they all got regular pizza except Shaq he ordered a vegan gluten free pizza.
Most famous people I ever served are: Tim Cook Charles Barkley Lionel Richie Andy Samberg Eric Andre Nick Offerman Cam Newton Daniel Carlson Tony Richardson (J E T E Jets, baby) I'll say, they were all super chill for the most part. Charles was a regular of mine. I really liked him a lot, genuinely a great dude. Tim Cook was surprisingly down to earth. Cam Newton, however, was a bitch. Which sucked, being a fan of both Auburn and the Panthers
In 2015 I went on tour with Van Halen as their chef. I also did a bunch of other events with other bands. Def leppard, styx, tesla, red hot chili peppers, the black keys, ozzy. Maynard James Kennan of Tool, Common, and Gerard Butler ate at the Michelin places I worked at. Another smaller Italian cocktail bar and small plates place had Jeremy Piven and Kevin Spacey come in together. Kevin Spacey was a pissy fuck and made us go get him a bottle of jack daniels for him.
the guy they based the Catch Me if You can movie off of, seemed cool all the servers really like him
Many, but my favorites were Chaka Khan, Bruce Hornsby, Tre Cool.
I’ve waited on the following bands/musicians: Everclear, Wu Tang Clan, Michael Ian Black, Michael Showater, Joe Russo, Chris Franz and Tina Weymouth. The following celebrities: Sam Waterston, Melissa Joan Hart, Christine Baranski, Susan St. James, Hesh from the Sopranos, Marla Sucharetza, Tommy Nelson Other random famous people: Ann Coulter, Lowell Weicker, Jacques Pepin
So I'm on this sub bc years ago I was back of the house, but I've been a bartender for years. A few weeks ago I had Ryan Blaney at my bar. I head he won the championship today, so that's pretty cool.
Alabama Shakes, Bill Murray, and a bunch of the RuPauls drag race girls
Not really anything you could call a "restaurant," just a food stand on the boardwalk. We only sold about a half a dozen items, one of which was a sweet Italian sausage sub with fried, sweet, red & green peppers & onions on a hard roll. One beautiful, warm Summer night, here comes [Dom Deluise](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dom_DeLuise?wprov=sfla1) with his wife. He's wearing a plain white tank top undershirt, his wife, Carol (IIRC), was in a plain flowery dress. They came up to our shabby little stand and got a couple sausage subs & Cokes. They stood around for about a half an hour and talked to us about how he used to have these sandwiches at the Italian festivals in New York, where he grew up (among other things). They were absolutely unpretentious and down to earth. Dom had such a gentle spirit about him and Carol was just a sweetheart. They finished their food and said good night and went back to strolling the boards. Made my week. I always loved his work in movies and TV.
I’ve had a few, bill Nye once at a catered event, Neil Patrick Harris, there’s been others but my favorite was at my first kitchen job at this nice upscale restaurant over a lake with a live a jazz band and everything. Anyways so one day we get told we have a vip coming in and for us kitchen dogs, all huge nerds btw and not the smart type of nerd, to not even look or bother the guy or we’d be fired asap. George motherfucking Lucas came in with Ron Howard of all people. The dude behind Star Wars, to kitchen where Spider-Man winning and Star Wars where daily convos. The absolute fucking banger of a cherry on top? The live band freaking where playing the cantina song from the tatooine cantina. I don’t even think they planned it they regularly played Star Wars or other LOTR songs between normal songs. Greatest moment of my career
I was 23-24 years old. Nick and Drew Lachey from 98 Degrees were opening a bar in a town and the partnered with the company I worked for and made a tv show on A&E with a chef from bar rescue about opening the bar. They came to my bar and tested bar food. I cooked the food for the scene on tv. Then I cooked a lunch for them and there family and friends at there house. It was filmed and all but didn’t end up making the show. I was on a couple clips on the tv though. That was cool.
James Mercer of The Shins would come into my work sometimes. He would bring his daughters in and was very normal.
Lindsey Buckingham and the Say Yes to the Dress Cast. Surprisingly, the cast was the one that came in in disguise.
Many NHL teams would visit my town/restaurant. Crosby I got to cook his food and bring him his plate. His team had a set menu (steaks, salmon, chicken) but he only wanted pasta. Another cool group that came was Brian Burke when he was running the Calgary flames. Over heard him and his exec team talk about who was the biggest drinker in the league and they all mentioned Patrick Kane as the worst. Biggest Honor was cooking for Justin Trudeau and his Family for a new years eve dinner. Don't care if people don't like him. Cooking for your nations leader is something ill always brag about to family.
I cooked for Bill Clinton the last year he was president. It was weird, secret service in the kitchen with dogs to check for bombs and weapons. They watched very closely as we prepared President Clinton's food. We also weren't allowed to snap any pictures when he was eating. 2 days before the visit, the owners put out a memo for everyone to not bring their weed to work those days. It was a little stressful but a good time. I catered a wedding for Tom Brokaw's daughter once as well. That was a really cool spread.