[lynne]

Chef David Simpson duscussed difficulties in catering to the stars up in catering; have you run into difficulties by having famous - or infamous - guests?

Catered a wedding in DC that a well known notorious (shall we say "connected") ACLU Labour guy was attending. All kinds of security guys running around. Made life a little interesting when you round the corner with a full tray amd some guy is talking to his wrist!...

Used to hang out at a bar in DC -- Newt Gingrich liked to also frequent our spot -- his security guys were always all over the place and didn't like it when anyone got in their direct line of vision -- couldn't have been easy for the FOH staff.

[This message has been edited by lynne (edited 11-10-2000).]

Again it's an older topic but so what!
Years ago I was an Entremetier at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, DC and there was a political fundraiser or something going on with Reagan (when he was still Pres & George Bush was attending. Reagan was scheduled to enter through the kitchen area so of course the Navys Health Dept. was there to check on the food, prep and cleaning. The Chief Steward had us wash down all the walls, shine up everything a royal pain in the *** for 3 days. I had a Secret Service guy breathing down my neck as we prepped the food. I turned and said to him "instead of just standing there watching why don't you pick up a knife and help". Lucky I didn't get my *** kicked instead I just got a dirty look. After all that Reagan never showed up! What a pain that all was.
Later on I worked for Ridgewell Catering also in DC and went through a similar situation with the Navys health dept. as we were cooking for Clinton for his inaugeration. They are impressive in their knowledge and thoroughness but also a royal pain in the a.., when you think of white gloves, they actually use them!

[cookM]

I used to work with this woman that was involved with the whole SLA/Patty Hearst thing. You'd know her, if you're old enough, but I cannot say her name. Anyway, remember when they caught that last SLA lady in Minnesota under an assumed (duh!) name a while back? Well, we had cops sitting at tables outside waiting to talk to "X". "X" got all pissed off and told them to leave cause she wasn't giving any statements. We had newspeople coming in looking for "X", and then handing us their cards asking to have "X" call back. (These people were obnoxious customers, too.) We had people calling to interview "X", and if she wasn't there, they'd ask for her phone number. "X" was really pissed off about the whole thing coming up again. All in all, a pain in the *** . I'd hate to be famous--for any reason!

I haven't had any difficulties with having famous or infamous guests in our restaurant, but according to the FOH, some of guest have included : Nazareth, Farmers Daughter, Our Lady Peace, William Shatner, Garth Brook's Parents I think we've even served Kenny Rogers and the Bare Naked Ladies as well. Also on the topic of catering to the stars, I actually know somebody who worked for the catering company that did dinner for Wayne Gretzky's wedding.

[This message has been edited by coolJ (edited 12-22-2000).]

[Live_to_cook]

So cookM -- I couldn't quite make out from your post -- "X" was working at your place?