Sort of celebrity sighting

Long time reader, first time jumping in. Feel like I know some of you and have enjoyed reading about your opinions and outings.

About an hour ago I was in Q BBQ in La Grange. Apprentice winner Bill Rancic was behind me in line. Very friendly, talking with everyone. Who would have thought?

Fun idea for a thread.

We once dined a couple of tables away from Ann Landers at the Cape Cod Room!

On a similar note to the OP, we were at the now closed Heat one night seated next to Apprentice runner-up Rebecca.

Christopher Kimball at Big Star a month or two ago. I was giddy.

Sat next to Sammy Hagar (as well as Steve Vai and I think the drummer from Red Hot Chili Peppers) at avec. He knows how to eat -- and drink -- well.

queequeg's_steak wrote:Sat next to Sammy Hagar (as well as Steve Vai and I think the drummer from Red Hot Chili Peppers) at avec. He knows how to eat -- and drink -- well.

The three people in this post (Chad Smith is the drummer in RHCP) are the only people I've even heard of, I guess it all goes to show that celebrities are different to different people.

FYI -- I don't even like Hagar or Vai, and I haven't listened to RHCP since the mid 90s.

SSDD

Was that Steve Vai or Joe Satriani (who is bald)? I would reckon the latter since he's in a band with Hagar and Smith these days. Sounds like they have better taste in food than music.

This thread turns into a celebrity sighting one as it goes on.

A few weeks ago, Christopher Kimball was seated next to us at Avec just as we were finishing up our meal. It was around the same time he was spotted at Big Star. Must have been doing the Chicago rounds.

Per the Manny's Facebook page, Daley was having lunch there with Janet Napolitano this afternoon.

I once sat two tables away from Ferran Adria at Alinea.

=R=

ronnie_suburban wrote:I once sat two tables away from Ferran Adria at Alinea.

=R=

Sat next to Toad the Wet Sproket at Tuscany before their Metro show.

Was a few tables away from Bono and Adam Clayton at Alinea. Asked the Maitre d' if he could get
Bono to sing "Happy Birthday" to my wife. I was kidding(sort of), He took my request seriously, left for a few minutes and came back with an answer, "no".

passed Patty Blago rushing out of jewel on Lincoln /s. of montrose tuesday morning (and I think she was in sweats!!)

Not sure if this counts but I woke up one morning to find Eddie Argos from Art Brut asleep under my dining room table. True story.

Hellodali wrote:A few weeks ago, Christopher Kimball was seated next to us at Avec just as we were finishing up our meal. It was around the same time he was spotted at Big Star. Must have been doing the Chicago rounds.

I always pass the monthly CI to my husband to read (if I don't read it to him) the letter/story from the editor.

Funny, how times change, I used to read Savage Love to him on a weekly basis.

joyann wrote:About an hour ago I was in Q BBQ in La Grange. Apprentice winner Bill Rancic was behind me in line. Very friendly, talking with everyone. Who would have thought?

Funny. I've run 2 or 3 of the same races in Chicago as Rancic and his wife. Afterward (well, not anymore), I'd excitedly tell friends who I joined in the race corral, and no one ever knew who I was talking about. A few weeks ago, I ran the same half-marathon as Al Roker--consensus has been that the Today show weatherman was a much cooler sighting. All in all, I've seen a fair number of celebrities running--especially when I lived in NYC and ran Central Park daily--but I've not had much luck in restaurants. Off the top of my head, I've seen Rick Bayless twice at Mado. I'm having a hard time thinking of other sightings except seeing the singer Norah Jones eating a burrito on a sidewalk on the UWS circa 2002.

Vitesse98 wrote:Was that Steve Vai or Joe Satriani (who is bald)? I would reckon the latter since he's in a band with Hagar and Smith these days. Sounds like they have better taste in food than music.

Another way to tell is that Vai is a genius, and Satch, well...Vai is a genius.
There are guitarists who can literally give ppl goosebumps. Stevie Ray, Stevie Vai, and Greg Howe make my list.
If it was Vai at the table, I'd have bought them a round.
Satch? Maybe a discreet, no fanfare, camera phone pic.

My two prominent "brushes" with celebs:

We sat two tables away from Bonnie Hunt at Gridley's in Long Grove one night a few years ago.

Although not food related, I was enrolled in a Marketing 101 class at Northwestern University ( evenings circa 1978) and lo and behold, seated six feet from me for the entire semester was Ernie Banks. He had been retired for several years and he was auditing the class. Nothing beats staring at your childhood sports hero--- complete with Hall of Fame ring on his finger.

Back in 1995, Rob Schneider (former SNL, plus a handful of really awful movies) took the seat I'd just vacated at a coffee shop in Prague. On the same trip I ran into Ric Ocasek and Paulina Porizkova wandering the castle grounds, and Boris Becker was on my flight home. It was a meal flight, but I'm guessing he ate something very different up there in first class.

About 6 or 7 years ago I sat next to Rick Bayless and his wife at a teens' theatrical performance that his daughter and a friend of my daughter were in. No food involved, unfortunately.

Oh, I forgot--there was also my encounter with artist Bill Viola at Flat Sammies. A few years later, I was busy stuffing my face with a falafel sandwich in Greenwich Village while waiting to get into a David Hockney lecture when I was almost run off the sidewalk by fellow artist Chuck Close and the companion pushing his wheelchair (entirely my fault).

Also, I once saw James Iha of the Smashing Pumpkins at Blind Faith Cafe.

Maybe about a year ago we were in line at Chickpea on Chicago Ave. and Stephanie Izard came in right behind us.

Non-California restaurant sightings:

Richard Lewis at RL.

Brian Cox & Brian Dennehy & Ana Gasteyer at Petterino's.

Mark Prior at Japonais, when he was "injured" most of the season, and I felt like this sighting was proof of that b/c Cubs were playing

King of Jordan somewhere in the Viagra Triangle.

Chris O'Donnell at a restaurant in Saugatuck, MI.

Jason Biggs (from American Pie) at a restaurant in Prague, of all places

Graham Norton (BBC personality) at 992 in London.

Bayless is a regular guest at a friend's yearly party I attend. I've also seen Bayless at plays (he's a huge theatergoer) and even Whole Foods.

And if we're going way back, to when I lived in CT where I grew up, we would regularly see Kevin Bacon, Kyra Sedgwick, Michael J. Fox & Tracy Pollan, Jack Nicholson, Susan St. James, Meryl Streep and Tom Selleck around town at restaurants. They had country homes where I lived, and we were the country folk.

I know there have been more, but I'm drawing a blank.

My only celebrity restaurant siting (but it's a good one): Studs Terkel at a nearby table at Tre Kroner. Unless you include wine bars, in which case throw in Roberto Benigni in a Roman wine bar.

I'm not trying to be the spelling police, but for the purposes of clarity it might be helpful to change the word "siting" to "sighting" in the title of this thread.

20 years ago (wow it sucks to say that) I used to date a network morning television personality (he's currently a network morning television personality--back then he was a recruiter for Pepsi and used to tell me that someday he would be a weather man or a game show host). We ate in numerous restaurants. He also brought me my favorite matzo ball soup bowl when I had my wisdom teeth out. We broke up because I told him I would never be able to keep a kosher house. And it's not Al Roker.

Harry Connick Jr at RL
Stephanie Izard at Mado
John Legend & his model girlfriend, Chrissy Teigen at Momofuku Noodle Bar
John Paxson at Bob Chinn's during the Bulls' first three-peat. My younger brother, who was a Bulls-fanatic as a kid, walked right by him on the way back from the bathroom and didn't even notice him right away.

Over the past few years:
Vince Vaughn at Quartino.
Vince Vaughn at Fulton Lounge.
Vince Vaughn at Frank's bar in Lincoln Park.
Vince Vaughn (with wife Kyla Weber) at the Old Town Art Fair.

Channing Tatum (I had no idea who he was until a few of the people we were with when nuts because, apparently, they loved him in Step Up) at Underground Wonderbar. He said he was in town filming an upcoming Ron Howard movie, which might've explained the next day's Old Town Art Fair Vince Vaughn sighting.

Chris Weber at Le Passage, many years ago.

Patrick Sharp, Ty Arneson, Jim Vandermeer, Shawn Thornton & Mark Bell (current & former Blackhawks), who were friends of a friend and let us ride their coattails into various clubs & VIP sections when they were in town (and even when they weren't..."Remember us? We were in here last weekend with the 'Hawks")

Oh, a friend & I met an adult film actress at Stocks & Blondes bar last month...but that's probably not the sort of "celebrity" sighting the OP had in mind

Khaopaat wrote:Over the past few years:
Vince Vaughn at Quartino.
Vince Vaughn at Fulton Lounge.
Vince Vaughn at Frank's bar in Lincoln Park.
Vince Vaughn (with wife Kyla Weber) at the Old Town Art Fair.

This reminds me that, many years ago, I went through a period of seeing Dennis Rodman all over town. It was like, "Oh, there's Dennis. Again."

And I saw Vaughn a few years ago at Wicker Park Fest, he apparently likes the outdoor fests.

Oh - very recently - Michael Jordan served us very strong cocktails from behind the bar at onesixtyblue.

One NYE several years ago, Denis Savard (when he coached the Blackhawks) plopped himself down at our table; of course, we had no idea who the old guy was, so his "handler" intervened, enthusiastically trying to educate us. The much younger handler was way better looking, and had much better manners.