9 times dining with the rich and famous: how bizarre is that?

Stars are people too, so they have to eat sometimes. Not a cheese sandwich, but fresh oysters, the most expensive Bordeaux and a little jar of caviar for the cat. And we know this because sommeliers and servers from top restaurants – anonymously – share their bizarre stories online.

Simple question and a gigantic number of answers: on the American forum website Reddit, someone asks about the experiences of hospitality workers with celebrities and fabulously wealthy people. Wow, the things you read there!

Second-hand watch

Alex: ‘I worked at a restaurant in Canada. A wealthy Indian gentleman came in for dinner, spent 200 dollars on wine and added a thousand-dollar tip. Same story the next day. By day three, everyone wanted to serve his table. He got extremely drunk, and Brad, a young man who came to clear his table, complimented him on his watch. Sure enough, the gentleman took off his Tag Heuer and gave it to Brad. The next day, the man came back to the restaurant and asked for Brad. Brad saw what was coming, returned the watch and apologized. No, the man said, he had come to apologize to Brad. He had given Brad a watch that had already been worn, and that wasn’t proper. And Brad got a brand-new watch from him.’

By boat

Auto_Fac: ‘My uncle works at a top restaurant on a holiday island in the Atlantic Ocean. He says that a regular guest always arrives at the island in a gigantic yacht, towing a smaller yacht. That smaller yacht is still large enough for a helicopter to land on. The man wants to sit at the table with his dogs, and they get foie gras and expensive mineral water. When he brings guests, they’re always women. My uncle has never seen the same lady in his company twice. If he is happy with the meal, he gives everyone on the staff a hundred-dollar tip, in cash, whether they have been at his table or not. The restaurant was called by the local food and consumer goods authority with a complaint: dogs had been seen in the restaurant. The restaurant owner mentioned the wealthy guest’s name, and the inspector said: fine.’

Stewing in wine

Diarm: ‘I worked at a resort in the Seychelles for four years. One striking experience: a Canadian family who stayed with us for a few weeks with their own staff. One of our hotel chefs helped their team with the mise en place. He was a friend of mine and worked for them for two weeks. Someone from the service came to get a few bottles of wine from the cellar for the family. Not the most expensive wine on the menu, but still, 11,000 dollars per bottle is quite a sum. When I asked my friend what they had eaten with that special wine, he told me they had poured it into the pan to make coq au vin.’

Down the drain

Jesusbrate: ‘In the upscale district of Stockholm, there’s a new trend called “vaska.” Wealthy teenagers order an expensive bottle of champagne, pay for it and ask the staff to pour the champagne down the drain (and in some restaurants, guests are allowed to do it themselves). Sad but true: in some restaurants, it’s even on the menu.’

Cat’s little friend

Zhougdog: ‘A guest ordered 150 dollars’ worth of caviar. For her cat.’

Television and PlayStation

Whirler_girl: ‘Some businessman stayed for a few weeks at a fancy hotel where I worked. After a few days, he called reception to ask whether we could remove the television. Not move it, actually remove it. I went to see what was going on, and what did I find? This guest had bought another television himself. Bigger, better. With a PlayStation 4, also brand-new. (…) When he checked out, he simply left the television and the game console behind. The old television went back, someone from housekeeping took the television home, and I sold the PlayStation and used the money to enjoy a few weeks of vacation. Thanks, rich man!’

Taking soup to go

Jkeemi: ‘I worked at a delicatessen where we also sold hot soup around lunchtime. We put the cups of soup in a paper bag, and then in a plastic bag to prevent leaks. A woman didn’t want those bags; she was going to carry the soup cup straight in her bag. Are you sure, I asked her? It was a brand-new Louis Vuitton bag. Absolutely, she said. Fifteen minutes later, she came back with minestrone all over the inside of the bag and wanted to speak to the manager.’

Bathwater

Icycld: ‘I worked at a rental villa in Bali. There’s one guest I remember best: a wealthy woman who drank nothing but Evian and wanted to wash only with Evian too. So every day I spent an hour emptying dozens of bottles of Evian into the bathtub. She also complained that the path to her villa wasn’t well lit at night. But she was wearing sunglasses in the dark too.’

Never red

Anonymous: ‘My former boss (ridiculously wealthy) always stayed in the largest suites in hotels, and he would ask in advance whether the hotel could remove everything red from the suite. He also often went to the casino, where they had special chips made for him so that he wouldn’t get any red chips. He simply didn’t like the color red.’

Read also:

• These are the most important lessons I learned while working in professional kitchens
• Servers tell all: these are the most bizarre orders ever
• The bubble is about to burst: France’s champagne problem

Source: Reddit