Surprisingly,celebrities
don’thaveaccesstoa secret
phonenumber:Allbookings
fortheNewYorkrestau-
rantswindupwiththecen-
tralizedreservationsteam.
VIPsareofferedpasswords
toexpeditebookingsandto
avoidfakersimitatingthem.
Oftenit’sa firstnameand
somenumbers,butsome
codes—like“JuicyBooty”
fora certainpopdiva—areeasiertoremember.
Withseatings,celebri-
tiessuchasDrake,Martha
Stewart,andtheKardashian
covenarewildcards.They
tendtobookin thelate
afternoononthedaythey
dinetominimizetheeye-
ballsontheirreservation;
it’snotuncommonfora pro
athletetorequesta last-
minute15-seateraftera bas-
ketballgame,forinstance.Oncea famousrecording
artistwitha reservationfor
15 arrivedwitha partyof 30
andstayedwellpastclos-
ing.Allwasforgivenwhen,
at1:30a.m., he serenaded
the staff. If a guest is rude
on the phone, it’s usually one
who isn’t famous, says a res-
ervationist: “We brace our-
selves for three to four ‘Do
you know who I am?!’ con-
versations a day.”ManagerAmandaStymeist
spends 45 minutesbefore
eachdinner“dressingthe
room”atNobuDowntown.
Firstcomestheoffense:slot-
tingmoviestarsintoshaded
cornerswheretheywon’tbe
gawkedat,placingWallStreet
guysatquietpositionstotalk
business.“Everyonewants
oneofourfourboothtables—
it’slikeconstructingapuzzle
with 14 cornerpieces,”says
JohnnyHildreth,anotherNobu
Downtownmanager.Atboth
NewYorklocations,thebooths
are thebestsee-and-be-seen
options.“Weevenhavesub-
scriptionstoPeopleandUs
Weeklytoreaduponthelatest
who’swho—andwhoshouldn’t
beseatednearwhom,”Hildreth
says.Thehosts,a decade
younger,aretappedtospotthe
YouTubestars.
Whenthedoorsopen,the
strategyswitchestodefense
asalltypesarrive:bachelorette
partieswithobsceneballoons,
orguestswithanimals.Before
a canineis letin,twoquestions
areasked:“Isit a serviceani-
mal?”and“Whatservicedoes
it provide?”Nobudoesn’tfeed
pups—butit oncegota request
tofilla Pomeranian’sbowlwith
Champagne.“I broughtthemthe
bowlandputthebottleofbub-
blyonthetable,”Hildrethsays.
“That’swhereI drewtheline.”TA K E-AWAY
ORDERS
AREDELIVERED
BYPRIVATEJET
Officially,Nobudoesn’toffer
take-away—adecisionmadeto
safeguardquality—butthere’s
alwaysanexceptiontotherule.
Therestaurants’mostcom-
monversionoftakeoutarrives
viapersonalplane.“We’lldo
atleast 20 ordersa month
andmoreduringbusierweeks
likespringbreak,”saysAnne
Yamamoto,specialeventsman-
agerfortheNobusinNewYork
andthemastermindbehindthe
deliveryoflunchesanddinners
toVIPclientsastheyshuttle
aroundtheglobe.
Forcasualto-godiningat
home,a slewofcelebshavethe
restaurants’managersonspeed
dial.OneoftheOcean’s 8 gals
hasStymeist’scellnumbersothe manager can troubleshoot a
weekly take-away order from the
nearest Nobu location. During
my shift, from the oceans she
ate: sashimi, sliced extra thin,
and the standard yellowtail jala-
peño and black cod—plus crispy
rice, extra crispy, and two orders
of beef tenderloin with a side of
chopped onions and scallions,
which was a pretty normal order
for her. A different film and TV
star obsessively orders take-
out when she’s in New York. She
placed two dinner orders during
myshortgig—it’sa goodthing
hertravelingpantshaveanelas-
ticwaistband.Heryellowtail
jalapeño has to be sliced thin,
with absolutely no red blood-
lines showing.
Staff try to steer orders
away from dishes that involve
rice,becausethecombina-
tionwithrawfishis fragile, but
caviarrequestsarehonored,
includingfromanAvengers
starwhorecentlyrequested a
buffet’sworthofafter-dinner
roetogo.61DINING
THE SEATING CHART IS A GAME OF RISK
BUT THERE’S A LIMIT TO CELEBS’ SPECIAL TREATMENT