Sydney's Celebrity Dining Spots

The media

JF When it comes to the media, our policy is not to encourage that. These people are customers – they just want a peaceful meal. If we see the paparazzi pointing cameras, we’ll say: “Hey mate, move it along.” These people are just trying to come in for a quiet feed with their families.

TS We don’t get media trouble as celebrities are smarter than that. They tend to book a couple of places at the same time to throw the paps off the scent so you never really believe you’ve got a celebrity until they’re actually in the restaurant. The best way to guarantee they’re going to turn up is if they book the same day rather than a week in advance. But they’ll always cancel their other booking.

PS Jennifer Aniston and Vince Vaughn came in one night and they were getting hassled so Matt Moran and I got the limos to park underAria to make sure the paparazzi couldn’t come in. She still had guys snapping away from the gardens with long lenses. Nicole Kidman came in pre-Keith with Stephen Bing and there was a bit of confusion with limos – it’s always very cloak and dagger – anyway, both limos left and accidentally left Bing behind so I had to drive him back to his hotel in my little Audi.

The faces

JF They’re all so polite. I’m no star fucker but when Robert De Niro came in, that was big. He was meant to eat at Icebergs but somebody tipped off the media so he came toOtto by the back door. De Niro came in with his family twice. There was U2 dining at Quay, as well – they were nice Irish boys. And then there was Paris [Hilton]. She’s what we in the hospitality trade call an “interesting customer”. She’s Paris – it’s a circus. She turned up with 20 people and a security contingent.

TS John Travolta is, for me, the biggest star we’ve had through the door – he had a really good aura about him.

PS John Travolta insisted on calling one of the waitresses Sandy all night, much to everyone’s delight. Kidman comes in quite a bit – had a little hen’s night in the bar. I wasn’t on that night but Nicole Richie and Benji Madden from Good Charlotte came in once. No booking, walked in at ten to 12. It’s kind of frowned upon but we did it for them.

The hot seat

JF Missy Higgins always sits on table 32 at Otto. Sting sat on table 65, which is Billy Joel’s table – one woman came and asked for an autograph but most people just left him alone. Harrison Ford likes to sit at table 30, which is basically in Siberia.

TS John Travolta had to sit in a separate area of the restaurant so he didn’t get absolutely mobbed by fans. I think he was over here buying a jumbo jet.

The tips

JF John Malkovich and Sting are good tippers. [Jerry] Seinfeld is not a massive tipper.

PS They all pay and tip pretty well. Generally if it’s an overseas star the studio takes them out and pays.

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