the list of 9 for august 17, 2008:
NINE CELEBRITY SIGHTINGS AT REAL FOOD DAILY
Although the rest of the world loves to hate Los Angeles, we still get hordes of tourists everyyear, most hoping to see a movie star in real life. These tourists book expensive meals at The Ivyand Spago and mostly only see each other. Meanwhile, the many vegan and vegetarian celebrities intown will flock to West Hollywood's vegan restaurant Real Food Daily whenever their personal chefshave the day off or when they just want to socialize. My (vegan) wife Miki and I go to RFDsomewhat frequently, as it's close by and fairly affordable, and have had many a star-studded mealthere. We've even caught my former lead actress Melanie Lynskey picking up dinner to go. Atthe risk of enabling stalkers and making it harder for us to get a table, here are some othercelebs we've seen chowing down:
- Mike White. This prolific screenwriter/actor may not be ahousehold name, but you've seen him in several movies which he's also written, includingSchool of Rock, The Good Girl and the infamous Chuck and Buck. He also directed2007's Year of the Dog, a seriocomic metaphor for his own veganism. We've seen this guyhere at least half a dozen times, usually alone, though last time he appeared to be on a date.
- Roland Orzabal. This oddly-named singer/songwriter isbetter known as the frontman for the hugely successful '80s band Tears for Fears. Miki and I sawhim eating with two or three young hip hop looking dudes. Not a clue why.
- Alicia Silverstone. Naturally, Hollywood's most outspokenvegan can be found in her native habitat at Real Food Daily. We saw her here once with herhusband, interviewing women (for personal assistants? nannies? threesomes?), and a second timehaving the famous RFD Sunday brunch with an unlikely dining partner, the actor...
- Bill Nighy. This lanky older English thespian's biggestrole was behind tons of digital tentacles, as Davy Jones in the Pirates of the Caribbeanmovies. You've seen his actual face in films such as Love Actually, Shaun of the Dead andNotes on a Scandal. We couldn't figure out why he would dine with Silverstone until wechecked his filmography at home and discovered that the two acted in some straight-to-videothriller a couple years back.
- Justin Long. Possibly forever doomed to be known as the"I'm a Macintosh" guy from the Apple commercials, despite plum roles in Live Free or DieHard and other movies, the eventual ex of Drew Barrymore was eating alone at the counterduring one of our Alicia Silverstone sightings, making for an even more surreal dining experience.
- "Weird Al" Yankovic. The world's wackiest vegan was havingbrunch with his wife and daughter one day. The only "weird" thing he did was down an entire glassof water in one gulp, then saying "Bingo!" when he was done, a drop of water dribbling off hischin. I suppose that's a little weird.
- Moby. It was inevitable that we'd find this DJ/musician,the archetypal vegan punchline, here, though his sitting outside on the patio in chilly weather wasunusual.
- Sara Gilbert. Most recently, Miki and I saw the brunching"Roseanne" star with her two children and partner (wife?) here one Sunday, only days after Mikisaw her here at lunch. Sara Gilbert may not be a huge celebrity sighting, but it shouldbe noted that she was sharing brunch with...
- Tobey Maguire. There are several vegan A-listers outthere, including Joaquin Phoenix, Natalie Portman and Spider-Man himself, who joined the Gilbertclan with his own wife and daughter, looking scruffy but ordinary, and chasing his toddler aroundthe restaurant just like all the other inconsiderate parents who bring their hyperactive kids toReal Food Daily do.
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