The Starlet

On Friday night, ~Ashton Kutcher~ came in to Zero Zero with two other people and had a few cocktails at the bar. My spy says, “He was wearing a baseball cap and hoodie, and seemed like he wanted to be under the radar. I think they had a good time!”

On Saturday, a tablehopper reader was enjoying a late lunch at Bouchon in Yountville, and who was at the other table but ~David Beckham~, ~Victoria Beckham~, and their baby Harper Seven. My spotter notes, “No bread or alcohol on the table (why eat?!), but I didn’t get to see exactly what they ordered. They had a long lunch. DB was looking EXTRA cute!”

My question is this: as cute as his new H&M underwear ad? Now, that’s cute.

A tablehopper tweeter let me know she spotted ~Julia Roberts~ at Farmstead at Long Meadow Ranch in St. Helena this past Saturday having lunch.

A cryptic tweet from @bluebottleroast also alludes to a potential sighting here in the city.

On Friday, a globetrotting ‘hopper reader spotted ~Sean Penn~ at Lark Creek Grill in SFO airport’s Terminal 2.

On Wednesday, a tablehopper reader went to see the ~Eddie Izzard~ and ~Greg Proops~ conversation at the Palace of Fine Arts as part of SketchFest. Afterward, the reader went to dinner at nopa and who should come in but Eddie and Greg with some friends? Good taste all around.

While downing bottomless mimosas on Sunday at Eastside West, a gaggle of gals spotted musician/reality show star ~Ryan Cabrera~ (known for dating Ashlee Simpson and others). He was sporting his signature porcupine ‘do under his fedora and sunglasses indoors (yeah, totally normal) while sipping Manhattans. 

Rumor has it ~Ben Flajnik~ of The Bachelor was also there that morning. 

49er tight end ~Vernon Davis~ dined not once but twice at the new Oryza Bistro Asiana that just opened in San Jose’s Valley Fair Mall across from Santana Row. He liked lunch so much that he and his wife came back for dinner within a few days; he tweeted, “I must say that Oryza has the potential to be on my all time favorite restaurant list.”

On Thursday night, ~James Franco~ was spotted at Betelnut with friends. They had dumplings and scorpion bowls before heading off to a special screening of The Iron Lady.

A fabulous sighting at Park Tavern on Friday night: the incomparable ~Angie Dickinson~ came in to dine with the glamorous Denise Hale. I know it’s not polite to discuss a lady’s age, but when you look that fab at 80, well, you gotta say something. Go Angie.

Yeah, rough weekend for football fans. I was amused to learn on Friday night that the owners of the 49ers and the New York Giants dined at different restaurants in the Delfina Group (Delfina and Locanda). And on Saturday night, the owners and agents of the Giants team dined at Park Tavern.

I’m sure the team at Atelier Crenn was beyond thrilled to cook for chef ~Guy Savoy~. Oh wait, here’s a picture of the crew. Yup, beaming.

Chef ~Robert Irvine~ (of Food Network’s Dinner: Impossible, Worst Cooks in America, and Restaurant: Impossible) tweeted about having a good time at Havana in Walnut Creek. My tipster says, “he is in the area doing a remodel of a restaurant in Benicia,” which according to his tweets is Pappas Restaurant.

Susan Sarandon  was seen dining at ~BISTRO BOUDIN~ on Sunday afternoon with what looked like a couple associates. The group was seated at one of the restaurant’s large marble tables that overlooks the bay with a view of Alcatraz. Susan ordered an Irish Coffee (atta girl), dined on the linguine and clams for her entrée, and here’s the best part: she asked the chef for a generous amount of garlic to be added. Not afraid, that Susan. Besides, when you’re that gorgeous, you can have the worst dragon breath in the world and people will still want to make out with you.

After last week’s sighting of ~John Waters~ at Rebel, now Mission Mission shares a sighting (and picture!) of him catching the Micro Mtns show at The Knockout. Way to hit the local hangouts, John!

According to some buzz on Facebook, ~Ruth Reichl~ (in town for the Good Food Awards) and ~Alice Waters~ dined at Locanda on Friday night for dinner. As co-owner Annie Stoll commented, “So much fun to have them in. They are both such lovely joyous people!” (I love that comment, what a great impression to leave.)

A couple sightings at Boulevard: ~Peter Coyote~ and author ~William C. Gordon~ (and husband of Isabel Allende) both came in for lunch separately.

~Michael Franti~ (Spearhead) had a quick dinner with his girlfriend at One Market (he even cozied up next to her on the same side of the table). He was reportedly “super friendly” with the staff and introduced himself as Mike. Mike?

A tablehopper follower on Twitter let me know ~Sophia Bush~ (Brooke Davis on One Tree Hill) was spotted at Ram’s Gate Winery, the swank new winery that’s on the way to Sonoma.

According to a tweet, ~Joe Montana~ had lunch at Café de la Presse last week.

A bunch of tweets flowed in on Saturday, spotting a bearded and sunglassed ~Jake Gyllenhaal~ at the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market. @foodiehunter shares that he ended up stopping at Hapa Ramen; further digging reveals he ordered a miso market bowl with an egg. (I’m trying to work a fertilization joke in there somewhere, but I’m just going to let it be.)

Last Thursday night, @sneakysbbq tweeted that ~John Waters~ was at the bar at Rebel on Market Street, but not eating barbecue. Alas.

A tablehopper spotter saw ~Peter Dinklage~, who plays a primary role in HBO’s Game of Thrones (as Tyrion Lannister) having a glass of wine with an unidentified female at the Ferry Plaza Wine Merchant yesterday.

Well, this isn’t a restaurant or bar sighting, but when it’s ~Michelle Pfeiffer~, I will make big exceptions. Bi-Rite Market owner Sam Mogannam tweeted she was in the market on New Year’s Eve!

This is a little far afield for my usual coverage, but again, for ~James Franco~, exceptions must be made. He had dinner at Calafia Café in Palo Alto with his mother and brother. (Yes, just like his collection of stories, Palo Alto.)

Just before Christmas, ~Adrian Grenier~ came in to AQ for dinner and hung out in the downstairs whiskey lounge with his group—my source says he was “with his ‘model girlfriend’ and a group of friends including one of the Twitter founders.”

A tablehopper reader spotted ~Ben Flajnik~ at Cotogna, the Sonoma winemaker who is starring in the latest season of The Bachelor (it just started last night). Yup, the same guy who was turned down by Ashley Hebert on The Bachelorette. My spotter says, “It looked like a late lunch meeting, and he was at a table with seven other people (mostly women and one other man).” A little more sleuthing reveals he was having a meeting with a local PR firm.

~John Cleese~ came in to TRACE for breakfast; the gluten-free actor/writer tucked into the market omelet, with maitake mushroom, melted leeks, and Gruyère.

A tablehopper reader spotted ~Fred Armisen~ (Saturday Night Live) and his Portlandia costar ~Carrie Brownstein~ (she was also in the band Sleater-Kinney and now Wild Flag) dining at ~BAR TARTINE~ last Thursday evening. A check-in with the restaurant confirms the sighting, and fortunately the insanely delicious langos potato bread was one of the items they ordered, along with a number of seafood dishes (but no chicken paprikas since they couldn’t get a birth certificate and dossier on the chicken, har). The duo was in town for their Portlandia traveling show at Mezzanine.

~James Belushi~ came in to DOSA on Fillmore with a friend. He sat in the lounge and seemed to especially like their new version of the lamb chops (which are spice-crusted with a cranberry-chutney glaze). He thanked the restaurant on the way out.

~Michael Dukakis~ and his wife Kitty were spotted having dinner at Kokkari the day after Christmas.

~Guy Fieri~ of Diners, Drive-ins and Dives came to La Toque at The Westin Verasa Napa on Christmas Eve to source a special ingredient for the holiday (no, it wasn’t more hair bleach). Ends up Guy was in need of fresh white truffles for his family’s Christmas Eve dinner and because chef Ken Frank is a truffle aficionado, he knew just who to call for the goods. (You can see a pic of the truffle trio here.)