Servers, bartenders, and owners explain what happens when Taylor Swift visits their NYC restaurants.
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Taylor Swift does not need to go out to dinner.
Going out to dinner is a bourgeois construct that has no obvious draw for her.
Civilians with expendable cash go out to dinner to break up the monotony of being alive.
Celebrities go out to dinner to be photographed so that these cash-flush civilians remember they exist.
Taylor Swift is neither a civilian nor a run-of-the-mill celebrity.
The too-obvious answer is that she wants to be seen, that she enjoys the publicity.
So what motivates her to risk life and limb to eat slightly elevated antipasti?
Does she even eat the elevated antipasti?
Does she pay for them?
Does she share them with her bodyguards?
Is she always in a private room?
And what do the employees of the restaurants themselves think of it all?
.Day 1: Via Carota
.
(Why hasnt Taylor been to Carbone?
Is it theKanyeof it all?)
We order the insalata verde, some meatballs, and the fish, which comes to $111.
Neither person ever appears.
We get a lot of famous people here, she says.
Not that I dont care.
Im just not a huge fan.
She pauses and her eyes suddenly widen.
I was actually her server, he begins, eyes shining.
I wasnt aware that she was going to come here for dinner big celebrities dont put in a reservation.
I was like, Holy shit!
She just wanted to be regular and enjoy dinner with her girls.
So I didnt even ask for a selfie or an autograph.
The memory is enough for me.
We move on to their order.
According to Julius, Taylor wanted to do the whole menu.
I said, Stop it!
She said, Is that too much?
I said, Yes.
He ended up curating her meal, family style: They had pasta, a lot of shared appetizers.
We sent some stuff from the chef.
They were like, Oh my God, we didnt order this!
I was like, Isnt your concert loud, too?
he says, looking mischievous.
When theyd finished eating, Kravitz helped bus the table.
I didnt expect her to do that because both of her parents are celebrities, says Julius.
Laura Dern was going to pay the bill, says Julius.
Shes like, Darling, take this.
I was like, No.
She was like, Why??
I said, Ms. Taylor paid!
He confirms that she tipped well.
Yeah, he says.
A lot of people have asked me a lot of uncomfortable questions.
He turns the conversation back to Taylor.
She was stunning and beautiful, he says.
Shes dating that football player now.
Im happy for her.
They were all talking about boys.
They were talking about relationships because Zoe, I think she just got with Channing Tatum.
They were talking about social media.
He reiterates that Taylor was very kind during her visit which isnt always the case.
If it was Mariah Carey?
Dont get me wrong.
A manager stops by the bar.
Youre still telling this story?
I explain what Im up to.
Oh, he says, studying me like one might a serial killer.
I went to Via Carota recently because I wanted to be where she was, she tells me.
I did ask if I was sitting in the same seat she was sitting in.
And they said yes!
Jill confirms that Taylors group sat in a private room and tells me that Taylors bill was $4,000.
I ask how she knows this.
My boss told me that, Jill says.
Her boss has no actual affiliation with Via Carota or Taylor Swift.
I dont know how my boss knows.
But they all got the prix-fixe menu and four drinks total.
We finally make it inside around 6:45 p.m. and order a few appetizers and martinis as quickly as possible.
An elderly New York couple next to us is talking about nuclear fission.
Just kidding, theyre talking about Taylor Swift.
Suddenly, the man looks directly into my eyes.
I used to work for the FBI, he says.
You look like a criminal Ive been chasing.
Are you the manager?
Who wants to know?
I suddenly feel like Sandy at the beginning ofGrease.
I introduce myself, explain what Im doing there, and he takes a long puff.
Yeah, Im Emilio, he says.
What can I tell you?
She eats, she pays, she gets the fuck out.
You told my husband you liked the food, she says.
But you just ordered a bunch of vegetables.
Sarah and I laugh, assuming we are all doing some kind of theatrical,Sopranos-y bit.
The woman glares at us.
Vegetables, she repeats.
Next time, stay home and bake your vegetables.
She gives us one last withering look before turning on her heel.
Ill never understand this generation.
This one is no exception.
(The chicken is $54.)
She was nice and she was chill, and she wasnt, like, being fancy and ordering caviar.
Isnt she technically new money?
I guess, yeah, she replies.
But she comes from some money.
(Taylors dad is in finance.)
I dont know her name.
But they both dated him.
So maybe they were talking about that.
When Taylors bodyguards asked these private-dining-room companions to stop taking photos, they threw a fit.
Is it just the two of you?
Do you have a reservation?
He eyes us sternly, perhaps making a mental note to call the FBI and turn me in.
Somehow, we are granted entry.
This is a really good spot, she says.
To Taylor, this is a dive, observes Hazel.
I look around at the drunken crowd.
I cant picture Taylor entering this bar without being instantly swarmed.
I have to imagine that theres a private room for her here, too.
Eventually, Hazel and I get a table.
We order another round of espresso martinis.
Neither our initial server nor our second server were working when Taylor came in, they tell us.
The second server was so mad about this.
But he feels confident that shell be back.
.Day 5: The Unnamed Restaurant
The next day, I run into Taylor Swift.
I cant say at which restaurant or why Im there without severe personal and geopolitical consequences.
She looks beautiful, glowing incandescently like some kind of possessed religious statue.
She sips a cosmo.
I had heard that was her drink.
She looks like a woman at a party in New York, calmly enjoying herself.
I find myself admiring her poise and grace and her arms, which are insane.
They have nothing to do with going out to dinner.
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