The former head of a New York star restaurant spices up his memoirs with juicy details: His worst customers included a supermodel and the Vogue boss. Even the future Duchess Meghan Markle did not cover herself with fame.
In his new book, Your Table is Ready: Tales of a New York City Maître D, Michael Cecchi-Azzolina recalls celebrity encounters he had as a longtime restaurant manager in New York City. The “worst customers” would have included model Naomi Campbell and Vogue boss Anna Wintour. But an encounter with Duchess Meghan in 2017 in the Michelin restaurant Le Coucou was also remembered negatively by Cecchi-Azzolina.
Cecchi-Azzolina, who ran the restaurant for two and a half years, describes the situation according to the “Daily Mail” as follows: Today’s Duchess, then “Suits” actress and known as Meghan Markle, and her companion showed up 20 minutes before their reservation in the restaurant. The table was still occupied. When offered to sit at the bar while they waited, Meghan’s companion reportedly said: “Are you aware that my guest is dating Prince Harry and will soon be a Duchess? Don’t you have a private area we can use?” can wait?”
“My first impulse was to laugh,” continues Cecchi-Azzolina. “I didn’t give a damn about Prince Harry’s date.” Duchess Meghan is said to have said “not a word” during the entire argument and appeared “distant”. He then only countered: “The most powerful people in the world come here, nobody is really interested in you.” Cecchi-Azzolina did not make it public when exactly the encounter should have taken place. Meghan’s engagement to Prince Harry was announced in November 2017.
He said of Naomi Campbell that in the early 2000s she regularly came without an appointment, was rude and complained about her food almost every time. “She was someone we feared,” the former Maitre told the New York Post. “She needed a lot of attention,” he recalled, and once returned her food. “I think it was the rack of lamb.”
Vogue boss Wintour was similar, adding Cecchi-Azzolina, ordering a steak “very rare” and asking it to be served “immediately.” If it was just a little overdone, she would look at the waiter as if she had just served a rat, he continued. Apparently, the raw meat put her in a mood.
(This article was first published on Sunday, October 23, 2022.)
