Even Kanye West sometimes has to call Drop Noma to get a table

Loss of name to get a coveted table in a popular restaurant is not uncommon. But to drop a famous chef’s famous restaurant to get a table … for an even more famous musician? It’s a bit bizarre. But that is exactly what is said to have matured in the Jantown restaurant Nari by chef and owner Pim Techamuanvivit before the musician Kayne West came to dinner.

According to reporting of the timeline, someone called the upscale Thai restaurant and asked for a last minute reservation for „a table with noma people” – Noma is that award winning Danish restaurant that recently released a line of vegetarian and vegan garums. When the party hit, the chef and noma owner René Redzepi (or anyone associated with the restaurant) was nowhere to be found. Instead, a waiter discovered that West and his entourage had settled in the restaurant’s semi-private dining room.

Patricia Chang

Ironically, Techamuanvivit said that timeline the not very elaborate ruse was completely unnecessary because it would have been ready and able to accommodate the group if they had called and dropped the name of the world famous musician. But that doesn’t mean she let West and his group off the hook for the stunt.

“I went to the table and asked which of you worked for my friend Rene? Oh yes, I have, ”Techamuanvivit tweeted on Thursday afternoon.

A woman at the table simply replied, „He’s not here,” she told the timeline.

The group was polite, undemanding, and enjoyed the food, according to Techamuanvivit. They ate Som Tum Mamuang (spicy mango salad with cashew nuts), Gaeng Rawang Muan (chicken roulade in green curry), and Gaeng Kua Pla (black cod with curry), the owner also said.

Since Nari is one of San Francisco’s most prestigious restaurants, it’s not that the staff aren’t used to seeing celebrities in the dining room. Still, some were „very, very fangirl-excited” to see West while others were disappointed not to see Redzepi, Techamuanvivit said. And although to most of us it may never make sense why one of the most famous musicians in the world (or someone on their behalf) has to drop someone else’s name in an attempt to get preferential treatment, the mysterious caller may just have been excited, didn’t have to eat McDonald’s for dinner.