Intelligencer

Waverly Insider

Things we learned about the Waverly Inn from reading chef and partner John DeLucie’s memoir, The Hunger: A Story of Food, Desire, and Ambition.

By Emma Pearse
Published May 10, 2009

• Michael Caine is a fan of the chicken potpie.

• No. 217 is the worst table in the house. It’s close to the kitchen door, where you can hear and smell everything.

• DeLucie keeps copies of a grainy Internet photo of Frank Bruni pasted in the kitchen, in the office above the fax machine, and on the employee bathroom wall above the sink. The photo could be circa 1984.

• After Karl Lagerfeld and his entourage of eleven visited for dinner, his office called to order takeout of roasted carrots, nothing more, every day for a week.

• Managers, hostesses, and waiters are forbidden from being overly familiar with the guests. One good-looking employee was fired for sitting down to an invited after-dinner cocktail with Will Smith.

• Lars the maître d’ intones “Graydon in the house” whenever owner Carter enters the restaurant.

Have good intel? Send tips to intel@nymag.com.