Famous Food

A nocturnal Lamar Odom wandered the streets of Downtown L.A. just after midnight Monday ... returning home at 6:30 AM.

According to the photo agency that took the pictures, Odom hit up Wokano sushi restaurant shortly after midnight. He stayed for only 5 minutes, according to the agency, and then meandered to a convenience store where he picked up a banana.

Odom returned to his downtown apartment building -- located about 1 mile from Skid Row -- then reemerged at 3:15AM, when he jumped into someone's car.

Ex-Golden State Warriors Chris Mullin and Mitch Richmond took it to the hole yesterday in L.A. -- the holes on their faces ... and we got video of their frozen yogurt get-together.

The two basketball stars were hanging outside of Menchies Frozen Yogurt in Calabasas and told us they're "friends for life" who kick it all the time.

Check out the video to hear their thoughts on modern day basketball and the perks of retirement.

Jennifer Love Hewitt and fiance Brian Hallisay were involved in a pasta-fueled confrontation with a photog Friday night ... and cops have launched a criminal investigation.

JLH and Brian were leaving the always-delicious Toscana restaurant in Brentwood when a pesky paparazzo prepared to snap some pics. We're told the couple asked the photog to lay off, but he ignored them and started snapping away.

Hallisay then allegedly got into it with the cameraman, and during the scuffle the photog claims the camera hit him in the face -- near his eye.

Apparently Jen -- who is pregnant -- felt so bad she let the photog snap a few more pics ... and then she and Hallisay left.

Unlike Toscana's rigatoni, the confrontation didn't go down well with the photog, because law enforcement sources tell us he went to the cop shop a few hours later and filed a battery report against Hallisay. Our sources say when he came to the station there was no visible injury to his face or eye.

Lamar Odom just left an L.A. sushi restaurant with a friend ... where he ordered no sushi.

Lamar was there for lunch ... a very light lunch, consisting of a bowl of miso soup and 2 green teas.

Lamar barely touched the soup, and spent most of the time ignoring his friend while he chatted on his phone.

The staff tells TMZ ... Lamar was nice enough. The bill came to a whopping $7. Lamar plunked down a 20 and went on his not-so-merry way.

There are reports Lamar is getting outpatient treatment for his crack problem.

Are you planning to marry Kate Upton one day???

Well, good news ... she's probably gonna stay hot ... at least judging by this photo of her mother.

21-year-old Kate took a little stroll with her mom Shelley yesterday after the two lunched at super-pricey, celebrity eatery, Nello in NY.

Good genes in that family.

No men? No problem ... at least for Vanessa Bryant and La La Anthony ... who took some time away from their famous husbands last night for a basketball wives dinner date in L.A. ... and TMZ has the footage.

The two hit up Madeo in West Hollywood -- without Kobe Bryant or Carmelo Anthony -- and after the meal, they posed up for photogs who snapped away like crazy.

So, are there actual NBA implications from the dinner date? Well, Carmelo becomes a free agent after this upcoming season ... and the Bryants could be trying to woo Carmelo away from NY and sign on with the Lakers.

Ex-beauty queen Shanna Moakler knows all about quick weight loss ... because she just had 2.5 liters of fat slurped right out of her ... and TMZ has the photo to prove it.

Shanna stopped by Elite Body Sculpture in Beverly Hills on Tuesday for some quick body work -- a procedure called Airbrush Laser Liposculpture.

According to the EBS website, the doctor doesn't use a scalpel, but rather a circular-shaped device that leaves a scar that's smaller than a pencil top eraser.

We're told Shanna wanted some extra help tightening up her stomach ... because she's had a tough time getting back into pre-baby shape after birthing 3 kids.

After the procedure, the doc gave Shanna a jar of the removed lard -- which measured out to 2.5 liters of the fat stuff.

For all you metrically-challenged people -- 2.5 liters is equal to 84.5 ounces ... which is almost 3 Big Gulps.

The best part -- after Shanna lost the fat, she raced straight from the doc's office to Boa Steakhouse on the Sunset Strip and woofed down a big ol' juicy steak ... 'cause why the hell not?

JOEY CHESTNUT IS BACK!!!

The greatest competitive eater on the face of the planet returned to form this weekend at the rib cook-off in Reno, NV and took FIRST PLACE ... edging out the guy who beat him in the Gyoza championships last month.

Like Magic vs. Bird or Ali vs. Frazier ... Chestnut bellied up to the table next to rival Matt Stonie and put down 13.76 pounds of ribs in 12 minutes at the 8th Annual Nugget World Rib Eating Championship at John Ascuaga's Nugget Casino Resort.

21-year-old Stonie -- who many consider the future of competitive eating -- came in a close 2nd with 11.2 pounds of rib meat.

Both men crushed the previous record of 9.8 pounds ... which was set in 2008 by, you guessed it, Joey Chestnut.

Thanks to our friends at Getaway Reno/Tahoe for the rib footage.

Tyler, the Creator is adamant ... he didn't go splitsies on a strawberry milkshake with Justin Bieber during a burger run this week telling TMZ, "That's gay."

He also says he doesn't even like strawberries.

Oh, and Tyler made the comments last night at a Chick-Fil-A restaurant.

Tyler and Bieber posted photos of their late night food fest at a Fatburger in L.A. earlier this week. Sources inside the restaurant told TMZ they 100%, for sure, split the milkshake.

... not that there's anything wrong with that.

Justin Bieber and Tyler, the Creator got straight up romantic during a burger run in L.A. last night, splitting a strawberry milkshake while they enjoyed their 100% ground beef heart-stoppers.

The duo Instagrammed the photos today showing him and Tyler hitting up a Fatburger on Sunset around 3:30 AM, but we've learned exactly what they ordered ... and it's cuter than anything Justin ever ordered with Selena Gomez.

We're told Biebs and Tyler got two burgers -- one cheese no bacon, one cheese no pickles -- and one order of skinny fries. (NOT FAT FRIES?? ARE YOU CRAZY??)

But the adorable part ... sources inside the restaurant tell us they also ordered one strawberry milkshake to split.

Don't worry, ladies ... we're told they poured one shake into 2 cups (haha, 2 guys, 1 cup).

Mel Gibson went to dinner with the son of the RICHEST MAN IN THE WORLD last night ... in Mexico ... and no one was abducted. Hooray!

Gibson's dinner date was Carlos Slim Domit, eldest son of Carlos Slim Helu ... whose reported net worth is $73 BILLION. (Bill Gates is a close second with $67 billion).

Mel and Carlos Jr. were photographed on their way out of a fancy restaurant called Casa Anis in an upscale neighborhood of Mexico City called Polanco.

It's unclear how they know each other or what they talked about at dinner -- but we hear the restaurant has great crab cakes. So, there's that ...

Chef Gordon Ramsay tells TMZ ... he isn't writing off disgraced "Hell's Kitchen" champ Ja'Nel Witt even after she failed a drug test -- "My door is always open."

We broke the story ... Witt was not allowed to take the job as head chef at Ramsay's Las Vegas restaurant after winning HK earlier this year because she tested positive for cocaine.

But Ramsay says he still believes in Witt's talent ... and yesterday at LAX he told us, "I hope she sorts out her personal issues."

Screw the VMAs ... Demi Lovato spent her Sunday diving face first into a jumbo Disneyland TURKEY LEG ... and looked damn good doin' it.

If you didn't know ... the smoked Dland turkey leg is a park ICON, weighing in at 1.5 pounds. In fact it's sooooo tasty some conspiracy theorists think it's made of dead emus.

Mmmmm Emu.

The leader of the free world President Barack Obama has done something only great men do ... he tipped his server ON TOP of already added gratuity. He DOUBLE TIPPED!

Obama stopped for lunch in Rochester, NY Thursday at a little deli called Magnolia's. It was widely reported that the Prez ate a grilled cheese and some cream of tomato soup. Big stuff.

But what you didn't know ... Obama not only bought lunch for his secret service men (the ones who checked the place for WMD's before hand) ... he also double tipped his waiter, like a champ.

In total, B.O. left a 52% tip.

So, we gotta ask ...

Paula Deen is headlining a giant food expo in Houston next month, but you wouldn't know it ... because two huge ticket sellers are REFUSING to put her name or her picture in the advertising, TMZ has learned.

The event is the Metro Cooking and Entertainment Show ... and Paula was supposed to be the main attraction, but sources connected with the expo tell us, Groupon and Livingsocial are actively trying to distance themselves from anything Deen-related.

Instead, the companies are featuring much lesser known chefs on their ads -- like Terry French and Martie Duncan -- and ticket sales are taking a huge hit.

A rep for the expo tells us, "It's more difficult -- I'm not going to kid -- not having those tools [Paula and her sons] to help sell tickets, but we are fighting for Paula."

Paula has been with the expo for 8 years, and the rep says tickets sold much more quickly when the chef was featured on the advertisements ... but not this year ... and there's nothing Metro can do about it (except on its own website).

FYI, the expo will be Paula's first public appearance since she settled the racial discrimination lawsuit filed against her in Georgia.

Liam Hemsworth ate 45 White Castle burgers and then vomited them up ... and now the fast food chain is offering him $20,000 to a charity of his choice ... because they were impressed. Yeah.

Liam told the story to "Jimmy Kimmel" earlier this month ... while filming "Hunger Games" he and Josh Hutcherson went to White Castle and split about 90 burgers -- only to puke them up later, due to burger overload.

A rep for White Castle tells TMZ ... it's impressed Liam could down that many burgers in one sitting and wants to induct Liam into the White Castle Hall of Fame (apparently that's a thing). Even better, WC wants to donate $20,000 to a charity of his choice.

Sorry Josh, you get nothing. Maybe some mouthwash.