Famous Food

If you love caviar, you're probably not reading this. But just in case ...

Petrossian Caviar and Champagne Bar in LAX was serving rotten caviar to its schmancy food-loving customers according to an ex-cook ... who says he was fired for calling out the bad eggs.

Donald Gray filed a lawsuit against his former bosses, and according to the docs he says he got sick from tasting expired caviar the honchos insisted he sample before dishing it out to the travelling masses at LAX.

Side note to the rest of the country: Yes, L.A.'s airport is so fancy you can get caviar on the run.

In the suit, Gray says honchos instructed cooks to use expired caviar for their dishes, and even ripped off can labels to hide expiration dates. He claims he got food poisoning after a sampling in 2015, and began filing paperwork to report it, but instead of cooperating ... higher-ups disciplined him for eating caviar on the job ... a breach of company rules.

He was ultimately fired, and is suing for wrongful termination, retaliation and lost wages -- including meal breaks he was allegedly never given.

The LAX restaurant is not owned or run by the famed (in caviar circles) Petrossian family ... an independent operator merely licenses the name.

Lisa Vanderpump's customers at Villa Blanca had to clear out, STAT, Monday afternoon when a fire broke out in the restaurant.

Lunch patrons were evacuated when smoke started to fill the restaurant and the Bev Hills building around it. Lisa's husband, Ken Todd, is on the scene and tells us the fire started in one of their pizza ovens. No injuries, everyone got out safely ... but Ken says they'll be closed for a few days for cleanup.

Villa Blanca is Lisa's first restaurant. She also owns and operates PUMP in WeHo.

Eddie Lacy's off-season diet plan is already paying off HUGE -- the NFL star just cashed a $55k bonus check from the Seattle Seahawks for hitting a major weight loss milestone.

EL's weight issues are no secret -- and when he signed his new deal with Seattle, the team tied $385k to specific weight loss targets ... since he reportedly blew up to 267 during the off-season.

The first checkpoint was $55k if Eddie hit 255 by May 15. The good news -- he's 253.

Cha-ching.

The next goal is 250 lbs by June which he must maintain through August. Then he must stay at 245 through the season. Basically, he gets $55k for each month he hits the target weight.

Eddie's tried P90X in the past -- and the program famously slimmed him down into the low 240s.

The big issue for Lacy ... dude loves Chinese food -- LOVES IT.

We did some Yelping -- looks like there's a handful of Chinese joints right near the Hawks practice facility.

Katy Perry has officially lost her appetite for cherry pie ... she literally can't stomach another bite.

Katy was out pumping up her new single, "Bon Appetite" this weekend at the Wango Tango concert in Carson, CA -- and noshed on a big ole cherry pie. It's been her big promo gag lately for the song.

Unfortunately, Katy has her limits when it comes to snacking on pie ... and this time she spit it out with a very grossed out look.

Must not have been her recipe, but that face is priceless.

Reese Witherspoon did farm to table the New Orleans way -- getting her hands dirty, going elbow deep in crawfish ... then washing it down with a good drink.

Reese is down South for work, but she hit up Clesi's for the NOLA delicacy and a quick lesson. Gotta get your seasonings right and cook them critters for just the right amount of time. Looks like everyone enjoyed the meal ... and ice cold hurricanes too.

Reese was born on the Bayou, but raised in Nashville so she's just getting back to her roots.

Pinch tails, suck heads ... Reese knows the deal.

The teen who scored a year's worth of free Wendy's chicken nuggets is getting advice on how to handle his new celeb status, and all those free nuggs!

Carter Wilkerson was on "TMZ Live" talking about the success of his #nuggsforcarter campaign and revealed his game plan now that Wendy's is hooking him up for his viral tweet. Then Harvey hooked him up with a better plan ... he thinks, at least.

The 16-year-old seemed open to the advice, but following through won't be easy -- not with all those vouchers burning a hole in his pocket.

The CEO of Qantas Airways got served a whole pie to the face and never saw it coming!

The incident went down Monday when Alan Joyce was talking to a bunch of business leaders in Australia. Out of nowhere, someone walked onstage with a pie in hand and blasted the unsuspecting honcho ... IN THE FACE!!

Joyce never skipped a beat -- changed into a clean suit, and said these kinda shenanigans go down all the time. The pie-man was reportedly ID'd and arrested.

Wendy's just rewarded the teen who tried to score a year's worth of chicken nuggets -- even though he fell more than 14 million shy of the restaurant's Twitter demands.

We ain't hating, since Carter Wilkinson DID beat out Ellen DeGeneres for most retweets in history -- 3,433,823 with his #nuggsforcarter campaign. Ellen previously had the record for her Oscars selfie.

Getting that record was good enough for Wendy's which said Tuesday morning it's hooking up Carter with a year's supply of free nuggs. Dude got a certificate and vouchers to make it official.

Carter started his quest last month when he tweeted Wendy's asking how many retweets he needed to score the deal. Wendy's said 18 million.

He got a nice discount.

George Clooney and Rande Gerber kept a tradition going of celebrating their birthdays, thanks to Amal -- who surprised the hell outta both of 'em over the weekend.

Sources close to the group tell TMZ ... Amal invited Rande and Cindy Crawford to fly to the UK to surprise George, and join them for an intimate Saturday night dinner. We're told it worked ... George was dumbfounded when he saw his bff.

George and Rande -- whose birthdays fall within about a week of each other -- usually celebrate together, but since George and Amal moved to London ... it seemed like that might not happen.

Rande's appearance wasn't the only surprise. We're told Amal brought out a custom Casamigos cake -- featuring mini George and Rande figurines ... which actually kinda does 'em justice.

Chef Curry with the pot!!!

Ayesha Curry -- wife of NBA superstar Steph Curry -- is opening her own own BBQ restaurant in San Francisco with the help of one of the most famous chef/restaurateurs in the world!

Make no mistake about it, Ayesha is a legit cook -- and has been featured on the Food Network a bunch of times over the years.

Now, she's making the leap and opening her own place -- with Michael Mina ... who operates TWO Michelin star rated restaurants.

Ayesha says the restaurant will be called International Smoke -- and will open mid 2017.

The menu will feature ribs, BBQ lobster, slow cooked pork, sausage and more!

Starbucks' pink and blue Unicorn Frappuccino craze has a Brooklyn coffee shop feeling straight-up blue ... and super pissed off.

Owners of The End claim the idea of a brightly colored, multi-flavored drink was theirs, AND they came up with it months before Starbucks. In a lawsuit, The End says its Unicorn Latte features pink and blue colors and ZERO coffee ... just like Starbucks' concoction.

According to the suit ... The End started selling its Unicorn Latte in December 2016 and filed paperwork to own the name in January. Starbucks rolled out their beverage in April, and The End says it's confusing consumers -- Unicorn Frapp, Unicorn Latte ... tomato, tomahto.

The End wants Starbucks to stop using Unicorn on all its drinks and pay up for stealing it. Not fuh nuthin' but ... the Brooklyn shop also wants a public apology.

A Starbucks rep tells us ... the suit is without merit, and its drink was inspired by many unicorn-themed foods and drinks trending on social media.

While Steph Curry and LeBron James make another playoff run, Kobe Bryant is reaping the benefits of retired life -- snappin' pics with beautiful models and eating Reese's Puffs.

Super hot Instagram model Shelley Golden posted the encounter in California with the NBA legend, jokingly saying "Me and bae getting groceries as usual."

In case you were dying to find out what food fuels Retired Mamba in the morning ... it looks like Kobe's all about that PB and chocolate deliciousness.

Who said retirement would be boring?

DJ Khaled's all hyped up to work at Starbucks ... not as a barista (that would be awesome though) ... but as the star of a new ad campaign -- and we got his audition on camera!

The rapper was rolling in a golf cart Tuesday at the Beverly Glen Circle in L.A. -- indulging in some pumpkin cake -- when he breaks down how un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-believable the product is.

If any casting agents are watching ... Khaled's waiting for the MAJOR KEY!!

Liam Neeson's known for hunting down bad guys and making them pay, but he's also skilled at hunting down good guys who want to give him a delicious free sandwich.

The manager at Big Star Sandwich Co. in New Westminster, Canada put up a sign Tuesday morning offering Liam free grub after hearing he was filming in the area. Our sandwich meat sources (yep, we got those) tell us a few hours later ... BOOM ... Mr. "Taken" walked into the shop!

We're told he used his most intimidating voice and simply said, "Where is my free sandwich?"

Liam didn't actually eat because he had to rush back to set, but did snap a pic with employees. The actor's up there shooting "Hard Powder" ... a movie about a snow plow driver seeking revenge against a drug kingpin who he thinks murdered his son.

Instant classic. The photo. Probably not the movie.

The Fyre Festival's now notorious sandwich photo was the staff lunch and guests actually got awesome food ... so claim sources connected to festival organizers.

We're told guests were served chicken, pasta, burgers and fries and salad ... not just a gnarly cheese sandwich. As for breakfast ... donuts, waffles and coffee.

People who attended the festival tell us quite a few people were actually staying in villas near the campsite ... the tents were low-end accommodations. And, we're told, the people who rented villas had access to speedboats.

We're also told Billy McFarland vows to return everyone's money, and he's "devastated."

We haven't gotten any word that anyone has received a refund ... so far.

Sony is pissed at Applebee's for using AC/DC and C+C Music Factory songs without ever paying a dime for them ... according to a new lawsuit.

Sony says it owns the license and copyright on "Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)" and "Rock And Roll Ain't Noise Pollution" -- both of which are featured in the restaurant's ad campaign.

According to the suit, Sony was contacted through a third party about using the tracks in TV spots plugging wood-fired beef and the Applebee's to-go service. Sony says it quoted prices -- $250k for the AC/DC tune, and $50k for C+C Music Factory's -- and sent license agreements, but never got paid.

When Sony reached out for their money, Applebee's claimed it already paid the third party. Not good enough for Sony, obviously, which is suing the restaurant for the $300k, plus damages.

1:44 PM PT -- A spokesperson for Applebee's has responded, stating, “Applebee's intends to vigorously defend this lawsuit, which we believe does not have merit. We cannot comment further on pending litigation.”