Famous Food

LeBron James' Taco Tuesday tradition is making a big impact this week ... the Lakers superstar sent food trucks to the firefighters and first responders working to put an end to the California wildfires.

LBJ -- who was forced to evacuate his Brentwood mansion when fires got dangerously close to his home -- sent his thanks to the people battling the blazes with delicious tacos.

L.A. mayor Eric Garcetti thanked Bron for the gesture ... saying "Thank you, @KingJames, for generously sending a taco truck to support our @LAFD firefighters, first responders, and partner agencies working to fight the #GettyFire."

The King ain't the only celeb chipping in to help ... John Cena has also pledged $500k of his own money towards fighting the California fires.

Of course, Bron is known for being crazy excited to celebrate his weekly ritual ... but this one has to be extra special.

LeBron also spoke about it at Lakers practice, saying "My appreciation and loyalty to the first responders. Those men and women are unbelievable, with what they're doing and their bravery throughout this time."

If Zion Williamson wants to cut out injuries and cut weight ... he NEEDS to cut meat out of his diet ASAP, so says John Salley who says VEGANISM can save Zion's career.

Look, a lot of people think 284 pound Zion is just too heavy to have a long NBA career. He's already missing the first 6 to 8 weeks of the NBA season after undergoing knee surgery.

Enter Salley ... who says Zion can turn the ship around if he turns his diet around.

"My message to Zion? Go vegan, bro. Drink a bunch of water and find out the best way to heal your body, meaning ... not just ultrasounds, not just a hot tub, don't take pills."

The 4-time NBA champ says Zion was destined to become teammates with Jahlil Okafor, who recently made the switch to "mostly" veganism and lost 20 pounds ... and Salley wants Williamson to listen to the vet.

G-Eazy's giving getting saucy a whole new meaning ... after treating 100 fans to a chow down at his favorite chicken joint.

The "Me, Myself & I" rapper corralled 100 of his most fervent fans Friday night in Chicago for a spicy spread at Nando's PERi-PERi Chicken (think Chipotle but with an explosive taste featuring chicken).

G-Eazy kicked off the weekend by asking his more than 8.3 million Instagram followers who wanted to grab dinner. The first 100 to RSVP to the number he posted got directions to Nando's in Chi-Town for a free meal.

The rapper more than delivered ... treating fans to an insane spread of 25 chicken platters (that's about 100 quarter chickens if you're counting), 300 wings, plus tons of sides that included mashed potatoes, fries, spicy rice, macho peas and garlic bread.

The night ended with "Naughty Natas" ... traditional Portuguese tarts served warm with a sprinkle of cinnamon sugar. G-Eazy picked up the tab ... to the tune of well over $1,000!!!

But, that's not all ... fans also got to mingle with G-Eazy, and also each fan left with a limited edition G-Eazy Nando's sauce bottle. Dude's clearly obsessed with Nando's, an original South African joint that spread like fire in the UK before making its way to the U.S. with 42 locations in D.C., Illinois, Maryland and Virginia.

No, seriously. G-Eazy loves it so much it's practically all he eats when he's in the UK. The obsession's legit ... G-Eazy dropped the joint's name when he made his debut on Charlie Sloth's "Fire in the Booth" segment for BBC Radio.

G-Eazy rapped, "Yeah, PERi-PERi on the Nando's, couple deals on the table, watch me land those." One of Nando's slogans ... "I bring a lot to the table."

Jonathan Cheban -- Kim Kardashian's longtime friend and frequent guest on "Keeping Up with the Kardashians" -- just turned his Instagram handle into his legal name. Chow down!!!!

JC filed legal docs in Florida -- his primary residence, it seems -- asking a judge to sign off on the name change from Jonathan Cheban to .................... wait for it ...

...

...

.... just a little bit more

........... FOODGOD!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's actually just Foodgod, but you get the idea. And yes, there's no capital G in the name, and the words aren't split up either as some media outlets have stylized it in the past. Sorry about that, holy folks and grammar nerds. Unfortunately for you, the Foodgod has spoken.

TMZ got a hold of the official judgment that was entered last week. It ain't all that fancy -- a name change isn't complicated. But, for Jonathan Foodgod, it carries significant weight.

If you don't know, FG's been all about the eats for a while now -- being a bonafide foodie is kinda his thing, and he proudly showcases it all over his social media pages. Literally, it seems like just about every post is related to good grub ... he even sleeps with food.

And, of course, Jon's been rockin' the @foodgod handle for a minute too. But, if you check out his IG today ... you'll see he's got the registered trademark symbol next to it.

Hooters needs to spread its wings and take care of visually impaired folks looking to purchase gift cards ... so says a legally blind man suing the popular restaurant chain.

Marcos Calcano is suing Hooters on behalf of himself and others with vision disabilities because its gift cards do not contain Braille, and he says he's clamoring to buy one ... according to a new suit.

Calcano says adding Braille to the cards is an easy fix that would make it much simpler for people like him to access the $400 billion gift card market ... and it "would restore the dignity to blind persons."

According to the legal docs ... Hooters informed him it does not sell gift cards containing Braille, and he believes the chain has no intention of doing so.

Hooters isn't alone, either -- Calcano claims to his knowledge, the only store that sells Braille gift cards is Starbucks ... even major retail chains like Walgreens, CVS and Target don't offer them.

At the same time he sued Hooters, he also filed against Domino's pizza.

He says he "intends to immediately purchase at least one store gift card" from Hooters as soon as the Braille is added.

Sounds like the guy's got a hankering for a 10-piece pronto ... or he's Christmas shopping early.

Calcano filed the class action suit seeking unspecified damages and wants the court to order Hooters to Braille up.

Vinny Guadagnino's book signing for his new Keto cookbook got stormed by carb-loving protesters ... led by his good buddy, Pauly D.

The 'Jersey Shore' star's devotion to the keto diet -- which cuts carbs in favor of quality high-fat foods -- has helped him shed some serious weight and look great ... and got him dubbed the "Keto Guido" on the first season of "Jersey Shore: Family Vacation."

Vinny also put out a cookbook as a guide for fellow Keto lovers, and held a signing in Vegas Wednesday night ... which was the perfect opportunity for Pauly to strike.

Pauly and the others marched outside the bookstore holding signs with photos of Vinny eating pizza and other carb-loaded dishes ... accusing him of cheating on the diet. The signs read, "Cheato Guido," "My Carbs My Choice," and "Ain't Nothin Keto About This Guido."

The protest then made its way inside the store and Pauly kept the chants going right in Vinny's face ... all in good fun, of course.

Cameras were on hand too ... so it's safe to assume Pauly's antics will be covered on the show.

Kevin Hart's slowly but surely getting back on his grind, and that includes carving out time to hang with good friends like Jay-Z.

Kev and Jay were out Monday night in Bev Hills with an impressive crew at Avra. The mogul and the movie star kicked it with Murder Inc. honcho Irv Gotti and LeBron James' right-hand man, Maverick Carter.

They all hung out for about 3 hours inside the joint ... where they played poker, broke bread and exchanged hugs on the way out. We're guessing everyone was congratulating Kevin -- who seemed to be moving around well -- on his amazing recovery from last month's scary crash.

As we've reported, Kev continues to get intensive outpatient therapy, and based on this video ... it is definitely working.

Jennifer Lawrence is hours away from saying "I do" on the Eastern Seaboard -- but until then, the meat and potatoes of her wedding venue are still being worked out ... literally.

Preparations for J.Law's nuptials were underway early Saturday morning at the historic Belcourt of Newport estate-turned-museum in Rhode Island -- where the actress will be tying the knot with hubby-to-be Cooke Maroney later today in front of 150 guests.

Caterers for the event were hard at work getting ready for the ceremony -- unloading supplies and wheeling them through the massive doors of the property. But, more importantly ... it appears the actual food that'll be served up was being worked on as well.

From the looks of it ... these guys brought over a slaughterhouse's worth of meat, and it seems they were getting ready to fire it all up in a wood-burning barbecue.

Assuming, J.Law and Cooke didn't make any last-minute changes to their extravagant menu, this would probably be the 5-week-aged leg of beef with forager's sauce -- just one of the two meat options folks can choose from for the main course of their meal.

Based on the size of this one slab here, we're guessing no one will go hungry. Save your appetite, dinner's almost ready!!!

Jennifer Lawrence is about to walk down the aisle this weekend -- but the big scoop here is what she and her guests will feast on ... a smorgasbord of fancy eats and drinks.

We got some deets on JLaw's wedding -- which is going down Saturday at a swanky venue in Rhode Island, 8 months after she got engaged. We gotta say, for a relatively short engagement ... they've put together a pretty elaborate affair.

Clearly, Jen and hubby-to-be Cooke Maroney pulled out all the stops ... hiring celeb wedding planner Mark Seed to do the party for about 150 people.

Let's start with the grub, shall we? According to the menu, folks are gonna have their pick from a variety of hors d'oeuvres ...

-- sweet potato flat cakes
-- brussels sprouts with cured egg yolk
-- smoked pork belly with pickled apple
-- salt cod beignet

Moving on to the main course options -- here's what Jen and Cooke, or their hired help, will be serving up ...

-- either wood-roasted fish with herbs and lemon-infused butter OR ...
-- 5-week-aged leg of beef with forager's sauce.

There are veggies too -- heirloom roasted carrots, smoked new potatoes, whey braised cabbage ... blah, blah, blah. Let's get to the good good.

Dessert's coming in hot!

-- fire-baked sourdough bread pudding with chocolate
-- salted caramel and fresh apple
-- cauldron fritters with bourbon cream and cinnamon sugar
-- house-made marshmallow s'mores.

They have S'MORES, y'all.

As for drinks, specialty cocktails appear to boil down to either a bourbon old-fashioned or gin cucumber lavender champagnes ... served at a cash bar. JK!!!

Like we said, it's gonna be extravagant. Dare we say ... decadent???

Food Network star and celebrity chef Carl Ruiz died from a hardening of his arteries ... TMZ has learned.

A spokesperson for the Maryland Department of Health tells TMZ ... Ruiz died after succumbing to atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease -- typically a buildup of fats, cholesterol and other substances in arteries which restricts blood flow.

The finding confirms the suspicions of Carl's family ... that he died of a heart attack.

Panera Bread got burned by one of its own, according to a former employee who says she got canned for posting a Tik Tok of the restaurant's mac and cheese ... in all its frozen glory.

The video was posted last week and showed someone place a plastic pouch of frozen (😢) mac and cheese in boiling water, remove it and then pour it into a bowl to be served.

Some Panera customers teed off on the clip ... leaving pissed off comments about the chain not dishing freshly cooked fare. Others were more realistic and chalked it up to being standard ops for a fast-food chain.

Kendall Jenner got back on the horse Saturday night ... it appears she was out on a date with a new dude.

Kendall was out with fellow model Fai Khadra in Santa Monica at the Bungalow. They kept their distance from one another as they left.

Now, here's the thing ... Kendall brought Fai to Justin and Hailey Bieber's wedding a couple weeks ago, and she posted, "We don't date he's just my date."

So, maybe this is a non-date date, or a date date. Either way, she's been spending time with the dude.

The homeless opera singer is already on her way to booking gigs and belting out her song to the back row -- playing a gig for proud Italian-Americans in L.A. ... and killin' it.

Emily Zamourka -- who went viral from a video of her crooning in a subway -- performed Saturday evening in downtown San Pedro for the Historic Little Italy Sign Unveiling & Festa ... which was flooded with reporters and cameras who wanted a glimpse of the soprano.

She did her thing -- which apparently consists of just one Puccini tune for now, not that there's anything wrong with that -- and got a roaring applause from the audience.

Afterward, she thanked everyone for having her out and did a few interviews with local media. Record producer Joel Diamond was on hand as well, telling people he was planning to do great things with Emily after getting her on an EDM/opera crossover song of his.

NHL vet Mark Letestu didn't need a hot dog to enjoy his mustard on Thursday ... 'cause the Winnipeg Jets center downed that yellow stuff straight outta the packet!!

The 34-year-old Canadian turned heads when he was spotted chuggin' some mustard on the bench during the Jets' preseason game against the Edmonton Oilers ... leaving a lot of people wondering what the hell was going on.

Turns out ... it's all in the name of SCIENCE!!! 'cause apparently, mustard has some ingredients like turmeric and vinegar that help prevent cramps.

Hey ... we get it. It's preseason. A lotta dudes are probably cramping up on the ice out there after the offseason. But, it doesn't make it any less weird to see the guy straight-up dowinin' mustard like that.

It's actually not the first time this has been a thing ... NFLer Kerryon Johnson was spotted chugging mustard on the sidelines during his Madison Academy high school game back in 2014.

Everybody's favorite fast-food fried chicken in the "Breaking Bad" universe will soon be available in the real world ... for delivery.

A mural for Los Pollos Hermanos -- the restaurant chain owned by meth distributor Gus Fring on the TV series -- popped up in Venice Beach Thursday, and sources tell TMZ ... the grub's coming soon.

We're told 'BB' fans will soon be able to order and enjoy various chicken combos from the "virtual restaurant" in a few weeks. That means it won't be a sit-down joint, but the food can be delivered and will come in Los Pollos packaging. It's unclear where the food will be made, but no one on the outside will know where.

Our sources say the TV-inspired meals are being made by Family Style Inc., the same company behind Steve Aoki's Pizzaoki.

John Smoltz says a Zagnut bar cost him a no-hitter nearly three decades ago ... and the Hall of Fame pitcher says he straight-up hasn't eaten the candy since!!!

The story is hilarious ... Smoltz -- who was talking about Zack Greinke's possible no-hit bid on MLB Network Wednesday night -- says back in 1990, he had some magic stuff going on as well.

He was carrying a no-hitter into the ninth inning of a Braves game against the Phillies ... but he ran into a problem -- he was STARVING.

The former ace says he hadn't eaten anything all day ... and claims he was going to pass out before he took the mound in the 9th if he didn't chow down on something.

So, Smoltz says he reached for a Zagnut candy bar ... and claims that doomed him.

"I go up in the clubhouse and the first thing I saw was a Zagnut, so I crush it real quick," Smoltz says. "And, one out in the ninth, I give up a 2-0 base hit to Lenny Dykstra."

So, how did Smoltz react to the candy? "I haven’t had a Zagnut since."

That's right, no delicious peanut brittle/coconut delight for Smoltz in 29 YEARS!!!