Famous Food

McDonald's is revamping breakfast by ripping off a famous "Seinfeld" episode -- and the guy who wrote it says he deserves a piece of the pie ... er, muffin.

Spike Feresten wrote "The Muffin Tops" for season 8, and Wednesday -- the same day Mickey D's announced it's selling the best part of a muffin -- he told us he's got no beef with the golden arches. Well, as long as the check's in the mail ... as they say.

Seriously, though ... Spike hasn't gotten a dime, and says it just seems right for McDonald's to cough up some dough -- for him AND Jerry Seinfeld -- since it's clearly jacking their ingenious breakfast invention.

Yu Darvish -- who's in a $126 MILLION contract -- completed his first minor league rehab start this week ... and celebrated by spoiling BOTH TEAMS with a very expensive Ruth's Chris steak dinner.

The Chicago Cubs had sent the pitcher down to the Class A Affiliate South Bend Cubs to help him work his way back from a triceps injury ... and, Monday night, he took the mound with a bunch of guys who make WAY less cash.

In fact, most of the players only make around $45k per year (and that's if they're playing consistently for the entire year).

So, Yu -- being the generous rich dude that he is -- pulled out the checkbook and bought a massive spread of steak, salmon, sides and some bomb ass cookies for his team and the opposing West Michigan Whitecaps.

Total bill for it all had to be pricey ... a steak from the fancy spot runs about $50 a pop, while the fish costs about $30 a piece.

As for the minor leaguers ... Whitecaps reliever Max Green took to Twitter to thank Yu for the meal afterward.

"What a guy!"

Claudia Jordan just took the Red Hen controversy with Sarah Huckabee Sanders to a new level ... shaming the woman over her weight as justification for her getting booted.

We got the ex-'RHOA' star arriving at Catch in WeHo Monday night, where we asked for her take on Trump's Press Secretary getting kicked out of the Virginia restaurant because she's the White House mouthpiece. Claudia gives a pretty kosher response ... at first.

Mark Cuban has high praise for the restaurant owner who kicked Sarah Huckabee Sanders out of her restaurant over the weekend, while Donald Trump went on a rant claiming the eatery is filthy.

We got Cuban leaving Nate 'n Als Sunday in Bev Hills and, although he thinks it's good the restaurant owner took a moral stand, he worries it could become a slippery slope and other owners could deny service based on race or sexual orientation. The good news ... under federal law, an owner can't discriminate based on race. The laws governing sexual orientation are dicier.

On the other side ... Donald Trump -- the man who praised Kim Jong-un -- excoriated the restaurant by tweeting, "The Red Hen Restaurant should focus more on cleaning its filthy canopies, doors and windows (badly needs a paint job) rather than refusing to serve a fine person like Sarah Huckabee Sanders. I always had a rule, if a restaurant is dirty on the outside, it is dirty on the inside!"

10:00 AM PT -- Her dad, Mike Huckabee, just weighed in on the incident by tweeting ... "Bigotry. On the menu at Red Hen Restaurant in Lexington VA. Or you can ask for the “Hate Plate”. And appetizers are “small plates for small minds”

8:45 AM PT -- Sanders just said, "Last night I was told by the owner of Red Hen in Lexington, VA to leave because I work for @POTUS and I politely left. Her actions say far more about her than about me. I always do my best to treat people, including those I disagree with, respectfully and will continue to do so"

A restaurant owner in Lexington, Virginia kicked Sarah Huckabee Sanders and her party out of his restaurant ... on moral grounds.

The waiter at The Red Hen said, "I just served Sarah Huckabee Sanders for a total of 2 minutes before my owner kicked her out along with 7 of her other family members."

Others say the owner didn't want Huckabee Sanders in the restaurant out of "moral conviction."

This is the second time this week someone from the Trump Administration was drummed out of a restaurant. Earlier this week, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen was booted from a Mexican restaurant near The White House.

"Cooking on High" star Ngaio Bealum has a message for all stoners and non-stoners out there -- limiting your weed palate to just brownies is the stuff of amateurs.

The resident culinary weed expert for the new Netflix show was on "TMZ Live" dropping serious knowledge on how cannabis food has come a long way in just a short period of time. The show -- which premiered Friday -- is a new cooking show that pits 10 cannabis chefs who will compete and strut their stuff for a panel of judges.

Check it out ... Ngaio breaks down how fancy weed food can get. Think lobster and steak. He also gives some thoughtful advice on how to stay focused when chowing down 3 or 4-course weed meals.

Anthony Bourdain had no narcotics in his system when he died ... this according to French investigators.

As we reported ... the beloved chef died by suicide earlier this month after he was found hanging in a hotel bathroom in France. It was initially unclear if he had ingested any narcotics before his suicide, but The New York Times says a French official has ruled that out.

Kim Kardashian West and Kanye just wrapped up a couple days in Paris -- full of high fashion, luxury hotels and fancy food -- but nothing hits the spot like some Popeyes fried chicken.

The couple touched down in L.A. Thursday night to attend Teyana Taylor's album listening party ... a project Kanye produced. Kim whipped out her phone at the pre-party to reveal a table of treats that was completed by a box of Popeyes.

As we reported, Kim and Kanye hit up the Louis Vuitton fashion show in Paris Thursday. They were joined by Kylie, Travis Scott and tons of other celebs.

Houston Rockets fans are still so bitter at being knocked out of the playoffs by the Warriors, they've gone to Yelp to take out their frustrations on Ayesha Curry's new Houston restaurant.

Steph Curry's wife is opening International Smoke in Houston in July -- and a bunch of haters have already bombarded the page with anti-Warriors trash talk, as first pointed out by NBA reporter Tomer Azarly.

Some of the highlights ...

-- "Steph is overrated. Klay sucks"

-- "This is absolutely the worst place to go - her husband cheated his way to a championship and now she has the guts to open up a place here??"

-- "Waited 35 mins for water and it tasted like Seth curry tears ! Will never be back ! Can't support this place .. Harden MVP"

-- "Any real rockets fans will NEVER step foot into this place. Disgusting."

-- "Can't believe I logged on here and took time out of my day just to give this 1 star. Go rockets."

As you can imagine, the comments have already been flagged by Yelp -- which is now reviewing the page to take out the fake critics.

Head to the strip club for the girls ... and stay for the shrimp -- at least, that's what boxing star Errol Spence Jr. is saying.

The IBF welterweight champ -- one of the top pound-for-pound boxers in the world -- has become a bit of a partying connoisseur ... and he told us the most underrated place for food on the planet is -- your local gentlemen's club!!

"Strip club food is the best," Spence Jr. told us in NYC.

"Shrimp, chicken -- you can get a salad. Sometimes you get a steak. I mean, they got a whole kitchen back there!"

By the way, Errol's a perfect 24-0 in his boxing career with some big-time wins ... but he told us fighting at Jerry's World in his hometown would be the highlight of his resume.

While the aura of Anthony Bourdain lives on, fans who drive down Wilshire in West L.A. will get an extra reminder of the celebrity chef ... thanks to an awesome new painting by a popular street muralist.

Jonas Never completed his Bourdain mural Friday in Santa Monica, on the side wall of a new restaurant and bar called Gramercy. He tells TMZ ... he was hired by the joint to paint its signage lettering, and asked if he could also do the mural as a tribute.

Never says he saw how the world was affected by Bourdain's suicide and the legacy he left behind, so he felt compelled to find a way to honor him. Gramercy's an L.A. joint that aims for a New York Lower East Side vibe ... so they agreed it was the perfect spot for his art.

We're told Jonas did the mural for free. His murals can be seen all over L.A. -- from Venice to Burbank -- and outside of Floyd's barbershop locations.

Chicago Bears star Tarik Cohen says despite his last name -- he's NOT a Jew, but says he's gotten so much love from his Hebrew fans that he's ready to finally try out a Jewish deli!

When Tarik blew up this past season ... the Jewish community went crazy trying to find out if the star running back with the traditionally Jewish last name was really a member of the tribe.

Turns out, Cohen is not a jew -- but he feels it's an honor to get so warmly embraced by his Semitic fans.

"I'm not Jewish necessarily, but I do feel accepted ... by the Jewish community."

And get this, Cohen says he's never even been to a Jewish deli before -- but REALLY wants to go, especially since our Jewish camera guy told him he'd probably get a discount.

T.I. will need to dive into his own pockets to pay the unpaid wages of his restaurant employees who lost their jobs when it closed its doors.

Tip just settled with 9 of 11 employees who went after him after his Scales 925 shut down in 2016. Each will get $8,333.33 in unpaid money ... totaling about $75,000. The rapper is also on the hook for another $25,000 in attorney's fees -- do the math and it's right around $100,000.

As for his part -- T.I. claimed he wasn't a bad restaurant owner -- he says he put a manager in charge who siphoned money to line his own pockets.

Vince Vaughn's taking things slow after his DUI arrest -- opting for a daytime power smoothie, and a good old-fashioned walk instead of a drive.

Vince was out and about Monday in Manhattan Beach, CA -- the same city where he got busted for drinking and driving Sunday. He was strolling around with a blended juice beverage in hand ... probably a good shot of energy after his rough weekend.

TMZ broke the story ... Vince was arrested for DUI, as well as obstructing an officer. Cops say he and his passenger, who was also arrested, refused to get out of Vince's car when they were initially pulled over at a DUI checkpoint.

Rose McGowan is defending her friend, and Anthony Bourdain's girlfriend, Asia Argento ... saying there is NO reason to play the blame game after his suicide.

Rose says she knows people who knew Anthony, or just loved him on TV, want to "lash out and blame" someone for his death, but says Asia is not the one to blame. Rose is reportedly in Italy comforting Asia and calls her a "brave survivor."

She

describing the chemistry between Asia and Anthony ... saying they both battled demons and, at times, both wanted to die. Rose and Asia bonded as alleged victims of Harvey Weinstein, and Rose says Asia "did the work to get help, so she could stay alive" for her children -- but "Anthony's depression didn't let him, he put down his armor, and that was very much his choice."

As we reported, photos surfaced last week of Asia hugging and holding hands with a French reporter -- at the same time Anthony was in France. Rose says people shouldn't read into that because, "Anthony and Asia had a free relationship, they loved without borders of traditional relationships."

And there's this ... Rose says Anthony sought help for his depression but, for some reason, didn't take the doctor's advice. She adds, "It is in no way fair or acceptable to blame her or anyone else, not even Anthony."

Legendary racehorse trainer Bob Baffert knows a thing or 2 about winning big races, including that they require some luck ... which is why the King was by his side for Justify's epic win!

Baffert invited the Burger King mascot to join his party before his horse went wire-to-wire to take the Triple Crown Saturday at the Belmont Stakes ... because he considers him a good luck charm.

There's good reason for that -- the King made a surprise appearance behind Baffert in 2015 when his racehorse American Pharoah became the first to win the Triple Crown in 37 years.

With Justify in the same position after winning the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness, Baffert hoped for a case of history repeating ... and the King worked his magic.