Famous Food

Joe Coulombe, the guy who founded Trader Joe’s, one of the most enduring grocery chains in the country, has died after a long illness.

Joe died at his home in Pasadena, Ca.

Joe was born in 1930, smack in the middle of the depression, and raised on an avocado ranch near San Diego, CA. He served in the Air Force and got a B.A. in economics and an MBA from Stanford. No slouch.

So here's the path to Trader Joe's. He worked at Rexall Drugs in 1958 and his job was to create a group of convenience stores ... similar to 7-Eleven. The first thing he did -- he worked in a grocery store for free ... just to get the hang of it. The chain was called Pronto Markets. Thing is ... Rexall really wasn't into it, so Coulombe bought the stores and ran them himself.

Joe jumped into the market biz at the same time 7-Eleven was exploding, and he decided to take a different approach. That's when he came up with the idea for Trader Joe's.

He opened his first store in Pasadena, and decorated it with a nautical decor after reading a book called "White Shadows in the South Seas." He was also inspired by the Jungle Cruise ride at Disneyland. Employees at the store wore Hawaiian shirts. They were called captain and first mates.

The concept of the store -- courting customers with sophisticated taste on a budget. The prices were reasonable and sometimes even low.

Joe sold the chain in 1979 to the German grocery retailer Aldi Nord and retired from the company 9 years later.

Joe met his wife, Alice Steere, in 1952 in college. They married in 1952 and were married for 67 years. They have 3 kids and 6 grandchildren.

Debbie McKee (now Debbie McKee-Fowler) was only 4 years old when her grandparents, O.D. and Ruth McKee, used her image ... combined with artist Pearl Mann's creativity ... to make the now incredibly iconic logo for their booming snack company Little Debbie.

Debbie McKee-Fowler is still in the family biz ... and now sits as the Executive Vice President of McKee Foods Corporation.

Little Debbie has continued to crank out some of the most notable snacks on the shelves for close to a century including ... Swiss Cake Rolls, Honey Buns, Star Crunch, Strawberry Shortcake Rolls, Nutty Bars, Cosmic Brownies, Zebra Cakes, Oatmeal Creme Pies ... and many, many more.

Ethan Suplee knows what it's like to have a diet forced on him, so he thinks President Trump's never gonna fall for covert cauliflower ... until he's onboard to change his diet.

We got the "Remember the Titans" star Tuesday at LAX, and his own incredible body transformation was apparent ... so we asked him about Trump's former physician saying they tried to improve his health by "putting cauliflower into the mashed potatoes."

Ethan tells us back when he was overweight, his family tried to put him on all kinds of diets but it never worked ... it just made him sneak unhealthy foods. He believes the same will happen with POTUS -- he'll seek out Popeyes and Chick-Fil-A later.

According to Ethan ... the only way a diet or exercise regimen will work for the Prez, or anyone else, is if they really want it, and it can't be forced.

Case in point, the actor tells us chef Andre Rush -- a guest on Ethan's "American Glutton" podcast -- has said Trump can have any healthy meal he wants 24/7, but tends to fall back on his fast-food habit.

When and IF Trump decides to change on his own, Ethan Suplee believes he won't regret it.

George Clooney's vowing to take action after an investigation linked child labor to farms used by Nespresso ... the coffee brand he's been the face of since 2006.

Clooney says he was "surprised and saddened" by the story -- which will air soon on the British program, "Dispatches," on the U.K.'s Channel 4 -- and promises "work will be done" to improve conditions.

The troubling news was reported by journalist Anthony Barnett after he and a crew were given access to remote Guatemalan farms -- which allegedly supply Nespresso, and had children working the fields. The coffee company claims to source all of its beans ethically.

In response to the report, Clooney says ... "Having grown up working on a tobacco farm from the time I was 12 I’m uniquely aware of the complex issues regarding farming and child labor."

He adds ... "That’s why I joined the Sustainability advisory board of Nespresso seven years ago along with the Rainforest Alliance, Fair Trade International, and the Fair Labour Association among many others with the goal then, as it remains to this day to improve the lives of farmers."

Clooney says they've made great progress, but adds ... "With that in mind it is also imperative to have talented investigative reporters showing the board where they have yet to succeed ... Clearly this board and this company still have work to do."

POP QUIZ -- how many Chick-fil-A sandwiches does it take to fill up 7'5" NBA star Tacko Fall?!?

WE'RE ABOUT TO FIND OUT BECAUSE WE SHOT TACKO FALL AT CHICK-FIL-A!

Fresh off an 18-point, 20-rebound game for the Maine Red Claws (the Boston Celtics' G-League team) ... TMZ Sports spotted the most likable guy in pro sports getting some grub at the airport in D.C.

And, since we're fascinated with all things Tacko, we had to ask the 24-year-old what the standard Chick-fil-A order is for someone of his stature.

So, make your guesses now ... 5 sandos? 8? 27? Dude's not only huge but he burns a ton of calories moving up and down the court.

Shout-out to Fall who couldn't have been nicer to our photog, and took a bunch of pics for the Chick-fil-A staffers who recognized him at the restaurant!

BONUS -- we also spoke with Tacko about being so well-received by fans in the Association ... and you'll love his reaction.

President Trump isn't nearly as healthy as his former physician would like, even after the good doc admittedly tried to slip POTUS some white stuff -- that's right -- CAULIFLOWER!!!

Former White House physician Ronny Jackson is coming clean about what Trump would likely consider a wide-reaching conspiracy ... to make him healthy. Jackson told the New York Times, "We were working on his diet. We were making the ice cream less accessible, we were putting cauliflower into the mashed potatoes."

That's right ... a dirty spuds substitute slipped right under the President's nose, and into his gut. No reaction from the White House yet after Jackson's bold confession.

Jackson stepped down from his position to run for Congress in Texas, but before his departure he was on Trump's favored list. You might recall, following Trump's 2018 physical ... Jackson said the Prez had "incredible genes" and could live to 200 ... IF he had a better diet.

He also said he was going to help Trump lose 10 to 15 pounds with the help of an exercise bike. How's that worked out?

Jackson admits, "The exercise stuff never took off as much as I wanted."

Donald Trump's Beverly Hills fundraiser guests -- at least some of them -- say they are totally grossed out by the fact appetizers from the function were left sitting out by a toilet.

TMZ broke the story .... hors d'oeuvres from Trump's campaign fundraiser at The Montage this week ended up in a small bathroom, stashed between the john and a bathtub. Yuck!!!

Guests who attended the fundraiser tell TMZ ... it's disgusting the swanky hotel would store food in a bathroom, especially considering the fact some of those in attendance plunked down six figures to dine with the President.

What's not clear ... what was food doing in the bathroom? You see some appetizer trays that appear to have already been passed around, so the leftovers could have simply been stored in the bathroom. But check out the food warmer. You see the light on, which means the oven is on, and you see trays of untouched empanadas and other hors d'oeuvres. We have repeatedly called the hotel for days, trying to find out if this was the staging area. So far, no response.

The guests say they would've never expected this kind of behavior from the Montage, and they're left wondering if hotel employees did this on purpose as a middle finger to Trump?!?

You don't need to be a health inspector to know it's dangerous to expose food to the bacteria present in bathrooms ... but the guests tell us they are even more freaked out because it's a dangerous time in the world with the spread of coronavirus!!!

But, laughter is the best medicine, and the guests are trying to laugh this off ... jokingly telling us, this might explain why the appetizers during cocktail hour tasted like liberals. Sick burn!

This one's actually funny though ... one guest says the restroom meatballs still aren't as nasty as this infamous image of one guest's plate filled with meat and fish ... now forever known as "meatfish."

Congressman Adam Schiff is not only Donald Trump's arch-enemy, he's also now a celebrity.

The Democrat from Burbank was flanked by security Friday afternoon as he showed up to the Coffee Bean on the Sunset Strip.

When he left the java joint, he mugged with a few supporters who recognized him and asked for selfies. Schiff obliged.

There was a funny moment. An eyewitness tells us at one point Schiff gave his coffee to a security dude while he took a selfie, and the hired muscle didn't look too happy.

Kim Kardashian is the queen of birthday surprises, because she just took Jonathan Cheban's birthday cake to the next level, as in ... supersized snack!!!

Here's the deal ... Jonathan, or rather Foodgod, celebrated his 46th trip around the sun Friday, and had ordered up a cake from Divine Delicacies Cakes in Miami. Kim caught wind of it beforehand, called the bakery and requested a supersized version as a BIG surprise.

The final product is a sight to behold ... it stands a whopping 5 feet tall and is completely edible! Well, aside from the Swarovski crystals spelling out FOODGOD on top. Damn thing even glows in the dark with 24 karat gold accents.

Each layer of cake is a different flavor -- there's vanilla rum with dulce de leche, vanilla with vanilla bean custard, chocolate with chocolate buttercream, red velvet cream cheese, cookies and cream, guava cream cheese, coco and guava and Baileys. Ya full yet???

All told, the cake took 16 hours to complete and cost Kim about $10k.

Foodgod was caught completely off guard when he picked up his order, and the bakery even decorated the front entrance just for him.

It's good to be an FoK!!!

Joaquin Phoenix didn't wait long to walk the walk after mentioning the plight of mother cows and their babies in his Best Actor speech at the Academy Awards ... and a mama and her calf are living happily together because of it.

The "Joker" star visited a slaughterhouse run by Manning Beef in Pico Rivera, CA the day after the Oscars to have a sit-down talk with Anthony Di Maria, president and CEO of the company ... and it led to something remarkable.

Though the 2 butted heads over the nature of the industry, Phoenix and Di Maria found some common ground ... and the actor helped LA Animal Save liberate a mother cow and her newborn calf, a daughter.

Joaquin's seen carrying the baby cow away from the holding area where she was born and onto a trailer with her mom. The bovine family will now be able to live and grow together at a Farm Sanctuary location in northern L.A. County ... and they now have names.

Phoenix named the mama cow, Liberty, and the calf, Indigo.

Joaquin says ... "I never thought I’d find friendship in a slaughterhouse, but meeting Anthony and opening my heart to his, I realize we might have more in common than we do differences. Without his act of kindness, Liberty and her baby calf, Indigo, would have met a terrible demise."

He adds that he and animal rights activists like him will continue to "fight for the liberation of all animals who suffer in these oppressive systems" ... but he's happy about this victory.

Liberty and Indigo are the fifth set of mother and child cows saved by LA Animal Save ... but they're aiming for many more.

This isn't a first for Phoenix either. As we reported ... he passed on the SAG Awards after-parties last month and instead headed to a slaughterhouse, where he comforted trucks full of pigs on their way to be killed.

Joaquin joined dozens of protesters who congregate there twice a week, calling their demonstrations "pig vigils." Of course, Phoenix also reportedly convinced the Hollywood Foreign Press to serve an all-vegan menu at the Golden Globes.

Forget elephants and donkeys, David Letterman says our choice for President could come down to this ... do we want a wealthy man who eats like a pig, or one who eats like a bird?!?

We got Letterman Thursday in Los Angeles after lunch at Canter's Deli, and our guy asks which presidential candidate is more fun to have dinner with, Donald Trump or Michael Bloomberg???

Dave knows both men well, and he tells us why Trump and Bloomberg are at opposite ends of the spectrum when it comes to the dinner table.

Sorry Mike, Letterman says you're coming up short as far as appetites go. You've seen Bloomberg eat ice cream, right?!?

It's pretty funny ... Letterman launches into one of his classic bits when we try to grill him about the candidate with the gift of gab ... but he's definitely down for our table talk.

One thing both sides can agree on ... hors d'oeuvres don't belong near a toilet!!!

President Trump's Beverly Hills fundraiser featured a fire menu as far as appetizers are concerned, but hopefully they weren't prepped in a bathroom ... 'cause that's where they ended up!

TMZ's obtained video of the aftermath of some of the hors d'oeuvres served at the Montage hotel Tuesday night, and for some reason ... they were stashed in a small bathroom -- between the bathtub and the toilet.

The appetizers and drinks menu for the pro-Trump event is posted on the catering food warming cabinet -- which is also in the bathroom -- and along with the leftover lamb meatballs and mint yogurt sauce seen in the vid ... looks like there were delicious options.

The hors d'oeuvres list also includes burrata with roasted tomatoes and garlic croutons, poached prawns, chicken empanadas, miniature crab cakes and truffle mushroom risotto balls.

Seems like they must have been quite a hit, because there's not much leftover ... unless more food was stored away in another bathroom. But ... check out the trays of food that do not appear to have been passed around yet. What we don't know ... was the bathroom used as a staging area before serving guests?

We broke the story ... Trump not only raised a bunch of money at the fundraiser, but he used it as an opportunity to mock Bernie Sanders, the current front-runner to challenge him for the presidency.

THIS IS SOOOOOOOO GROSS/AWESOME!!!

Baltimore Ravens starting OL Bradley Bozeman ate 4.5 POUNDS of steak -- PLUS FIXINGS -- at dinner Wednesday night ... and the dude hardly broke a sweat!!!

The epic meal went down in Amarillo, Texas at "The Big Texan Steak Ranch" ... where Lamar Jackson's personal protector decided to take on the restaurant's famous food challenge.

Here's the deal ... ya gotta kill a 72-ounce steak, a shrimp cocktail, a baked potato, a salad and a roll with butter in under 1 hour -- and winners get a FREE T-SHIRT (plus, the meal is free and you get your name on the wall).

Bozeman -- a 6'5", 317-pound NFL stud -- happily accepted the challenge ... and you can see in video of him chowing down, he CRUSHED it!!!

The 25-year-old finished every last bite, with more than 10 minutes to spare ... and afterward, he didn't look any worse for wear at all!!

Of course, when we spoke with Bozeman hours after the meal ... he wasn't feelin' all that hot about it, telling us, "That was definitely the hardest thing I've ever had to eat."

By the way, the reason Bozeman was in the North Texas town was pretty cool ... he and his wife, Nikki, had just finished a successful stop on their country-wide tour of schools to speak to kids about the dangers of bullying.

Up next for the Bozemans is a speaking engagement at a school in Albuquerque, N.M. ... but Bozeman says there's absolutely NO CHANCE he has another steak there.

Macklemore's had something brewing with a West Coast coffee chain, and he made the surprise reveal himself ... he's taking his talents to the creative directing team!!!

The rapper's partnering up with Dutch Bros. Coffee to help develop new products and flavors with the brand ... and he made the announcement Wednesday in pretty glorious fashion at the company's annual business summit in Scottsdale, AZ.

Macklemore first appears on-screen in a prerecorded message to let employees know he's the new Executive Creative Director of Cold Brew. He says he'd love to be there with them to celebrate ... but he's got golfing to do.

It's all a fake out though ... because he rides in on a golf cart to the delight of the Dutch Bros. crew.

Though this is a new short-term contract for the rapper -- we're told it will wrap up this summer when he performs at their major company event -- Macklemore's love for their coffee goes way back.

He's a huge fan, especially of cold brew, and has been an unofficial brand ambassador for a few years. Macklemore partnered with Dutch Bros. last year for a campaign to fight ALS ... and he's even included the coffee in a couple of his music videos.

We're told the rapper -- who hails from the Pacific Northwest, where the coffee chain is prevalent -- will be in charge of a few new cold brew product launches and more upcoming promotional events.

Cheers!

Mark Richt said to hell with a steak dinner at a 5-star restaurant for his birthday ... the ex-Georgia and Miami coach is going with "hot dog delight" for his big day.

And, it looks horrific.

Of course, the 60-year-old broke down the unique dish during Miami media day back in 2018 ... saying it's a combo of 2 pieces of bread, a sliced hot dog and American cheese HAMMERED with baked beans and ketchup.

Richt says it's "delightful." We're calling BS.

But, the birthday boy proved he's really about that HDD life on Tuesday ... and you gotta appreciate his dedication to the meal.

"Hot dog delight! My favorite birthday dinner!" the coach tweeted.

Naturally, the Twittersphere opened fire in the replies ... asking if the coach is okay, calling the dish a "dumpster fire" and predicting a long night in the bathroom is in his future.

Others were actually open to the idea ... asking how to copy the travesty.