Hey! Isn’t That Whats-His-Face?
Given its proximity to Hollywood, one would think celebrity sightings in Orange County would be more frequent. Given that this is the home of “The O.C.”, you’d think people who want to be seen would flock here. But it seems the only time I see a well-known, surgically perfected face anywhere in these parts, it’s an athlete. To wit:
* I once saw Lindsay Davenport at the Tummy Stuffer on Bristol and Red Hill.
* About a month ago, I saw Darin Erstad at the Irvine Spectrum.
* No fewer than five people have told me they see Garret Anderson at the OSH on 17th in Tustin and used to see Paul Kariya at Osaka Kappo (sushi joint) on Newport in Tustin.
Aside from sitting near them at an Angels or Ducks game, does anyone ever see real, live celebrities in Orange County? Or will coming this far south melt their calf implants?
why are there no female bloggers?
Ray: I would gather that there are no female bloggers because no females applied to join this little social experiment. If you know someone who would be interested, send them to metroblogging.com and have them apply. This blog is not just a boy’s club by any stretch of the imagination.
Danny: Most of the celebs [pseudo or otherwise] I’ve seen in Orange County have been at Disneyland or Knott’s: Steve Martin, Tony Robbins, Raven Simone, MC Hammer, Weird Al, David Faustino, Dustin “Screech” Diamond. I did run into Riki Rachtman at a Denny’s in Buena Park one time. That was sort of cool, but he mostly seemed jazzed that someone recognized him.
Last time I was at Napa Rose (inside Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel) Tommy Lasorda was having dinner.
And now that I’ve mentioned Napa Rose, I think this post mentions the two finest restaurants in OC. Because Osaka Kappo flat out rocks. You should always get things that aren’t on the menu and only written in Japanese on the walls. That’s the best food.
I saw Kobe Bryant in a silver Corvette with the license plate – Bryant8 on the 405 in Newport a couple of weeks ago.
Ray: I’m workin on that. I just need to apply. Soon enough!
Danny: I *know* I’ve seen more than one, but the only thing coming to mind is seeing Whoppi Goldberg at Disneyland with her daughter, surrounded by security. Strange thing is, I also saw her at 3rd Street in Santa Monica. I’ve seen far, far more celebs up in the LA neck-of-the-woods.
Kevin Costner– owns a restaraunt at what South Coast, Fashion Island? I always mix it up.
Anyway, I was *starstruck*. More or less.
I don’t think Costner owns that joint in Fashion Island anymore (Twin Palms? Was that the name?). It belongs to his ex-wife now.
Like Jason, most of my OC celeb sightings have been at Disneyland (while I was working there) – Whoopi, Ed McMahan, Andrew Dice Clay and Roger Ebert all come to mind.
I know a lot of the Angels players live in Anaheim Hills and Tustin (like Garret Anderson and Tim Salmon), and Newport is, of course, rich with celebrities. That said, they must go to a differnt Togos than I do…
Don’t forget the time we saw Colm Meaney (Star Trek TNG and DS9) at the Big A, Mike!
there’s always Tawny Kitaen, minor cheesecake celeb, Whitesnake video star, and ex-gf of David Coverdale — who I think owns a store in Costa Mesa.
I may be scraping the barrel there, though. ;)
I saw Marge Helgenberger from CSI down at Fashion Island once. I also met Tommy Lasorda when my Uncle use to have a pizza place in Yorba Linda, Tommy was going to buy the place. Kevin Costner has been known to stop by CSUF every now and then. I even saw Tim Salmon trying to go incognito at a CSUF Baseball game, but the World Series Beanie made him stick out.
Ive seen way more “improved” people since Ive lived int the OC than when I lived in LA – honestly its astounding.
I keep expecting to see Dennis Rodman every time I go down to Newport Beach, but alas, no. :)
I was told that the restaurant Kevin Costner owns/owned is The Clubhouse, in SCP. But maybe he owns/owned a second restaurant in Fashion Island too, I don’t know.
BTW, my two favorite restaurants in OC have always been Sushi Shibucho (near Triangle Square – the chef/owner is like a legend in the Japanese-American community) and the now-closed Gustaf Anders (all-time favorite). I’ve read very good reviews of Napa Rose though, and Pascal (original, not the cafe at the SCP Bridge of Gardens) seems to be an old OC favorite as well.
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