Swift spotted: Superstar has meal at Surry Hills restaurant, fan hopes of Travis Kelce sighting on hold for now
Sarah was enjoying a meal with two friends at Surry Hills hot spot Pellegrino 2000 when the superstar made a surprise visit. Here’s what was on the menu and how much she tipped staff.
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The “luckiest girl in Sydney” has described the moment global megastar Taylor Swift dined just metres away from her in a Surry Hills restaurant on Tuesday night.
Sarah was enjoying a meal with two friends at Italian restaurant Pellegrino 2000 when the superstar made her unexpected entry.
“I’m sitting down at the table with my two friends and there was like a big kerfuffle as this lady was coming down the stairs with all her security guards,” she told 2GBs Ben Fordham on Wednesday morning.
“And my friend turns to me and goes ‘that lady looks like Taylor Swift’ and my other friend goes ‘damn she’s so tall’.
“And then I look up and see Sabrina Carpenter sitting next to her and I’m like ‘oh my goodness it’s her, it’s her’, and we start freaking out.”
Sarah snapped a photo of the popstar but decided to not confront her during her meal.
“We were literally just staring at her trying to figure out whether we should go up and ask for a photo but we decided not to and let her enjoy her dinner,” she said.
“They had a bit of a cheers, they had their glasses of wine and our dessert came and we were trying to stay a bit longer but we got ushered off our table so we didn’t see when their food arrived.
“But yeah, it was crazy.”
When asked by Ben Fordham if she was the luckiest girl in the world, Sarah said “I know it sounds like it, I should buy a lottery ticket.”
The pair spent $620 on the dinner, which included focaccia, olives, and an array of small pasta dishes, according to Kyle and Jackie O’s producer “Intern Pete”, who managed to catch a glimpse of the receipt. They left a generous $300 tip for staff, despite tipping not being expected in Australia.
Swift was later spotted jumping into a getaway car as she was mobbed by screaming fans.
The songstress has kept a low profile after jetting into Sydney from Melbourne on Monday.
Swift, dressed in a black singlet top and brown mini skirt, kept her gaze downcast as she exited the venue.
The 34-year-old was greeted by a large crowd of Swifties as she walked quickly from the restaurant to a waiting car, with security keeping Swifties at bay as they chanted “Taylor, Taylor, Taylor”.
Swift’s departure seemingly stopped traffic, with other cars and taxis idling for a few moments as the singer was ushered into her vehicle by security guards and took off towards the city centre.
It marks the first time Swift has officially been spotted in the harbour city, with the megastar managing to evade the cameras and eager fans as she left Sydney Airport on Monday and travelled to the Crown tower at Barangaroo, where she’s ensconced in the $38,000-a-night penthouse suite on the 88th floor.
Swift is understood to have comfortably ignored Tuesday’s rain by taking a “dead day” in bed to recover from her shows in Melbourne before heading out to dinner at Pellegrino 2000 ahead of the first of four sellout concerts at Accor Stadium in Sydney on Friday— though radio shock jock Kyle Sandilands claimed on Monday afternoon that he’d seen her out on a superyacht in Sydney Harbour.
Also spotted leaving the restaurant with the megastar was fellow singer Sabrina Carpenter, the opening act for Swift’s shows as part of her Eras tour.
Carpenter, dressed in a red polka dot-print dress, left the restaurant first, hopping into the back of the getaway car as Swift herself began to exit the venue.
Voted NSW’s top restaurant by delicious in 2022, Pellegrino 2000 is the second project from acclaimed chefs Daniel Pepperell and Michael Clift, as well as sommelier Andy Tyson, who also run Potts Point hotspot Bistrot 916.
Self-described as a “neighbourhood trattoria”, the restaurant is known for its Italian fare as well as its wine.
Despite her star power, it’s understood Swift didn’t book out the entire restaurant, enjoying her Italian meal amidst other Sydneysiders.
Several seated at the venue’s bar were seen whipping out their phones to take a sneaky snap as Swift exited the restaurant into a waiting range rover.
On Tuesday, Swift’s private jet took off from Sydney yesterday bound for Honolulu, sparking speculation her boyfriend Travis Kelce would meet it and come back to join her.
But on Wednesday, the hopes of Swifties fans seeing another chapter in their idol’s Love Story with her NFL star boyfriend Travis Kelce in Sydney have been delayed.
Yesterday the star’s chartered Bombardier Global 6000 private jet left Sydney for Honolulu amid speculation it was on its way to pick up the Cruel Summer singer’s boyfriend and bring him back to Australia.
On Wednesday, the jet is scheduled to fly to Seoul in Korea, scuppering hopes that it has picked up Kelce for a reunion in Sydney.
Aviation experts believe Swift will not have been paying for the jet to sit on the tarmac for a week before it takes her to Singapore and the owners have chartered it out.
However that does not mean a reunion is off the cards. Kelce’s father Ed has confirmed that his son was keen to come to Australia and Singapore so all eyes are now on the international arrivals terminal in Singapore.
Meanwhile, Taylor Swift fans on Wednesday began queuing up to purchase merchandise as The Eras Tour store opened.
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