Restaurants celebrity A-listers eat at in Melbourne

John Cena prefers the walk-in strategy, Pink will queue for food while others prefer a tight security detail — here’s how the world’s biggest starts eat out in Melbourne.

The world’s biggest stars are in town and they’re hungry — here’s were global megastars eat out in Melbourne.

Pink waited in the queue behind ten other people before getting a table at one of the city’s hottest restaurants.

Pop star Dua Lipa found herself in an exclusive private dining room after sitting next to a woman on the plane who designed the restaurant, while wrestling star and actor John Cena has been confident with the walk-in strategy while in town.

The world’s biggest celebrities are in town and they’re hungry.

Here’s how the rich and famous land tables at some of our city’s hottest restaurants.

WWE star John Cena can ‘fill a table’. Picture: Mark Stewart

Do they make reservations?

Lucas Restaurants marketing manager Celia McCarthy said there were two ways stars approached reservations — either have their promoter or agent organise the visit in advance or arrive unannounced.

“John Cena has been a regular walk-in at Kisume,” she said.

“We’ve also had Pink queue outside Chin Chin (back when you couldn’t make a reservation). “We weren’t going to say 10 people in front of her — it’s Pink, let her go first. It’s not what we want for our guests.”

Lucas Restaurants dedicates a number of tables at its venues for walk-ins, so it’s likely these unexpected drop-ins will work out for the star.

“We have a concierge service that we extend to our guests, who deal directly with hotels or third party bookings in this instance,” McCarthy said.

Not all celebs take this approach.

“We had a 90s soapie star sliding into our DMs asking for a table, so we also get people scoping things out themselves,” she said.

Agents or publicists are also known to reach out directly to some of our city’s high-end restaurants to organise a table.

Dua Lipa ate at Society and you wouldn’t have even noticed. Picture: Tom Grut

Low key vs ‘look at me’

While there are some celebs that prefer to dine under the veil of secrecy, others are comfortable eating in the main restaurant surrounded by the public.

Vue de monde executive chef Hugh Allen said all VIP guests at the Rialto fine diner would eat in the restaurant — and not tucked away in a secret room.

“Seating is generally just in the restaurant, but we will always do out best to keep them away from as many people as possible,” he said.

It’s the same deal at the celebrity hotel of choice while staying in town, with many A-listers preferring to be “in the thick of it” over being tucked away in a private dining room.

One of the biggest drawcards for celebrities staying at this particular establishment with “unparalleled security” is being able to move from their rooms to the hotel restaurants without seeing a soul if they wished.

Nobu has this option, as does Koko, which tennis star Lleyton Hewitt treated like his dining room while playing in the AO finals — and many more years after his tennis days.

However Hollywood star Paul Rudd was more stealth, asking his mate to make a booking at Chin Chin Sydney — with the staff only realising the Ant Man star made a visit after watching the CCTV.

Pop star Pink, who’ll be back in Melbourne next year for her world tour, may have been recognised while queuing outside Chin Chin, yet other stars prefer an incognito approach.

“Most people wouldn’t know they are there,” McCarthy said.

Hollywood star Paul Rudd was happy to fly under the radar. Picture: Steve Woodburn

“We give them a level of privacy and we know some people will naturally need an extra level of privacy, and that’s when they go into private rooms.”

A case in point is pop star Dua Lipa, who by chance sat next to Samantha Eades; the woman who designed Grill Americano and Chin Chin. When Dua asked her where she should eat, Eades connected her with the team and she later booked a private room at Society.

“We had Chris Rock in after one of his shows. He came in after midnight when Grill Americano had closed and sat down and had dinner — all they wanted was a nice dinner,” McCarthy said.

Billy Joel — a huge Grill Americano tiramisu fan. Picture: Mark Stewart

“Billy Joel also came in (to Grill) with a group, from friends to managers. We gave him side access so he didn’t have to wait at the host desk. He just wanted to sit down and eat — and he loved it sick.”

“But then we’ve had a big US rapper book out an entire floor of Kisume with four security on the door and all staff having a huge security briefing before he came in.”

I guess that’s showbiz?

I’ll have one of everything

Thankfully diva demands are few and far between.

“There are no ‘I only eat Pink mnm’s’ or anything like that,” McCarthy said.

“For most part, they talk to staff and get recommendations and order enormous amounts of food. I hear John Cena can really fill a table.”

She said tennis stars Serena and Venus Williams were obsessed with Chin Chin’s prawn noodle salad and would ask to have it sent to their hotel room while in town in the pre-food delivery service era.

Billy Joel is also understood to have been a massive fan of the Grill Americano tiramisu.

Who pays?

The answer was unanimous: the celebrities pay and tip generously.