The Bar Towel

I saw this on Blogto and thought about a fun pub encounter I had many years ago.

https://www.blogto.com/eat_drink/2023/0 ... ronto-pub/

I was once working on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon at my office at Yonge & Bloor. I went with a colleague down to the old Duke of Gloucester, which I really enjoyed back in the day and still miss.

It was quiet, barely anyone else in the pub as I can recall. I'm having a bite with my colleague and who sits down at the table next to us - Pete Postlethwaite. I thought it was pretty cool and seemed fitting that he would go to a random pub on Yonge St.

Didn't speak to him (classic Canadian & left him alone) but always remembered it.

Anyone have any fun pub encounters with famous folks?

Surprisingly I have had many. I keep much of the stories to myself as I can barely remember who some of these people are or I just try to respect privacy. Really, friends always give me a hard time for not knowing anything about celebrities of any stripe. Unless you did something meaningful, more than just throwing a ball or chasing a puck, I just don't care.

That said, I do have a funny story from way back. I had a hot date lined up and we were going to see Philip Glass at Roy Thompson (yeah, I know how to impress a date). We decided to meet at the Bamboo (sadly missed establishment). I went quite early as I didn't want to commute all the way home and then come back, Might as well start pre-lubing instead, right?

I was probably one of the few patrons there when a camera person came in and set up near me. Soon they were interviewing Philip Glass. I was amused but I kept to myself (said Canadian thing). When they were done, he came over and said hi. I told him I was going to his show later. He thanked me and then asked me a bunch of questions about how I became interested in his music or basically "why the hell are you coming to my show?" Looking back, I think he was doing market research on the 'yutes'.

The show was only a couple hours away, so I couldn't figure out why he wasn't off at a rehearsal or sound check or something. He just said he had his process.

So then my date shows up. She is immediately impressed with my connections.

He continues with the market research on the 'yutes'. "What do we think of Much Music, who had just interviewed him?"
He wondered if he had been pranked by this media outlet he had never heard of.

This stuff writes itself...

I ran into Saul Rubinek and said hello to him while walking between Wvrst and Bar Hop a few years ago. Does that count? (It's also possible I accosted some poor guy that just happens to look a lot like Saul Rubinek... lol)

I didn't meet him but I was looking at some photos from Cask Days photos that Ken from Black Oak had posted (I think it was Ken's pics. I could be remembering this wrong.) online and immediately recognized local actor Kris Holden-Ried. I assumed Ken also recognized him since he's also into scifi stuff but IIRC he just happened to capture him as a random person in the crowd.

Long before the pandemic, when going to the Rex could involve sitting shoulder to shoulder with other patrons crowded along one of their long tables, a stranger sidled up between my wife and I and said, "You do know you're sitting next to Gord Downie, don't you?".

I had to confess I did not. He seemed very much a Regular Guy. I carried on enjoying the live jazz music.

BigBob wrote: ↑Tue Mar 21, 2023 5:40 pm Long before the pandemic, when going to the Rex could involve sitting shoulder to shoulder with other patrons crowded along one of their long tables, a stranger sidled up between my wife and I and said, "You do know you're sitting next to Gord Downie, don't you?".

I had to confess I did not. He seemed very much a Regular Guy. I carried on enjoying the live jazz music.

Don't know why this reminded me of a time when I was at the Reservoir Lounge (remember when that was the hot spot in the city?)

I was sitting and there was some hub-bub around an older gentleman who was sitting right next to me with a couple of much-younger ladies around him. Tom Jones.

Technically not a pub, but it was a bar, the bar @ Barberians Steak house in Toronto. My wife and I were staying downtown for the weekend, went to dinner @ Barberians on the Friday, later that evening, after 4 hrs of eating and drinking, Steve Harris (bassist for Iron Maiden) walks by our table. We were staying downtown because we were going to the show the next night. We said the usual "hi, big fans, going to the concert tomorrow etc." He was all smiles about it. All I have to prove it is a pretty blurry photo, but we thought it was pretty cool.

A few over the years. Most recently (but before pandemic) sat next to Brian Burke at the bar of Amsterdam Barrel House on Laird, one afternoon. He was happy to engage in some conversation, though not about hockey. Talked a bit of baseball. Pretty sure they comped him his lunch, lol.

Most recent was during a UK trip last August. I was at Cask Pub & Kitchen in London and the YouTube Craft Beer Channel guys were there. They looked like they were wrapping up and had some people bothering them already so I kept to myself. Neat unexpected surprise.

Six to seven years ago I had a date with Canadian comedian Karen O'Keefe at Bar Hop. Tall redhead. And a very lovely person. I'm sure I was boring as fuck. There really wasn't any chemistry unfortunately. Being a little nervous didn't help and I generally suck with people.

I recall Jonathan Walker at C'est What and someplace else seated with us various beer geeks.

Back during the days of the original Bar Volo, Rick Mercer was seated a couple of tables away with a bunch of suit flunkies.

Not a pub but even further back in the day when I was a teenager we used to frequently go to an Italian restaurant called Giorgio's on Jarvis near St Lawrence Market. Three occasions of celebrity encounters there.

The first was with Dougie, Osbourne, Ellett and I think Wendel, can't remember the fourth person very well.
The second was with Sundin, Kenny Johnson and one more team member.
The third was with Cito Gaston, Paul Beeston, the third base coach and, ugh, Fergie Olver.

Lots of other random celebrity encounters out in the wild, on the street, in supermarkets, etc.