Chef Eric Ripert dishes on celebs who have dined…
There is a “Blank Space” in this world-famous eating room.
Although numerous celebrities have wined and dined at Le Bernardin, there’s one A-lister who hasn’t sampled the French seafood the three Michelin-starred restaurant is understood for — Taylor Swift.
“No, she never came,” Chef Eric Ripert told The Post.
“Maybe if she reads the article, she will be inspired to come here.”
Ripert began at Le Bernardin in 1991 as chef de delicacies and is now its government chef and co-owner. Getty Images for NYCWFF
Taylor Swift lately ate at Ambassadors Clubhouse New York, an Indian restaurant in NoMad, with her husband, Travis Kelce, but still hasn’t been to Le Bernardin. Tatiana / BACKGRID
The famed restaurateur revealed the notable names that have graced the star-studded reservation guide at the Midtown mainstay on West 51st Street — and the star of “An Officer and a Gentleman” was the first to come to thoughts.
“Richard Gere likes to eat a lot at Le Bernardin and when he’s in town, always visiting us and it’s always a pleasure to feed him and speak to him a little bit,” Ripert, 61, said.
Ripert, who began at Le Bernardin in 1991 as chef de delicacies and is now its government chef and co-owner, has also cooked for Jay-Z and Beyoncé as nicely as John Legend — and another celebrity singer.
“Mick Jagger comes to Le Bernardin when he is in town and he’s friends with my business partner, so he’s always at ease and happy,” he added.
The celeb chef said he doesn’t whip up something particular for VIPs, and in his 46-year profession, he’s never been nervous about cooking for well-known faces.
Chef Eric Ripert, proper, said Richard Gere is a frequent visitor at Le Bernardin. Getty Images
“They choose from the menu, or they ask me to choose for them whatever I want, which is generally from the menu,” said Ripert, whose ninth guide, “Mindful Cooking,” will probably be launched on Oct. 6.
“To me, every client is the same … we cannot have different standards.”
Paparazzi routinely stake out the famend restaurant — and sometimes the friends call the shutterbugs themselves.
“Once it was a very powerful politician, I cannot say the name, but then suddenly we see like 20 paparazzi outside … and I said, … ‘If you want, we can get you out through other ways,’ and he said, ‘No, don’t worry, it’s me, we called them.’”
Ripert said the A-list eater who made the most important impression on him was the Dalai Lama, for whom he cooked twice.
On the Dalai Lama’s first go to, Ripert ready wild salmon, and on the second, filet mignon — but it was dessert that made an impression on the Tibetan Buddhist religious chief.
“He never really showed much emotion, except when he had the chocolate mousse,” he said.
The celeb chef’s ninth guide, “Mindful Cooking” is out on Oct. 6.
The three Michelin-starred restaurant’s bestseller is carpaccio of tuna on a toasted baguette with foie gras. Courtesy of Random House
The French native, who research Tibetan Buddhism himself, said his new cookbook was impressed by his travels to Buddhist monasteries in Asia. There, monks observe a plant-based diet so as not to hurt animals, and go without greens such as garlic and onions for religious causes.
“Onions supposedly make you sleepy when you are in meditation and also give you bad dreams … Garlic makes your blood circulate a bit faster. And warming the blood is not helpful for meditation and also, as you can imagine, a thousand monks with garlic breath is a bit of a problem sometimes,” he said.
“They consider food as medicine … They believe everything that we put in our body will have a positive or negative effect depending on what it is.”
Ripert said Le Bernardin’s bestselling menu merchandise is the carpaccio of tuna on a toasted baguette with foie gras.
It bought so nicely that he once took it off the menu so that prospects may attempt other dishes.
“And for the first time in my career I saw really angry clients … They were very vocal in the restaurant and they were calling me to their table … explaining that it was a huge mistake and they were very unhappy,” he said.
“I kind of, through an analogy, understood. It’s like you go to a Rolling Stones concert and then they’re like, ‘No, we’re not going to play ‘No Satisfaction.’ No, it’s not happening today.’ You can’t do that.”
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