This is Later with Lee Matthews, The Lee Matthews Podcast, more what you
hear weekday afternoons on the Drive, and his decades of experience working at the
highest end of the service industry at his family Story Palm restaurant chain, and
years spent mingling, laughing, and dancing alongside the world's most famous personalities.
Bruce Bossi is now hosting the second season of his podcast Table for Two with
Bruce Bossi. He's joining us now, Bruce, you always have great stories
about some of the interactions you've had. Who are some of the people you're
going to be talking to in season two? Good morning, Lee, It's
great to be here. We're talking to We're pulling up a cheer on table
for this season with Colin, Joe's, Michael Man, Matt Beaumon. We
pulled up. We started the season with Davin and Joey Randolph literally a week
before she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in The Holdover, So
that was exciting. Jeff Goldbloom, which is just a next level, super
fun lunch. Ellen Barkin coming up also, which I haven't had lunch with
yet, but he's coming as Christian Loubi Tan, the you know, famous
shoe designer. So we had a bunch of people lined up and the season
two has really gotten off to a good start. Thank you well. And
you are sitting down and actually having a meal. Yes, So the whole
idea was, as you said, I had this career in rent the restaurant
business because my great grandfather co founded a restaurant in nineteen twenty six, so
like a restaurant and service and hospitality is in my blood. I've done everything
from you know, seeing people, to working in the kitchen, the whole,
the whole shebang, and to kind of growing as a career in the
restaurant business. So it was natural for me to sort of when I was
thinking about doing this, have it around food and the idea of the romance
of a meal, you know, the conversation at a table. And so
every every episode we are having lunch. We are face to face and yeah,
we have lunch and it's and it's great because during the course of the
lunch is people you know, just they relaxed, They they need themselves.
But the conversations they might be pitching something like sam Tella Johnson, she was
pitching her by that. But yeah, back to Black which Amy. But
you know, then we start talking about London, and we start talking about
her kids, and we start talking about uh, you know her because she's
an artist, her and her story past. So it's kind of it's a
really cool it's a cool way to learn about people that you're interested in.
Well automatically, when you sit down to have dinner with somebody or share food
with somebody, they're disarmed and and and they're less concentrating on oh my god,
what is he going to ask me? Or what are we going to
talk about? And you're having something that's rather normal. Uh, and if
you're a celebrity out pitching something, you probably need a little normalcy. Yeah,
I think so. I think they're quite like they look everyone who's come
in is sort of like wow, like wait, we actually really do eat,
like yeah, yeah, yeah, like we eat. And they are
just armed. It's a good word. They're sort of they they relax into
it. And also it's just me and the person and then the sound person
from iHeart this gentleman named Emil, who I absolutely think is brilliant. He's
in the room, but he's off to the room, so all of a
sudden it becomes very quiet and very intimate, and I like it too,
like it's a first date, and you know, first dates are important.
Table for two with Bruce Posse on the iHeartRadio app. As he just mentioned,
is this at your restaurant? No, I am no longer with the
Palm restaurant that the Two Families. We exited that in twenty twenty, and
it's at the Tower Bar in Los Angeles. It's at Via Cororota in the
West Village in Manhattan. And also one I did with Colin Joe just in
season two, I should say, at the Carlisle Hotel. So I get
some fun, fancy, cool places. Does the guest pick what they want
to eat or do you have something prepared or do they make a pre request
for whatever it is they're going to eat. Nope, the server comes up,
they get the menu, and you know exactly with Colin, it was
hysterical because he's like, so I can eat anything, and I'm like yeah.
And there was a Cops solid with lobster and he was like, wait
a minute, I could order the Cops salad with lobster, right, And
He's like, whoa, he had the Cops salad and help people people don't
order whatever they want. I'm picking up the bill. Is there one that
surprised you most? Like I sawelebrity that sat down and ordered something and us
thought, on, huh, I never took them for being a vegan or
whatever it might be. Yeah, who I would say the you know,
Octavia Spencer, she was funny. She was you know, we it was
cold day, so she had like tomato soup and grilled cheese and that was
sort of fun because most like do with salad or what have you. And
the cop salad I thought was just brilliant. When we've got you know,
in season one, we were at Via Croda, which is just like real
small but amazing Italian place, and out of winter, she she ordered,
you know, she ordered like a full lunch. And here's a woman who's
like, you know, always on the go, doesn't really believe in having
lunch outside of her desk. You know, she was thought was a big
deal. And she had you know, chicken and salad and pasta and so
everyone it's it's interesting who goes like light and who goes heavy you know during
the lunch. But everyone, like you know, Kate Hudson came in.
She was starving and we just we're laughing our butts off. She she had
like a big salad and you know, an Arnold Palmer and she was just
it was It's just a lot of fun. Uh. We're talking to Bruce
Bosie. Table for two with Bruce Bosi the podcast on the iHeartRadio app Now
in season two. What are some of the topics that come up? Are
they pretty heavy duty things? Are you just you just let the conversation flow?
They can be heavy duty. I I sort of come into the the
room prepared knowing about the person. You know, what they're doing, what
they're working on, and you know, a skeleton of like their life.
And then I go, okay, if I'm gonna have the opportunity to sit
down with Michael Mann and who you know is responsible for directing and creating Miami
Vice and you know, and Ferrari, what do I want to know about
this guy? And then I let it and you know, and he's directed
such, you know, interesting people over the course of his life, very
you know, very revered actors. I go, okay, what do I
want to know? What would anyone want to know? And then I just
go with I go with the conversation. Sometimes it gets heavy, you know,
if people you know, for instance, you know Alan Barkin last week,
she talked about when she was on the set of Sea of Love and
it was the eighties and she was doing, you know, a scene that
required her to be undressed and al Pacino was he and the director did something
that was very you know, kind of in her personal space and somewhat aggressive
to her during the in between, and it was she was shocked and then
she was like, Okay, now get back to work. And she went
back to work. So, you know, people talk about that, they
talk about the things. I had lunch with Nicole Ayvant, who's you know,
her father was just passed away. Mister Ivant was sort of considered the
god father of you know, of music, of black music, and father
was unfortunately murdered a couple of years ago in Beverly Hills. And she she
goes there, you know, we talk about that, We talk about the
death of her mom. We talked about who her mom was, how she
was raised, and and Sharon Stone, who is on Who's Now you know,
she's painted, but she talks about when she had the brain tumor and
in that whole series and that whole situation that happened in her life and losing
custody of her son. And so it's not you know, it can go
any which way. It's not heavy, it's not meant to be the idea
is you know. It's curiosity, it's kindness. It's literally like you're pulling
up a chair and having lunch with us today and you're just gonna discover some
new stuff about someone that you're interested in. So pull up your chair and
here a table for two with Brutes Bosi the podcast on the iHeartRadio app and
anywhere you podcasts. We'll be looking forward to listening to season two, Bruce,
and thanks for joining us. Thank you, sir, I'm a great
day. Thanks for listening to Later with Lee Matthews, the Lee Matthews Podcast,
and remember to listen to The Drive Live weekday afternoons from five to seven
and iHeartMedia presentation