Leonardo DiCaprio gets cozy with NYC's power crowd while dining at city's most exclusive restaurant
Leonardo DiCaprio was spotted breaking bread with political insiders and entertainment moguls in New York on Thursday.
The actor, 50, dined at Rao's the legendary, ten-table East Harlem Italian joint where landing a seat is tougher than scoring an Oscar.
According to Page Six, the A-lister sat down with Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman and entrepreneur Andrew Murstein, who hosted the gathering.
DiCaprio's Wolf of Wall Street co-star Bo Dietl, ABC Radio's Sid Rosenberg, host of Sid and Friends in the Morning on 77WABC, New York's top-rated morning news talk show the actor's father George DiCaprio and his stepmother rounded out the party.
'Leo was extremely friendly and took a dozen photos with fans, and at least five video chats on FaceTime' with enthusiastic diners' friends and family members,' an Insider told Page Six.
While the Titanic star drew plenty of attention, it was Blakeman who showed up with the muscle.
'A lot of security was there, but not for Leo. There were five security detail people for Blakeman,' the source added.
During the hush-hush meal, guests reportedly overheard Blakeman pitching his vision to transform Nassau County into Hollywood East, citing the $533 million in economic impact generated by Grumman and Gold Coast Studios in Bethpage, where scenes from Wolf of Wall Street were filmed.
Blakeman previously served as commissioner for the New York-New Jersey Port Authority, as well as a Nassau County legislator and Hempstead town councilman.
Leo kept it casual for the occasion and sported a black shirt, beige jacket and a baseball cap accessorized with a gold chain.
While the dinner was arranged through Murstein, even celebrities struggle to get through the door at Rao's.
The 125-year-old Harlem hotspot doesn't accept walk-ins or reservations, and there's virtually no way to contact the restaurant unless you have an 'in'.
The exclusivity is so extreme, one seat at Rao's recently hit $20,000 on the bidding site CharityBuzz.
Menu prices at the famed eatery start around $16, with their signature beef lasagna coming in at $36 and their top-tier steak reaching $70, not including the sauces or sides.
Other famous celebrities seen dining at Rao's include Al Pacino, Woody Allen, Frank Sinatra, Robert De Niro, Donald Trump, Pete Davidson, Kevin Costner, and Bethenny Frankel, among others.
The exclusivity is so extreme, one seat at Rao's recently hit $20,000 on the bidding site CharityBuzz (Pictured: Pete Davidson attending Rao's Restaurant pop-up in February 2025 in New Orleans)
While normally the preserve of the rich and famous, one man has managed to crack the code.
Nicky DiMaggio, is a professional reservationist who charges $500 to $1,000 to get clients into New York's most exclusive restaurants - including Rao's.
He first got into the restaurant at 17-years-old with help from a cousin and never looked back.
'I realized, if I walked through these doors, I could walk through any door,' he previouly told Daily Mail.
Demand grew so much that DiMaggio launched his own business based on insider connections and impossible bookings.
'The whole reservation thing is a science,' he said. 'People want what they can't have. [Restaurants] want you to want it more and be frustrated that you can't secure a reservation.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
25 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Kanye West's wife Bianca Censort turns heads in plunging bodysuit during outing with rapper
Kanye West 's wife Bianca Censori got heads turning... again... with another revealing stunt in New York City on Saturday. The 30-year-old architect made jaws drop in a plunging a black fur-trimmed bodysuit that barely covered her breasts as she hit the streets with the 48-year-old rapper. She finished off her look with strappy heels just two days after Bianca was spotted in a cheeky nude leotard that left little to the imagination. Work it: She confidently walked out the hotel Copycat? Kanye has often drawn comparisons between Bianca and Kim, with fans speculating that his new wife's sleek black hair and skintight outfits are deliberate echoes of his ex-wife's look Scandal: Kanye's Yeezy fashion brand launched in partnership with Adidas in 2015, quickly becoming a billion-dollar empire before the deal was terminated in 2022 following his antisemitic remarks Revenge? Bianca was first seen with Kanye just weeks after Kim and Pete Davidson broke up, fueling rumors that Kanye had married her to spite his ex
Daily Mail
41 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
I ate 150 eggs in five days - what it did to my body made me rethink everything I believed
A man who ate nothing but eggs for five days has revealed the surprising effect it had on his body. Joshua Allard, 25, from Oklahoma City, challenged himself to consume 150 eggs—30 a day—as part of an extreme diet experiment. The content creator, known online for promoting so-called 'looksmaxxing' techniques designed to enhance physical appearance, documented the process in a YouTube video posted on June 16. Allard bought a box of 15 dozen large eggs for $36.45 from US warehouse chain Sam's Club, describing it as a 'killer deal'. He ate five meals a day, each consisting of around half a dozen eggs, with no other food or supplements. By the end of the five-day challenge, he said he had become 'very, very lean' and shared photos showing his dramatically slimmed-down physique—leaving many viewers stunned. In the comments, one fan wrote: 'Amazing video Josh,' while another joked: 'I want to see bro eating a whole cow in a week.' Reflecting on the experience, Allard said: 'Well, one, I survived. I did not die. Thank goodness for that. I got very, very lean. I didn't take any creatine throughout this time. I didn't really supplement or anything.' 'I didn't even supplement vitamin D3 plus K, which is usually one of my favourite supplements—strictly egg,' he said. Despite how gruelling the diet might sound, Allard claimed he actually struggled to limit himself to eating 30 eggs a day. 'It almost became addictive. It is crazy,' he added. He speculated that the intense cravings could have been down to the 'pretty significant' calorie deficit he was in. However, given the high fat content of eggs, he wasn't convinced that was the full explanation. Describing the mental effects, Allard likened himself to a bear preparing for hibernation, comparing his egg-heavy diet to a carnivore's: 'very high in fat, moderate in protein, and no carbs.' 'Turns out my body was preparing to go into hibernation,' he joked. 'That's basically how I felt—very, very tired at night. 'I slept amazingly. My stress levels were way, way, way down. And my body got extremely lean in a matter of five days.' While he is no longer eating 30 eggs a day, he said: 'I do eat a lot of eggs. I still love eggs. They're a superfood. He praised the eggs for their healthy fats which are 'great for your hormones', the high protein content, and amino acids. High protein foods help your body build and repair tissues like muscles, bones, skin and hair. Meanwhile, eating foods containing amino acids helps the body build muscle and breakdown food, as well as boosting the immune system. 'They're one of the best nutrient-dense foods out there. So it is something I would definitely recommend,' he said. Despite this, he doesn't recommend others eating 30 eggs a day—but rather six in the morning and four in the night to give you energy. The biggest problem about the challenge, he shared is not getting a natural source of creatine, which supplies energy to your muscles and promotes brain health. So, he recommends to also eat fish and red meat which are rich in creatine, and if you aren't a carnivore, fruits like strawberries and vegetables such as sweet potatoes. Professor Tom Sanders, a nutrition and diet specialist at King's College London, told MailOnline: 'The eggs would provide around 2000 calories, 195g protein, 135g fat of which around 35g saturated fat, and it would also provide about 10g cholesterol.' For most people, consuming cholesterol-rich foods is harmless. However consuming excessive amounts can be risky—particularly for those with certain genetic variants. 'It could cause "bad" LDL cholesterol in blood to rise,' he said. High LDL cholesterol is believed to be a key risk fact in heart disease, heart attacks and strokes. Allard added: 'Guys just remember to be chomping on the egg shells for calcium by the way. Kidding. If you guys want to you can check out a video I made about that.' That video followed a TikTok clip, which has racked up over 600,000 views, showing him eating crushed egg shells—something he referred to as a 'forbidden bone mass supplement' because of their calcium content. The comment section quickly filled with viewers questioning the safety of the stunt, particularly around salmonella risk. Others claimed they experienced side effects after trying it themselves, though it's unclear whether this was before or after seeing the video. 'I tried that and after, I had diarrhea,' wrote one viewer. Another claimed: 'I tried it. Sadly I got (a) kidney stone after a week of doing it.' In response, another user replied: 'You can't get them that fast,' a comment that Allard liked.
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Bill Belichick defends Jordon Hudson in leaked emails after CBS interview
Bill Belichick has tried to defend his age-gap relationship with Jordon Hudson after his disastrous interview with CBS. The legendary NFL coach, 73, is preparing for his first season in college football but his tenure has been so far overshadowed by headlines surrounding his romance with Jordon, 24. One clip of Jordon at UNC practice caused problems for the legendary coach and soon reports emerged that she had been banned from the team's facilities. UNC denied that was the case. The CBS clip sparked fresh speculation surrounding Jordon's influence over the six-time Super Bowl-winning head coach. Now, emails obtained by WRAL detail the fallout from the CBS interview. They show that disgruntled fans felt the relationship was turning the school into a 'laughing stock'. In the emails, however, Bill defended Jordon and their romance. He wrote to Beth Keith, a senior associate vice chancellor in the Office of University Communications: 'Jordon and I have both a person and professional relationship. 'This is not a secret... Jordon assists me with my personal media, which is why I asked UNC to forward media requests (E.G. CBS 60 Minutes) to her. Jordon has zero involvement in the UNC football program, beyond the degree that my personal media intersects with it.' He also explained why his girlfriend was at the interview, which was organized to promote his new book The Art Of Winning: Lessons From My Life In Football. Bill said: 'Jordon was present at the CBS interview because David Kass, the Simon & Schuster publicist, was not there. I included Jordon in the book acknowledgments because she was a creative contributor to the book, including having the idea for formatting the 4 special pages in the book.' According to WRAL News, however, Jordon intended to sit in on the April 21 interview regardless of whether Kass was there. Bill added: 'I met Jordon randomly on a flight to Palm Beach in 2021. That is no secret. Jordon was not dodging the specific question regarding how we met, but rather was preventing the interview from continuing to probe into personal matters.' He also claimed that at the start of the interview, Jordon asked where she could sit 'off-camera' but 'secretly, CBS had a camera focused on Jordon where Lead producer Gabe (Gabriel Falcon) instructed her to sit'. He added: 'For approximately 35 uninterrupted minutes, (CBS host Tony Dokoupil) asked questions about the book... then, the questions shifted to other subjects that were not related to the Art of Winning, which we had outlined as off-limits with my book publicist.' WRAL also revealed an email from a disgruntled UNC fan and former student who said they have 'never felt compelled to write a letter to our leadership, until now. I'm writing in response to the actions taken by Bill Belichick and his 24 year old girlfriend.' The email continued: 'Never did I think UNC would become a laughing stock in the sports world because of his young girlfriend.'
