Nate Armbruster
You can tell A LOT about a person based on how they treat the waitstaff while they’re at a restaurant. Unfortunately, according to James Corden isn’t someone who isn’t too kind.
In an Instagram post, Keith McNally, restauranteur, and owner of the NYC restaurant Balthazar, that the Late Late Show Host is effectively banned from the famous French restaurant.
Keith calls James a “tiny cretin of a man” and says that he was the “most abusive customer to my Balthazar servers since the restaurant opened 25 years ago.”
James Corden is a Hugely gifted comedian, but a tiny Cretin of a man. And the most abusive customer to my Balthazar servers since the restaurant opened 25 years ago. I don’t often 86 a customer, to today I 86’d Corden. It did not make me laugh. Here are two examples of the funny man’s treatment of my staff.
Keith continued, sharing a couple of examples of how rude Corden was to Balthazar’s waitstaff. He also adds that he behaved “similarly” at Keith’s former restaurant, Cafe Luxembourg, “a few years back.”
“MANAGER’S REPORT #1:”
‘In June, James Corden was here on table 61. (Although this is diabolical, it happens Very occasionally in all restaurants.) After eating his main course, Corden showed the hair to Balthazar manager G. who was very apologetic. Corden was extremely nasty to G, and said: “Get us another round of drinks this second. And also take care of all of our drinks so far. This way I write any nasty reviews in yelp or anything like that.” ‘
“MANAGER’S REPORT # 2:”
‘James Corden was at Balthazar with his wife on October 9th for brunch. He asked for a table outside. Brunch Maitre D’ Allie Wolters took the party to table 301. Mr. Corden’s wife ordered an egg yolk omelet with gruyere cheese and salad. A few minutes after they received the food, James called their server, M. K., and told her there was a little bit of egg white mixed with the egg yolk. M. K. informed the floor manager, G. The kitchen remade the dish but unfortunately sent it with home fries instead of salad.
“Maybe I should go into the kitchen and cook the omelet myself!”
That’s when James Corden began yelling like crazy to the server: “You can’t do your job! You can’t do your job! Maybe I should go into the kitchen and cook the omelet myself!” M.K. was very apologetic and brought G. over to the table. He returned the dish, and after that, everything was fine. He gave them promo Champagne glasses to smooth things out. G. said that Corden was pleasant to him but nasty to the server.’ M.K. was very shaken but professional that she is, continued to finish her shift.’
In a follow-up post, Keith said that Corden called to “profusely apologize” for his behavior, and he is no longer banned from Balthazar.
James Corden just called me and apologized profusely. Having fucked up myself more than most people, I strongly believe in second chances. So if James Corden lets me host his Late Late Show for 9 months, I’ll immediately rescind his ban from Balthazar. No, of course not. But….anyone magnanimous enough to apologize to a deadbeat layabout like me (and my staff) doesn’t deserve to be banned from anywhere. Especially Balthazar. So Come Back to the 5 & Dime, Jimmy Corden, Jimmy Corden. All is Forgiven. xx
