Good Day Google+ - Chef Dennis Bachelor Party

Hi!

Hey there, I'm Chef Dennis Littley and welcome to the party. It's my party for my bachelor days are going away as of today. Today's the last day I'll officially be a bachelor and I'm very happy about that fact because after all these years of waiting, Lisa finally agreed. Well, she said yes 16 years ago, bought the dress, got everything ready, and then kinda got cold feet. So we've been waiting and Through all kinds of things, we decided we were going to get married, and then it kind of falls by the wayside. We talk about it for a while and it goes away. So this time when she said it, I said, well, I'm penciling it in, you know, let me know if you're serious. And she was serious, so it's happening tomorrow at 2:30 at Disney's Wedding Pavilion. I will be saying I do.

Woo-hoo!

Woo! Very cool. Yeah, and I'm looking better. I'm feeling better. I'm 35 pounds down on my diet, which means I can eat a little tomorrow at dinner. I'm going to. I'll stay on my diet up till dinner, and then Saturday we have some friends coming over afterwards, and I'm going to cook a bunch of stuff. I'll do my best. I told her we're going to Ohana for breakfast on Saturday at the Polynesian, and I said, "I've been thinking about what I'm going to eat, and I'm thinking sausage, lots of sausage." On this diet, I've had this meat craving. Like there is no tomorrow, so it's been funny.

So go for it.

Oh, absolutely.

I will say congratulations to the groom. You don't say congratulations to the bride because she's not lucky to get married, but the groom is lucky to get married in theory. So congratulations.

Absolutely.

Cheers.

Yeah, let's drink to that.

Cheers.

Cheers!

Prost und Dank!

Ozzeltoff everything. Yeah, I'm very lucky, and I know that because I am not the easiest person to live with— and for the record neither is she. So we go— She knows it, believe me, she knows it.

Well, opposites attract. Opposites attract. My husband and I could not be more different. Not be more different, but you know what, he keeps me in line, and I probably keep him more in line than he keeps me in line because, you know, whatever. But, you know, yeah, opposites attract, and that's what makes things interesting.

Yeah, I always told her, you know, at first when we got together, she said, oh, we don't have so much in common. And I'm going, so we both love to travel, so we both— because we start— we really, our first trip ever together was in Paris. We got to know each other really, really well then because she had some problems with fresh cheese. I probably don't need to say anymore. I was trying to learn the French word for air freshener.

I think you should stop there.

Too much information, Chef.

I know, but it was funny because we brought it back with us, and for years I'd spray it and go, "Ah, remember Paris?" Hey, listen, you have to laugh.

If you don't have humor, that is the secret weapon. I think humor will solve anything and everything. And if you can get there, that's it. You're— the problem's over.

I totally agree with Susan. I mean, humor in a relationship is a key component. I have always thought that, you know, the ability to laugh, to have a great time. Do you know Laugh with your partner. In fact, Betty, when I met her, she was at the beginning, she was kind of like, mm, very serious. And I was like— but then slowly with the years passed by, and she's got a great sense of humor, and she enjoys all the stuff that we do together. A key.

I think that's one of the biggest keys is the ability to make your partner laugh. And that's, I think, what's always— because she'll just be hysterical sometimes. I'm pretty quick with what I say. I do keep her laughing and well-fed. She's a great audience to feed. What better? A chef needs nurturing in how they present food. I cook for her. If it was me, I'd be opening boxes of Kraft macaroni and cheese and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and cheese sandwiches. The fact that I want to make something really good for her, that's really a lot. When I was in the business, I cook for other people. That's where my joy comes comes from. She's provided me with a lot of joy, and I've educated her palate, too, so it's been fun.

Yeah, it's a two-way street, isn't it? Does she ever cook, or do you let her cook?

That's not a pretty sight, let me tell you. She tried. She was bound and determined, and I don't know why I never asked her to. She said one night a week she was going to cook, and she bought Rachael Ray cookbooks and these other things, and it was Thursday night with Lisa or whatever, and I'd say— and I would tell her, I says, "All I really want is fish sticks and macaroni and cheese, just so I don't have to cook. That's the whole thing, because the person that cooks doesn't have to clean up." Well, we had just had a new kitchen put in where we were, and she made something. She made 3 things, and she used 5 pans.

Woo-hoo-hoo!

They were burned. I'm looking at 3 things and 5 pans, and I'm going, "How did she do that?" I said, "We're done with this experiment." I said, "If you want to do something for me, just order out one night. That's fine." I says, "I'm really easy to please." If people are cooking for me, I'm not a tough audience. When we go out to dinner and I'm paying for it, that's a whole different story.

That's very true, that's very true actually. I get quite a lot of that from my friends. You know, "Oh, you know, if you come over, we start panicking." I say, "Hey, you know what? I am just so grateful when somebody cooks for me. I don't care what you cook for me." You know? So yeah, so I think we do tend to be less fussy when it's friends or family cooking for us.

Oh yeah, yeah, I'm like I said, I'm just happy someone's made the effort and someone wants to feed me. And like I said, I I love to eat all different kinds of food, so it almost doesn't matter what they're serving. I've hit a milestone in my philosophy of food. For years, I haven't eaten beef in 20 years. An occasional piece passes through my lips or something. I don't freak out or anything, but I haven't eaten beef. I've learned a lot about diet. I've learned a lot about myself this past year and eating healthier, so I'm thinking, I may eat beef from time to time. I'm not going to rule it out. Really, the only beef I really liked was cheeseburgers. I've learned that turkey burgers are okay. Chicken burgers, actually, are my favorite. Maybe I'll have a steak every now and then. Fillet doesn't do anything for me, but if I make something, like if I make a bourguignon, maybe I'll eat one.

What's the most Let's start with annoying. What's the most annoying thing about Lisa? Then we'll go to lovable. What's the most annoying thing?

I think the most annoying thing right now about Lisa is that she still loves Philadelphia.

Oh, how long has it been since you left?

Um, 6—

17 months.

Wow, that long? Oh my gosh.

She would move back in a heartbeat. And it was her idea to move, let me preface that. It was her idea to move. She bought the house. I hadn't even seen it when she bought the house.

Can we just bring Lisa in the panel so we can just—

She's not there. She's not at home.

She probably would love it if she was home, but she's out with her niece getting her nails done, or either that or they're out by the pool by now, I'm not sure. That's like—

But now, Dennis, can I say something on the defense for Lisa? I was brought up in New York and I ended up living in Miami. And let me tell you, yes, Miami is Miami, Florida is Florida, but there's something about the North Corridor, and Susan can probably agree with me— Long Island, New York, Boston, Philadelphia— when you grow up there, there's this flavor, and I understand the things that Lisa misses.

Yeah, you have it all here, and it's the diversity, and it's the— it's like the— what's the word I'm looking for— the sensory sort of experience, and actually the change of seasons, which you hate, Chef, but I don't know, how does Lisa feel about the change? Was that her compelling reason to go to Florida? Does she hate the cold? Or is it you that hates the cold?

Oh, no, we were out walking the dogs one day and it was just snow and sleet and ice, and it had been a pretty bad winter. And we're just going, you know, and we were going to move. We were going to move to a, like, a condo, and it would have cost us whatever we're going to sell the house for, pretty much what it cost. So we might have had to kick up some more money. And she goes, you know, we should move to Florida. And I went, Okay, now that was about all the encouragement I needed at that point was, you know, let's move to Florida. So I was good with that, but it was her idea originally. And then as it got closer, she got more nervous about it and she wasn't sure if she made the right decision. We sold our house the first day we showed it, so luckily we had a house to move to. But I mean, at that point, we basically, I think it was 5, 6 weeks. The guy was real nice, he gave us plenty of time to get in. We could have stayed longer, but we had planned on being down here at least for the winter by December 1st. That was our goal.

Another factor could be the fact that I gather that Lisa has lots of friends in Philadelphia that she misses.

Well, that's it. That was part of the big thing, was that she left where I worked all the time and never really had time for going out with friends. And when we went out with friends, it was always her friends. And when we moved here, I made actual physical friends like Carolyn and Greg, who just joined us, and Tina Willis, who is also— I have to invite her in, see if she's around— who was also in the area. And we would go out with our actual physical friends. So for the first time, we were going out with my friends as opposed to her friends. So it was a little rough transition. So one of the reasons she went back to work in September, I told her she retired too soon. She was 53. I said, "You retired way too soon. You're a teacher. It's who you are. It's what you do." You got to get to that point where you're tired of doing it, really burned out and tired of doing it. Like as a chef, I was tired. I was done. I didn't really always want to be creative.

At work.

So that's when you know. Plus, with my injuries, I'm like, I'm just— I'm done. Stick a fork in me, I'm done. So she hadn't reached that point, so she's enjoying it. She only works half-time, but she's enjoying it, so it's been good for all of us.

Talk to us a little bit about the wedding tomorrow. We want some details. We want some Tomorrow, for those who are joining in also—

Dale's just joined us too.

Hi everybody!

Hi!

And then Carolyn and Greg are also in here.

Hi!

Hey everybody, how's it going? Happy birthday, Dennis!

Ciao!

I'm glad you guys could come in. Thank you so much. It's just been, you know, the wedding itself, like I said, was a surprise. We originally planned it, and, you know, 16 years ago I asked her, I think it's, you know, and we had a party for everything, and then we started looking at caterers, and she bought the wedding dress and everything, and then all of a sudden everything just kind of stopped. And then all through the years, like I said, we've always I've joked about it. I'll tell one of her friends, "Yeah, we drove by the wedding pavilion and Lisa started crying," or "Lisa started, you know, she's getting real nervous," and her friends will laugh. And one of her best friends said, "Well, Lisa runs." And up to me, she had a 2-year relationship. And where I didn't have a problem committing, because this is my third marriage, she had the problem committing. I had the problem staying committed, I guess. And she had the problem not committing. So we finally both reached the point where we're ready to commit to each other fully. I was there a long time ago, she's reached it today, so— or not today, a few weeks ago. And the wedding is going to be— we're actually starting— I mentioned our neighbor across the street is one of Disney's captains for Epcot, and he has taken us out before on his boat. And what they do— it's the boat that you see if you've ever been there, people I get to pull up right under a bridge and watch the fireworks from under— from Epcot. So you're really special, you know, it's really cool. So he got us that as a wedding present. He got his boss to comp it, and so all 10 of us— and again, it's been so difficult, you know, inviting people because there were so many local people I wanted to invite too, but with the limitations that were set by everything, it just wasn't feasible, wasn't going to happen. 10 of us are going on that. Some of the people are in already, some aren't, and then that'll be our first part of it. She's sleeping at a friend's tonight, so it'll just be me here, and I've got actually chores to do Friday morning before I go into the Bohemian at Celebrations is where we're having the after-party or the reception if you want to call it that. And they're giving us the bridal suite, it was included in the package, so that was pretty cool. And the wedding is at 2:30. So limo, in the price, that exorbitant price that Disney charges, you get a limo for 4 hours. So that's the good news. You get annual passes, so, you know, that kind of worked out a little bit. But the limo will pick me up at the Bohemian and drop me at the wedding pavilion, and then it'll go pick Lisa up and bring her to the wedding pavilion, and then it'll take us from there back to the Bohemian. So, you know, we got that all squared away.

It'll be interesting to see how— I want a show after you're married. I want to see how you're feeling now when you're on the other side after all these years. That'll be interesting.

Well, you know, to me at this point, it's just making us legal because we've been together for so long, we've been through so much together already, you know, we've been there to support each other.

Yeah, but I think it'll be more than making it legal. I think it'll be some kind of like solid foundational feeling, don't you think?

Well, I hope so. We'll see. We'll see how— I'm sure I'll feel different after the ceremony. I know she will. She's like freaking out about it still, and it's funny. I tease her like she doesn't want to be called Mrs., so I've just been calling her Mrs. all the time just for fun. I'm going to check the Miss box. You haven't been a Miss for a long time. There's no senorita there, you're a senora.

Is she changing her name?

She isn't, so, and that's fine. She wanted me to change mine and I said nah, forget it.

Second question, separate bank accounts?

No. Nazim, ahead! You're asking questions ahead, come on!

I'm joking, I'm joking, because me and Betty have the same bank account.

No, we've always had separate. We have a joint one as well, but we've always had separate accounts. The joint one is usually where all the tax returns went or anything extra that we earned together if we sold something. But for that, no, she has her money, I have my money. If I buy something, it's always, "Do you have enough money to pay for that?" Like when I got my camera and I said, "I'm getting a new camera and it's going to be close to $5,000." She goes, "Do you have enough money to pay for that?" I went, "Yes." She goes, okay. That was it.

You should have said no.

The answer should be no, Chefie. I'm very good with money.

Go ahead, Asa, go ahead.

This is what you need to do. My husband and I have separate bank accounts, but every time I shop, I make sure I'm using his card.

Let me say this. She is very generous. And it's never about if I, you know, if I needed something or if she buys me something, it's never about money with her. She's very generous. It's just her, you know, she's very, you know, she was alone for a long time and she's just very independent. And I have no problem with that. And if I needed something, she would certainly give it to me. The thing with me having enough money was, is I'm not allowed to put stuff on credit cards. That's all.

Well, that's very good though, because you should Stay away from that formula.

Yeah, if I have enough money, she wants to make sure that if I have a charge card, if I use a charge card, it's getting paid every month.

That's a good point.

Well, you know what, back in, for I don't know how many years and years and years, that's why all I have is American Express because I have to pay it every month regardless of how crazy I get, and I can get crazy. It has to be paid. So, you know, that works out.

Chef, I'm going to have to give you a prepaid one, so it's limited. Your shopping spree is limited. Better be like that. A prepaid one. Hey, Mia, are you over your jet lag? Yeah, hi, Mia.

Hi, darlings.

Hey, Mia. Hey, girlfriend.

Girl, you left something here. Wait a second.

Betty brought me these, and so I packed them in my bag because I got taken by a crazy woman on the train. And she was like, give me money. And I was like, I'd take my crackers. And I was so damn mad because I love these things. I was on the train from Venice to Rome.

I was like, fuck. That's me on the go. That's me on the go. You'll never know what was going to happen.

You never know what's going to happen. But I got my coffee. I got in about 1 o'clock Denver time last night. It was a 9-hour layover in New York. No.

Hey, well, I told you.

Nazeem, I looked like a homeless person at the airport. I was muttering, talking to myself, shuffling.

Yeah, but there was good shopping, wasn't there? Wasn't there good shopping there?

Oh, not at LaGuardia.

No, no, no, not LaGuardia.

Italy is a different story.

LaGuardia, forget about it.

I could have gotten everything upscale I ever wanted was at Milan. So how's everybody? Chefy, congratulations. This is going to make you an honest man.

Finally, finally. And I love Digestives. In fact, I use them for the crust for cheesecakes.

I don't—

I found them years ago. I always say that's an adult version of a graham cracker. It is.

It's about the healthiest thing, although I have to swear all I did, I ate and drank my way through Italy, hands down, right? Right, Nazim?

Yeah, I can confirm that. Let me go to the fridge. I think you left something in the fridge. Wait a second.

I doubt it.

Send!

Send!

I want to see if Carolyn and Greg see this mug that I have going.

Yes, that is wonderful.

That is from Lumi.

I approve this message.

Yes.

I bet.

Oh, man.

It's sure been fun to get to know you and Lisa in person. I have to say, it's just fun to watch the way you guys interact. I'm so, so excited for you guys to see you guys tying the knot. I know it's as much a symbolic and legal thing as any, but it's Definitely cool to see you both so happy and ready to celebrate this.

Thank you, thank you.

It's been interesting the past couple of weeks keeping Mama calm and happy. I did manage to find some blue claw crabs, which really helped a lot because she was having a real bad day. I got a surprise for you. You know, I was at Winter Park and I actually had to drive back to Lombardi's and they still had some crabs left. And so she had crabs one night, so she was a happy camper. That calmed her. That's like her pill for calming down. She medicates me every morning.

She says, "Here, take this." Food always does wonders, doesn't it?

Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Yeah, and alcohol. Don't forget the drink.

Oh yes.

Yes.

There you go, Plinkies. I missed that time. That's 8 hours ahead. I was ready for some wine, I'll be honest with you.

You're still stuck in Milan time, Mia.

Yeah, go on, Mia. Go on. We'll wait. Go on. Go ahead.

Go get some. He's got my little picture.

Chug, chug, chug.

I swear, I'm going to Betty Ford Clinic.

You won't be alone. You have a lot of good company there.

I have some good company with me, I know.

We didn't overdo it. We drank rationally.

Yeah.

Hey Dennis, what's the plan for the honeymoon?

Well, right now we're not doing anything specific. We haven't planned on going anywhere. Just because she's working, it's really hard for her to take any extra time off. And again, because we've been together so long, long. But we are hoping to get back to Europe either in September or October. We don't know where yet. We don't know exactly when.

Yes, Jeffy! I got it warmed up for you.

I know.

Look at me. Look at me.

Happy. You're coming to the south of England, aren't you? I mean, there's me, there's the Essens.

You know, I definitely want to come to England sometime.

I call the beach. Pasta per Milano, ma che cosa stiamo dicendo? Il chef Elisa, il chef Elisa.

Now it sounds like an Italian Ricky Ricardo.

So much peer pressure going on here, Dennis.

Then you have to stop through New York and see Susan, Sarah.

That's right. Yes, I saw Mia for 5 seconds one day when you—

I got a little hit off with Susan.

Yeah, we got a little— yep, we had some Yep.

Well, you know, I'll be in New Jersey for 5 weeks, so I can easily take the train up and visit, and we could spend an afternoon.

Yeah!

I can do that because I know I'm not a beach person, and that's why we're going to Ocean City, and that's why I never went to the beach because I really wasn't that fond of it. In Florida, it's a whole different thing, but up there I wasn't. So, you know, I'll be looking for other things.

Oh my God, come up and cook for me, and then we can do the show from my house.

Right from your house. That's a good idea.

Yeah, stay as long as you want. You can cook every meal if you want.

No problem.

You know when the different cities are bidding for the Olympics? This kind of sounds like, no, no, wait, Milan is the game.

Everybody's—

And I'm just for South England.

But if you come to the South of England, I'll cook and the Astons will play the music. So there you go. The winning bid.

I think that is the winning bid.

If you're going to see me like Chariots of Fire, I'll be running too. Yeah, I could be on the Olympic eating team. It's been too long for me to be on any other kind of team. That I could do.

Do we want to do some shoutouts? There's tons of people watching.

Yeah, let's say hello. Melissa Spurka is here. She's saying hi. Thank you, Melissa. Michael Thomas has been here and saying— and he's saying hi to everybody else that's in the audience. Ron Snayberg is here. Thank you, Ron. It's great to have you here. Kim Armstrong is in the house, and she's saying welcome back to Mia. It is good to have you back in the States. Dave Pipe is here. Coach Moore is here. Mia Voss are wearing them boots.

Oh yeah, and I'm not going to wear them again for another 8 months, I swear to God. Nazim was so sick of everything I was wearing. I have to do a whole blog about how to pack for 3 weeks.

Well, you know, the thing about packing in Italy is usually the same person doesn't see you twice unless it's the person you're traveling with.

Or the person you're cleaning up their house twice.

Yeah, so that's a good thing. So Elena's here.

Hi, Elena.

Peter Feltum is here. Hey, Peter. I said hi to Coach. Kirsten Mattis is here. I think we've got Becky Limo is here. Hi, Becky. We got a bunch of people here, so thank you all so much for coming today. You know, it's nice to have a lot of friends. When I put the ad out, people were laughing about the post on Facebook because I said I'm inviting a million of my closest friends.

Now the techies want to know a question. Are you going to Meerkat the wedding or are you going to Periscope it?

Snapchat.

Nazine, for the record, it's Snapchat.

Well, they'll probably Periscope until somebody asks Lisa to show them her boobs.

Yeah, well said.

Well, if they ask me, you know, I'm not sure.

You'll throw down. You can just do one of these, what do they call them, underboob selfies? Do an underboob selfie for us.

Yeah.

What's that? Do the selfie stick.

Excuse me, what's an underboob selfie?

Oh no, you've got to go Google that one.

Oh no.

Oh, that's a zine? Oh my goodness.

Is it kind of like what's at the bottom that Mia does on her show? What are you wearing at the bottom?

More closely like that. More closely like that. Lift your shirt up a little bit and take an underboob selfie.

Oh, I haven't seen any of those on your Instagram account.

I'll be looking.

You have not seen it? Or a Belfi for that matter.

Try to search it on Google and you can find it.

I just Googled it. Apparently it's banned in Thailand.

Yeah, it is banned in Thailand.

Yes, it is banned in certain Asian countries right now.

Well, the thing that freaked me out was the Belfis. I had no idea what they were and somebody told me about them. You take butt selfies.

Belfies, yeah. Well, I got Bryan Kramer to do a Belfie on my show. I was shocked. It was fantastic. He just did it right then. So yeah, there's actually a Facebook page. There's a Twitter, @bootselfies.

I'm only just getting into selfies. There is a song for selfies, too.

Oh yeah, there is a song for selfies.

Yeah, I mean, if you go to YouTube, you'll laugh about it. Oh my goodness, you'll get crazy.

I will tell you, that's what we were laughing about in Italy. The biggest thing that was being sold by people that were at all of the sites were just guys walking around going, in Italian, selfie stick?

Selfie stick!

And they've got like 50 of them hanging off their belts. And then, Nazni, we were at the Duomo and we saw the rabbit, all the rabbit people, like they're not even looking at it, they've just got their crazy selfie stick out.

I did get one for Lisa.

You got her a selfie stick?

Yeah, but I have to carry it, so I did get her a selfie stick.

Another question regarding the wedding, Chef, do you have a photographer that's going to be doing photographs?

Disney provides a photographer for, uh, is it Goofy? No.

Does he fly to Florida to take the picture of Jeffy or what?

Is it Goofy?

Lisa would be very happy if it was Goofy.

I do too, that's why I immediately said that.

I've always been a Tigger fan myself, so.

They're paying so much money but they're not getting Mickey to do the wedding.

Oh, here's your question. Everything is extra, and if you wanted Mickey, it was $900 more. He didn't even marry you, but just to come and let you take some photo ops with him. So it was like, well, we can do without Mickey.

Is Lisa wearing a white dress? You know what, Jeffy, I'll just fly down there with my damn Mickey gloves.

There you go.

Yeah, better be. Better be like that.

Gail, Lisa's wearing an off-white. Yeah, and I—

Are you wearing a tux?

No, because we went to rent the tux and they did not have really great options for us to look at, and they were getting so expensive.

And now that you're so skinny.

Yeah, well, that's it too. But they had some— I needed a new suit and they had some really good deals going on, so I bought a really nice charcoal suit and I've got an off-white shirt and The tie that they got me was the wrong tie, so thankfully for Amazon Prime, I'm getting a new tie today.

Are they droning the tie? Is it droning into Orlando the tie? I'm just curious.

I don't think so. It's even got a pocket matcher too, so I'm set.

Does it match the Mickey Mouse ears that you're going to be wearing?

But we do have them. They're a little small, but we do have them.

So what about the reception? How many people are coming and where is it and what are you eating?

The reception again is small. We are having 24 people at the reception because there were some people that came on the trip that we didn't have room for at the wedding since we can only have 20, and that's including us. So one of the husbands actually drove his wife all the way down from New Jersey just for the wedding., and one of her best friends has two friends with them that came down also. So we didn't have room, we didn't have enough people to do that, so we added them to that and asked them to put up. So much education going on under Bruce Lipton's— well, you know, Kim, that's kind of where my shows go. You never know where the shows are going. I wouldn't be surprised. In fact, you know, I bought my suit at Men's Warehouse. I was telling that story, and it was so nice to have a professional— and I'm not being compensated by Men's Warehouse, although I would take something if you'd like to give it to me— to have a professional dress you for a change and measure you and give you the right size clothes. Like, he measured my neck, and for years I've been stuffing it into a 17 or 17.5. Well, it was 19. So I'm going, oh my God, no wonder I never want to keep my top button buttoned, or it never fits. And then he also gave me extra long ties. And I'm like, I've always had like 2 inches of tie left when I get done tying because my neck's so big. So I said, no, there's actually an extra long tie. So having a professional— and it reminded me of the story about the guy that went For years, he had a pain in his testicles. He went to the doctor, and the doctor examined him and tried this, and it just wouldn't go away. They hurt, and they hurt. This went on for years. They just ached all the time.

Can you see all of us laughing in the function?

No, I'm watching. I did say testicles.

I didn't say balls.

Yes, you said that.

You had us at testicles.

I had you at testicles. Anyway, he suffered, and he's got this terrible, terrible pain. All the time, and they finally decide to castrate him, to cut him off, get rid of the pain. And he goes through that, and, you know, he's done. He's feeling like less of a man now. He's terrible and all that. So he goes, I'm gonna buy myself a new suit, some new clothes. So he goes to the tailor, and the guy's looking at him. He goes, alright, you're a 44 long. He goes, that's right. He goes, and your pants are 28 with a 33 inseam. He goes, that's right. He goes, and your shirt is a 35 cuff and a 17.5-inch collar. He goes, no, no, no, I got you there. He goes, my shirt is a 35 cuff, but it's a 16 collar. He goes, well, you can wear that, but you're gonna have this terrible pain down in your balls.

I'm sorry, I lost the plot at K Street.

And we don't even have them, and we're all like, ooh.

Anyway, so when a professional dresses you and finds that your neck is much bigger than you thought it was, it's nice.

I can just see you all those years with Sheffy, like, just shoving that shirt on. You're like, so uncomfortable.

And then it's like, ah.

Well, I would always unbutton it and just pull the tie up and it never quite looked right. I didn't even know they had necks that— and then it was a fitted shirt so it wouldn't be humongous on me. I'm like, oh my God, welcome to the world of fashion.

Let me get a question. What about a peek about the menu?

Yes, what are you eating?

What are you eating? Yes, yes, yes.

The menu is pretty nice. They did— and again, the hotel, it's the Bohemian, which is part of the Bohemian chain, and I had no idea that it was Sodexo doing it. I found out, and I was a little concerned at that point, but oh my God, the chef was wonderful. He came out and spent time with us. We had a tasting, and the people there could not have been nicer to us. They're just falling over themselves taking care of us. Like, they're, they're putting a bar— we have a room that has a little outside area facing the water, and they're putting a bar out there for us, and a dance floor down. Is this room big enough? We can make the room bigger. They've really been very good. So the choices were— and again, you know, you get what you pay for— we went with not the lowest one they had, but not the highest, somewhere in the middle. And We have choices. Well, they're starting out with this really nice salad. We got to try the different salads. It's a beet salad, and it has roasted golden and red beets, purple beets, with blue cheese, bacon, baby greens, roasted tomatoes. I forget what else, but oh my God, it was— I did eat part of it, and it's got a vinaigrette with it. It was really, really good. Lisa goes, "Oh, maybe we should leave the bacon off." I said, "Are you crazy? You can't leave the bacon off." The chef's going, "No, no, you can't leave the bacon off." Those are fighting words.

I'm waiting to hear candied pecans.

Oh, no. No candied pecans on this one. That'd be more of a fall salad with apples or pears. That was really, really good. The other choice was a feta salad, which was okay, but I tasted that and their feta wasn't real flavorful, and I like a nice sharp tangy feta. So we went with the one. And then the entrees, there's a filet option with a sauce, and they do everything over a really nice bed of roasted vegetables. Really, really pretty and very tasty. We didn't try that, and the other option is also a roast chicken, so it's pretty We're not getting crazy with it. The third choice is the salmon. That's what we tasted because I wanted grouper, and they were going to charge me more for that, so I wasn't real happy. I said, "Let them taste the salmon." I don't really like salmon a whole lot, especially Atlantic salmon, which this was. It was delicious. In fact, I'm having salmon at the wedding. It was really, really good.

How— sorry, go on, yep.

Do they know who you are, Chefie?

Yeah.

Okay.

They do, they do.

You're like, do you know who I am? Did you say that?

I didn't say that, I just handed them a card and said, maybe we can do a show from here. I'm selling the show and Lisa's looking at me like, really, this is already?

You're shilling for the show?

Yeah.

How did they cook the salmon? How was it done?

It was—

I think it was roasted. It wasn't poached because I could tell from the top it had been cooked more in the oven. I'm not really sure, but it was so moist and flavorful. I don't know if they had put something else on it. I'm going to have to ask them how they did it, but I was really, really surprised. Of course, I haven't eaten real food in 4 weeks either. So I, I, I, you know, dirty socks were looking good at that point. But it was, no, it was really good. In fact, I went back and had some more and the vegetables were just really good under it. I was real happy with it, with the side. And then we have appetizers to start too. So there is a, I forget what they're passing now, but there's 3 appetizers that they'll have out when we walk in.. And there's also— and then dessert. Dessert was kind of, mm, you know, wasn't— the choices were just kind of standard. It was key lime pie or chocolate lava, ricotta cheesecake. I forget what the fourth was. So we went with the cheesecake and the chocolate lava. So we have chocolate and cheesecake for people to choose from. So, you know, pretty basic.

Go ahead.

Now, what about the wine and spirit department? What are we talking about here?

Actually, we'll have a champagne toast and they'll have a bar open with any kind of wine and drinks that they want. Iced tea will be there, you know, and water and sparkling water. So they are pretty accommodating with that, you know. It was really a nice setup there, and like I said, the people couldn't have been kinder. I did tell them, I know Lisa won't be watching this, but I had a surprise for her of the DJ we were going to have for the show. I was going to surprise her that I hired a DJ because she said, "No, no, we're just going to take an iPod and speakers." Well, she was torturing me with the iPod and the songs and the speakers, so I finally told her, I said, "Look, I hired a DJ." I said, "I just can't deal with all this." I had to tell her, so she was thrilled.

Now, the big question, what sort of DJ are you What sort of music?

Well, he's probably going to play everything. I told him she went to college in the '80s, and her college friends are coming down for it.

I was like, yes!

It's a party! And I'm from the '60s, so—

I can see everybody going—

Oh, yeah.

Yeah.

It's the chicken dance. You always have to have the chicken dance, and then we're good.

Yeah, we may have the rubber chicken dance.

Rubber chicken dance.

I think that's necessary.

Anyway, yeah, so that, and I also have a photo booth they're setting up there, so those are my two surprises.

Oh, those are so fun. I love those.

Yeah, the photo booth will be the only real surprise for us, but it's pretty cool, you know, we'll have the the bridal suite for after and all that, and a place just to hang. And they're actually gonna drive us around when it's done. It goes from 5 to 9, or— 5 to 9? Yeah, 5 to 9. When it's done at 9, they have a town car that takes you and drives you around celebrations and then brings you back. So there's an exit, and then you can come back. That's— it's their way to get you out of the room, you know. So they can clean it up. Hey, Larry, are you there?

I think he's there.

Yeah, he's trying. He's trying. He's having issues.

Hey, Chefie, I love this comment from Michael Thomas. He says, "Leaving out the bacon is an aggressive gesture, by the way, on the salad." I like that. That is aggressive.

Yeah, that wasn't going to happen. No, I had shared a picture of the bacon roses Actually, someone asked if we were having those, and I wanted to— you guys leaving us?

Oh, they're leaving.

I wanted to have the bacon rose bouquet, and her niece, who's one of the bridesmaids, agreed because it would give us something to snack on.

I saw that. I just posted the picture of you and Lisa with your Mickey Mouse ears. That's pretty sweet.

Thank you.

Super cute.

Yeah, she wants to take selfies or things now, and I just smile and stand there and do it. You know, try not to— try to keep Mama happy as much as I can.

That's a smart man. That's how you've survived this long, comments like that.

I didn't get this old by being stupid.

I'll tell you who also subscribes to that is Nazim. Nazim is a big subscriber to that too. Keeping Mama happy. I saw it in person. It was good.

Well, you know, with my philosophy, you can carry that for a long time.

That's right.

Just nod, smile, and agree, right? Yes, ma'am. Yes, ma'am. So Chef, tell us. You told us the most annoying thing about Lisa. Tell us the most endearing thing.

Her laugh.

Aww, that's true.

I just, and I love to make her laugh, so that's probably the most endearing thing, is that I know that that means a lot in a relationship, and that I keep her laughing and happy, and we do that well. I mean, we can have something terrible happen, and we can find, you know, find something to laugh about. Like, we were stranded in Europe Europe one time. It was just so funny. Went to the wrong train station. We were dead tired. We were in Aix-en-Provence, and I got this room right on the main street because that was the place to be. If you weren't in Paris, that was the place to be, and it was the place to be until about 4 in the morning. And the air conditioner in our room didn't work, and we had to have the windows open, so we didn't sleep. And then when we finally got to sleep, at about 5 in the morning, the street sweepers started through. So we're backpacking— this was the year we decided to backpack. And we're backpacking and we're walking through the market and we're just trying to stay awake and it isn't working. And we get to the train station and we just have just enough time and we get up there and the guy goes, "You're at the wrong station." I go, what? He goes, this is for the TGV, this is the wrong station.

I go, well, where?

He goes, you'll never make it in time. I said, well, can I get a train ticket and we'll go to Marseille and I'll take a train? He goes, no. I go, why? He goes, because we just went on strike.

Typical France, typical France. It always happens in France, they're always on strike.

Okay, so plan when you go to Europe in the fall and see Nazim, plan accordingly. Plan well.

So then we ended up taking a bus to Marseille and he goes, "Oh, the bus is just right there." Oh yeah, the bus is just right there, sure it is. And it was. So we took a bus to Marseille and then I got to Marseille and I went up to the desk and I said, "Sorry, 2 for the 12 o'clock TGV?" And she went, "No." And I went, "Yes." She said, "No." And I went, "Yes." She says, "No, it's full." You could have started with that. So we sat there under a mister because it was that hot for about 3 hours on the TGV. Got to Paris. She slept the whole time. Get to Paris, get off, and I know Paris like the back of my hand at this point. I'm cool. I got off there, got off the train, got on the subway. We got off the subway stop. We're staying by the Eiffel Tower, and we're walking to it in the hotel, and we We've got a view of the Eiffel Tower from our room. I made sure. We get to the hotel. I say, "Hi, I have a reservation." He says, "No, you don't." And I just, at that point, all life drained out of me. He goes, "You didn't confirm." Oh no. He goes, "But we have a room for you." And I went, "Well, why did you just do that to me?" This is almost too painful to hear.

It's a little too close right now.

After traveling, I'm like— So anyway, it turned out well, but I mean, that was— and we laughed about it. We tell the story, we laugh. We've got all these stories, you know, to tell from our travels because the things go wrong, either roll with them and just, you know, have fun, or you're miserable.

So I want to hear the stories. I want to hear the stories next week.

Okay, done.

I want to hear all the stories.

Well, I'm sure there'll be some funny ones in there somewhere.

Are you getting her a wedding gift, Shep, or is that a secret?

Well, the wedding gift, I have been buying stuff up through the course of it, and again, as you get older, it's more practical. We're gonna get her another ring, but we really couldn't find anything that she was happy with. So, you know, I didn't let her pick out her engagement ring, but I did— she has another ring that she's gonna use uses, a wedding band that she loves that goes really well with her diamond. So we are going to get something, but you know, at this stage, practicality. The surprise will be, you know, that I kicked up and paid for the DJ and the photo booth. And then of course—

Don't say dustbuster, Sheffy. No, no. Like a bedazzled dustbuster.

If I gave her a dustbuster, she'd give it to me to use, you know.

Yeah, get it back over your head.

Yeah, but no, there's no real specific wedding gift yet, just like the honeymoon. It will come. I will get her something. But, you know, we've been together. Not to unromanticize things, but, you know, right now, like, the best thing she gave me is the wedding. That's all I could ask for. She's finally, you know, making it legal and saying, you know, confirming that she's not planning on going anywhere.

So, Chef, what's the future for for you and Lisa as you can foresight?

The future?

Yeah.

Who knows? You know, we're staying together and hopefully we'll stay in Florida. That's my end of it. I think she's getting more used to it and it's just a matter of time. But, you know, I would love to do some more traveling with her. I almost got another dog and we would have gotten it, which would have ended probably any hopes of traveling. There was a Bernese that had been picked up as a stray, and he was gorgeous and so sad looking. But luckily someone else got him.

I hear Larry coming.

No, that was Dexter Jr. Did you hear the rooster? No.

That's Dexter. Hi, Chef!

Hey, Larry! We can hear you.

Yeah, I'm having some issues down here.

We can see the rooster. Yeah.

I'm becoming synonymous with Dexter, or Dexter's becoming synonymous with me. But I just wanted to say congrats. Oh, thank you.

Thank you.

Yeah, it's been a long time coming and it's finally happening, so thank you so much. Yeah, and all the while I thought you were already married. Yeah, everybody did, because it was always easier just to say my wife or my husband because we've been together for so long and people just assume you are, and rather than tell the whole story, and you know, it's just, yeah. So, so you're just making it legal now? Yes, yes. Although, like I said, she's, she's refusing to check the Mrs. box, which would be fun.

He's jumped out again. Hey, shall we do a toast?

Let's do a toast.

I've got a full glass.

Let's do a toast.

Clinkies.

Clinkies.

Clinkies.

Clinkies.

To many, many years of health and happiness and love, love, love, love, and a lot more laughter.

Love, fashion, and food.

Sounds like a plan.

And under-boob selfies, there you go.

Yes, under-boob selfies, that's it.

Luckily, she's not real big busted and gravity hasn't taken effect, so under-boob selfies.

Too much information!

It doesn't start at the belly button because at our age, some under-boob selfies from women I have to say, I have to attest to that.

Being this age and the size I am, yeah, it does help. It does help gravity. So cheers to that. Cheers to that.

That's one thing her mother always told her too, so cheers.

TMI for all. Yes.

All right, my friends.

Well, thank you all for coming today, and thanks so much for all of you for helping me celebrate this wonderful occasion. And next time I see you, I'll be a married man.

So, thanks, guys.

Congratulations, Chef Dennis! Thank you, Dennis, for this one.

All right, my friends, have a great week. I'll see you soon.

Ciao!