The more salacious aspects of the Epstein files are well known – but what of the banal side of being a billionaire sex pest?
It’s no secret Woody Allen and his wife Soon-Yi Previn were close friends with Epstein, as the trove of emails show. One food-obsessed friend of Cockburn alerted us to the non-stop back and forth of emails, spanning years, between Soon-Yi and a coterie of Epstein assistants. The topic? Scheduling dinners at Epstein’s townhouse, along with directions on what Woody and Soon-Yi would like to order-in that night. Soon-Yi does all the ordering and coordinating, as she explains in an email to one of Epstein’s assistants when asked for an email to pass on to private equity titan Leon Black, “Woody doesn’t email but he texts.”
There are references to Le Bernadin, Caravaggio, Pastis, JG Melon and, like most dull rich men, there was a lot of Sant Ambroeus
What did the threesome order, you might ask? Let Cockburn take you on a journey.
One August evening in 2018, Woody and Soon-Yi had a hankering for Japanese food, “minus the salad that I don’t care for,” Soon-Yi added. Then some more special requests that night: “Woody would like: Chicken dumpling with cilantro, and Piri piri chicken wings. I would love grilled asparagus goma ae, eggplant shishito miso honey, and shrimp tempura and seasonal vegetables.”
Another Japanese food order details their predilections further: “I like edamame, avocado rolls, cucumber rolls, and Woody likes California rolls. Jeffrey usually has a smorgasbord of food and that’s always great. Now I know that I won’t go hungry at his place. I have trained him well.;)”
Just over a month before Epstein’s 2019 arrest, Soon-Yi and Woody enjoyed one of their apparent favorites, Japanese food from Kappo Masa. But don’t get any ideas about eggplant being served, because Soon-Yi would not have it – “just no eggplant as I don’t like the eggplant. Thank you,” Soon-Yi ordered.
Kappo Maso makes several appearances in their orders – and in addition to eggplant, Soon-Yi will also not tolerate dessert from Kappo Maso. Instead, a separate dessert order is placed at another restaurant: “Now on to dessert. Not that you asked but that never stopped me. 🙂 The cookies and cakes at Saint Ambrose would be fantastic.”
Not getting an immediate response, Soon-Yi follows up to make sure the message got through to the Epstein minion. “Last time I was at Saint Ambrose I especially liked the chocolate mouse with the chocolate custard inside. If you could get that that would be a treat.”
Some days Soon-Yi was in a hurry. One May evening missive from Epstein HQ informed: “just want to let you know Kappo Masa will have our food order ready AT 6:30pm….we will be there AT 6:30pm for the pick up and have food on the table as quickly as possible.”
Woody is also a big fan of Chinese food. Requests for “Philippe” are peppered throughout their frequent orders, referring to the scene-y uptown, upscale Philippe Chow. High-end restaurants like that seem to be a theme through Soon-Yi’s ordering – restaurants that mere mortals would fancy as a special night out are ordered in as your correspondent might order greasy Thai food on Grubhub. One evening, in which the trio was joined by Noam Chomsky and his wife, a large order was placed from the Mark, the swanky Upper East Side hotel. That order included very specific requests from Soon-Yi, including whole roasted chicken, sliced tomatoes (“Woody loves sliced tomatoes”), lobster mashed potatoes and “Beck’s Beer in BOTTLE only.”
There are references to Le Bernadin, Caravaggio, Pastis, JG Melon and, like most dull rich men, there was a lot of Sant Ambroeus being delivered to the house.
Yet for all their lavish take-out meals, food prices apparently still weigh on the minds of the elite. In one email, Soon-Yi mused to herself “Talk about expensive eggs. We all have outdoor space should we get some chickens?” Woody Allen and Soon-Yi – they’re just like us!
On one particular occasion in 2017, Soon-Yi made the mistake many food lovers often make – a late lunch spoiling your dinner. Soon-Yi asked that Epstein not order “an overwhelming amount of food,” as she was not that hungry. She claimed she “had a big late Mexican lunch… really I would just like salad and fruit for dinner,” then throwing an interesting wrinkle into the menu planning by adding, “Woody doesn’t like salad so you’ll have to get a little more for him.” I guess Woody just had a lot of fruit for dinner that night.
But no matter the order, Soon-Yi had one standing demand, found in several emails over the years. “Please remember all food has to be served hot & not lukewarm. Thx.”
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