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"We went to a place in Beverly Hills [Calif.] called Mr. Chow. Really good. Oriental flair. My parents were visiting and I wanted to take them somewhere nice for dinner. I guess a lot of celebrities go there. When we walked out, I got swarmed. There's a clip of it on YouTube. You can see my parents dealing with the paparazzi. It's hilarious.

"The food is incredible. They have waiters who select the meal for you. Each dish isn't too big, so everyone gets a sample, and because you don't order it, it's kind of a surprise every time. At one point the chef came out. He brought out a big marble slab and started slapping this stuff on the slab really hard. It started as a big ball of dough, and every time he slapped it down, these strands started to emerge. So he put on a bit of a show - a making-noodle show - right there in front of us. He created this long four-foot strand of noodles. Everyone clapped at the end. I'd never seen anything like that.

"We didn't want dessert but we did order some rosé Champagne, which was delicious. It's not a cheap restaurant, but it was fun to treat them. The folks spend their money raising you and it's nice to give 'em a little payback, you know?"

As told to Liz Walker