Famous Food

You know KFC means business when it sends a "food ambassador" -- apparently a really hot person who likes food -- to try out a new plant-based fried chicken.

The Colonel's messaging is pretty clear ... eat this and look like model Nicole Williams. We're not vouching for that, but Nicole was looking good at a KFC food truck in Southern California this week for the veggie chicken debut.

All jokes aside ... the new item comes courtesy of a partnership with Beyond Meat that's been about a year or so in the making.

They tried Beyond Fried Chicken in Atlanta in 2019 -- to some reported success -- and then expanded it to Nashville and Charlotte. Now, the faux pollo is coming to SoCal ... with the new menu item becoming available in locations throughout L.A. Orange County and SD.

Anyway, back to Nicole here -- who was decked out in some type of two-piece leotard outfit, complete with a luxury purse and Yeezy Boost 700s to boot. She doesn't exactly fit the typical drive-thru customer mold. Just sayin' ...

Verdict's still out if the new grub is just as finger-licking good as the OG -- nothing's impossible though, we suppose.

These coffee beans are GUARANTEED to wake you up.

Italian police thwarted drug-smugglers who sliced hundreds of coffee beans open, stuffed them with cocaine and carefully encased them with dark brown tape.

The perps might have gotten away with it too ... if it wasn't for that darn John Wick.

According to police, they became suspicious of the package containing the coffee beans when someone noticed the name on it was Santino D'Antonio ... a mafia boss villain in "John Wick: Chapter 2" as well as the third film in the franchise.

The coked-up beans were shipped from Medellin in Colombia to Milan's Malpensa airport, and all in all ... the 2kg package contained 150g of cocaine powder via about 500 beans.

The package was addressed to a tobacco shop in Florence, and cops busted the 50-year-old man who came to collect it.

Italian police named their operation "Caffe' Scorretto" -- which means Improper Coffee, which plays off the name of the country's popular drink, '"Caffe' corretto" ... corrected coffee.

NBA star Karl-Anthony Towns and Jordyn Woods still can't get enough of each other ... throwing on their masks and hitting up Nobu in Malibu for a sushi dinner Wednesday night.

Which begs the question -- still buds, or is there something more going on here??

Of course, the rumors have been swirling since last year when they were spotted out in L.A. ... and the two have even appeared to quarantine together during the pandemic (which was pointed out by wildly-talented Instagram sleuths).

While all signs point to the duo becoming an item, Kylie Jenner's ex-bestie spoke out on the rumors back in August 2019 ... saying, "Karl is like a brother to me."

That may very well still be the truth ... OR all the time together has changed things ... after all, that patio at Nobu has a beautiful view and can get pretty romantic at night.

One thing that might throw a wrench in the BF/GF theory -- Jordyn's little sister, Jodie, was with them ... so who knows.

KAT previously dated model Kawahine Andrade ... and Woods infamously had her moment with Tristan Thompson (you know what we're talking about) ... and was also spotted out with James Harden in the past.

So .... y'all dating or what??

Here's yet another example of just how crafty bears can be in their never-ending search for human food -- which, if you leave out, WILL attract these beasts almost every time.

Check out this black bear effortlessly breaking his way into a Canadian home in Ontario, opening the front door with its paws and sauntering in like it's nobody's business. Luckily, no one seemed to be in this part of the house ... could've spelled big trouble.

Anyway, it was pretty clear what the creature was after as soon as it was inside -- PIZZA!!! You can see there are three boxes left out on the floor, and sure enough ... the bear here gets to work rummaging through them to see if there's any leftover scraps.

He/she comes up short on any extra pies -- but it just goes to show that even an empty pizza box (which might've been there for who knows how long) can still be detected by a bear.

Black bears are said to have an incredible sense of smell -- about 7 times that of a bloodhound, which is already nearly 1,000x greater than that of a human.

Back to the bear here ... it goes out the same way it came in, but seemed to have some trouble with an extra spring-y door. No worries though -- one good push, and it was on its way.

Matt Lauer is enjoying himself as a newly-single bachelor ... wining and dining his date and taking her for a ride on his $1.4 million floating escape that screams resilience.

The fired "Today" show host pulled out all the stops this week while on a date with a mystery brunette in Orient, NY, a picturesque town at the end of the North Fork of Long Island.

Check out these videos and pics of Matt and his mystery woman as they dine at Duryea's Orient Point. They're awfully chatty as they pick at a shared vegetable platter.

Things went well for Matt ... after an hour at their table, the two left the fancy restaurant and boarded his yacht, named "Resilient."

As you know ... Matt was canned from NBC in Nov. 2017 in the wake of sexual harassment allegations against him, and not long after his wife, Annette Roque, filed for divorce. He's now officially single.

Matt's on his best behavior here ... helping his date onto his expensive Hinckley T38 yacht before shoving off and taking the wheel as they head out into the beautiful blue waters for more summer fun. They even wore masks in public.

J.R. Smith says he was told to end an Instagram Live session Thursday from the Lakers' hotel inside the NBA bubble ... all because he was "exposing too much sh*t."

Smith -- who just signed with the Lakers last week -- had been critical of the team hotel during the IG sesh ... complaining about the food, the blankets and more.

At one point, Smith showed off a high-tech NBA-issued bracelet -- which reportedly will "help with early detection of coronavirus; track temperature, respiratory and heart rate."

Smith described it this way ... "Got my little band and sh*t so they can keep tabs on me. Tracking device. Stay woke."

He also showed a bunch of snack food in the rooms -- from candy bars to cookies -- and complained about that too.

"We're professional athletes and all that," Smith said ... pointing out how some players make "$30, $40, $50 million a year."

"But, then you be over there crying talking about somebody can't stay healthy and their body is breaking down and all this other sh*t?"

"You wanna motherf**king Ferrari to run like a Ferrari cause you paid for it as a Ferrari ... but you keep gassing it up with Chrysler sh*t."

He also griped about the size of the NBA-issued hotel blankets ... claiming they're wayyyyy too small for the tall guys in the league.

There's more ... Smith also went into the hallway and live-streamed some of his Lakers teammates as they were getting food.

Soon after that, Smith suggested he'd been contacted by either Lakers or NBA management and was told to shut down his IG Live.

"Aw man, they mad at me bro," Smith said ... "I'm gone. Just got the text. Exposing too much sh*t. Gotta go. My bad. My bad."

Joe Burrow said he was gonna do it ... and now he's doing it in a BIG way.

The Cincinnati Bengals QB -- whose Heisman acceptance speech sparked more than $650k to his hometown's food pantry -- is taking things to the next level ... by starting a foundation to fight hunger and poverty in southeast Ohio.

Remember, TMZ Sports spoke with Burrow back in December (shortly after he accepted his Heisman) and he told us he was already planning on ways to use his platform to help.

That resulted in #9 announcing the "Joe Burrow Hunger Relief Fund" on Thursday ... which will keep food on the tables in his hometown of The Plains for years to come.

"When I mentioned my hometown in my Heisman speech, it wasn't really planned. I was just speaking from the heart," the 23-year-old QB said in the announcement.

The fund was kick-started with $350k of the money raised from the Heisman speech and a matched donation from the Foundation For Appalachian Ohio ... bringing the total to a $700k investment in the future.

"This initiative was made possible through the generosity of people from all over the country, and will have a tremendous effect on the food insecurity issues that many families face in Southeast Ohio."

If you think Joey Chestnut is ready to wind down his competitive eating career after setting a new hot dog record -- YOU'RE WRONG!!!

The greatest eater in the history on mankind tells TMZ Sports he'll be back ... as long as his doctors give him the green light.

Of course, Chestnut woofed down 75 dogs in 10 mins to set a new world record at the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest on the 4th of July. He also held the previous record of 74.

But, despite having ZERO rivals who truly pose a threat -- the Michael Jordan of wieners says he's still passionate about his sport.

"Oh my God, I still love it," Chestnut says ... "I love the whole thing, pushing myself, the prep, even the recovery."

"I love knowing I feel like garbage and then the next day I feel better. And now, naturally, I'm ready to go, I'm ready to eat something big."

He adds, "I'm addicted to it and as long as I'm healthy, as long as my doctor keeps saying that I can keep doing it and I'm not hurting myself, you can count me in!"

"I'll be back next year and we'll see where it takes me."

David Ruprecht wants in on the new "Supermarket Sweep" fun, but with a different J-O-B -- the former host says he's is in the running to be the announcer.

David, who hosted 'Sweep' from 1990 to 1995 and again from 2000 to 2003, tells TMZ ... he auditioned with honchos at ABC for an announcing position and says he's still on the short list for the role.

If ya hadn't heard, the new host is former 'SNL' star Leslie Jones -- but David says he'd love to carry on the classic game show's legacy by putting on a new hat for the reboot. He even gave us his announcing pitch.

It sounds like he's in game shape ... ready to share play-by-play of shoppers running around grocery stores throwing hams and turkeys into their carts.

While David hosted the show for almost 10 years, he doubts his wealth of experience will help Leslie. While she hasn't reached out to him for hosting tips, he knows she doesn't need it because she's already a pro.

A bunch of idiots working at a Jimmy John's sandwich shop in Georgia are out of a job after a handful of them made a noose out of their grub ... and then "hanged" one of their own.

This went down in the city of Woodstock, where at least four JJ employees working on the 4th of July apparently thought it'd be funny to do a mock lynching with their supplies. They fashioned a noose out of dough they use to bake bread -- and proceeded to try it out.

One white worker slips the noose over around his neck while another holds the long end up ... as if to show the guy hanging. Two others are filming this ... and everyone's having a laugh about it. The whole thing is gross to watch -- especially how funny they think it is.

You know who didn't find it amusing? Jimmy John's themselves -- because the corporate headquarters responded to the video ... and says all of these fools have been fired.

They write, "We have zero tolerance for racism or discrimination in any form. The franchisee has taken immediate action and the employees have been terminated. The actions seen in this video are completely unacceptable and do not represent the Jimmy John's brand."

Video has surfaced of a violent confrontation at a Dick's Sporting Goods store where a customer was punched and put in a chokehold ... all over a candy bar.

It went down in Toledo, Ohio Thursday. Cops say they received a call from an employee at the store that a customer -- 36-year-old Aaron Buckenmeyer -- had stolen some merchandise.

The video begins with Buckenmeyer and an employee are standing toe-to-toe when the employee delivers a crushing blow that sends Buckenmeyer to the ground.

The employee told cops Buckenmeyer had headbutted him and that's what provoked the punches.

You see Buckenmeyer in a chokehold. The employee claims during the takedown Buckenmeyer was grabbing him by the genitals.

As for Buckenmeyer ... he repeatedly told the employee he had asthma and couldn't breathe.

In the end ... it appears the incident was triggered by a candy bar Buckenmeyer had put in a bag that fell out during the confrontation.

California's nightlife is going back into lockdown amid renewed spikes of coronavirus cases -- something the L.A. bar and club scene might not be able to survive ... TMZ has learned.

If you live in the Golden State, you probably heard about Gov. Gavin Newsom once again ordering the closure of bars and clubs in 19 counties -- including Los Angeles County, where those venues had just started to open back up after months of lockdown.

Newsom also said folks couldn't do indoor dine-in service at restaurants -- so even if a bar serves grub, it's a nonstarter. Fact is ... Newsom had no option. The virus is out of control.

Nevertheless ... it's a big problem for lots of bars and clubs -- especially smaller ones that were ramping up to get back into the game ... only to get shut down for a second time.

John Arakaki, who owns St. Felix -- a couple of stylish bars that have been functioning in the Hollywood area for the past 11 years -- says he quickly went through 60 percent of his government loans on safety training, staff payroll, cleaning the kitchen and everything in between. When he reopened 3 weeks ago, he was able to break even after factoring in all his revenue and expenses. He was hoping to turn the corner during the 4th weekend, but that's not going to happen. He says if he's down for 3 more weeks, survival looks bleak.

Cat & The Fiddle -- a West Hollywood pub -- reopened its doors Monday ... just to have everything shut down again 2 days later. The owner spent 5 to 10 thousand dollars in the past couple weeks on face masks, safety training for their staff, and beer and food inventory.

Heck, even popular Hollywood hot spots like Bootsy Bellows and Poppy -- two popular WeHo clubs -- are on the ropes -- they were ramping up for a big 4th of July, and that's now money down the drain. They say they can survive, but that's a relative term.

A little COVID fallout didn't stop hot dog eating champ Joey Chestnut from breaking his own record this year -- despite the fact there was no crowd -- 'cause the guy did just that and then some.

JC took top honors (again) Saturday at the annual July Fourth Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest -- which saw the dude down 75 dogs in 10 minutes ... beating his own previous benchmark of 74 from last year. It's his 13th title total ... so basically, a G.O.A.T.

During the festivities, he also hit another food vacuum milestone -- his 1,000th career dog! The feat wasn't without its hiccups (damn near vomit fests), but he held off 'til the end.

BTW, Joey wasn't the only making history this weekend -- there's a women's champ too ... the one and only Miki Sudo, who downed 48.5 franks ... which easily beat the competition.

This year's event was unique in that there were no ticketholders or spectators (aside from the eaters' own teams, of course) ... which made for a somewhat muted performance. There was also plexiglass between the competitors -- so pretty distance friendly we'd say.

The only downside to Saturday's dog chugging event was that Joey did NOT live up to his promise to TMZ Sports earlier in June, when he said he'd hit 77 dogs no problem.

The Atlas Restaurant Group says there was nothing racist about refusing service to a black mother and her child for violating their dress code -- and it's offering what it calls "proof" ... but it's pretty thin.

As TMZ reported, Marcia Grant is taking legal action against the group for an incident last month at Ouzo Bay restaurant in Baltimore. Marcia and her 9-year-old son, Dallas, were turned away because of his athletic shorts, but Marcia spotted a white child who was dressed nearly identically enjoying a meal.

In response to Grant's accusations, Atlas -- the parent company of Ouzo Bay -- claims Dallas' shorts were, in fact, different from the white kid's.

Its explanation is the white kid was wearing "J. Crew 'khaki'” type shorts, with front and back pockets, a zipper, and button closure in front."

Beyond breaking down zippers and pockets ... Atlas is also playing what can best be described as the "I have Black friends" card.

Its released screen grabs from Ouzo's surveillance video showing other Black customers in the restaurant around the time Marcia and Dallas were denied.

As Atlas puts it, "Restaurant surveillance video throughout that same day at Ouzo Bay demonstrates that the customers of Ouzo Bay look exactly like the population of Baltimore City – diverse. Countless African-American patrons were welcomed into the restaurant that day to enjoy its food, atmosphere, and drinks."

That statement, of course, avoids the heart of Marcia's complaint ... that her son was treated differently from a white child in very similar clothing. Her only issue is with the manager's allegedly uneven application of the dress code.

Atlas claims her video of the encounter doesn't tell the whole story of what happened that day.

You'll remember ... Atlas immediately fired 2 employees following the incident, but claims the firings weren't because they discriminated against the family, but instead, "Atlas was not satisfied with the level of sensitivity, discretion, and judgment demonstrated by management on-duty at the time."

We had Marcia, Dallas and their attorney Donte Mills, on 'TMZ Live' this week to explain how Dallas has been affected, and how they're trying to make him understand ... he did nothing wrong.

Major League Soccer says its players are NOT getting the Fyre Festival treatment inside the Disney bubble -- claiming the players who posted sad sandwich pics are NOT inside the restricted area.

Toronto FC defender Omar Gonzalez posted a pic Tuesday showing an "MLS Is Back" In-Room dining menu which describes some delicious-looking, expensive food options ($65 for lunch!) ... cut next to an unimpressive sando in a brown box.

He tweeted out, "Yummm" ... leading people to believe the widely-touted Disney bubble was looking more like a sham than a glamorous experience.

Omar's teammate Eriq Zavaleta added fuel to the fire by posting another unappetizing sandwich pic. Not a great look.

But, our MLS sources tell us ... those two players are not yet in Orlando -- they're still in Toronto.

The league is unsure who shot the photos -- but reps say the food was served at a quarantine site OUTSIDE the official bubble where players are required to stay for 10 to 12 hours until they are cleared to enter.

There is basic food service at the quarantine site -- like sandwiches, etc -- but since it's essentially a layover spot, the food service isn't as robust.

Once players are allowed into the Walt Disney World bubble environment, it's a completely different story.

We're told players will get "banquet meal" service served in their club meal rooms -- and so far, the feedback on the food has been super positive.

Also, all players will have access to 4 restaurants in the bubble -- including Shula’s Steak House, Todd English Bluezoo, Il Mulino, and Kimonos sushi restaurant.

We're also told, "Players do not pay for meals."

So, yeah ... the travel meal might not be the fanciest food in the world, but MLS insists they're not pulling a Billy McFarland.