James Corden was labelled "the most abusive customer" ever by a restaurant owner, who claimed he had to '86' the funnyman.. The Gavin and Stacey writer was branded a "gifted comedian" but a "cretin of a man" in a scathing Instagram post by New York restauranteur Keith McNally, owner of the Balthazar chain.
McNally claimed a waiter was "left shaken" after James had a meltdown over a piece of egg white being mixed with the yolk in his wife's omelette, allegedly shouting: "You can't do your job! You can't do your job! Maybe I should go into the kitchen and cook the omelette myself!" James has reportedly apologised for his behaviour - but the troubling tale has left people intrigued by the secret codes used in restaurants.
When revealing what happened, McNally explained that he had "86'd" the Late Late Show host.
He explained: "I don't often 86 a customer, to today I 86'd Corden. It did not make me laugh."
The term '86' is commonly used in American restaurants - and has two slightly different meanings.
It can refer to when an item on the menu is not available because the restaurant has run out of ingredients.
Gordon Ramsay once shouted it on his Kitchen Nightmare sshow when he discovered that some items had been left out so long the mould growing on them, so they needed to be removed immediately.
The second definition, which is more widely used now, is for when a person or group of people are no longer welcome on the premises and need to be kicked out.
Most people would agree that it takes some particulalrly bad behaviour for someone to be '86'd', which is what happened to James.
Another code that staff in restaurants use is 'PX', but this is something that you should be happy about if you hear.
It stands for 'person extraordinaire' and is used to indicate someone who will spend a lot of money and should therefore be treated well.
There are other similar codes which mean the same things, such as 'VIP' (very important person) and 'BLR' (baller), but the mightiest of them all is 'PPX' or 'person particulièrement extraordinaire' (a really big spender).
Other special names for customers include an 'F/O' (friend with owner) or 'LAL', which means the staff believe you are a celebrity lookalike.
Here are the ones you don't want to hear waiters muttering as it means they don't lie you.
'PIA' stands for 'pain in the arse', 'HWC' is 'handle with care' and 'HAF' means they think you've 'had a few' and are drunk.
In the Corden case, the restaurant owner shared two alleged reports filed by managers working at his eateries, recalling interactions with James.
The first read: "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'."
The second read: "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 omelette 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.
"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 omelette 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."
McNally later said the ban had been overturned after the comedian "profusely apologised", saying he believed in "second chances".
The restaurant OWNER took to Instagram to say he had dropped his ban on James, claiming the comedian rang and issued a "grovelling apology".
Taking to Instagram, he wrote: "James Corden just called me and apologized profusely. Having f****d 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 anyway. Especially Balthazar. So come back to the 5 & Dime, Jimmy Corden, Jimmy Corden. All is Forgiven. xx"
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