Bill Clinton caught up with an old acquaintance — a surgeon who helped saved his life in one of his famous major heart surgeries — in unusual circumstances, Page Six hears.
Sources say that famed chef Donatella Arpaia got a visit from the Secret Service on Wednesday about a “highly recognizable person” who wanted to dine at her new Miami restaurant, NOMA Beach at Redfish.
We’re told they even asked the chef to prepare a vegan menu for the notable guest, who wanted to host a table of 12.
However, at the last minute, the security team told Arpaia that their man wouldn’t be able to come after all – because they wouldn’t be able to secure the restaurant since the entire dining space is in direct contact with the Atlantic Ocean.
Arpaia guessed that the special guest was President Clinton, who, as it so happens, her husband, Dr. Allan Stewart, operated on almost 19 years ago in New York.
Page Six hears that when Clinton, 76, found out about Arpaia’s relationship with Dr. Stewart, he immediately invited them to join the intimate lunch at their new location – the Biltmore Hotel.
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Lucky for the president, he’d been keeping up with his heart-healthy diet when he ordered the vegan menu from Arpaia’s place and hadn’t been trying to sneak a double cheeseburger — or he might have some tough questions to answer from the doctor.
We’re told Arpaia arrived with a vegan chocolate cake for the 42nd president with a message on it that read, “Celebrating 19 years.”
Dr. Stewart remarked, “He looks healthier now than when he came for surgery.”
As previously reported, Clinton has had a series of heart operations, beginning with a headline-making quadruple bypass in 2004. Dr. Stewart was a member of the three-person cardiac surgical team who did that procedure.
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