“Guard Your Secrets Because They Are Eagerly Sought”

Listen up, mes amis. Before digging into your next filet de sole bonne femme, consider that you may be spilling more beans than a drunken chef cooking cassoulet. A friend tells me that at the venerable and hoity Palm Beach French restaurant Chez Jean Pierre, there’s a little glitch with the acoustics. If you sit at the banquette table by the back door, you can hear every word being spoken at a single table in the front of the house — clear as if the celeb who happens to be dining there were whispering her breathy endearments straight into your blushing ear. My spy tells me that for years, Palm Beach Post gossip columnist Jose Lambiet had a standing agreement with Jean Pierre’s management. If anybody famous came in, the waiters would seat them at the acoustically enhanced table. Then they’d call Lambiet, who’d haul ass over for a snack at the banquette table, pen poised, ear cocked for dish.

– Gail Shepherd