KEVIN POLLAK

Paco’s Tacos

West Los Angeles, CA

December 8, 2009

Photo credit: Kevin Pollak

A couple of friends and I were having lunch in a festive Mexican restaurant. In addition to the standard mural of a pueblo painted on one wall, an undersea adventure was painted on another, and strings of colorful holiday lights illuminated the walls. It was an explosion of color. We were sitting at our table waiting on some tortilla chips when I saw this award-winning actor walk in the door. "Is that that comedian?" I asked. My friend looked over his shoulder. "Oh, yeah, Kevin Pollak." I'm always surprised by the variety of people I run into, but seriously? He was in 'The Usual Suspects'. A stellar movie.

A few minutes later, he and his friend were led to their table. As luck would have it, they were seated right in my sightline so I was able to keep track of their goings-on. Thirty minutes and a few enchiladas later, I picked up my camera and walked back to the bathroom to get a closer look at what I thought was an opportunity. (Doesn't everybody bring their camera to the bathroom?)

I didn't want to interrupt them during their meal but when I walked past I saw that they had already paid their bill and were getting ready to leave. I spent a short time in the bathroom to make the visit look legit, but in fear that they would be gone upon my return, I quickly made my way back to their table.

He ignored me as these celebrities often do, so I said hi. He looked my way and I continued, "I have a strange request." He seemed to put his guard up but I've seen worse. I squatted down by his table to be more discreet and on his level. "I have a Celebrity Photo Album. It's just a bunch of pictures of me taken by celebrities. Will you take my picture?"

He was genuinely listening and smiled. I said, "You can do anything but there are three rules. You have to push the button. I have to be in the picture and I have to have my clothes on." He smiled bigger. "Sure. I can do that."

Now he was interested and his friend also wanted to play. She smiled and said, "How about by the fish tank?" He said, "Yeah, by the fish tank." I scooted over a few feet to pose with the fish. He pushed his seat away from the table and we got going. This was more than I'd expected from Mr. Pollak as I figured he'd just take a photo from his seat. But no. He went way beyond. 

As he stood up he turned to his friend and cheerfully said, "This is the best request I've ever had."

He came closer to take a good picture of me and the fish but didn't see a flash. "Did it work?" he asked. He handed me the camera to check. I disappointingly said, "Well…" He interrupted, "Oh, is it bad? I’ll do another one." "Sometimes a bad picture makes the story better," I said. But he wasn't ready to stop. "Go on the other side of the tank. Maybe the light from the window…" He was totally into it. I switched sides and we took another, equally light-challenged photo.

Amused, he handed me my camera. I thanked them both and walked back to my table. The next time I looked over they were gone. Poof. Like Keyser Soze in the aforementioned movie. They must've slipped out the back.

But that's neither here nor there—did you know those Puffer Fish have teeth? 

Photo credit: Kevin Pollak

When I returned to my table my friend presented me with this great photo he'd taken of the colorful event. (It's a visual fiesta over there at Paco's Tacos.) See Kevin and me right in the middle of the photo standing back by the fish tank?

Photo credit: My friend