For Hannah Tubbs, Gordon Ramsay’s visit to Wayzata came with a chance to meet her favorite celebrity chef.
Hannah met Ramsay during his visit to Maggie’s Family Restaurant this week. Her father, Christopher Tubbs, a producer at WCCO Radio, shared the photo of his daughter and Ramsay with Wayzata.com.
Outside, residents gathered in front of Maggie’s hoping for a glimpse of Ramsay, while production trucks, television equipment and crew members filled the area around the restaurant as filming continued.
Wayzata resident Mark Wittig was among the local residents who gathered outside Maggie’s hoping to catch a glimpse of Ramsay during the production. Wittig photographed Ramsay inside and around the restaurant, as well as some of the activity surrounding the filming, and provided the images to Wayzata.com for publication.
Maggie’s had given customers advance notice that something was changing.
“We apologize but Maggie’s will be closed to the public 9/18-9/22. Please come check out the new look when we reopen.
Thanks.”
The restaurant did not mention Ramsay in the Facebook announcement.
Production sought Wayzata and Lake Minnetonka footage
Wayzata.com received another indication of the production more than a week earlier.
On Sept. 11, a woman who identified herself as Antonia Green left a voicemail saying she was a producer for a “Gordon Ramsay Led Series” and that the production planned to film in downtown Wayzata and the surrounding area during the week of Sept. 14.
Green was trying to reach someone at the Wayzata Yacht Club about a sailing event scheduled for Sept. 18-20.
In the voicemail, she explained that the production was interested in footage showing the landscape, historical areas and Lake Minnetonka. She said producers hoped to obtain B-roll of the sailboat race for an introduction showing viewers where the program was taking place.
The call shows the production was looking beyond Maggie’s for footage establishing Wayzata and Lake Minnetonka as the setting for the episode.
A Wayzata restaurant since 1979
Maggie’s was established in Wayzata in 1979 by Nick Homan and is now operated by his son, Scott Homan. The family restaurant serves breakfast throughout the day along with lunch, pizza and Italian and American dinners.
The title of the Gordon Ramsay program being filmed in Minnesota has not been publicly confirmed. The producer who contacted Wayzata.com identified it only as a Gordon Ramsay-led series, and MPR reported that Fox Entertainment had not identified the program.
Maggie’s said it would remain closed through Sept. 22 and invited customers to return to see its “new look.”
