Bobby Flay - Williams Sonoma North Park Sept 2019

Everyone knows Bobby Flay, right? He’s that guy with an orange Maine Coon cat named Nacho…and he's also the guy all over the Food Channel. He had a book signing (the books were pre-signed) at the Williams and Sonoma at North Park Mall.  There was a LOT of people in line.  I heard one of the employees say 900 people. I believe it.

The line wrapped around the second level of the mall. It moved in a slow shuffle.  Slow is good. Forward progress is better than just standing.  I was given the book soon after joining the line.  I could have left but I was looking to get a photo signed too.

When I finally got to the front, I was rushed to do a selfie. Ugh. Not my thing. I placed my photo and book on the table next to Bobby. They clicked the photo and as they were returning my phone, I asked him to sign my photo. I had the sharpie out and uncapped.  Bobby paused. I think he was told not to sign anymore. You could see he wanted too and his eyes flicked up to handler to gauge their reaction. They still had lots of people in line. The hesitation was only a split second and then he signed for me.  As he handed back my pen, I mentioned Naco, the cat, was awesome. I was tempted to print a photo of the two of them to get signed. He smiled and thanked me for showing up.

AH