M. Night Shyamalan stopped by a baby shower at this Kensington pizzeria
“He was a close second of the event; Thu was the star of the show.”
Last Sunday afternoon, Viraj Thomas was making pies at his Kensington pizzeria for a private baby shower event when M. Night Shyamalan popped in.
Philly’s favorite horror filmmaker dined at Char for hours, celebrating parents-to-be Thu Pham and Raymond John, owners of Vietnamese hotspot Càphê Roasters. Pham reached out to Thomas to host her party at his restaurant, and told him Shyamalan may stop by.
“We were stoked to celebrate Thu and Raymond, and their baby that’s soon-to-be,” Thomas said. “But also it’s cool when someone famous, who’s done stuff almost exclusively in the city, comes in.”
Pies — including pepperoni, white caramelized onion and mushroom, vodka sauce, tomato — salads, and sticky toffee pudding were served.
“And he had the whole works,” Thomas said. “He said, ‘My wife was all over the sticky toffee pudding.’ I think they had about half of it.”
Shyamalan is no stranger to the Càphê Roasters power couple. Through the M. Night Shyamalan Foundation, he’s a longtime supporter of 12 Plus, an education nonprofit by John that helps high school students access college and career opportunities.
Thomas wasn’t the only one starstruck to meet the filmmaker and his wife. The pizza chef’s parents chatted with his wife for hours at the party.
“One, he’s a Philly guy, which is cool; and two, he’s a brown guy — it’s a double win,” Thomas said. “He’s half Tamil, half Mallu, and my family’s also Mallu. So, it was fun to meet a Philly South Indian guy.”
Meeting Shyamalan was a highlight, but the chef said hosting the coffee couple’s baby shower was the best part.
They’re the best people in Philadelphia, and are gonna have a beautiful baby,” he said. “He [Shyamalan] was a close second of the event; Thu was the star of the show.”
