1984 - Brazilian Chef Remi Vila Real and
Michael Jackson. Chef Remi shares her memories of
Michael:
I met Quincy once at a dinner I cooked for some other musician. He loved my food and asked me if he could come and do something very important. He told me that he wanted to be
Michael Jackson's producer but every time he invited
Michael to his house,
Michael would never eat. He asked me if he could get
Michael to eat some of my food. He said that
Michael was a vegetarian and very picky about what he ate. I said I would try.
I went to Quincy's house and there I met
Michael for the first time. I took him aside and told him, "let me make you something very special. I know how to cook very healthy food from Brazil. All natural, all vegetarian. You will like it." He agreed. I made him some black beans, collard greens, farofa and some other things and he ate four plates full!
Quincy was kissing me all night long and from that time, he has called me many times to cook for him.
I was living in West Los Angeles in a small apartment when I got a phone call. The person on the phone asked me to look outside. He said: "See the limousine? Get in it, now!" I told him I could not because I was taking care of a person off the street and could not leave him. They said that they would send someone to look after the person right away and for me to get into the car. I told them I had to change my clothes because I all dirty from cleaning. They didn't care. Finally I agreed when the man arrived to take care of my guest and I was taken to a big building in Beverly Hills and up to the very top penthouse. It was very luxurious.
The man on the other side of the desk handed me a ticket and said "you are going to the airport right now. Here is your ticket." I asked him why. He explained to me that
Michael Jackson was having stomach aches and specifically requested me to be his "nutritionist" on the "Victory" tour. He was feeling sick to his stomach and refused to go on stage until they sent me to be his private cook. They were all very nervous. They said they were losing millions of dollars in canceled shows and I had to go right then.
I told them I could not and could only go in the morning. After a lot of arguing, the agreed to let me go home and they picked me up early in the morning and I was off to Birmingham Alabama.
I spent 8 weeks with
Michael and his family on the road during the tour. It was an incredible trip I will never forget.
Michael and I became friends and I saw him number of times after that. I visited him in the hospital when his hair caught on fire and I saw him once in a while at an award's show or party. I even cooked cooked for
Michael Jackson and Elizabeth Taylor alone in
Michael's house. That was very special.