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George Clooney Brings Amal and Mom Nina to His Favorite NYC Italian Restaurant—Guess Who Avoided Carbs?

Source tells E! News exclusive details about the actor's dinner at Patsy's Italian Restaurant; plus, find out which Clooney doesn't cook!

By Rebecca Macatee, Beth Sobol Mar 24, 2015 5:50 PMTags
George Clooney, Amal Clooney, Nina BruceXactpiX / Splash News

George Clooney was surrounded by beautiful women at his favorite Italian restaurant in New York Monday night, but there was something missing...

CARBS! A source tells E! News exclusively that while George's wife Amal Clooney and mom Nina Clooney happily noshed on breads and pasta at Patsy's Italian Restaurant, the actor himself "said he's watching his weight" and mostly avoided them altogether.

Fortunately, for the 53-year-old Oscar winner, the restaurant has some delicious menu options that don't include the starchy stuff! According to a source, George chose to start with a "tre-colore salad" (arugula, endive and radicchio) and then dined on on "chicken tre-colore" (chicken over salad) for his main dish.

XactpiX / Splash News

Amal started off with a house salad—hold the tomatoes! The human rights lawyer was overheard telling executive chef and Patsy's Italian Restaurant co-owner Sal Scognamillo that she "doesn't eat tomatoes." Apparently, though, Amal's not opposed to tomatoes in all their forms, because a source tells E! News her main entree was penne pasta "with a spicy marinara sauce."

As for mama Clooney? She enjoyed some scrumptious shrimp scampi!

Fortunately for George, he didn't completely miss out on carbohydrates. According to a source, his table was "sent an assortment of desserts, and he had a bite of one." Bummer for him that was all, but hey, that meant more to go around for Amal, Nina and two of her pals, who'd apparently enjoyed a "girls' day" in the city leading up to dinner.

Patsy's Italian Restaurant

George's mom, a former beauty queen, is actually the one who introduced him to Patsy's Italian Restaurant. The actor was reminded of his family's history with the eatery last night when Chef Scognamillo presented him with a brand-new copy of Patsy's Italian Family Cookbook.

Inside the cookbook, which just became available to the public today, there's a quote from George acknowledging mama Clooney had good taste long before he did! "Since I have a picture of my mom eating at Patsy's when she was pregnant with me, I can honestly say that I've been going to Patsy's since before I was born," he says. "It's been a great part of my life ever since."

According to an onlooker, George showed his copy of Patsy's Italian Family Cookbook to Amal, and she had the perfect reaction. "Are you expecting me to cook?" she asked. "I don't cook!"

—Additional reporting by Michelle Falls