Normally, Kobe Bryant is busy at this time of the year.
Bryant's Los Angeles Lakers have made it to the second round of the NBA playoffs in five of the past six years. But this season Bryant suffered a season-ending Achilles injury and his Lakers got swept in the first round by the San Antonio Spurs. So Bryant has a lot more time on his hands, and that's not such a bad thing.
Bryant's wife Vanessa's birthday is May 5, and while Kobe would usually be too busy to have an elaborate celebration, he made sure to do it big this year.
Bryant flew in Fabrizio de Togni, the head chef at Vanessa's favorite restaurant in Milan, to cook for the family. Bryant, of course, spent some of his childhood in Italy and is fluent in Italian.
"He's a friend," Bryant wrote of de Togni, "and agreed to fly in for Vanessa's bday dinner and prepare her fav dishes."
By the looks of it, the dinner included eggplant parmesan and penne arrabbiata.
While it's hard to believe that all the restaurants in Los Angeles weren't good enough for the Bryants, when you make $30 million a year, you can do things like this. Plus, one look at Paper Moon's mouth-watering menu and it's not hard to see why this is the Bryants' restaurant of choice.
