The Mystery Of Nicolas Cage's Square Tube Pasta Is Finally Solved
Nicolas Cage is known as an especially eccentric actor, even by Hollywood standards. The 58-year-old "National Treasure" star has made some interesting purchases over the years and fills his home with exotic pets. At one point he owned a two-headed snake that he aptly named Harvey Dent (via People), and now he owns a talking African pied crow that occasionally shouts obscenities at him (via Interview). In addition to investing in exotic pets, the seasoned actor purchased a 70-million-year-old dinosaur skull for $276,000, the historically haunted LaLaurie Mansion in New Orleans for a cool $3.4 million, and a few other large purchases, which added to a grand total of $150 million, plus $14 million in back taxes that he owed (via People). So that's why he's in so many movies ...
Speaking of, in his latest film, "The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent," the "Face/Off" star portrays a fictional actor who happens to be named Nick Cage, and the plot simultaneously celebrates and pokes fun at his career (via NBC News). To promote the film, the actor bravely told Reddit to "Ask Me Anything," and within the nearly 200,000 responses to the thread, one question about pasta started an internet frenzy.
The 'square tube pasta' is likely from Cafe Tiramisu in San Francisco
On Nicolas Cage's "Ask Me Anything" Reddit thread, one user innocently asked the actor's favorite pasta shape and got a very Nick Cage answer. "I once went to an Italian restaurant in San Francisco about 25 years ago with Charlie Sheen because they had square tube pasta and he was very interested in trying square tube pasta and we did and we loved it so much we went back the next day to try it again," the actor wrote on the Reddit thread. Confused and intrigued Redditors began to scour the internet for this "square tube pasta," resulting in a 100% increase in Google searches.
Eater San Francisco got involved and reached out to the San Francisco Remembered Facebook group for help. The group lived up to its name and one member responded that the home of the mysterious square pasta is Cafe Tiramisu and that they had seen Cage at the restaurant twice (via Facebook). Eater San Francisco spoke to the owners of the Italian restaurant and they posited that Cage could have been enjoying either the "square spaghetti carbonara" or paccheri, which flattens out into a square when cooked and is similar to rigatoni. They also confirmed that Sheen and Cage visited the restaurant together, so it wasn't a fever dream, even though it sounds like one.