The Paley Center for Media honored actor Carl Reiner tonight at the Hyatt in Century City, but apparently the main topic of conversation was the poor quality of the hotel banquet. How off was the food? Off enough that the guest of honor worked it into his speech to big cheers. Melissa Grego blogs:

Dare I say, the dinner was one of the strangest menus I have ever seen at an event like this at a hotel ballroom. It honestly was not great. Alright, it was just bad.

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"Food is so important,” Reiner says. “Like tonight. Wouldn't it have been nice to have great food tonight?”

The crowd’s roaring response indicated that we at my table and Reiner at 86 were not the only ones confused by the long, sliced cucumber that wrapped around the salad (ok, my cuke allergy bias is talking a little bit here) or the entrée pastry filled with poultry I believed to be turkey, along with what seemed to be a beef-based stuffing. The main course was accompanied by a gratin potato tower (allergy alert number two) and asparagus and carrots. Dessert was a cheesecake with a brownie on top and a nut-crusted (more allergies—they were definitely trying to kill me) chocolate stick and caramel drizzle, followed by a plate of cookies.

Smack me for complaining. By most standards we were eating very well, but I could not help but agree with Reiner when he said “Wouldn't you rather have had a Paley hot dog?” and simply: “Wasn't the food awful?”

“The truth is more important than whoever is going to be hurt by that,” he says.

Allergies aside, Grego should know: at her Mel's Diner blog, the executive editor of Broadcasting & Cable quizzes Hollywood figures over meals at their favorite restaurants.