Bill Clinton has the opportunity to meet one of his life-saving surgeons

Page Six has heard that Bill Clinton has run into an old acquaintance under unusual circumstances — the surgeon who saved his life during his famously major heart operation.

Celebrity chef Donatella Arpaia was interviewed by the Secret Service on Wednesday because a “high profile person” wanted to eat at her new restaurant in Miami, Redfish’s NOMA Beach, sources said. dine.

We were told that they even asked the chef to prepare a vegetarian menu for a distinguished guest who wanted to entertain a table of 12.

However, at the last minute, Alpine was told by the security team that their men would not be able to come after all – as the entire restaurant was in direct contact with the Atlantic Ocean, they could not secure the restaurant.

Arpaia guessed that the special guest was President Clinton, whose husband, Dr. Allan Stewart, happened to be operating in New York nearly 19 years ago.

When Clinton, 76, learned of Alpine’s relationship with Dr. Stewart, he immediately invited them to lunch at their new venue, the Biltmore Hotel, Page Six has learned.

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Fortunately, the president was following a heart-healthy diet when he ordered Arpai’s vegetarian menu, and wasn’t trying to sneak in a double cheeseburger—otherwise he might have asked his doctor some tough questions.

We’re told that Arpaia brought the 42nd president a vegan chocolate cake that read “We’re celebrating our 19th anniversary.”

“He looks healthier now than when he came in for surgery,” Dr. Stewart noted.

As previously reported, Clinton underwent a series of heart surgeries, starting with the quadruple bypass surgery that made headlines in 2004. Dr. Stewart was part of the three-person cardiac surgery team that performed the procedure.