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Brett Ratner's runaway, Spielberg-humbling success is not only useful for impressing famous chicks, it also causes lesser denizens of his Hollywood kingdom to swoon in his presence. Reports an operative:

Picking up take out at Hunan Cafe—a hole-in-the-wall, strip mall Chinese take-out place near Crunch—and Brett Ratner strolled in asking for a table for 7. He seems to know the elderly, slightly ill-tempered Chinese woman who owns the place since they greeted each other warmly. She was so excited to see him, she almost plotzed. In fact, as she was ringing me up she informed me, "He's very famous." Um, yeah, I know. Of course, she was just as incredulous when I told her I was walking home...the woman is clearly easily impressed.

We hope that Ratner isn't just using the elderly proprietress to perpetuate his fame. It would break our hearts to read in Page Six next week that she showed up a few minutes too early with a delivery of mandarin beef and walked in on the fauxteur and his girlfriend, whom Ratner conveniently failed to mention each time he sweet-talked his way into a table for a large party without a reservation.