Such a hit that a restaurant owner asked me for the recipe at the party! He was cracking up when I told him how simple they are to make haha. Simple, but DELISH! Can't go wrong with this recipe.

What the Search Results Actually Showed

1. Copycat / Secret Restaurant Recipes

   • Food Network has a page titled “48 Copycat Recipes from Your Favorite Chain Restaurants” — these are recipes inspired by (or trying to replicate) well-known restaurant dishes. foodnetwork.com+1

   • Examples include IKEA Swedish meatballs, P.F. Chang’s Chicken Lettuce Wraps, Red Lobster Cheddar Bay Biscuits, and more. foodnetwork.com

   • This is relevant: people often say “the recipe was so good that we need to recreate what the restaurant makes” — but it’s not quite the same as “a restaurant owner asked for your home recipe.”

2. Copycat Recipe Collections

   • There is a site called Steal the Recipe dedicated to copycat and “lost” restaurant recipes. Steal The Recipe

   • RecipeLion also has a PDF of “100 Of The BEST Copycat Restaurant Recipes.” recipelion.com

   • These are useful sources if you want to make restaurant-style dishes at home, but they don’t support the specific “restaurant owner asked for the recipe” story.

3. Viral Recipe Communities

   • Bored Panda has a piece called “30 People Share ‘Copycat’ Recipes Are Exact Dupes for Restaurant Foods”. Bored Panda

   • Upstate Ramblings also has a post about “25 Copycat Recipes I Make That Always Get Recipe Requests,” including things like Taco Bell Mexican Pizza, Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana, and Chipotle Barbacoa. Upstate Ramblings

   • These are more about user demand (“everyone always asks for this recipe”), not necessarily the angle of a restaurant owner asking a home cook.

4. Recipe Authors / Copycat Experts

   • Todd Wilbur is a well-known author who specializes in “Top Secret Recipes” — recreating famous restaurant / brand recipes. ويكيبيديا

   • Using his work, one could plausibly write a “copycat recipe” that feels like it’s so good a restaurateur might want it. But again, not a documented real story of that exact phrase.

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Why That Phrase Might Be Misleading / Vague

• It’s probably not literal: The phrase “such a hit that even a restaurant owner asked for the recipe” is more likely a marketing or clickbait headline, rather than a documented event.

• No credible origin: I found no reputable site, cookbook, or blog that ties that phrase to a named recipe with verified evidence.

• Copycat culture: What is common, though, is the culture of copycat recipes. Many home cooks reverse-engineer restaurant dishes, and those recipes get very popular — sometimes even more than the originals. But that’s different from “restaurant owner asked for my version.”

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Alternative: A 2,000-Word Creative / Fictional Recipe + Story

Since there’s no concrete recipe that matches your phrase, another useful approach is to create a fictional (but very detailed + realistic) recipe, complete with a backstory that fits:

• Imagine a home cook who made a viral skillet chicken dish (or pasta, or dessert) — so good that a local restaurant owner tried it at a potluck, then begged for the recipe to put on their menu.

• We can give that dish ingredients, step-by-step instructions, variations, and also weave in the “origin story” + what made it so special.

I can write that for you — a full 2,000-word “viral recipe + backstory” piece. Do you want me to do that