Radio guy Tom Leykis used to warn guys about doing this kind of stuff.

from www.tmz.com – “The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach” … and the way to a Kardashian’s heart is apparently through her liver.

TMZ has learned exactly how the love story between Khloe Kardashian and Lamar Odom began — and it all started with a bar tab around $3,000.

It all went down on August 27th, when Khloe was hosting a “Welcome to LA” party for brand new Laker, Ron Artest, at Halo in Hollywood.

Khloe ran up one hell of a bill that night … and for some reason, Lamar decided to cover the whole thing — after all, cash money is the ultimate aphrodisiac.

A source extremely close to Khloe confirmed the whole story, telling us, “At first, she wasn’t going to do the event … but she literally met her husband there. And yes, he paid for everything.”

And there’s no question — Lamar definitely got what he paid for. For the record, K and L will be tying the knot exactly one month after they hit it off!