uzayt

Emily grew up in Florida or California, I can't remember. She lived in England for a year or so and decided she could be more of an annoying bitch with that accent. It works!

OK, lets see what I can clear up. I have to say that I am totally bored with the show. Instead of calling it The Restaurant, they should call it Rocco's Stupid Life. I love the stuff with Mama, because I know her a lot better than Rocco and she is truly a wonderful woman and she is the reason I go to work. There is just nothing interesting about the show. We have had 3 hours of were is Rocco so far and I am so done with it. The stuff that happens amongst the staff nad down in the kitchen is much more interesting, trust me, I was there. The editing is a bit tricky, they filmed for 18 days and every 3 days is supposed to be an episode, so there is a lot of time crunching going on. As far as knowing if Rocco was at the CIA, we didn't know or cared for that matter. We are so used to him not being there. I show up to work and to make some dough, and I personally like it better when he is not there. He has no idea what is going on at Rocco's that he just gets in the way. We had no idea that Jeffrey was interviewing other chefs, but I would welcome this Ralph guy anyday from what I saw last night on the show. We need to talk about a couple of people here. Emily, or Precious as we like to call her at the restaurant is hell incarnate. She has very little experince working in a restaurant is generally rude to people, everyone, if she isn't crying in the middle of the shift than she is making someone else cry. I have never worked with a more incompitent manager in my life. Speaking of incompetence, Janniene, the waitress in training, is or was a horror show. You have no idea how many bottles I tried to get her to open, in the 9 days she trained. She is sweet and good to look at, but I think her problem was that she thought she was on TV show and not trying to get a job at the restaurant. I am pissed that they didn't show all the fun we had with her. This girl would be talking on her cell phone in the middle of the in the middle of the rush, and thought is was totally acceptable. We also pulled of one the best restaurant gags on her. We sent her to fetch a bowl of steam from Union Pacific. She totaly fell for it and we had a great laugh. None of that made the show. I MISTAKENLY thought I saw her do a shot, with her guests, of course they don't show me asking the guests if she had and apoligizing for my mistake. But hey good riddens. I just want to say that I was at The post James Beard awards party at Olives last night and had a great time hanging out with talented best in our industry. My current boss, Todd English, was inducted to the Hall of Fame. Some Party!!!

OK. lets get a couple of things straight. Yes I am actor, but you never see me or anyone else on the show "acting". We are who we are, not playing any characters. For the show we were chosen because of our varied levels of ability in the restaurant business and personalities. Some of us are more experienced than others, and that is clear, and we are put in a hightened situation. The show is taped over 18 days straight and and we work all 18 of those days without a day off. We are asked to respond and re-act to what is happening in a much more public way than normal, ie in front of a camera. Again, I ask that you put yourself at Rocco's with 12 camera crews, producers, and every jerk who wants to be on TV as customers and try to image what its like for 3 weeks. Than let the producers cut that down to 6 hours!!! They have total control of storyline. I have problem with how I am portrayed and would not trade in this experience for anything. I knew exactly what I was signing up for and chose to stay for a second season. I still work there. It is unlike any restaurant in the world and I have fun. I have worked at 3 star restaurants in NYC and have the resume to get me job anywhere. I enjoy working at Rocco's with or without the cameras.

I have to admit, I heard the douchebag reference, but it took me a while to convince myself that that was what I heard. I wanted to see him get hit by a car by the time Jeffrey gave him the boot. What is really funny is that everybody I know is well aware of why they have such troubles. The bar gets backed up because they serve eleventy-three froo-froo drinks with 37 ingredients each. THe food is cold because the kitchen is a quarter mile from the table. Rocco is never there because he's going through an intensive de-homosexualization process. (Anybody who has seen "Sordid Lives" is laughing right now.) And the entire staff is comprised of whining, back-stabbing slackers becasue they only follow the pretty, skill-free slackers they hired 'cuz they look good, not because they give good service. The staff don't know what kind of restaurant they are working in because they can't answer the most important question: "Am I an actor? Or am I a waiter? Waiter? Actor?" Oi! I have to say that you make quite a statement here. I would love for you to come in and try to wok a Friday and and Saturday night at Rocco's. The food is not cold, the service is great, the bar gets the drinks out. I am really suprised, because most of the people on egullet are really smart, that you don't understand the difference between TV and the real thing. There are no producers or editors involved in a 550 cover night. I would love to see you try to do what we do every night. For your information, I am an actor and a waiter, have been both for 12 years, and I am in great company. About 80% of waiters in NYC are actor or, musicans or comedians. Be sure you know what you are talking about before you open your trap. Sorry to the rest of egullet for being so angry. I work too hard to be brought down in this manner.

You have to keep watching. she is even worse later, we pull one of the oldest restaurant pranks on her. Very funny. She gets sent my way for training, and I can train a wet paper bag to serve, and this girl is just not able. Very cute, but not meant to work in a restaurant. I thought tonite was pretty entertaining. That Drew guy needs to get his ass kicked. how annoying. So I guess no show next week, they are saving us for May Sweeps. Hope everyone is well.

I know that while we were taping, the was so much drama and heavy talk in the air, that the producers were looking to lighten up the show a bit. I can't tell you how the humor will be injected, but having lived through the 3 weeks of filming I can tell you that there are some funny funny moments That I hope won't end up on the cutting room floor. I also want to mention that this is the best forum to talk about the show. I really enjoy the banter here, so smart and educated. Unlike the people I wait on at Rocco's. By the by, This weekend was a great example of the show affects business. We did 430 covers Friday night with no Computer System!!! We did 570 covers on saturday which broke our record. You have to give props to our BOH and FOH for being able to pull that off and still make sure all of our guests have a fun experience. For those of you in NYC, i would like to invite you to watch the show with me and some of the other staff members tonight at PROOF 3rd ave and 19th St.

Rocco actually got paid $20,000 an episode for the 1st season and am sure that went up for season 2.

We are all paid in time and its smooth sailing at 400- 500 covers a night. The contracts are signed and we begin shooting in November.

Hey all, Just thought I would drop a line for all interested. I am still working Rocco's. Things are much smoother now and the food is great and hot. You will be oh so happy to hear that NBC will be back at Rocco's for season 2. So you will have ample more chances Rocco on this board.

It was actually a case of Blue Moon A coors product.

Just want to mention a couple of things. Everyone who came to the restaurant during filming had to sign a waiver. Topher is great and we miss him dearly. Rocco has never cooked Italian (see episode one). I have also worked BOH and have never seen cooks wearing gloves. Gotta taste the food and make sure its perfect.

Hello All, This is Uzay from The Restaurant. I don't know who this SaucyGirl is but, I am glad she is no longer working with us at Rocco's. With that kind of negative attitude you can't make a place move forward, especially when we are doing 400 covers a night. Just want to clear a few things up here. First of all, yes I am actor, but I have also been working in the business since I was 13 years old. I am a much better waiter then actor. If any of you actually work in restaurants in NYC, you know that about 70% of all staffs are actors. I wasn't hired for acting skills, I was hired because I had a good resume and people skills. Never skimmed money off the tip pool. Did get promoted to Captain. Still working there and working hard. It is really hard to open restaurants under normal conditions, but it is almost impossible to do it in 5 weeks with 12 camera crews and limited space, big personalities and the knowledge that all of America will be watching your every move. Some people cracked under the pressure and some people had to be let go because they couldn't handle it, and some of us busted our hump and made iit through and are still busting our humps and not complaining about it. Come see for yourselves. As far as what saucyGirl said about Front of house vs Back of house... Listen I saw some of the stupidest things ever done by a kitchen staff and I saw them get fired. Our front and back of house gets along real well and its not just beacuse we have to. We are one team fighting a new battle every night. SaucyGirl , whomever you are, Don't be bitter, because you couldn't hack it, get back to work, somewhere and try to smile. Enough defense!! Rocco's is great. Come check it out. Watch the show, there is some great stuff coming up. Check out my website. I write about the show each week and you can learn a little bit more about me. www.uzaytumer.com