glenn

A little off topic, but Rascals (the comedy club) just opened right next to PJ's. As for PJ's, the bar food and the shepphard's pie are great. But don't be a hero and order anything fancy.

The question is, who should have known. [ahem ahem]

Maybe he's down $582,123 because of his legal bills.

Katie's post: **** ;-)

Not to go off on a tangent (as I always do), but it never ceases to amaze me how little GM's in the restaurant industry know about the finances. I don't think this is the case in any other industry. I think the main issue is that owners don't encourage such involvement. I suppose the rationale is that most restaurants are comparatively small privately run operations and owners rightfully don't feel it necessary to share their private info. Also, GM's in the restaurant industry probably have less business training than in other industries having worked their way up from waiter or bartender for the most part.

Yes, you're right. However, in reality and at least in my experience, the role of general manager is limited in financial matters at most to such things as food, liquor and payroll cost and other key elements. I have never worked with a general manager who had an understanding of financial statements, much less knew what they were. Edit after reading Katie's comment. Can you explain what your position is Katie? I stand by my comment. Of course there will be exceptions, but this is the rule of thumb. And I say this with enough experience to know.

Precisely. Even paying $180 for a business card couldn't get them in a hole so deep so fast. They're either writing off the initial investment (amortization, depreciation) at a mind blowing rate or they're full of crapola. And for chrissakes, Laurent might be a swell manager and wonderful guy, but is he expected to vouch for the validity of financial statements? How many people w/o a financial background actually know what an income statement is?

Also, no hats worn by Tony or Rocco. I hope the health dept. is watching.

Now wait a second. To the best of my knowledge, it is not illegal to bartend at 20 years old in NY. Under age servers are allowed to serve drinks and I don't think there's any difference. Also, did anyone else think it strange when Rocco tells his assistant, "Get my lawyer on the phone." I mean, who sez that? They say, "get me Tony Scalia" or Benny Cardozo, or whomever.

Very timely. I'm visiting the folks for a few days and they're giving us this Saturday "off" from visiting duties. Thankst gawd - I'm tired of Lester's! We'll be staying in a hotel in Pompano Beach on A1A near Atlantic. Is there anything not overly fancy nearby? Bear in mind I have no sense of direction and no desire to drive far with all those maniacs on the road. Mexican or fish sounds groovy.

There's been about 80,000 discussions about including wine in the tip. There is no right or wrong answer, but to not tip at all is pretty dang low in my book. Every state has their own sales tax laws (or not). Many make no sense. In NY, you do pay tax on liquor. However, many restaurants choose to include the tax in the price of the drink/bottle at the bar. In other words, liquor is often times cheaper if you sit at the bar. For example, if you order a glass of wine that costs $5 at the bar, that'll be your total bill. If you sit at a table, it would be $5 plus tax.

I'm firmly in uzay's corner. I think I'll start a fan club. Who else (except Rocco) could manage to get so much air time and only work one day a week?

I felt that it was appropriate to begin this posting with my previous post as a "Quote". What perturbs me the most about this "Rocco's" Restaurant is why the heck we all pretend that in this kind of a JOINT that it require a so called CHEF. Get real "Rocco's" is serving food that at best only superficially different then that served at any of the many so called Italian Chain Operations. Such as the "Spaghetti Factory", Macaroni's", "Olive Garden", "Bueppo" or all the others. None of these place has a Chef, what they do have is a Kitchen Manager/Expediter who is in charge of getting the food to the customers and training/overseeing the employees. Many have little or no previous experience, are provided with written instructions, picture and job descriptions. Those who are only slightly on the ball are promoted, given raises and quickly rise thru the ranks. This type of system works well with most Chain operations such as TGI Fridays, Outback Steakhouse, Red Lobster and most of the others. This is beneficial to the Industry as a whole because many competent professionals have evolved thru this network. "Rocco's" only real hook currently is his Mother who provides some feeling of care and authentically into the operation. To continue this travesty it would help having several Italian/American Hosts front persons to schmooze with the customers to continue the business visual success. It's definitely not the place to eat or be seen by real New York Restaurant customers, certainly not the pretty people or celebrities. Thats apparent by the fact that the Bar isn't established as a place to be seen or hang out. I feel that even the Court Case, that still proceeding even after the shooting of the televisions 6 episodes have been completed will eventually go nowhere, considering the speed of New York Courts until you face the Judge is measured in years not months. The Judge require that every attempt to settle this matter be exhausted before actually hearing the case. If all the allegations had any merit it would result in various types of Bankruptcy before getting that far since time is a reality not a television series. The only losers are those of us gullible enough to actually have feeling for any of the principals involved. After all is said and done they will come out of this situation in better financial shape then before they entered. Don't forget the residuals income from replays into different markets begins to add up into macho bucks very quickly. It certainly a Cash Cow to NBC and the Producer with the entire expense of all 12 Shows, including all the money invested by the principals and all loses is still much less then the actual costs involved in a 1/2 Hour segment of "FRIENDS" or "FRASER" with the Multi-Million Dollars Weekly Payrolls for each show. To me what I've tried to express is the actual "REALITY" of "Rocco's". I wonder what everyone else thinks about my opinions ? Irwin Frankly, I thought your 2 word description was sufficient ;-)

Why not? They have a choice between eating across the street or mama's meatballs. And what about the biblical saying about publicity? Maybe Rocco looks the buffoon and casts a shadow on the profession, but the entire profession is reaping the benefits of the PR. And hey, whatever happened to all Rocco's Roccettes who posted here last year? Do they still have websites? I wonder if the "apprentice" has a website yet. Can I just say I love all this shit?

Personally, I enjoy not having to smell the dead cows or breathe in the sweat from the meat workers that have alll moved to NJ cuz they can't afford the rents. There's no greater joy than picking up a $495 polo shirt at Jeffries, walking past a bunch of yuppies instead of lowlife TV's by Samba's Deli on the way to imbibing a $20 watered down martini at PM. Next, we need to petition the city to get rid of those dreadful cobblestones on Gansevoort. Maybe erect the Meatpacking Mall, the downtown alternative to you know what. Mooooooove over sentimentality.

There is a set up fee, a monthly rental charge and a charge per reservation. Plus, there's an additional charge for promotions that the restaurant chooses to participate in. The restaurant does not own the computer or software -- it's rented from OT. Steven, I was not aware that some restaurants don't make available all of their tables to OT and opt to make them available by phone only. I can see 2 reasons for this and they would only apply to the more popular places: (1) not wanting to piss off customers who don't use OT who otherwise might not be able to get a reservation and, (2) a cost savings to the restaurant by not having to pay the $1 booking fee to OT, or whatever it is. Are there other reasons?

Both places are probably a 10 or 15 minute walk from the Hyatt. Has anyone else eaten at the JC Baja? It's been a while since I ate at the one in Hoboken, but I distinctly recall the menu being much more diverse in Hoboken. The atmosphere is also a lot more cheerful in Hoboken. I find the food at the JC locale very touristy and ordinary. Is it my imagination that the one in Hoboken is far superior?

Just saw the show and I gotta say I have a hard time finding ANYTHING realistic. Katie was on the mark about the finances. However, it's just not plausible that anyone with half a brain -- and Chodorow is a bright guy -- would let his business sink $600k into the hole before saying anything. With all the editing and "acting", who the heck knows what's for real. It is not an easy task to lose that kind of money in one year, especially for a business generating large revenues. I also find it hard to believe that the business would be so out of control that no one notices such things like business cards costing $1.80 each. (I'd love to see that business card.) And that 17-year-od "apprentice"?? What the heck is that all about? In my dumb opinion, I think the show is accomplishing what it set out to -- to be controversial and generate chatter such as on this list. Rocco and Chodorow are laughing all the way to the bank while we smugly mock them. And you can bet your life I'll be tuned in to every show this season ;-)

Here's a twist. Last week or so the Newport Pancake House was demolished. There was no hint of the impending annihilation. I had eaten there a few weeks prior. I figured an irate diner took his bulldozer and got even, or something like that. After all, the service can be on the slow side. Then I read that the owners are building a new diner from scratch on the same property. Go figure. It would've killed them to post a sign or something?

Nixienox, someone mentioned -- actually raved about -- La Gloria de Mexico on Palisade by Congress. Have you heard of it? Supposed to be authentic Mexican.

It's my understanding that the sign store was out of signs that said Closed Due to Uneven Cash Flows and the Vagaries of the Economic Climate and they were having a sale on Closed for Renovation signs. [God I'm booored]

I'm so curious about the white pepper. It sounds borderline insane. If you ain't gonna find out, I'm tempted to call and ask. Should I ask for the manager?

Newark Ave. near the Blvd? I've tried a few and they're all terrible. They keep their food under a heat lamp all day. The BIG exception is the Filipino Bread House on Newark near Palisade. Glad you enjoyed MC. Like the BIG CHEESE said, try Marco & Pepe -- the atmosphere is also close to a bistro setting especially during the day.

I dunno. I used to like this place a whole lot. I guess I still do, but I'm not thrilled with the spotty service and, worse, the occasional loser of a meal. The hangar steak is my favorite, though twice it was served well done when ordered medium rare. However, you can't go wrong with the mussels. And yes, the French fries come with the mussels. I find it easy to overlook many of the inconsistencies because of its charm and that it's a neighborhood joint and family run. This is truly a French bistro in every respect. Unfortunately, sometimes the owners are preoccupied (or not there) and things go downhill. I keep meaning to check out their breakfast and lunch menus. They open early in the morning.

Well, I finally wandered into the New Guinea deli on Newark Ave. today. But alas, it was to buy M&M's (with peanuts). They had some very strange stuff there, but I admit after accomplishing my purpose I rushed out to gobble down all the blue m&ms. There's been a bunch of discussions on JC restaurants. Unfortunately, there's not a whole lot to choose from. If you're looking for ethnic, I highly recommend the Philippine Bread House for lunch -- it's on Newark Ave. just west of Palisade Ave. There's a Puerto Rican luncheonette on Grove right opposite Tania's which is pretty good and you'd be hard pressed to spend more than $5. And there's Tania's for pretty decent Polish. And on the same side of the block as Tania's, just east of it, is Casablanca, a Moroccan place that's been there for a long time. Not bad, though they've gotten pretty boring to me. They have a limited menu and they haven't changed it since I've been going - 5 years. There's a pretty good Hallal Pakistani place on Grove St. on the block before Marco & Pepe's -- Shaddam, or something like that. And there's a good Vietnamese place on the north side of Newark just west of the terrible Vietnamese place on the opposite side of the block. Sorry, I forget names. As for the Indian eateries on Newark, I can live without them.