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"The Restaurant" Reality Show Season 1

bpearis

By bpearis
in Food Media & Arts

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vox

vox

Posted
Posted
also...i was kinda sorta hoping against hope that cooks in the states and in froufrou restaurants made more money than i do doing fine dining in canada...

but the $10/hour thing is pretty depresso.

No, dear,

$10 an hour and no health insurance is despresso.

i make $11/hour, no health insurance, nothing.

compare that to my university position, which is union, with paid vacation and all the other benefits capitalism owes it's working public...and it's pretty sad.

(that's in canuck dollars too!)

i've always noticed that the restaurant industry is one of the last bastions of draconian labour relations...dickens would have a field day.

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tim donoho

tim donoho

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Posted

this is great reading all this stuff. i'm one of the three cooks from last sunday. you probably recognize my name because rocco spelled it out on national tv. man, i wish they had dubbed over that and called me tim coors or something. oh well, you go on a reality tv show, you gotta take your lumps.

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Minou

Minou

Posted
Posted
also...i was kinda sorta hoping against hope that cooks in the states and in froufrou restaurants made more money than i do doing fine dining in canada...

but the $10/hour thing is pretty depresso.

No, dear,

$10 an hour and no health insurance is despresso.

i make $11/hour, no health insurance, nothing.

(that's in canuck dollars too!)

i've always noticed that the restaurant industry is one of the last bastions of draconian labour relations...dickens would have a field day.

^^^ Yep. My hubby is saddled with the title chef and for that he gets a whopping $13 CDN / hour, no benefits, no real control of his kitchen

(1 of the owners is also a chef ... :rolleyes: ) and 100% if the stress of being "chef".

... but that's okay, he runs a "Bourdain Style" pirate ship and the kitchen staff are fiercely loyal to him.

Not the owners.

… with a new job mid autumn .. it’s just H2O off the mallard now …

Too bad this appears to be an industry where the standard is to have no standards.

Minou ~ Kitchen Widow

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Lady T

Lady T

Posted
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:wink:

Welcome, Tim. Not to sidetrack the thread (or not too far, anyhow) -- but are you and your two colleagues now safely re-employed? Preferably with people who have their business $hit together?

:cool:

Me, I vote for the joyride every time.

-- 2/19/2004

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Bux

Bux

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Allow me to congratulate corporatemofo author (the link Jason posted) on a truly wonderful-and frighteningly well-written account. You want to know what the NYC restaurant world can TRULY be? Check it out. The real thing--shockingly, scathingly and fearlessly portrayed. Beautiful.

Yeah, but she couldn't tell the difference between a Mitsubishi and an Mercedes. :biggrin: Can I trust her.

Robert Buxbaum

WorldTable

Recent WorldTable posts include: comments about reporting on Michelin stars in The NY Times, the NJ proposal to ban foie gras, Michael Ruhlman's comments in blogs about the NJ proposal and Bill Buford's New Yorker article on the Food Network.

My mailbox is full. You may contact me via worldtable.com.

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tim donoho

tim donoho

Posted
Posted
:wink:

Welcome, Tim.  Not to sidetrack the thread (or not too far, anyhow) -- but are you and your two colleagues now safely re-employed?  Preferably with people who have their business $hit together? 

:cool:

things have been interesting since cocco's tacos. yes, i'm working now and getting paid, but i did go through some similar hassles at another place after that. the paycheck runaround happens so much in this business.

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Pezchef

Pezchef

Posted
Posted

Quajolote...I agree with you that 5 eggs for Mamma's Meatball recipe seems like alot. I think that 3 at the most...for that amount of meat is plenty. Granted I have not been lucky enough to taste Mrs. DeSpirito's meatballs, but too many eggs can make them a little too firm.

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shamrock

shamrock

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Wow, it's really interesting to me that so many people from the show have stopped by to pipe in. It must be at least a part-time job to manage one's image between all the reality-TV boards and all the foodie boards.

Are you guys all at places w/ 2 stars now, Tim/Dpadrone? Dpadrone, are you the woman who was upset at the fight, or the guy who likes to make sauces?

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jhlurie

jhlurie

Posted
Posted
Good lord.  Between Rocco, Emeril and Martha all of the "important" people must really hate eGullet.  :biggrin: Well if you look in The eGullet Fridge at least we've got a few friends...

Who ever said they where "important"?

Thus the smiley and the quotes...

Wow, it's really interesting to me that so many people from the show have stopped by to pipe in. It must be at least a part-time job to manage one's image between all the reality-TV boards and all the foodie boards.

I'm far more pleased to see these guys here than the FOH people, no offense meant to them. Many of the FOH seemed cast simply because of looks and/or dramatic background, and that didn't seem to be the case with most of the BOH people. While its true that virtually anybody can fall prey to the "Reality Show Whore" syndrome, other than letting some arguably stupid words be coaxed out of their mouths which could be edited creatively, these folks seemed to mainly be doing their jobs.

In fact, I think the only reason the show has shifted from FOH people to BOH was that most of the "entertaining" FOH people quit, were fired, or acted like drama queens far too early.

Its understandable that the BOH people might have expected to work side-by-side with Rocco, but I guess they are cured of that affliction now. Time to start idolizing real chefs instead of paper cut-outs.

Jon Lurie, aka "jhlurie"

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tmackz

tmackz

Posted
Posted

That's exactly what dissappointed the most about this show! The BOH was where the "real" action should have been, and from what I heard, usually was. I know for a fact that most of the people in the kitchen where true professionals. There are very few "chef/actor", "kitchen manager/screenwriter" combos out there. These guys were truly interested in working for Rocco, based on his reputation as a chef. They put in grueling hours creating something in 6 weeks that should have taken 6 months. And when it came time to work with Rocco, he was no where to be found. This show shouldn't have been called "The Restaurant", it should have been called :

"Mama's boy goes through 2nd adolescence at the expense of his reputation, and on the backs of the BOH staff that really cared about the food!"

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Jason Perlow

Jason Perlow

Posted
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God spare us...

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor.../en_tv_eo/12369

According to published reports, the network is in final talks with the show's executive producers to offer up a second helping of the hit summer reality series revolving around the opening and running of a hip Manhattan eatery.

Jason Perlow, Co-Founder eGullet Society for Culinary Arts & Letters

Foodies who Review South Florida (Facebook) | offthebroiler.com - Food Blog (archived) | View my food photos on Instagram

Twittter: @jperlow | Mastodon @jperlow@journa.host

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Jinmyo

Jinmyo

Posted
Posted
according to Variety, NBC has been fielding offers from several celebrity chefs who would like to throw their aprons in the ring.

So now not only has Rocco jumped the shark, he's just the ramp someone else will drive up over to jump the shark.

"I've caught you Richardson, stuffing spit-backs in your vile maw. 'Let tomorrow's omelets go empty,' is that your fucking attitude?" -E. B. Farnum

"Behold, I teach you the ubermunch. The ubermunch is the meaning of the earth. Let your will say: the ubermunch shall be the meaning of the earth!" -Fritzy N.

"It's okay to like celery more than yogurt, but it's not okay to think that batter is yogurt."

Serving fine and fresh gratuitous comments since Oct 5 2001, 09:53 PM

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Blondie

Blondie

Posted
Posted
DiSpirito has also been quoted saying he wants to return for a second go-round, especially to show that he's not as maniacal as he has come across this summer.

I don't think doing a second series as damage control for the first is a very good idea :blink:

Sometimes When You Are Right, You Can Still Be Wrong. ~De La Vega

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Jaymes

Jaymes

Posted
Posted (edited)
man, i wish they had dubbed over that and called me tim coors or something.

:laugh::laugh::laugh:

I see spinoff potential.

Edited by Jaymes (log)

I don't understand why rappers have to hunch over while they stomp around the stage hollering.  It hurts my back to watch them. On the other hand, I've been thinking that perhaps I should start a rap group here at the Old Folks' Home.  Most of us already walk like that.

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Mark Sommelier

Mark Sommelier

Posted
Posted
DiSpirito has also been quoted saying he wants to return for a second go-round, especially to show that he's not as maniacal as he has come across this summer.

I don't think doing a second series as damage control for the first is a very good idea :blink:

I don't think he comes across as manaical. For 2 million dollars I would act stupid on TV also. The scene when the little light bulb in his head went off and he said "captain service" sent me and my friends into gales of uncontrolled laughter.

Mark

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