"The Restaurant" Reality Show Season 1

[tommy]

he is firing the actors. i can't believe it. i'm beside myself.

[Jason Perlow]

he is firing the actors.  i can't believe it.  i'm beside myself.

He's doing it on the show?

[branch]

He only really canned one...

wow she must have been *really* bad when the cameras weren't on her.

[Nick]

Tonight's show was so lame I quit watching it to check back in here to see if anyone had answers on floor finishing in the thread on floors, counters, and cabinets.

I might watch the first ten minutes next week to see if it picks up.

[tommy]

when rocco explained to the hostess, that he just let go, that the 3 things she had to do were:

a) make people feel comfortable

2) seat them

3) take their coats,

and she claimed that no one told her that, i wanted to throw my wine glass through the screen.

when the waiter had the customer's amex card, and told the other guy that he had to go buy wine with it, and they dubbed in "with his amex card", i wanted to throw my wine bottle through the screen.

i don't think my TV can take this show much longer.

[branch]

Yeah I wasn't going to watch next week either, until I heard the customer on the preview say

"I CAN GET A BETTER MEAL AT OLIVE GARDEN"

bahahah that comment made my day...

[bloviatrix]

I only had a chance to watch the opening credits and it was a commercial for sponsors. The level of product placement is absolutely rediculous.

[Bothameboutasteak?]

LOL! Yes they could have gotten a better meal at Olive Garden. Unfortunately, they didn't show that Daniel Boulud and Eric Ripert etc. were ther on Opening Night as well and got lots of camera time. I guess NBC thought Gideon was more entertaining.

[JohnnyH]

I've got to believe it's some kind of health code violation to discharge a fire extinguisher in the kitchen and continue to serve food out of it -- isn't it?

[Bothameboutasteak?]

Oh Johnny....it indeed was ridiculous. I don't know if you heard one of the cooks say "Cover the fish"...but that is exactly what we did. And served it! We had lamb and fish on the grill when the fire broke out....about ten orders. Had to throw a lot out , but kept quite a few.

[JohnnyH]

I believe it. I tended bar for a couple of years at Asia de Cuba -- also one of Chodorows. It keeps occurring to me as I watch that it all seems so familiar. They were still hammering nails the morning we were supposed to open the doors, and it's a good thing the guests didn't see what was going on in the kitchen. Just as well, that place has never really been about the food.

And is it me, or does Rocco look scared out of his mind?

[Bothameboutasteak?]

Rocco was oddly nervous through the whole thing. He had no idea how NBC was going to portray him. And although he seems to be making out in that area okay....(with the exception of doing the Tarantella with Mama while a waiter is at the hospital), the impending "threat" of "not making it" is ludicrous. C'mon now....you're Rocco Dispirito. If the restaurant fails....who gives a f**k? You have already propelled yourself to fame beyond tons of chefs with way more talent.

[Elizabeth_11]

Actually I remember learning way back in Home Ec. class that fire extinguisher "foam" is completely edible. Anyone else hear this?

On the topic of the show though...my god, this place looks like a joke to me. The Coors Light girls were there! *puke*

[tommy]

And although he seems to be making out in that area okay....(with the exception of doing the Tarantella with Mama while a waiter is at the hospital),

would you expect him and perhaps the rest of the staff to stop everything and have a moment of silence for their fallen hero?

Edited July 28, 2003 by tommy (log)

[Bothameboutasteak?]

Elizabeth..that's just the beginning. Like someone says," If I were a celebrity chef...I'd spend more time being a chef, and less time being a celebrity". Indeed....just wait. Cooks start quitting because they signed on to work with Rocco and he's never in the kitchen. The focus of the show begins to go to the real deal after the next episode....

[tommy]

Cooks start quitting because they signed on to work with Rocco and he's never in the kitchen.  The focus of the show begins to go to the real deal after the next episode....

union pacific must be just about ready to close their doors if that's the case.

[Lreda]

What's Chicken Parm?

Spagatenni Oil & garlic? Who's training the waitstaff?

The best for me was they were putting cappelinni & other thin pasta in a pasta machine that has holes in it. When the pasta cooks it goes through the holes. That machine is good for tubular pastas only.

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I've got more.

This show after the 1st epidode, didn't make Rocco look bad. The 2nd made him and his management look completely incompetent.

Edited July 28, 2003 by Lreda (log)

[JohnnyH]

Actually I remember learning way back in Home Ec. class that fire extinguisher "foam"  is completely edible.  Anyone else hear this? 

On the topic of the show though...my god, this place looks like a joke to me.  The Coors Light girls were there!  *puke*

That was the best. Cut from a shot with a Coors Light tap pull framing one side to the Coors girls arriving.

Host: You look alike.

Guests: We're twins!

[Bothameboutasteak?]

Well.....Gideon is a whiny bitch. The waitstaff, like I said in earlier posts, was hired because of their drama value. The camera doesn't lie. As for "Union Pacific" employees, they had Rocco to cook with and learn from for a long time. Yeah..he's not there now, but he and all the other guys who work there have been there for awhile.

[Lreda]

My favorite was the locker room scene.

I was waiting for Ann Julian from " It's a Living" , where the girls all discussed the problems of the world.

Not to mention the advances of the sly piano player.

[tommy]

it seems naive to think that the executive chef of a restaurant will be cooking, much less teaching one to cook on any sort of regular basis. maybe i'm wrong. maybe he's not even executive chef.

[Elizabeth_11]

Forgive me if this has been brought up in this thread already, I don't believe it has but I haven't read the entire thing (sorry! ), but does Rocco's have a head pastry chef working there?

[Bothameboutasteak?]

Tommy boy...nobody was naiive. One does expect the "chef" to make an appearance at least daily in a kitchen where he is filming a TV show for chrissakes. Also...he had no idea what we were making!! None!! There was no "spaghettini al olio" on the menu. He actually hired decent, experienced cooks who were not part of the NBC hiring process.

[JohnnyH]

You're not still there, are you?

[Bothameboutasteak?]

Forgive me if this has been brought up in this thread already, I don't believe it has but I haven't read the entire thing (sorry! ), but does Rocco's have a head pastry chef working there?

Yes. Nancy is a lovely woman who was the pastry chef and worked under insane conditions with the rest of us. Quite talented.