"The Restaurant" Reality Show Season 1

[DPadrona]

LOL!  The ne'er do wells showed up from Rocco's other restaurant to taunt the cooks who were working at Rocco's on 22nd.  How they knew where we would be has been a point of debate.  What their intentions were, I have no idea....just the results.

if you're suggesting that some guys from UP mixed it up with you guys, i'm surprised *that* didn't air. that would be some real drama!

Yes. They did do just that. The cameramen from NBC were actually present..(one jumped in!), but thankfully for all of us, they didn't air the footage. Drama indeed.

[DPadrona]

i don't think anyone has fault with the reason the cook's left rocco's (ie. the style of food, the fact he wasn't in the kitchen, etc.)

i think it's pretty shafty when peeps don't show up for their shifts though...because that means that you're screwing over your co-workers.

personally, i would have just given my two weeks notice and quit...without all the hospital smack.

Well, we thought it was pretty shafty to not be paid for working and holding up our end of the employer\employee agreement.

We were never given an explanation as to why we weren't getting paid (the kitchen"sorry we haven't paid you", scene was filmed after we quit).

We ALL offered a 2 week notice, and were told that it wasn't necessary, that they could handle it .

[tommy]

We ALL offered a 2 week notice, and were told that it wasn't necessary, that they could handle it .

but that was after you all orchestrated not coming in, yes? most companies would have shown you the door at that moment as well.

[Jinmyo]

We were never given an explanation as to why we weren't getting paid (the kitchen"sorry we haven't paid you", scene was filmed after we quit).

We ALL offered a 2 week notice, and were told that it wasn't necessary, that they could handle it .

The show is what they show.

I can't understand Rocco doing this thing. (Well, I can, but I'd like to like Rocco so it the thing keeps jarring.)

I can understand BOH people wanting to work with him or at least in a place where it seemed he was following a dream, the food and place the mainfestation of that dream.

I can understand BOH walking out.

DPadrona, I saw you in a few shots early in the show and you were one of the few people who seemed to be doing the job.

[DPadrona]

We ALL offered a 2 week notice, and were told that it wasn't necessary, that they could handle it .

but that was after you all orchestrated not coming in, yes? most companies would have shown you the door at that moment as well.

I went in the day after the fight and was told to take the day off. We then all had conversations with all the bosses and said that it wasn't the place for us, but we'd gladly offer the 2 weeks.

We didn't orchestrate anything there. And nobody has hard feelings for anyone else in the kitchen even now. We are all still friends and hang out together, although almost no one from the original crew is there any longer, unfortunately.

[DPadrona]

We were never given an explanation as to why we weren't getting paid (the kitchen"sorry we haven't paid you", scene was filmed after we quit).

We ALL offered a 2 week notice, and were told that it wasn't necessary, that they could handle it .

The show is what they show.

I can't understand Rocco doing this thing. (Well, I can, but I'd like to like Rocco so it the thing keeps jarring.)

I can understand BOH people wanting to work with him or at least in a place where it seemed he was following a dream, the food and place the mainfestation of that dream.

I can understand BOH walking out.

DPadrona, I saw you in a few shots early in the show and you were one of the few people who seemed to be doing the job.

Thank you very much! A lot of cooks worked really hard there. I appreciate your comment!

[vox]

vox, that's how it is on the line.

Sous or exec gets better. But it's still not much for most.

*sigh*

i know. you gotta forgive a girl for hoping...

[vox]

p.s. what the crap does BOH stand for?

there's GOT to be a fine dining restaurant somewhere that pays people a decent wage.

i'm going to get micheal moore on it.

[Jinmyo]

p.s. what the crap does BOH stand for?

"BOH"= "Broke, Openly Hounded"

No. It's Back of the House. FOH is Front of the House.

[herbacidal]

p.s. what the crap does BOH stand for?

there's GOT to be a fine dining restaurant somewhere that pays people a decent wage. 

i'm going to get micheal moore on it.

BOH is back of the house, ie kitchen staff

FOH is front of the house: servers, host staff, bartenders, etc.

the dining areas are the floor, FOH can also be floor staff

[tommy]

I went in the day after the fight and was told to take the day off.  We then all had conversations with all the bosses and said that it wasn't the place for us, but we'd gladly offer the 2 weeks.

We didn't orchestrate anything there.

when people give 2 weeks notice, there's an assumption that it's in good faith. if you start off with three people playing hookie, your offer to stay 2 more weeks would generally be dismissed. as it seems it was in this case.

but your comment confuses me. are you saying that you were told to take that day off? from what we saw on the show, 3 people said "i'm not going in today. fuck them" essentially. if you're telling us that it didn't happen that way, then i'm afraid that editing is more devious than we had suspected.

[madziast]

if you're suggesting that some guys from UP mixed it up with you guys, i'm surprised *that* didn't air.  that would be some real drama!

a little too real for "reality tv", non?

[madziast]

Yes, eGullet is great, isn't it? Continually surprises.

yep! AND you can learn about all sorts of stuff, like hospitals' privacy protection laws

LOVE IT here!

[madziast]

has anyone seen Sept. issue of Gourmet yet? it's a "special television issue"... i'm not kidding! interesting behind-the-scenes article on the show, "Get Real" by Christian Wright, followed by a short tiny "review" by Jay Cheshes, the new NYC restaurant reviewer. The article repeats many sentiments voiced on the thread (contrieved, edited by tv suits, product placement, manipulation and not paying the staff), plus more dirt (keeping inept employees on staff for the cameras as they were "recurring characters" and telling other hires they'd start once the cameras were gone). Don't want to spoil all your reading fun, esp. what rocco had to say, but there is a great description of the casting/staffing process that i can't resist quoting here:

"...the show's director is trolling the rows[of aplicants] for "professional prospects" and sending them to the head of the line.

Once a prospective server, say, or sommelier makes it past the psychologist at the first table, he is rewarded with an edible necklace from Dylan's Candy Bar and advances to Table 2. There, co-executive chef David Coleman and general manager LAurent Saillard, DiSpirito loyalists, along with a story-line producer from the TV production side, interview applicants." psychologist? edible necklace rewards???

and so it goes.

from Jay Cheshes:

"Rocco DeSpirito's (sic!) new restaurant serves food that seems to have been test-marketed for mass appeal. His good, if unremarkable, interpretations of Italain American classis taste like better versions of what you might find at the Olive Garden."

He talks about some dishes (mixed appeal) and ends on this note: "Your best bets are the most straighforward dishes on the menu-peppery wild arugula salad, sea salt-sprinkled crudo, and simply grilled trout, porgy, and sea bass. In the end, though, devoid of the producer-picked crowds and given its fairly uninspiring food, Rocco's is likely to become just another big, half-empty Manhattan restaurant."

the issue also contains "Reality Check" of 13 chefs with tv shows--basically valentines to them with the occasional delicate slap (ming tsai's blue ginger, puck's spago)--not a reality check at all!!! i'm not saying the restaurants are bad but it seems that the writer(s? no reviewer names provided) recite general, rote positive things about the restaurants and chefs without getting a real sense of the food and place.

only one of them (cafe annie in tx) mentioned the name of the chef who actually cooks there in the shade of the star. in case of felidia, the reviewer says that "i'is safe to assume [Lidia] is not in the kitchen," yet does not investigate who's behind the wonderful food. too bad, missed opportunity to give credit to the guys (and gals) sweating in the kitchen to keep the stars on tv and the customers happy. "celebrity chefs" rely on these people for their reputation, wouldn't hurt to admit that.

[bourdain]

If indeed the joint was not paying their cooks anywhere near on time there can be only one explanation: good "drama". And it's unforgivable. Real people who have to pay real rent to real fucking landlords take it in the twins to make it more exciting for the principals? Shameful if true.

My hard and fast rule as a line cook--and for line cooks:

Cooks show up five or six shifts a week on time--and give it their best. In return, the house, ONCE A WEEK (or as agreed) pays the agreed upon amount. ON FUCKING TIME. Cooks are not lenders, nor investors--nor stupid enough to operate a business where they can't pay their help. They should get paid--and don't give me any of that wait-until-the-banks-close-on-Friday-so-I get to kite checks for the weekend shit either. You're late with my money? Fine. Just know that the next time, I won't complain, I won't ask, I won;t beg--I'll simply take off my apron and leave. And if you are Jeffrey fucking Chodorow and are drowning in cash and own half the restaurants in the Western world and you're late with my money? You are getting my foot solidly up your ass.

[tootallfortoques]

Preach, Brother Bourdain!

[Jason Perlow]

And be warned, robber baron restauranteurs: you do not want Tony's foot up your ass.

[ronnie_suburban]

Thank you Tony...I needed that.

=R=

[Smoky "T"]

Mr. Bourdain,

For all restaurant workers out there,

A big you!

[duckduck]

Thank God for people like Tony! There are too many people out there that don't give a fuck when their people get paid or how they screw them over. And some are stupid enough to say it to our faces. I've worked for a couple. I've gone hungry for several days because one "didn't have the time " to give me the paycheck she said days earlier she would just leave in the register. People are amazing...in good and bad ways. Thank God for the good people with good hearts that still care. Love you Tony!

[Bux]

Who knows what really happened or if wages were withheld to create tension and two wrongs don't make a right, but it you don't get paid on Friday, you're no longer obligated to work on Saturday or give two weeks notice. A job is not just about an employee's obligations. There's been all this talk about payroll and the need for outside payroll management companies vs. the ability of an accountant to handle the job on a permanent or temporary roll, but it's also possible to just give the staff fifty cents on the payroll dollar on account and work the rest of the check out in a week or two so they can pay their rent. It's not like there aren't millions of dollars floating around in everyone's face.

[Bux]

Too bad we can't shout "You are the weakest link!" or vote anyone off the island.

It appeared to me as if several people have been voted off the island, declared the weakest link and been made to cry. "We" didn't really have a say in the other "reality" shows either. Rocco, of course, is not one of the contestants, or is he the big loser? He's the guy who came in with a pretty sterling reputation.

[Foam Pants]

Rocco, of course, is not one of the contestants, or is he the big loser? He's the guy who came in with a pretty sterling reputation.

I finally caught some of this show, the two most recent ones. Such is life without a TV.

It really is a train wreck of a business in my opinion. It just doesn't seem to fit because, as Bux indicates, Rocco obviously had his shit together or he wouldn't be where he is today. How could someone who got it so right before get it so wrong this time around? Do most successful people in the restaurant business have a few spectacular failures and Rocco's happens to be on camera?

As far as Rocco talking about doing this again, this man obviously has a hard time with self-evaluation or he would realize he doesn't look good in cheesy trucker's caps.

[Mark Sommelier]

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.

[IrishCream]

Thanks Tony and all...for speaking out about the payroll heist. Several former Rocco's employees all say that they were not paid, when it is clear that the money to pay them was available (not that it matters whether the money was available or not...it just makes it more heinous). I am inclined to believe them. When the employees signed their contract, did it stipulate that they might not be paid in order to create tension on the show?

I highly recommend that all the employees who were not paid on a timely basis file a complaint with the US Dept. of Labor. Rocco's should be severely penalized. And forget about what the employment contracts said. Let the government deal with it.

I am so appalled. I would never step foot in that place under any circumstances. Boycott!