"The Restaurant" Reality Show Season 2

[TrishCT]

From what I understand from Uzay's post, she didn't actually take a drink.

[Dignan]

Anyway, seems maybe redfish is confusing the drinking-a-shot-waitress with the intern-who-was-bartending-while-underage. Let's all reread the thread and figure it out. Starting ... Now!

[Lopaka]

From TV Guide --

THE LAST COURSE: NBC has decided to dump the remaining episodes of The Restaurant on a night when most people will be holed up in a real restaurant. Episodes 4 and 5 will air this Saturday at 8 and 9 pm/ET, respectively, and the series finale will run on Saturday, June 5 at 8 pm/ET.

Doesn't seem to be scheduled in the San Francisco Bay area at all. It's dead, Jim.

[Dignan]

It's on here in Houston, starting 7pm cst....

[Mabelline]

Hot Damn! It's actually going to be on in Billings. 7 pm mst, as well.

[FistFullaRoux]

So did anyone actually see the thing?

Couples therapy. Unbelievable. And it was edited to make it look like it worked....

A fairy tale ending after all?

[branch]

Ok, that impromptu therapy session was just... odd.

I need a drink now.

[Carolyn Tillie]

From TV Guide --

THE LAST COURSE: NBC has decided to dump the remaining episodes of The Restaurant on a night when most people will be holed up in a real restaurant. Episodes 4 and 5 will air this Saturday at 8 and 9 pm/ET, respectively, and the series finale will run on Saturday, June 5 at 8 pm/ET.   

Doesn't seem to be scheduled in the San Francisco Bay area at all. It's dead, Jim.

Wrong - here in Napa it is showing at 9:00 p.m. Saturday night on our NBC affiliate.

[FistFullaRoux]

OK, so evidently what I just watched was a previous episode. I haven't caught it in a while, and there's a followup episode on now.

To be continued....

Edited May 30, 2004 by FistFullaRoux (log)

[Dignan]

No, I think it's what someone indicated earlier... It was previously preempted, and now they are showing what they have left there at NBC... so the finale should be coming.

[Mabelline]

Look up-page halfway. There's 2 episodes tonight, and (maybe?) one next week.

Holy cow---what a trainwreck.

[sladeums]

What a day for exec chef Tony:

JC: "...dude you got a big raise..."

Rocco: "...uhh dude, you're fired I'm gonna cook..."

Rocco, this is the guy that makes sure your elderly mother is eating daily.

I also found it a bit amusing at the start of the first episode tonight when Rocco was trying to 'come up with a new sauce'.

BOH activity on these two installmensts was a lot better than the earlier episodes.

[jhlurie]

OK, so evidently what I just watched was a previous episode. I haven't caught it in a while, and there's a followup episode on now.

No, these were both new episodes.

Frankly, none of this made Rocco look any better. Even the "Rocco saves the day" sequence (they had one in BOTH episodes) they are almost contractually obliged to have went South. Of course the sequence of events (particularly around Tony's firing) seems VERY odd. Actually, the editing around the sequence with the kitchen fire seemed a bit odd too.

Okay, with respect to the frustrated FOH employees... even though Rocco is a boob and "the worst boss ever", he doesn't report to you. You guys are pretty far down the decision making chain. A boss owes you action and explanations on YOUR part of the business, not a different part. He owes Jeffrey the explanations on the other parts.

Really, this all seems to boil down to Rocco trying to pass the buck. Notice how he planted the idea that "Tony didn't look at the numbers". Hey, blockhead... that's YOUR job if you own the place. Tony got fired because he cooperated with Jeffrey. It's that simple.

Also, notice how Laurent manages to turn on a dime? What's the deal with that?

I'm also somewhat done with feeling sorry for Momma. A lot of Rocco's contradictory B.S. was right in front of her and unless she does it off camera she never calls him on it. She seemed to love Tony, and seemed to be treated well by him, and hardly blinked when Rocco canned him.

The funniest moment for me was Rocco thinking that barstools really COULD cost $1500 a piece. Moron.

I'm actually glad I saw these episodes. Originally I didn't care much after the "hiatus" was announced, and later certainly didn't want to take up part of a weekend to watch more of this trainwreck. But I was home tonight anyway, and they arguably were two of the best episodes yet, even if the editing was very suspicious.

[Dignan]

Boy oh boy. Rocco has his exec sit on the choping block for a few moments and wait so that Rocco can sign a few more of his cookbooks before he fires the man?

[mags]

Me, I was blown away that Rocco brings his mother to a meeting with his business partner. That's not a real swift move. But yeppers, this whole thing is a train-wreck.

[Atomic Lunch]

Oh fudge-knuckle! I missed it. I got behind on my egulleting and I read the post about it being on at exactly 10 pm. Did anyone in NYC tape it? And the ironic thing is that I walked past Rocco's today.

So Rocco fired Tony? Tony seemed to be holding the place together pretty well. Anyone know where Tony's cooking now?

[Mabelline]

The funniest moment for me was Rocco thinking that barstools really COULD cost $1500 a piece. Moron.

At least we now have the explanation for the business card bill, monthly floral bill (for invisible flowers) and how a restaurant can go through that much money.

Sure wish I supplied them with invisible something

[Holly Moore]

The thing is, Rocco will never get what is so, so wrong with him. Most telling to me - three things.

1. On this evening's show, more than once, he walks through the entire front of the house during set up without saying hi to anyone, without even making eye contact.

2. On the first evening the kitchen is functioning without the executive chef he walks out mid-rush and never returns.

3. When his manager confronts him about being there, (duh!) you can almost see the light bulb turning on over his head. A revelation. Then the light splutters and goes out when he musters up all his mettle and says I'm going to stick it out - "two days, three days, even a week, whatever it takes."

This should be a mandatory course at the CIA for wannabe celebrity chef's - what not to do if you want to outlast the 10 minutes of fame Andy Warhol has allotted to everyone.

[jhlurie]

When his manager confronts him about being there, (duh!) you can almost see the light bulb turning on over his head.  A revelation.  Then the light splutters and goes out when he musters up all his mettle and says I'm going to stick it out - "two days, three days, even a week, whatever it takes."

I wanted to yell out "hey, putz, how about a YEAR--assuming you are lucky enough to find another 'Tony' to actually cover your ass while you are on Regis or Jay Leno's show."

[kelbutt]

The thing is, Rocco will never get what is so, so wrong with him. 

Oh, he gets that he's a narcissist. And that it's about HIM and it's HIS name on the awning. What's funny (well, ironic, anyway) to me, is that the Rocco/Chowderhead impasse mirrors exactly the FOH/BOH division. The "You wouldn't last for a moment without ME" attitude. The absolute failure of one hand to appreciate the work done by the other. Chowderow wanted a rock star chef, so that he could cash in on some free notoriety, and he got a guy that works much harder on the notoriety part than the cooking part. Rocco wanted someone to provide all the cash for a big, splashy vanity project. He got what he wanted, too, except he also got someone who actually wants a return on the investment.

I'm mostly surprised Laurent hasn't stepped up to the plate. I bet he could work both sides of the impasse (and make his own life much less complicated) without even working up a sweat.

[Holly Moore]

The thing is, Rocco will never get what is so, so wrong with him.  

Oh, he gets that he's a narcissist. And that it's about HIM and it's HIS name on the awning. What's funny (well, ironic, anyway) to me, is that the Rocco/Chowderhead impasse mirrors exactly the FOH/BOH division. The "You wouldn't last for a moment without ME" attitude. The absolute failure of one hand to appreciate the work done by the other. Chowderow wanted a rock star chef, so that he could cash in on some free notoriety, and he got a guy that works much harder on the notoriety part than the cooking part. Rocco wanted someone to provide all the cash for a big, splashy vanity project. He got what he wanted, too, except he also got someone who actually wants a return on the investment.

I'm mostly surprised Laurent hasn't stepped up to the plate. I bet he could work both sides of the impasse (and make his own life much less complicated) without even working up a sweat.

He get's that he is a narcissist. But he also thinks he is a great chef. He may be a great cook, but he must have cut all the kitchen management courses.

I wonder if someone familiar with both the Union Pacific Rocco and Rocco's Rocco could do a compare and contrast. I'd be amazed if he was as clueless at Union Pacific as he has shown himself to be at Rocco's.

[Mabelline]

What shocked me was Rocco nearly kickin' Tony in the shins when he'd gone upstairs to greet the Pepin table. How could you expect the chef to not want to come out meet folks like that, and suggest his best? I was waiting, expecting Rocco to turn and bite him, like some old jealous horse.

[FistFullaRoux]

These were the first two episodes I've seen this season. I watched almost all of last season.

My impressions - remembering that I have only seen these two shows and read about the rest, and our view is colored by the editing and post production.

Rocco is a putz. He's a putz who can cook, but he's a putz. You don't leave a busy kitchen, and not at least tell someone else to take over for you. A line cook dosen't do that, and a head/executive chef certainly doesn't.

Rocco's narcissism, even though it is admitted, is going to hurt him bad. He's making rotten business decisions, he's making bad personal decisions, and he's at leat being painted to look like a celebrity. Not celebrity chef, just a celebrity.

I find it hard to believe that Jeffery is losing money in that restaurant. At least not in the amounts that he claims. Don't forget, this is a TV show that's sponsored. By a lot of major corporate entities. If the deal wasn't worked so that they made a profit without selling the first manicotti, then everyone except Mark Burnett has made bad decisions.

Who the hell puts a grill against a wood wall? And then, after discovering that heat+fuel+oxygen=FIRE, leaves it in the same place without adressing the issue.

At least Rocco knew that making some pizzas and schmoozing with the clientelle would make things a little better. OK sure, he was holding court. But he was at least trying.

Rocco needs an executive chef to oversee the kitchen. Rocco can go in and get his hands dirty every once in a while, but he needs to have somebody who can run the place whether he is there or not, and keep the "artistic vision" intact. Then he's free to roam where ever the hell he wants, he can autograph all of the cookbooks he wants, and can still keep his name on the place.

I thought him making the production of autographing cookbooks in front of Tony before he canned him was completely asinine. It looked like he was trying to say "I'm the marquee attraction in this place, I am famous, and you are a glorified line cook". Even if I had liked Rocco before, it was in very bad taste for him to do that. That was just rubbing it in.

edited for rotten typos

Edited May 30, 2004 by FistFullaRoux (log)

[Dignan]

Of course the sequence of events (particularly around Tony's firing) seems VERY odd.  Actually, the editing around the sequence with the kitchen fire seemed a bit odd too.

I wonder whether you might expand on what you felt was suspicious about the editing in the episode?

I find it hard to believe that Jeffery is losing money in that restaurant. At least not in the amounts that he claims. Don't forget, this is a TV show that's sponsored. By a lot of major corporate entities. If the deal wasn't worked so that they made a profit without selling the first manicotti, then everyone except Mark Burnett has made bad decisions.

Perhaps Chowd's looking at the P&L without regard to any endorsement money or particpation fees that may have been advanced. He would have to in order to accurately judge the operations. So while he may not be out personally what he says is the loss in operations, wouldn't it be a legit point to make about the management?

I agree with the Putz conclusion. The cookbook signing in front of his exec appears nothing other than a calculated my-chair-is-higher-than-yours slap in the face. When he walked out of the restaurant during rush to go to his office for a cocktail, I asked out loud: "Where in the hell are you going?"

I've only seen a large handful of these shows altogether, a few from last season during a holiday marathon on Bravo and one or two this season before tonight, but it seems to me from what I've seen and read that this entire project has been a complete clusterfuck.

[sladeums]

8<

I find it hard to believe that Jeffery is losing money in that restaurant. At least not in the amounts that he claims. Don't forget, this is a TV show that's sponsored. By a lot of major corporate entities. If the deal wasn't worked so that they made a profit without selling the first manicotti, then everyone except Mark Burnett has made bad decisions.

>8

I thought someone had mentioned somewhere that as a "Reality" program this was being produced by the networks "News" arm (if not in this thread then the Apprentice thread and I am assuming the same is true here).

If so, the involved "cast" may not be reaping any rewards except the exposure.