"The Restaurant" Reality Show Season 2

[Bicycle Lee]

Is the hatred/disdain expressed towards Chowderow because he really is an ass, or is it a general dislike of the money-men and their interference in how a chef wants to run a restaurant?

YES

However....

I personally think that if the place is busy and they are not making money then it is not HIS fault...it is his staff's. They are either wasting more than they are making (not very likely) or they are giving away a lot of meals to folks who think they deserve free meals (celebs and other pompous asses). Of course these are not the only two possibilities, but...

[Rachel Perlow]

I'm waiting for it to come out that the restaurant paid for that Italian chef to fly out and make a birthday dinner for Rocco. Surprise!!!!!!

Well you didn't think they really spend $9000 on 5000 business cards, did you?

[Mabelline]

Perhaps the business cards are delivered with an entree?

[carp]

I like that fox mentions that Chodorow, a felon, spent time in prison back in 1996...

The New York Magazine also mentions it, but they say it is because of "management issues" related to an aquisition.

Edited April 20, 2004 by carp (log)

[JPW]

However....

I personally think that if the place is busy and they are not making money then it is not HIS fault...it is his staff's. They are either wasting more than they are making (not very likely) or they are giving away a lot of meals to folks who think they deserve free meals (celebs and other pompous asses). Of course these are not the only two possibilities, but...

By "HIS" I am guessing that you mean Rocco.

I disagree. It is his fault. If the staff is ripping the restaurant off, or just being wasteful, the ultimate blame rides with Rocco, who is supposed to be in charge.

He hasn't exactly set a sterling example of how to be thrifty. To wit --

1)Giving bartender girl from Season 1 the Vespa

2) Not 1, but 2, assistants in his personal office in another building with some fairly nice computer equipment. (OK maybe the one kid was an intern)

3) The (at least to my mind) over the top business cards at $1.80 per.

[Mabelline]

I personally think the Vespa incident was staged by Vespa, because they were not exposed like the American Express and Coors and Water were. I can see executives sittin' around sayin' "Well Hell, we gotta get some Bang for OUR Buck." Can't you???

Edited April 20, 2004 by Mabelline (log)

[Callipygos]

I personally think that if the place is busy and they are not making money then it is not HIS fault...it is his staff's. They are either wasting more than they are making (not very likely) or they are giving away a lot of meals to folks who think they deserve free meals (celebs and other pompous asses). Of course these are not the only two possibilities, but...

The aforementioned NEW YORK MAGAZINE article had the detail that there was a huge sum on record hs having been spent on "flowers" -- and there never were any flowers on display at Rocco's.

[Carolyn Tillie]

Anyone notice how his weight seemed to fluctuate? One minutes he is overweight and scruffy (the slimy book signing comes to mind) and the next minute he is skinny (when on the Vespa with that Italian guy). Someone needs to check there editing.

That was totally my thought! Not that it was fluctuating, but that he actually looks PUDGY!

And I'm totally hooked, loving every darn second of it.

[Mabelline]

This is so fun! Run down, down some talented cook who by his own admission throws out that he's turned down modelling gigs and motion pics. You need to take them, DUDE, and quit attempting to be the Renaissance Man of food. You have been measured and you ain't coming close to good!!

Has his mother ever took in his slack reins?? Because he's using her like a Kleenex!!!

[Bicycle Lee]

I was actually referring to Jeffrey C. when I said it wasn't his fault... I do feel that Rocco is to blame...

[SobaAddict70]

Man!!!!

I need to catch the show. I totally missed the first season.

I wonder: does Chowderhead and/or Rocco surf eGullet? Wonder if they'd like to chime in?

Soba

[daysee8]

I was actually referring to Jeffrey C. when I said it wasn't his fault... I do feel that Rocco is to blame...

I'd say they are both at fault, in addition to several others ...

Rocco made the mistake of thinking that his name was big enough that as long as it was on the product, people would buy it and nothing else mattered.

Chodorow made the mistake of investing his dough in a guy who had a reputation for having little regard for cost in making decisions.

Both of them believed that they could defy the odds and open a place on a timeline that wouldn't be attempted by anyone.

Both of them also believed they could pretty much ignore things, and everyone else would carry the flack.

And those who were entrusted to get things done (management at the restaurant, etc) just kept on going along for the ride, never asking who was really in charge, and when things would get fixed.

Making a deal with the devil is never a good thing. Being the devil, and making a deal with the devil is bound to be a disaster.

[Mabelline]

I'd bet either they do, or some schmucks do so for them. Youall know he's a busy personality! I've wondered about eG for people like Rachel, because she's definitely toned her act down, but if that gal would quit handling immense loads of ingredients, I'd be happy.

[jersey13]

I'd bet either they do, or some schmucks do so for them. Youall know he's a busy personality! I've wondered about eG for people like Rachel, because she's definitely toned her act down, but if that gal would quit handling immense loads of ingredients, I'd be happy.

[JPW]

I was actually referring to Jeffrey C. when I said it wasn't his fault... I do feel that Rocco is to blame...

Sorry that I misread.

I guess that for JC's "blame" the question is how soon, how often and how closely should he be looking at the numbers?

Should he have been keeping a closer eye on place?

Not quite sure yet where I lie. Let you know at the end of the season.

[bleachboy]

At one point in the episode, Chodorow mentioned that he had spent US$4 million starting the restaurant. If that's true, and assuming (this is a wild guess) that he can resell the property for $3 million, that means that by the time he stormtrooped into the place, he was out $1,600,000. Frankly, I was rooting for him. If that had been my investment capital, I would have been up Rocco's ass about six weeks into the operation.

[Mabelline]

JPW, you and I are definitely on the fence with this here deal, and damnit, they are getting the splash they wanted!! Queen fifi, get back from that vacation, tour, whatever!! We need your razorsharp piehole, gal!!

[tissue]

Jeffrey is a lot more reasonable than Rocco.

[Lesley C]

I would have been up Rocco's ass about six weeks into the operation

Considering his lecherous behaviour at the book signing, looks to me like he just might enjoy that.

[Jason Perlow]

Jeffrey is a lot more reasonable than Rocco.

I have a hard time not siding with Chodorow after watching the show. Still, knowing what the man is capable of, and how his reputation precedes him, you have to think that these two deserve each other.

[Tim D]

I have a hard time not siding with Chodorow after watching the show.

Same here. Kinda sad isn't it.

[Jason Perlow]

I have a hard time not siding with Chodorow after watching the show.

Same here. Kinda sad isn't it.

Its sad, if you consider how a truly talented and hard worklng chef like Doug Psaltis at Mix serving high end, high quality and technically complicated food got totally and undeservedly and prematurely shafted by Chodorow while Rocco was permitted for months upon months to be completely incompentent, a non participant at his own restaurant and lose mountains of money with a far more touristy place serving glorified pizza parlor food that was expected to be a huge profit center, yes.

Roccos should have been closed/repurposed and Dispirito should have been thrown out on his ass after the first 3 months. With Mix and Psaltis, Chodorow erroneously committed infanticide on a restaurant that was arguably just starting to be one of the most innovative and best new high-end restaurants in the entire city, if not the whole country. Now we will never know what potential that could have been reached.

Edited April 20, 2004 by Jason Perlow (log)

[bloviatrix]

Considering The Restaurant is a Mark Burnett show, how's this for synergy....on the second season of The Apprentice one of the tasks will be to figure out how to improve revenues at Rocco's.

[KatieLoeb]

At one point in the episode, Chodorow mentioned that he had spent US$4 million starting the restaurant.  If that's true, and assuming (this is a wild guess) that he can resell the property for $3 million, that means that by the time he stormtrooped into the place, he was out $1,600,000.  Frankly, I was rooting for him.  If that had been my investment capital, I would have been up Rocco's ass about six weeks into the operation.

As the controller of a small, but very busy cash generating restaurant, I think I have a bit of insight into how the numbers work. Mr. Chowderhead might be a bit too busy himself for the daily report, but undoubtedly someone in that organization or in the Briefcase Brigade of accountants that seem to always be at his heels was in charge of the daily cash position of the restaurant. The invoices don't enter themselves into the accounting program and the checks don't get generated as if by magic. SOMEONE has that job. Whether it's an entry level bookkeeper who answers to one of the Briefcase Brigade, or a CPA who's only job is to oversee that restaurant out of Chowderow's stable of investments, SOMEONE has been asleep at the wheel if it's this out of hand. If no one is approving the purchase of sterling flatware for a place that serves food in cardboard, well, I don't have a whole lot of sympathy for either side's whining and moaning at this late date. What happens when the numerous monthly and quarterly tax payments come due? Who's making sure that the credit card portion of the sales are accurately making their way into the bank account? Who's making sure the payroll is getting reviewed and the employer taxes are getting paid? Who's making sure the credit card portion of the waiter's tips is transferred to the payroll account so if the restaurant were to close tomorrow they wouldn't get sued for not paying those monies to the waitstaff? Who's making sure the cash sales minus any paid outs are equalling the cash deposits and that money isn't simply disappearing along the way?

It isn't about being up the chef's ass, it's about sound fiscal management and oversight. Chowderow has owned enough restaurants for enough years to know better than to let shit get this out of hand (if indeed it is as out of hand as it's being described and isn't just for the camera's benefit) before "stormtrooping" the place. And if he did let it get this out of hand then he has no one to blame but himself.

And Rocco is just an ass. He's reaping what he sowed by entering into this Faustian deal in the first place. I hope he thinks it's worth what was once a stellar reputation. Now he's just a punch line. He earned it.

[ronnie_suburban]

While I can understand, on a personal level, why Chodorow hadn't talked to Rocco "in months" (who'd want to?) from a professional perspective it was not a very responsible choice. Their meeting should have come much earlier--when the losses started, not after they'd grown to over half a million dollars.

OTOH, Chodorow seemed almost boastful about it. Perhaps he knew full well about the mounting losses and chose to not intervene in the hopes of leveraging what he considered to be Rocco's inevitable failure.

The biggest problem with speculating (although it is fun ) is that we don't know how much Burnett is holding back nor how accurate he is in the re-telling. One good example of this 'veracity parlax' is the conversation here about how crowded the restaurant really was...or wasn't. While I believe that both Rocco and Chodorow are both to blame for its failing, the busy-ness (or lack thereof) of the restaurant has some relevance as to which of them is more responsible for it.

=R=