The Restaurant

★ 10 · 2003 · 60m · Reality

The Restaurant is a reality television series that aired on NBC in 2003, with a second season broadcasting in 2004. The series had encore presentations on CNBC and Bravo. Celebrity chef Rocco DiSpirito opened the Gramercy Park, New York City, restaurant Union Pacific in August, 1997. The NBC series, it was announced, would follow DiSpirito as he launched and operated a new Manhattan restaurant. The first season revolved around the construction and opening of Rocco's on 22nd, scheduled to open in five weeks. Some 7.5 million viewers tuned in for the July 20, 2003 premiere focusing on the search for a location and construction work for the new restaurant. Among the 2000 people who showed up hoping to be hired were various actors, models and show business hopefuls. In addition to Rocco's mother, Nicolina DiSpirito, known for her famous meatballs, the show's on-camera personnel included David Miller, Alex Corrado, Domiziano Arcangeli, Heather Kristin, Natalie Norman, Topher Goodman, Lisa Wurzel, Brian Allen, Gideon Horowitz, Heather Snell, Amanda Congdon, Pete Giovine, Uzay Tumer, Emily Shaw, Lonn Coward, Carrie Keranen, Colleen Fitzgerald, Caroline Matler, Brian Petruzzell, Lola Belle, Susanna Hari, Tony Acinapura, John Charlesworth, Laurent Saillard, Perry Pollaci, Matt DiBarro and Tim Donoho.

Episodes

▶1. A Kid From Queens Dreams Big60m · Rocco DiSpirito is a kid from Queens who's made good. He's the chef of a three-star Manhattan restaurant, and he has a dream. He wants to open a new restaurant to get back to his Italian American roots. He's even getting his Mom to help him. The problem is he's only got seven weeks to build it and open it - and that usually takes seven months. Rocco begins to search for the ideal location and he encounters pitfalls along the way. He finally finds a space and the PR machine starts to kicks in. Following an announcement on the Today Show, two thousand people show up to interview for jobs. As Rocco trains his new staff, the old space is demolished. The building phase begins and quickly falls behind schedule. With three days left to go, the construction reaches a frenzied pitch, and tempers fray. The looming deadline looks like an impossibility, the staff has not had time to properly train, and the clock keeps ticking. In the frantic last minutes before opening, everyone pitches in. The re ▶2. Ready or Not, Here They Come60m · The doors open for the restaurant's ""soft launch"". This is the night where friends and family test the food, but these guests are anything but sympathetic. As complaints escalate, a fire breaks out in the kitchen. Rocco extinguishes the flames, but the smoke drives away the food critic for the New York Times. Preparing for the official opening - the ""hard launch"" - Rocco fires a hostess and demotes a waiter to a runner. Paying customers arrive, and complaints about the food continue. Then one of the waiters falls and injures himself, but management doesn't care. The staff feels overworked, underpaid, under appreciated and abused. Mutiny is in the air, and Rocco doesn't have a clue as he dances with his Mama to an Italian folk song.▶3. The Dream Becomes a Nightmare60m · The morning after the official opening, one of the waiters shows up with his wounded arm in a sling and Rocco treats him badly. Reflecting the staff's unhappy mood, another waitress talks about quitting. After an apathetic pep talk - while his kitchen is going through hell, his hostesses are at war, his bartenders are understaffed, and his waiters are forced to give bad service - Rocco ignores the problems and focuses on schmoozing. Customers continue to complain, but now even Rocco and his Mama can't make them happy. The situation goes from bad to worse when a key newspaper critic is unhappy with her food, and Rocco unfairly vents his frustrations on the staff and leaves. At the end of the night, the entire front of house staff meets for a gripe-fest about Rocco. Completely oblivious, Rocco dances 'til dawn at a chic nightclub across town. The next morning, he reads the critic's negative review and realizes his restaurant is in trouble.▶4. Up, Then Down Again60m · At the pre-service staff meeting, Rocco gets his comeuppance. Two of his top servers tell him they are unhappy with his cavalier actions. Then his general manager threatens to quit. To right the wrongs, Rocco calls in Monsignor Marchese to bless the restaurant. Then Rocco goes back to the soul of the restaurant, the kitchen. He works hard to make the kitchen better, the change is contagious, and pretty soon the whole restaurant is humming with happiness for the first time ever. Or is it?▶5. Stage Fright60m · The staff is angry that their paychecks haven't arrived - some of them can't even pay the rent. Rocco's overworked Mom gets sick. Then three of his cooks can't come to work because they got in a bloody bar fight, and Rocco wonders if the bad news will ever end. Bringing food to his sick Mom, Rocco realizes he has been pushing everyone too hard. He decides to work as a server and demonstrate he's part of the team. That night he works with Uzay. Struggling to keep up, Rocco earns the staff's grudging admiration. He also gains a new appreciation for how difficult their jobs are.▶6. All's Well That Ends Well60m · After losing part of his staff Rocco is forced to hire a new waitress, a blonde bombshell named Lauren. But it touches off a ""Battle of the Blondes"" when Heather, the current bartending blonde feels threatened and decides to make things as difficult as possible for the new girl. After Carrie takes a bad fall in the kitchen, action is finally taken to remedy the slippery situation. And Pete takes a fall of his own when Laurent and Rocco decide to demote him to dishwasher. In the kitchen, Tony gives Perry a second chance on the grill, but it will be his last chance if he messes up. After a tumultuous beginning Rocco decides things are finally starting to go well and invites his staff for a retreat in the Hamptons to reward them for working so hard. After fun in the sun and a clambake the staff gathers around a bonfire for an emotional moment. And the fun continues into the night.

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