Originally Posted by
Dan Druff
The owner is a moron, because he knew what he was signing up for (and if he didn't, he should have watched some of the "restaurant gets makeover" type shows before agreeing).
However, I believe a lot of what he was saying.
First off, I believe that his restaurant was probably a complete mess, and the owner probably deserved most of the comments on-camera from Irvine about the state of his business. That's what these producers look for -- bad, dirty restaurants (often with eccentric owners) on the brink of disaster, where they can come in and get America to watch with delight as the host berates the ownership.
However, in watching some of these shows, I have often been skeptical of the "fixes" provided by the show. Some of the beautiful cosmetic fixes are not maintainable over time (especially if the restaurant is family-style and frequented by a lot of children), and more importantly, a revamped menu is not good if the staff lacks the ability to cook those foods to specifications.
The owner claims that the show didn't even leave him any recipes for the new menu. I can easily see this happening. The show only cares about what occurs when the camera is rolling, and doesn't give a shit what happens to the place after they leave.
The new prices (which were higher) were also a huge mistake, especially if the restaurant sits somewhere in down-home Nashville and not in a trendy, upscale neighorhood that could afford such price increases. In general, people don't like showing up to a restaurant and finding markedly higher prices, even if the food is considerably better.
Bottom line: The owner is an idiot if he thought this reality show was actually going to "help" his restaurant succeed. In reality, they were just making fun of him, and now he's pissed.
Every time I go to Vegas or Tahoe, and stuck in a hotel w/no DVR I get hooked on one of these shows, so I saw like 10 before I realized they were all the same.
I agree w/everything druff says, except the recipe/menu thing. The first thing he does w/every menu is make it as simple/small as possible.
Then he teaches them a dish or 2, and always makes sure they can do it themselves.
AND he is there for a full night, in case they still didn't get it.
AND here is a link w/over 100 recipes from that show.
http://www.foodnetwork.com/restauran...pes/index.html
He comes off like an ass, and someone usually quits or gets fired because he is there, but I've never seen him deny helping someone that is trying to be a better cook.
The one thing I did learn from this show is that ice machines are salmonella traps. I'd never heard that before.
I used to look at ice, in a drink, at a restaurant, as so refreshing, now I'm worried I'm gonna get salmonella.