Not that I write about (or ever watch) reality TV, but as someone who's fairly involved with the food and restaurant business, I still can't believe this shit. The backers thought the restaurant would be a success? And even when they had the opening drama of trying to get the restaurant to open on time?
If they had been smart, they would have known that a hot chef does not good television make.
What they should have known, and I know from conversations with people who have done it, and not from watching the show, is that you don't open a restaurant on a deadline. You get everything as ready as you can and then when you think you can set an opening date, you make that your soft opening... meaning that you get some test diners in to make sure your kitchen is ready, that your staff is ready. Sort of like previews for a Broadway show, except that you don't have to announce the start date so far in advance, and critics can come whenever the hell they want.
If anyone is suing anyone in the Rocco's debacle, they should all be suing NBC for putting unrealistic constraints and pressures on how to operate a business. Hell, I don't know anyone in their right mind who'd want to go to a restaurant after its dirty laundry has aired on national TV. I, for one, would be worried that I'd be seen there.
And the lesson we should have all learned is that TV is better when it's not real. Give me writers and actors ANY day.
That is all.
Posted by Jon at June 9, 2004 07:01 AM | TrackBackAgreed
Posted by: Lauren at June 9, 2004 06:06 PM