 |
|
| Home · Reviews · Interviews · Contests · Blog · Forums · Follow Us On Twitter |
|
by Dan Weltin Published: June 3, 2004
Over to Rocco and his goon squad. How ironic, they're talking about Tony as well. Rocco says Jeffrey told him they need leadership in the kitchen and Rocco should be there more. This apparently translates to Tony being unqualified and that he should be fired. Wah?! Rocco has no problem doing this deed and thinks Jeffrey will be proud. Boy will his face be red. They're going to let Tony finish out the night and fire him tomorrow. That's great and all, but who's going to fill in for Tony tomorrow? THE FIRST GOOD-BYES Like I said, it's Mathieu's last night, so Tony is rounding up helpers to concoct the ceremonial gruel that gets dumped on any exiting chef (Tony I hope you make enough for two). Tomato sauce, honey, A-1, milk and some clam juice. Sounds appetizing (I think I used to do the same thing with stuff from our fridge. Then my mom would get mad at us for wasting condiments. Never dumped it on anyone or drank it though. I'm not that evil or stupid). Man, everybody's leaving tonight. Rocco and Antonio are saying their good-byes, too. It's so sad, especially because Rocco never got to eat any of the meals Antonio made for him. TONY'S ROLLERCOASTER OF RESPECT Hey look, celebrity chef Jacques Pepin is dining in tonight. Tony is very excited to cook for him. Too bad he won't get his wish because here comes Rocco to steal his thunder. Tony gets booted to the side so Rocco can grovel about reading Pepin's book in three days. Tony is left to impress the not-so-famous guests. But don't worry, Jeffrey's here to pump up his spirits. He tells a customer: "Rocco is here, but this is the guy who cooked your food." Take that Rocco! Ooh, Rocco overheard Jeffrey. He gives a look like "what does that mean?" It means he gets results! Jeffrey brings Tony into the coatroom to give him his raise. Yep, my boss does the same thing. Actually I don't think my office even has a coatroom. Tony is pleased. Too bad he's going to be fire in less than 24 hours. Mwa ha ha! TAR AND FEATHERING… RESTAURANT STYLE Here's some random footage of people ordering Caesar salads. What's the point of all this? Oh, I see, Laurielle, the appetizer cook, is mucking things up. Here's Tony to straighten it all out. And he does it like clockwork. He's like a superchef or something. But here's Rocco schmoozing. And Tony working. Rocco schmoozing. Oh no, this poor girl at table 51 just lost her job and is crying about it. (Does everyone in tonight's episode have to lose or leave a job?) Aww, Rocco's buying her a bottle of expensive champagne for her. That's nice, not cost effective, but nice. Down in the kitchen Mathieu is nonchalantly going about his business. Uh oh, here comes the sauce… and flour. Ah man, now he stinks. Good thing he has to walk through the restaurant and hug everyone. SUPERCHEF IN ROCCO'S DEN OF LIES It's the next morning. Tony is already at work. He's making steak for Mama. Such a nice boy. Too bad Rocco just sent Laurent to round Tony up so he can get canned. The man feeds Rocco's mother and this is how he gets repaid? I haven't seen such resentment for do-gooders since Alan Rickman in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. Tony sits down in Rocco's office. Rocco is acting all cool by signing copies of his book. He goes over Tony's "poor performance." Meanwhile at the restaurant, someone is breaking into Tony's locker. Who are these people, the Gestapo? They throw everything into a Hefty trash bag and haul it over to the office. Rocco claims that Tony is always doing his own thing and not the agreed upon plans. This is borderline insubordination. Well, what are the plans? Are all the cooks supposed to be schmoozing as much as Rocco or should he be busting his ass in the kitchen? In any case, Tony is out. Rocco is back in charge of the kitchen. Everyone's stunned, including Mama. Tony, however, is calm…for now, even though he's not allowed to go back to the restaurant to pick up his bike. Tony locks himself in the conference room to call Jeffrey. This is as agitated as he gets. Man this guy is great. Luke, by the way, says he's not fired. PLEASE WELCOME, THE COOLEST CAST MEMBER Rocco rounds up the other chefs to plead his case about why he made the right decision. Not all of them buy it. Rocco calls Jeffrey. Bad move Rocco. Jeffrey immediately jumps down his throat. He didn't have the right, need to discuss it first, there are legal consequences, yadda, yadda, yadda. Rocco looks as if it didn't go well. You think?! Tony meets with Jeffrey and his goons. He's still pretty calm about it. At least the last meal he made was for Mama he says. Rocco meets with the staff. He hopes to bring a positive attitude to the kitchen. I don't think he's off to a good start. Jeffrey doesn't care if Rocco messes up. Actually that's a good point. If things go wrong, no more restaurant. No more Rocco. Jeffrey would be a very happy man. It's a win-win. Tony goes across the street to get his bike. He says some good-byes while he waits. Hold on a sec, back it up, who's this Asian guy carrying the bike through the restaurant? Have we met Kenji before? He's only on screen for about 20 seconds but he's the coolest guy on the show. Give him his own show, please. A sitcom, game show, unscripted drama, anything. This guy rules. As Tony pedals away, Kenji says, "I'm going to wait for you, like Italian movie, you know." Awesome! We need to see more of him. TONY, WE MISS YOU Before the restaurant gets into gear, Jeffrey addresses the staff. Apparently, Tony is still employed, but he'll be in a different position (How about running the restaurant when it reopens without Rocco?). He then goes off to interview another Rocco replacement. We'll get back this. Here comes Rocco. Rocco starts the night in the kitchen. He's doing a good job, I'll give credit where credit is due. Well, now he's bad mouthing Tony to Mama. Gabe is still screwing up. Rocco is not pleased. He goes upstairs to bitch about it. Oh no, he's near customers. Yep, here comes the schmoozing. Uh, Rocco, don't you have a kitchen to run? Rocco…Rocco…hello? Um, the kitchen? It's in chaos. Laurent is going to wrangle up Rocco and get him back in the kitchen. Let's hear what the customers have to say about Rocco's first night back. What's that? A two-hour wait? Oops. You had reservations? Whoops. Still no food at your table? Well… Over at the Miss Williamsburg Diner, Jeffrey and the goon squad test out chef "Red." It's a perfect name because that way, they won't have to replace the plates with the R on them. I'm not making this up. Jeffrey says it, jokingly, but he is money conscious, remember. Back at Rocco's, Rocco is making pizza, again. (Time to smooth things over I guess). He's wearing the dough as a hat (that isn't what I meant about chefs wearing hats, Rocco). Mama scolds him. Beautiful. Hey, Laurent has found Rocco, but he's not interrupting the schmoozing to get him back in the kitchen. Wait! Rocco is up and on the move. Where is he going? Out the door and back to his office. He's leaving early! Give him a break people, it's his first day back. He's probably a little worn out. Laurent finally confronts Rocco. It must work because Rocco decides that he needs to devote the next three days to the restaurant. Three days? That's it? What about the rest of the week? Well, in Rocco's defense, the restaurant may not be open past those initial three days. We'll just have to wait and see. For more Restaurant News, Links, Interesting Tidbits check out these sites: NBC's Official The Restaurant Page | Sirlinksalot's Restaurant Page You want to talk about The Restaurant? Well come to our Reality TV Forum |
||||||||||||||||||||||
| Copyright © 1997-2009 Burlee LLC. All rights reserved. | Reprints | Privacy Policy | Disclosure | About Us/Contact Us | RSS Feed |