2008 Woodie Awards
The Restaurant Returns
David Feinberg
Issue date: 3/25/04 Section: Opinion
NBC's The Restaurant ended its first season with a contrived sense of jubilation. After five episodes of chaos and discord, rats and wretched reviews, mutiny and mayhem, Rocco DiSpirito took the staff of his eatery to the beach and the managers, cooks, waiters and bartenders celebrated the successful launch of Rocco's on 22nd.
Tragically for Rocco, but fortuitously for Restaurant executive producer Mark Burnett, the contrived good spirits characterized by that evening on the beach constituted a Phyrric victory.
When The Restaurant returned last weekfor its second season, viewers will be relieved to discover that things aren't all sunshine, lollipops and Mama's meatballs at Rocco's. "I can't tell you whether things have been overdramatized," DiSpirito says of the events of the new season.
"I don't know what the truth is myself." As so often to occurs when Burnett (Survivor, The Apprentice) unleashes his crews on a location, drama gravitated towards the camera.
"I think there was Mark the Bartender, who was supposed to be the cute guy who was going to fall in love with somebody," recalls DiSpirito, thinking back to early story meetings.
"There was Mamma, who was going to develop into more of a business partner... This was never mentioned."
"This" refers to Rocco's legal battles with business partner Jeffrey Chodorow and his China Grill Management.
Earlier this year, as cameras were rolling, Chodorow sued his celebrity chef, trying to gain control of Rocco's on 22nd, alleging that in its first seven months, the restaurant lost more than $600,000.
Among his most damning claims leveled is that Rocco's business cards cost $1.80 apiece (a charge Rocco strongly denies).
Last week, Rocco countersued, suggesting that China Grill Management is in the process of destroying his dream.
Among his most damning claims is the suggestion that China Grill has forced him to use frozen pasta instead of fresh.
Viewers won't see the end of this fracas during the six-episode run of The Apprentice, but they'll have ample evidence of the frenzied environment created by throwing reality television cameras and court wrangling into the same food processor.