The Restaurant, Season 2, Episode 4: Couples Therapy

I reported a few weeks ago that NBC was yanking The Restaurant from its schedule until summer. It looks like they’ve changed their minds, opting instead to air two episodes this week and the final episode next Saturday. I’m not sure what the logic is behind it, but regardless, I’ll be here to fill you in on what happened on the show. Here goes!

Rocco arrives at the restaurant at 4:30 in the morning. He walks through, lovingly caressing the bar, tables, and so forth. He sharpens his knife and gets to work at a new recipe for sauce. He tries it and makes a face. Mamma arrives, and rather tellingly asks, “What are you doing over here.” It has been a long time since Rocco spent any quality early morning time in the restaurant, I suspect. Rocco says he’s trying a new sauce and has her taste it. Mamma says it’s terrible, but she gives him a hug. She says he can’t let Jeffrey take over their restaurant. Rocco agrees and leaves as Mamma gets to work.

Upstairs (and presumably a few hours later), Al, one of the waiters, leads a training session as Carol from the task force and Laurent look on. He explains which position is which at each table, and I notice that he rushes through it, not taking much time to make sure everyone is listening or understands. Carol notices too, and interrupts to ask if everyone understands. Al breaks so that everyone can get a cup of coffee. A few people wander off to the other side of the room, and although Al thinks they know the positions, Carol insists that they listen and concentrate also. She tells the group that it’s important for the restaurant to be more efficient and turn tables more quickly, and that will mean more money for all of them. Al tells her privately that she could be a little nicer and that the best approach is for everyone to be friendly. Carol says that they need direction, not to be friends. Al goes back to his rushed training. Carol interrupts him to make sure everyone can see.

Carol goes over to Sarah, another task force member, and says that she’s frustrated. She asks Sarah to take over the training so that she can talk to Al. She explains to him that this is not a social outing. He says they can’t beat the information into them, and Carol says that’s not what she’s doing. Al’s hands, holding his coffee cup, are shaking, so either he’s really mad or he’s been hitting the coffee hard. Back at the training, Sarah says that they believe in holding people accountable for doing their jobs. Laurent, who has watched all of this unfold, calls Rocco on his cell phone and says they should meet.

I’m on Carol’s side on this one. The way Al was leading this training, full of fast talking and “blah, blah, blah,” you’d never get the impression that the things he was teaching were important or worth knowing. If the staff has to get there in the morning just for a training, those leading the session owe it to them to make sure whatever they’re learning is worthwhile. The way Al was leading was totally ineffective. And Carol wasn’t rude or unfriendly; she just wanted to get the job done as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Laurent goes to Rocco’s office and asks to talk to him privately. Laurent tells him simply and directly, “The restaurant needs you.” Rocco must be present, not just Laurent – “It says Rocco’s on the front; it does not say Laurent or Jeffrey,” he says. Rocco says that he doesn’t feel like he belongs there anymore and says that sometimes he wonders if it’s worth waking up in the morning to come there. Laurent replies, “I wake up every morning for it and it’s not my restaurant.” Laurent says that, for the most part, the staff is loyal to Rocco. Rocco should take a more active role in the restaurant, or Rocco’s as they know it will no longer exist. He should fight for the restaurant.

I loved Laurent in this scene. Someone needed to tell Rocco what he did, and he put it well, without a lot of unnecessary drama. Good job, Laurent!

Rocco calls Jeffrey and asks what his intentions are. Jeffrey thinks they’ve covered this quite a few times, but agrees that they should meet face to face.

Meanwhile, in the restaurant, Carol measures for new bar stools. As discussed in a previous episode, Jeffrey would like to fit more stools around the bar. She’d like to get the new stools that night.

In the kitchen, Antonio teaches Mathieu how to make pizza. Tony watches. Antonio loves the firm, supple dough and says, “It’s like a woman’s ass.” Nice. Antonio makes a pizza for Rocco.

Shane, Carol, and Sarah go stool shopping. They buy 15 stools for $85 each.