11/21/07 - show discussion **spoilers**

[Bearcata]

So glad someone on this show got fired. That Buzzard took food didn't bother me so much as he took 3 bottles of wine and that could be anything from $30 to $60 or more he stole from Lela. If he does this every day he works that adds up to $150 to $300 a week.

[Google]

 

[Ellen]

Actually, even more if you figure in the profit margin of good wine. Buzzard is a real loser, and he's lucky that he didn't get fired sooner. I wonder if Lela grew a pair during her makeover . . .

[Bearcata]

I like that at the end of the show there was a note letting us (viewers) know that even with Gordon's help 5 months later the restaurent closed. I feel bad that Lela lost her entire life savings, her sister is $60,000 in the hole. Much of it was sorta Lela's fault cause she hired horrible staff and had a poor business plan. Seriously, she threw away money on some of that staff and they robbed her blind. She also didn't act like the boss. Opening a restaurent is a high risk business and you have to do your research. I don't know how fake or good Gordon's research is but he just walked around and found out what the people in the area wanted, their price point and what was needed. All in all it was a sad story.

[Advantage]

I agree, Lela is the worst owner in the series so far. Even worst than that mama's boy running the diner in Long Island a few episode back. Lela didn't even try to run her restaurant, looks to me like she haven't a clue on what people do in her kitchen, what kind of food they cooked and what it tasted like, what supplies are in stock or not, let alone someone was stealing from her. Seems like the head waitress was more upset about the sad state of the business than Lela was. I hate to mean, but she deserved to go out of business.

[Bearcata]

I think if they had had that main waitress in charge from the beginning the restaurent may still be there. It's it funny how everyone know's what the others are doing. Everyone knew Buzzard was stealing. How simple would it have been to catch him after he left work or did he just leave when he felt like it??? That was such a duh moment.

[waywyrd]

Poor Lela just didn't have a clue. A fine dining restaurant that serves frozen, prepackaged crap? It's too bad she lost the business, but I don't think she was cut out for it. She should have dumped Buzzard a long time ago.

[Badseed]

Tell me if I'm closed-minded, but I don't like mixing sweet stuff with meat. Did chocolate syrup seem like a good idea to anyone here? It reminded me of Rachel's shrimp and chocolate from season 2 of Hell's Kitchen.

Does a brownie that's homemade and kept in the freezer for a few days still count as fresh? Tabitha seems to think so.

Also, did anyone think it was a little spontaneous to promote Lex to head chef for winning a taste test? No training or anything?

[waywyrd]

I'll try just about anything, but no, Badseed...Hershey's syrup squirted on bony, dried up lamb chops is hardly my idea of fine cuisine.

I wonder if Lex (who crashed and burned anyway) was "promoted" for the night just to give the regular head chef a kick in the butt, since he didn't seem to give a flip about his work.

[Ellen]

Originally Posted by waywyrd

I'll try just about anything, but no, Badseed...Hershey's syrup squirted on bony, dried up lamb chops is hardly my idea of fine cuisine.

Ick! Same here. That reminds me of Shelby's, a self-proclaimed "fine dining" (believe me, it was anything but!) restaurant in La Jolla. Their signature dish was something called "cherry chicken." I thought -- oh, cool! -- a roasted or pan-sauteed chicken breast with a cleverly seasoned, perhaps brandied, sauce accented with dried cherries. My husband joked: "Hey, what if it's microwaved chicken with a can of Comstock cherry pie filling dumped over it?" Guess what was brought to the table? Yup, I was looking around for the hidden cameras and a production assistant with a confidentiality agreement, image release form, and a pen -- because right there in front of me, on my plate, was a pasty-white and obviously microwaved chicken breast with a barely warmed-over glob of canned cherry pie filling dumped on top of it. When I regained my ability to speak, it went back. And we didn't.

I wonder if Lex (who crashed and burned anyway) was "promoted" for the night just to give the regular head chef a kick in the butt, since he didn't seem to give a flip about his work.

I agree -- I think that Lex's promotion was nothing more than a firecracker under head cook's (yeah, his title was chef, but I don't think he's really a chef) butt.

[ness]

I, too, am sorry that Lela lost the business, but . . .

Buzzard? Come on. How could Lela possibly NOT have known? Was her head THAT far up her rear about this guy? Was she always or most times present in her place of business and didn't hear SOMEBODY complaining about the stuff he was taking out? Or SEE him going out the door at odd times (i.e., whenever he felt like it) with a bag in hand?

Come ON!

Also, the bickering that was always going on among the staff --- most notably between the cook and Tabitha . . .

You mean to tell me Lela never heard or witnessed any of that, then put her foot down and put a stop to it (ESPECALLY after in-house customers were making comments to the effect of what in the world was going on back there, etc.)?

"Fine dining" in a college-type, laid-back town?

Huh?

Chocolate sauce on lamb?

I'm sorry, but Lela never should've had the business in the first place.