cooksdelight February 16, 2015 Share February 16, 2015 A married couple runs a small restaurant with an international small plates menu in Las Vegas. Link to comment
cooksdelight February 18, 2015 Author Share February 18, 2015 OK, I finally get my wish, and what happens? The team I thought gave the best presentation gets picked and the guy is a total dick. I wanted to smack the wife and her blue tree idea. Unless it was a Dr. Seuss type of tree that somehow moved or something, it was stupid. If she's the financial brains behind this outfit, that explains why they failed back home. That guy's restaurant also failed because he's a hardhead who won't listen to reason. Joe offered him a job, basically, and to help save his restaurant. He says "No, I don't want to work for anyone" (paraphrasing) and where does he end up? The restaurant closes two weeks after the show is taped and now he's working for someone else. I feel sorry for his kids. His ego got in the way of any concern he had for them, in my opinion. 1 Link to comment
GaT February 18, 2015 Share February 18, 2015 That guy didn't want a partner, he wanted someone to give him money & let him do whatever he wanted. Now I admit that's something I personally would really like, but it had no basis in reality. It's a shame because their food looked & sounded like it was delicious, but the guy just didn't have a clue. 1 Link to comment
ae2 February 18, 2015 Share February 18, 2015 Wow, that guy went from 0 to a-hole fast. They weren't even asking him to change anything, really just to organize his menu differently. Put "lighter fair" on one side and "entrees" on another. But I could see a "pick any three plates for $30" going over well. I wonder how the contestants prepare the food for their pitch, and how long it sits before they eat it. The BBQ was the first time I remember food being described as "mediocre", and I wonder if it had to do with that. Link to comment
cooksdelight February 18, 2015 Author Share February 18, 2015 I have no idea how long it sits there. I know on Chopped it's been said the food will sit for as long as 45 minutes either in a warmer or a chiller, depending on what it is. They probably do the same thing here. You know Joe and Tim will tell it like it is, so it must have not tasted so good. Link to comment
seacliffsal February 19, 2015 Share February 19, 2015 I believe this episode really demonstrated why so many small businesses fail. The couple kept insisting the location was their problem-I really wish that Tim and Joe had asked what percentage of customers come back as repeat business. If the problem was solely location they would have a high percentage of repeat customers. Although I really like small plates, I also like entree options. The way Antonia struggled to get him to give even an inch was obvious. It continually amazes me when business owners insist all the way to bankruptcy court that their business was awesome and professionals who are trying to help them by providing advice and mentoring are wrong, wrong, wrong. I feel badly for the children, but this couple brought their problems onto themselves. I would not want to eat anywhere near that blue tree as I would continually fret about any dust accumulation hanging over my head. I was not surprised about the end notes about their business closing. I thought they were the stronger concept but boy was I proved wrong throughout the episode. Link to comment
Bella February 19, 2015 Share February 19, 2015 The thing is, I don't think either concept was strong enough to warrant investment. Joe and Tim were faced with two duds this week. The rejected restaurant, Hiatus, wasn't even hanging on by a thread, it was just doomed. And I'm not sure that Grub and Guzzle or whatever they called themselves would have made it even had the chef not been a deluded narcissist. I think the lesson from this episode - and I wish it had been articulated bluntly - is that if you can't afford a decent location from the beginning, you can't afford to open a restaurant. (Note I didn't say "prime location," I said "decent.") Link to comment
cooksdelight February 19, 2015 Author Share February 19, 2015 Also, we only have the delusional owner's word that it was a bad location. One of the best restaurants in my area is in an out-of-the-way strip mall. It's always crowded because the food and service is good. Another place that serves authentic Cuban food is in an airstream trailer that is across the railroad tracks and off the beaten path. There is always a line. In other words, I'm not buying his story that their location is the problem. I think it's him. 2 Link to comment
Bella February 19, 2015 Share February 19, 2015 Also, we only have the delusional owner's word that it was a bad location. One of the best restaurants in my area is in an out-of-the-way strip mall. It's always crowded because the food and service is good. Another place that serves authentic Cuban food is in an airstream trailer that is across the railroad tracks and off the beaten path. There is always a line. In other words, I'm not buying his story that their location is the problem. I think it's him. I can't remember if we saw a clip of their operation. We did see one of Hiatus, and that was just sad. The other thing is that in a smaller community, it's easier to get good word-of-mouth on a restaurant that's off the beaten path. In Vegas or LA, not so much. Having said that, however, I agree that the problem was Delusional Owner more than anything else. They could have been anywhere and they would have failed. 1 Link to comment
cooksdelight February 19, 2015 Author Share February 19, 2015 I remember an episode of Top Chef, they went to a restaurant in a little strip mall that was way off the main drag of the Strip. I cannot remember who owned it, but it was Asian food and the person taught them about some of the dishes they ate. Somehow the good food there did bring people back again and again and they established a reputation as a good place to eat. Link to comment
Bella February 19, 2015 Share February 19, 2015 I'm still inclined to think that's the exception, however. There are a lot of middling restaurants in decent-to-good locations that do just fine. If it's a bad location, you somehow have to drive business there. Delusional Owner seemed to have an "if you build it, they will come" mentality to start, then a "location, location, location" mentality. Neither seemed right, since he was a big part of the problem, but they might have had more random foot traffic in a slightly better spot. 1 Link to comment
GaT February 19, 2015 Share February 19, 2015 I feel badly for the children, but this couple brought their problems onto themselves. The children are better off now, the guy is working for someone else & is probably making a decent salary. 1 Link to comment
Shibori February 20, 2015 Share February 20, 2015 Nosh and Swig has to be one of the stupidest, most twee restaurant names ever. If I gave someone a few thousand dollars for a pop up, and they spent almost as much on a spray painted blue twig as they did on the food, I'd be hella pissed. Though I'm considering moving to Vegas and getting into the spray painted twig business. I have enough inventory in my yard and garage for a few millions in sales. Also, when Joe and Tim walked in, it looked like they had Christmas trees with bulbs on either side of the door. WTF? And I don't see you hat the silhouettes had to do with the food. Even after the crash, Vegas real estate is pricey, and they don't lack for restaurants. I think you'd either need a really good concept and spectacular food to make it in a sea of low priced options. 3 Link to comment
cooksdelight February 20, 2015 Author Share February 20, 2015 I loved it when Tim suggested they move to Oklahoma. I literally laughed out loud. 1 Link to comment
buttersister February 20, 2015 Share February 20, 2015 I kept wondering if he was making as much as Joe offered him. And I'm looking at a restaurant down the block in a location that was previously a revolving door for meh places. You do it right, right you are. Oh yeah, I thought that guy was going to have a stroke when Tim suggested they move to Oklahoma! Link to comment
Jesse February 22, 2015 Share February 22, 2015 I remember an episode of Top Chef, they went to a restaurant in a little strip mall that was way off the main drag of the Strip. I cannot remember who owned it, but it was Asian food and the person taught them about some of the dishes they ate. Somehow the good food there did bring people back again and again and they established a reputation as a good place to eat. It must have been Lotus of Siam. I can't believe that guy didn't take the job offer from Joe. 2 Link to comment
cooksdelight February 22, 2015 Author Share February 22, 2015 Yes, in spite of it all, having Joe Bastianich on your resume would open some big doors. 2 Link to comment
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