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Archive through April 26, 2004

The TVClubHouse: Other Reality Shows: Archives for 2004-1: The Restaurant II: ARCHIVES: Archive through April 26, 2004 users admin

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Jhezzie
Member

07-05-2001

Monday, April 19, 2004 - 9:17 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
This show couldn't be more staged if it was on Broadway! With the exception of the partners, everything looks like it was shot more than once or the heavy hand of an editor created lots of reality, lol. Awful!

Scorpiomoon
Member

06-06-2002

Monday, April 19, 2004 - 9:34 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Lurknomore: In a nutshell: Rocco thinks everything is great--he says Rocco's is one of the busiest restaurants in NYC, he's hawking his book and his cookware, hanging out with his Italian model girlfriend and bringing in a chef from Italy. Meanwhile, his business partner is upset that Rocco's is the only restaurant out of the 22 he owns that isn't making money.

They meet. The metting doesn't go well. Jeffrey (the business partner) comes to the restaurant bringing along a "task force" to get the restaurant in shape. Rocco is pissed. The employees are confused and Mama is angry.

That's about it.

Luvmykitties
Member

01-02-2004

Monday, April 19, 2004 - 10:05 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
I didn't watch it tonight because I wasn't too into last season.
But I just read this article:
http://www.ew.com/ew/listing/tv/wtw/0,6115,mon_3_0_,00.html

There were two problems with the first season of ''The Restaurant.'' One, things often seemed too scripted, with cameras dictating the action instead of just following it. And two, the series' star, celebrity chef Rocco DiSpirito, was completely unlikable. But now in season 2, by curtailing the former and playing up the latter, the show is heating up. With the eatery losing money, investor Jeffrey Chodorow dispatches his corporate task force (including one intern from hell who dubs DiSpirito ''Captain Douche Bag'') to turn things around. Rocco, meanwhile, is busy hitting on women at book signings. Which is probably why his staff doesn't even bother to defend him. And neither will I.

based on what I'm reading here, it doesn't sound like they changed anything

Tishala
Member

08-01-2000

Monday, April 19, 2004 - 11:42 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
OK, y'all are going to think I'm crazier than you already think I am. I'm sitting tehre watching this show tonight because...well, I'm not sure exactly. It's actually somehow more enjoyable than last year's and I don't have to deal with as many whiney servers, I guess.

And then, near the end of the episode, I see someone I think I know. Oh wait! I DO know her! It's Linda Chodorow, Jeffrey Chodorow's wife! And that means I know Jeffrey Chodorow, too, but I have been too stupid to realize it because he was just a character on TV to me! [To be fair, I don't know Jeffrey very well, but I even remember when he and Linda got married and when they had their kids.]

Anyhow, here's what I can tell you. Linda used to be a model and she is really lovely, still [I haven't seen her in a few years, but I used to see her socially (because of my parents) about every couple months]. She and Jeffrey live, if I remember correctly, on a huge farm/estate in Bucks County, PA, pretty close to New Hope. You can tell Linda is rich rich rich because she wears great jewels all the time, but Jeffrey is really normal; you'd never guess he is rich because he doesn't look or act it. I also remember wanting Linda's car when I was younger--she had a beautiful black Jaguar, which seemedd to me to be the epitome of glamour. Both Linda and Jeffrey are really nice, but Linda is not the brightest bulb in the socket. They have two kids--last I remember--who are like children of rich people.

So anyhow, that's my proof positive I'm crazy and that I watch TV too passively for my own good.

Scorpiomoon
Member

06-06-2002

Tuesday, April 20, 2004 - 1:37 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Whooo...Tishala! Thanks for that bit of dirt!

The camera was never really right in front of Linda, but from the shots they did get, she did look pretty. And you could tell when she was telling Mama "pretty girls need to sit at the bar so men will buy them drinks" that she wasn't too bright.

On Access Hollywood tonight, Rocco off-handedly mentioned Jeffrey had been in prison at one point. Do you know anything about that?

Tishala
Member

08-01-2000

Tuesday, April 20, 2004 - 1:42 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
No I don't! LOL. But damn I wish I did! Haha.

Texannie
Member

07-16-2001

Tuesday, April 20, 2004 - 6:20 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Cool Tish!
Scorpio, I must not be too bright, cause I agreed with her logic! LOL
It felt like a bad soap opera to me.

Scorpiomoon
Member

06-06-2002

Tuesday, April 20, 2004 - 7:37 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Texannie: No no no! What she said was valid. It's just the way she said it and the fact that she was giving this "business advice" to a woman in her 70's (who has nothing to do with the bar or any of the restaurant's business dealings) seemed totally ditsy.

Texannie
Member

07-16-2001

Tuesday, April 20, 2004 - 7:47 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Well, that was a little ditzy! LOL What tickled me more was her trying to convince MAMA that her husband could do a better job than MAMA's son!

Cliotheleo
Member

03-13-2002

Tuesday, April 20, 2004 - 7:56 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Well this intern dude should be fun. I cracked up when he said "sometimes people don't respect me because I'm so young" and I thought, "right! Because you're 12!!!! LOL!"

I agree about Mrs. C. What she was saying was on point, HOW she was saying it and who she was saying it to. No, not a good thing.

Lurknomore
Member

07-07-2001

Tuesday, April 20, 2004 - 8:55 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Thanks for the update ScorpioMoon and others. I aprreciate it. Sounds like I didn't miss much (yet I still am sorry I missed it..I think BB has made me immune to watching folks I don't like.

As I recall Mama was pretty much the only one I liked first go round...though I found it cheesy when they tried to turn her cold into a near death experience from working so hard at "The Restaurant" lol.

Rslover
Member

11-19-2002

Tuesday, April 20, 2004 - 10:00 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Jeffrey Chodorow previously served as chairman of the board of Braniff Airlines. He served four months in jail in 1996 after pleading guilty to obstructing a Department of Transportation investigation into the carrier's fitness.



Faerygdds
Member

08-29-2000

Tuesday, April 20, 2004 - 10:39 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
WOW!!! Where did you find that tidbit RS??? I'll reserve my judgement. :-)

Lori
Member

04-18-2003

Tuesday, April 20, 2004 - 11:04 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Wow...Rocco came off as one big huge bratty whinepot! Who in their right minds would not want their business to make money?

Did you hear the comment he made to the Italian chef about his cookware? "It's made to look like professional cookware but obviously isn't", or words to that effect. Great selling point Rocco! Hee-hee!}

Demeter
Member

08-05-2001

Tuesday, April 20, 2004 - 11:21 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
I actually liked this episode. Rocco has come off as wanting to be the "big guy" on the block all along...and this episode made it so clear that he just is not.

$600,000 in the hole? Heck, yeah, if I'm the financial backer I want to see some changes! $9000 for 5000 business cards? That is plain crazy. It looks like he has just been spending money like it is throw away money.

I also kind of felt bad for Chef Tony. He was already on edge because he has to be suspicious about Rocco bringing this guy in from Italy. Then, the guy orders him around like he is kitchen help.

I thought they did a good job setting the season up and it looks more intriguing than last season.

Gen
Member

08-22-2003

Tuesday, April 20, 2004 - 12:07 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Faerygdds, these links may answer your question:

Rocco's Partner: His Reality Show Was Jail

I'm continually surprised by stories here in the New York press about celebrity chef Rocco DiSpirito and his ongoing legal battles with partner Jeffrey Chodorow. The pair went into business together for the NBC show "The Restaurant," but are now suing each other.

Chodorow is accusing DiSpirito of not running the business properly. But hey, wait a minute, Mr. Chodorow. In 1996, the United States of America took you to court because they thought you weren't running Braniff Airlines properly.

The result was that Chodorow spent four months in a federal prison and was put on three years' probation for lying to the Department of Transportation and bankrupting the airline not once, but twice, eventually killing it off for good.

Chodorow only escaped serving more jail time because he claimed his 10-year-old son had Tourette's Syndrome and needed him at home. Three years later the same kid was featured in the New York Times as an amateur wine expert in his dad's restaurant.

As if that weren't enough: Last April, Rush & Molloy reported in the New York Daily News that Chodorow's name was on the liquor license for a strip club in Manhattan that featured an escort service.

Maybe next time Rocco needs partners he'll do a little research. These stories are spicier than his sauces!

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,114918,00.html
(scroll down for article)

Ex-Braniff "Crook" Jeff Chodorow deep in "Chowder"

From R.T. Simpson:
"Have you seen the NBC summer series (2003) called "The Restaurant" which features the start- up of an NYC eatery run by Chef Rocco Dispirito? Getting the diner off the ground cost upwards of $4m and was supplied by slimebag investor Jeffrey Chodorow.

Does that name ring a bell? Chodorow conned Jay Pritzker into selling Braniff II to his bunch of investors who ultimately ran it into the ground by setting up all kinds of dummy corporations that Braniff was forced to use.

The airline went through cash faster than Rocco is going through calamari and filed for Bankruptsy protection in September '89.

Braniff never reorganized as the carcass of the company wasn't even suitable for next day soup stock.

For his efforts, Chodorow was convicted of obstructing justice by being less than truthful in how his various companies within a company cheated everyone.

He spent just four months in jail after conning the Feds that his son couldn't live without him being on the outside.

Based on last night's episode, Rocco has some major problems in the kitchen and the public aint exactly enamored with his food. It'll be interesting to see how Chodorow accounts for his fast departed 4 million dollars this time!"

Written by:
RT Simpson
Phoenix, Arizona

NOTE: The above article may or may not represent the views of "The Braniff Pages" and/or it's partners.

http://www.braniffpages.com/bliners/bliners.html
(scroll down for article)

Former executives of Braniff International Airlines recently got some bad reservations courtesy of a U.S. District Judge.

Scot Spencer, former president of Braniff, was sentenced May 23 to 51 months in jail and three years of supervised release for his conviction on charges of defrauding Braniff creditors. The airline's former chairman and part-owner, Jeffrey Chodorow was sentenced to four months in jail and four years of supervised release on charges of conspiring to defraud the U.S. Department of Transportation and obstruct justice.

Prosecutors charged that the two participated in a scheme to secretly keep Spencer involved in management of the airline even after a 1991 order by the U.S. Department of Transportation that Spencer have no involvement in Braniff management. Braniff, w hich had a hub operation in Kansas City, crashed and burned into bankruptcy court in August 1991.

In addition to the jail time, the court ordered Spencer to pay $115,000 to the Braniff estate to compensate for illegal kickbacks he received from the airline's advertising agency and concealing assets from creditors. Chodorow was ordered to pay $1.25 million in restitution to the estate and a $40,000 fine.

http://kansascity.bizjournals.com/kansascity/stories/1996/06/17/tidbits.html?page=2


Faerygdds
Member

08-29-2000

Tuesday, April 20, 2004 - 1:07 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
I was reading the part of the court papers that are on thesmokinggun.com to my dh last night during the commercials. When I got to the part about CGM being responsible for securing the location -- and Chodorow's failure to do so caused them to have to build the Rocco's in record time. And then later on it says that CGM was supposed to secure the name of the restaurant. My husband stopped me. He said, "Wait, didn't they have a cease and desist order sent to them on the name in the first season?" I told him they indeed had.

My husband's reply was, "No I understand why he said "no comment", but had it been me -- I would have blasted Mr. Chodorow!"

Last night Rocco looked horrible, but after having re-read the part of the brief posted on the smoking gun... I can honestly say that they are BOTH at fault. Who is more at fault??? that's not for me to decide.

Scorpiomoon
Member

06-06-2002

Tuesday, April 20, 2004 - 2:17 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Holy moly! Thanks for the articles, Gen!

This train wreck keeps getting better and better...

Rupertbear
Member

09-19-2003

Tuesday, April 20, 2004 - 3:19 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Lol...I read today the ratings are not very good for this.

Let's hope they don't do the same thing to it they did to Playing Straight and just make it disappear!

Gemma120in2002
Member

07-05-2003

Tuesday, April 20, 2004 - 4:10 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Rocco continues to look as bad as he did last season, and Chodorow ended up looking pretty good by the end of the show. Of course, I didn't know about his criminal past.

Remember last year when Gideon Horowitz fell and broke his arm? He didn't get anything from Rocco or his management staff. They didn't take him to the hospital, no workman's comp, nothing. When he came in to work the next day with his arm in a sling, they basically thought he was malingering. At least Chodorow was talking about health insurance and 401K for the employees.

Hopefully Chodorow has been reformed (I know, I know, wake up and smell the litigation!). Out of the two of them, based on what I've seen of Rocco, and the very little I've seen of Chodorow, I'd prefer to deal with Chodorow. Then again I'd probably end up having by butt handed to me on a platter, of course with a side of meatballs and a lovely garnish

Scorpiomoon
Member

06-06-2002

Tuesday, April 20, 2004 - 5:05 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Gemma: Not only does Rocco look bad in a figurative sense, he seems to have gained weight or something. He looks awful. He's not the guy I used to have torrid fantasies about, that's for sure. :-)

Texannie
Member

07-16-2001

Wednesday, April 21, 2004 - 6:25 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
http://www.realityblurred.com/realitytv/

second Restaurant season debuts with low ratings; did Rocco have a facelift?
Four The Restaurant-related questions for today: First, did anyone watch the second season debut of Rocco's show on Monday? Answer: No. Well, only 6.7 million people watched, compared to CSI: Miami's 20.8 million viewers. Two, is Rocco still with his model girlfriend? Maybe. Page Six said he was joined by Yvonne Scio at a gathering Monday, although later he was spotted mocking Page Six by flirting with Mario Cantone: "If we tongue-kiss, will you report that he's my new boyfriend?" Three, did Rocco ever scream at a manager, "If you set foot in my restaurant again, you are a dead man ... I am going to kill you"? Yes. New York magazine's profile of both Rocco and Jeffrey Chodorow gets some juicy dirt -- such as that line -- from each of them and outlines their conflict, in addition to looking a bit behind the scenes. And three, the most fun question of all: Did Rocco have plastic surgery? Answer: You decide. Awful Plastic Surgery has the before and after photos, and Rocco is looking a bit tighter and brighter these days.


Ohiomobprincess
Member

11-07-2003

Wednesday, April 21, 2004 - 8:39 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
I wasn't impressed with Monday's episode. I admit I was a fan of the first run, but this was BORING. I'm not sure I'll give it another look. I'm trimming my tv watching.

Scorpiomoon
Member

06-06-2002

Wednesday, April 21, 2004 - 9:57 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Another day another mention in Page Six:

April 22, 2004 -- JEFFREY Chodorow's lawyers are wasting no time sending out subpoenas in their case against Rocco DiSpirito. The TV star-chef's dentist, Dr. Joe Levy, who is credited with giving Rocco his pearly whites, just received his order to appear in court to testify how much free food he received from the restaurant in exchange for brightening up the smiles of DiSpirito and his meatball-making mother. "There was a barter system," confirmed a Levy pal. The case is "only going to get nastier," the source confirmed. Levy declined comment.

Gemma120in2002
Member

07-05-2003

Monday, April 26, 2004 - 2:07 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Are you ready for the next round of ego massaging self-promotion? No, then I'll not talk about myself!

Anyone else looking forward to tonight's show? I am!