''The Restaurant'' is a

reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...

series that aired on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

in 2003 on

Sunday Sunday is the day of the week between Saturday and Monday. In most Western countries, Sunday is a day of rest and a part of the weekend. It is often considered the first day of the week. For most observant adherents of Christianity, Sunday ...

s, with a second season broadcasting in 2004. The series had encore presentations on

CNBC CNBC (formerly Consumer News and Business Channel) is an American basic cable business news channel. It provides business news programming on weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., Eastern Time, while broadcasting talk sho ...

and

Bravo Bravo(s) or The Bravo(s) may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music Groups and labels *Bravo (band), a Russian rock band * Bravo (Spanish group), represented Spain at Eurovision 1984 *Bravo Music, an American concert band music publishing company ...

. Celebrity chef

Rocco DiSpirito Rocco DiSpirito (born November 19, 1966) is an American chef and reality television personality based in New York City, known for starring in the program '' The Restaurant''. Early life and education DiSpirito was born in Queens, New York. He gr ...

opened the

Gramercy Park Gramercy ParkSometimes misspelled as Grammercy () is the name of both a small, fenced-in private park and the surrounding neighborhood that is referred to also as Gramercy, in the New York City borough of Manhattan in New York, United States. T ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, restaurant Union Pacific in August 1997. The NBC series, it was announced, would follow DiSpirito as he launched and operated a new Manhattan restaurant. The first season revolved around the construction and opening of Rocco's on 22nd in the

Flatiron District The Flatiron District is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, named after the Flatiron Building at 23rd Street, Broadway and Fifth Avenue. Generally, the Flatiron District is bounded by 14th Street, Union Square and Green ...

scheduled to open in five weeks. Some 7.5 million viewers tuned in for the July 20, 2003, premiere focusing on the search for a location and construction work for the new restaurant. Among the 2000 people who showed up hoping to be hired were various actors, models and show business hopefuls. In addition to Rocco's mother, Nicolina DiSpirito, known for her famous meatballs, the show's on-camera personnel included David Miller (Sous-chef), Alex Corrado (Maitre d'),

Domiziano Arcangeli Domiziano Arcangeli (June 10, 1966 – July 13, 2020) was an Italian actor, producer and writer best known for low-budget independent, and particularly exploitation, films.Daniel Reynolds"''Brides of Sodom'' Star Domiziano Arcangeli Brings Homoe ...

(Himself), Heather Kristin (Waitress), Natalie Norman (Waitress), Topher Goodman (Waiter), Lisa Wurzel (Herself), Gideon Horowitz (Waiter), Heather Snell (Bartender),

Amanda Congdon Amanda Thornton Congdon (born August 4, 1981, in New York City) is an American former video blogger. She began her on-screen career as the first anchor of the online daily news show, ''Rocketboom'', which she hosted and produced until June 23, 2 ...

(Coat-check attendant), Pete Giovine (Waiter), Uzay Tumer (Captain), Emily Shaw (Captain), Lonn Coward (Waiter),

Carrie Keranen Carrie Keranen is an American voice actress, production manager, producer and voice director. She is best known for her work with 4Kids Entertainment, Bang Zoom! Entertainment, DuArt Film and Video, NYAV Post, Studiopolis and Funimation. Her r ...

(Waitress), Colleen Fitzgerald (Captain), Caroline Matler (Waitress), Brian Petruzzell (Busboy), Lola Belle (Bartender), Susanna Hari (Kitchen staff), Brian Allen (Waiter), Tony Acinapura (Chef),

Massimiliano Bartoli Massimiliano Bartoli, born in Bologna, Italy, is a chef and restaurateur. Bartoli has worked at such restaurants as Rocco's on 22nd, the Miss Williamsburg Diner in Williamsburg, La Vineria in New York and the Houdini Kitchen Laboratory in Queen ...

(Chef), John Charlesworth (Kitchen staff), Laurent Saillard (General manager), Perry Pollaci (Kitchen staff), Matt DiBarro (Bartender). Only 6.5 million viewers tuned in for the second season premiere, despite launching a week after the finale of the hit first season of ''

The Apprentice ''The Apprentice'' is a Reality competition, reality talent game show franchise originally aired in 2004 in the United States. Created by U.S.-based British producer Mark Burnett, the show depicts contestants from around the country with variou ...

''. The second season, filmed six months after the restaurant's opening, showed an ongoing power conflict between part owner

and financier

Jeffrey Chodorow Jeffrey R. Chodorow (born March 2, 1950) is an American actor restaurateur, lawyer and financier. Early life and education Jeffrey Chodorow was born in the Bronx, but his father died the year he was born, so he and his mother moved to Miami, ...

, stemming from the restaurant's lack of profitability despite its popularity. On July 27, 2004,

New York Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the State of New York is the trial-level court of general jurisdiction in the New York State Unified Court System. (Its Appellate Division is also the highest intermediate appellate court.) It is vested with unlimited civ ...

Judge Ira Gammerman issued an

injunction An injunction is a legal and equitable remedy in the form of a special court order that compels a party to do or refrain from specific acts. ("The court of appeals ... has exclusive jurisdiction to enjoin, set aside, suspend (in whole or in pa ...

barring Rocco DiSpirito from Rocco's on 22nd street and gave Jeffrey Chodorow permission to sell or reopen the restaurant under a new theme. Chodorow and DiSpirito were ordered to return to court on August 31 to determine if there was an agreement between the parties and if DiSpirito violated the agreement. After that ruling DiSpirito attempted to file a $6 million countersuit charging that Chodorow made accounting irregularities and that DiSpirito was owed $175,000 in unpaid salary, and DiSpirito sought to regain fifty percent ownership of the restaurant. Chodorow initially invested $4 million in the restaurant and claims to have lost an additional $700,000. After the restaurant closed its doors on September 15, 2004, it reopened in 2005 as a Brazilian steakhouse called Caviar & Banana. Chodorow's partner in the Brazilian restaurant was chef

Claude Troisgros Claude Troisgros (born 9 April 1956) is a French chef who lives in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He is the son of the famous chef Pierre Troisgros, who with his brother Jean were among a group of French chefs who pioneered nouvelle cuisine in the 1970 ...

Roanne Roanne (; frp, Rouana; oc, Roana) is a commune in the Loire department, central France. It is located northwest of Lyon on the river Loire. It has an important Museum, the ''Musée des Beaux-arts et d'Archéologie Joseph-Déchelette'' (Fren ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, renowned for his namesake restaurant in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

. Caviar & Banana has since closed, along with the subsequent Borough Food & Drink restaurant and Almond, a French bistro opened by Jason Weiner and Eric Lemonides, the men behind Almond and Almoncello in the Hamptons.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Restaurant (American TV series), The American television series Food reality television series NBC original programming 2000s American reality television series 2003 American television series debuts 2004 American television series endings English-language television shows