by Gina Scarpa

 

"Salt Works II"

 

This week, on Restaurant: Impossible, Robert is in North Carolina to help Michael Thyberg and Jonathan Flatt save Salt Works II. The first time restaurant owners took the place over, keeping the same staff and menu. Soon after, the whole place began to fall apart  and they're now in a hole they can't get out of. In the first year alone, these guys have lost over $100,000!

 

Cue Robert, whose first order of business is to check out their service. Since breakfast is their bread and butter, he decides to order eggs, grits, and hash (to name a few) as well as dinner. I sure hope he brought his appetite! He interviews some of the diners and sees that the food is overcooked, the grill is dirty, and none of the food they prepare is fresh. Gross. As if that's not bad enough, it took an hour and 15 minutes for Robert's food to arrive. Raise your hand if you would've left by now.

 

Robert devises a course of action for Michael and Jonathan. First, the food needs to be addressed, with fresh food taking the highest level of importance. Next up is the staff and the owners need to make sure that people are accountable. Finally, the service, marking, and décor need to improve in order for business to improve.

 

Michael's and Jonathan's leadership skills are put to the test when they are given teams (made up of staff members) to put together furniture for the restaurant. They could only give directions and Jonathan's tem prevailed!

 

Inside, the design team, lead by Vanessa, while Robert gave some cooking lessons. Today's curriculum was made up of fried green tomatoes, fried chicken, sautéed shrimp, and grits. Everything looked amazing - of course!

 

Day 2 brings lots of progress for the design team. The walls look awesome, with words and sayings stenciled on. The chairs have been reupholstered and the bar is completely redone.

 

It's time to do a little marketing at a local college. Robert and the Salt Works II staff pack up some sliders (mini burgers) and hand them out around campus. They also offer a deal: $1 sliders and $2 beers from 5-7pm every day. It's called the "After Class Special". Love it!

 

Things are looking good but Robert runs into a problem when Frank, the cook, tries to quit and say that he can't do this. He seems to have issues with cooking so Michael and Jonathan decide to promote another cook, Jimmy, to Kitchen Manager and demote Frank.

 

After that, it's time for a pop quiz with the staff where they have to answer questions about the new menu items. Anyone who got a question wrong was harshly sent home but amazingly, only one person didn't study. The rest were rock stars.

 

The big day has arrived and it's time for the grand reopening of Salt Works II.  Michael and Jonathan are brought inside to check out the amazing changes that Vanessa and the design team have made and they're brought to tears the minute they lay eyes on it.  Soon after, the place fills with hungry diners - 80 to be exact.  80 orders is a lot for new Kitchen Manager Jimmy to handle and for a little bit, it becomes overwhelming but they recover.  

 

The night ends as a BIG success.  Here's hoping Michael and Jonathan were able to keep the changes that Robert helped inspire.  Definitely the best restaurant he's visited yet!

 

Restaurant: Impossible airs Wednesdays at 10/9c on Food Network.

 

(Image courtesy of Food Network)

 

Follow Gina @ginascarpa