You alright?
Yeah.
I'm alright.
Everything's fine.
So what's today?
Um, NICET exam. Level 2.
That sounds really serious.
Yeah, it's boss level.
Hey.
Hi.
What's NICET Level 2?
Uh, NICET Level 2, it's a fire suppression exam.
Um, it pretty much, it has to go right above the... stove.
What?
I'm really sorry. I just, like, um...
Never ever apologize.
I just want you to know...
that this is really nice.
So nice that, I, uh...
You're waiting for the other shoe.
That's it.
- You wanna know a secret? Yes.
Nobody's keeping track of shoes.
Whoa.
I know!
Okay, so the... system is above the stove?
- The system is above the stove. Mm-hmm.
And, um, you know, it-it has to go off
if something catches fire, that could get outta control.
- So above Richie? Hm-mm? - Yes.
So Fak would be holding it
and Richie spontaneously combusts,
there's fire everywhere,
the suppression system shuts off the gas line,
and it would spray him
with a sodium potassium bicarbonate solution.
And then we-we put this, uh, balloon on the line
and if the balloon fills up—
If it leaks, you fail.
If it leaks, we fail, and if it doesn't—
You've achieved Level 2.
- Wow. You've done it. - We've done it.
Yeah.
Um...
Can I ask you a question?
Mm-hmm.
Is this just the most boring shit you've ever heard?
- No, it's so interesting. - Is it?
How often do you get to talk about
sodium potassium bicarbonate?
Um, probably about as often
as you hope a balloon doesn't blow up.
Anything else you're thinking?
I'm thinking you're very, very beautiful.
Well... break a leg, Bear.
Not open yet, ma'am.
Thank you, sir.
I was looking for some old, mean so-and-so named Tina.
I'm Tina.
How can I help you?
This used to be a good restaurant here.
What happened to it?
Well, they had to close.
I heard there were too many old bitches working here
couldn't hack it.
Maybe some... old bitches like their bitch ways.
Maybe they're happy with where they are.
Maybe they don't want to change too much.
Maybe they get scared.
Afraid.
Yeah. Makes sense.
That's how an old bitch would think.
But that's why they surround themselves
with bad motherfuckers who take care of them.
Push their ass.
This a drive-through now?
Yeah, well, they wanted to sell OG through here,
but they're having a really hard time hiring.
Too much changes.
No, too many hustlers.
They all wanna be Top Jeff.
But what they really looking for is a stubborn, childish,
immature, pain-in-the-ass... with arthritis
to run this thing during the day.
I might know a guy.
Send me his info.
What are you thinking about?
Fire suppression test. You?
Controlling the zone,
staying calm, creating space, trust.
How do we do that?
I don't know. It's hard to without a gas line.
Right.
When's that guy coming in? N... Never mind.
That's a stupid fuckin' question.
Deliveries come in five minutes,
we got new hires in an hour,
and we're two weeks out from open.
If we fail this next test,
- we're fucked. - We are fucked.
- Exactly. - Exactly.
The best offenses have the ability to reset
and-and adapt on a dime.
Book?
Book, yeah.
We can do that, though.
We have to.
Okay, let me say one thing before you start laughing at me.
I don't hear anybody laughing, G.
I get it.
- Eleven Madison Dickhead.
Alright.
A hundred and six miles to Chicago.
Full tank of gas.
Half a pack of cigarettes.
It's dark. We're wearing sunglasses.
Hit it.
I really thought that that was gonna work.
Really did not.
Yeah, well, the fire suppression's working,
but the gas just won't shut off.
Well, that wasn't whatever you just did.
Behind.
Oh! My fucking God.
Fuck! Neil!
Carmy said he was gonna handle it.
Okay, well, he obviously didn't, so...
Gotta figure out the gas line first, Chef.
Fuck me.
So we just like clock into work, we don't say hi to people?
Is that like a Danish tradition?
Relax. I was gonna surprise you.
We just don't say hello anymore?
- I was gonna surprise you. - With what?
With this. One of three.
I see you with the olive oil.
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Yo, corner.
- Dextrose. Thank you, Chef.
It's gonna be interesting.
Whoa.
Very yes. Yo, what's up? We good?
Hi. Um, not really. Fridge is still broken as fuck.
Fuck. Right. Shit. Yeah.
I'm sorry. I just, um...
Fuck. I had this gnarly panic attack last night,
and I was telling, uh, Claire about this time, uh,
this time at Christmas.
My mom drove her car through the house.
- Um, who's Claire? - She's a girl that's a friend.
Ooh, it's his girlfriend. Oh, so, so sorry.
She's a girl that's a friend?
- She's a girlfriend? You think? - Ooh.
Okay. Uh, next. Your mom drove a car through a house?
Yes. Our house. It was actually very fucked.
Um...
Anyway, we would always have, uh, cannolis, you know,
after Christmas dinner.
And so I always hated cannolis 'cause I associated them
with my weird, fucked-up family and, um.
And, I don't know, I was talking to Claire last night
and I kinda had this-this realization
that maybe I could, I could kinda take them back,
you know, make them my own.
The cannolis, you know.
O-okay. Yeah. Whoa. Yeah.
- That's healthy. Thank you. Yes.
I've been thinking about cannolis
and more specifically, um, savory ones.
- Okay. Like with the mortadella mousse? Mm-hmm.
- Parmesan shell. Yeah. Yeah.
Uh, dipped in pistachio.
- Ooh. That's something. - That's something, right?
- On it. Thank you, Chef.
Oh, shit. Those are new hires.
- Ready? Nope.
Great. Me neither.
- Tina? Chef!
Yo, new hires are here.
Comin'.
Marcus?
What's up?
For real.
Okay, it's Daniela, Josh, and Connor.
How green?
Emerald.
What do you want me to start 'em on?
Um, drill through that produce and, uh—
And stock lowboys.
- Yes. - Yes.
Alright.
Go get your squad, T.
Alright. Yes, Chef.
- Let's go, freshmen. Yes, Chef.
Okay, I know you can't give me an exact time,
but what if I said the fire suppression exam
might be between the hours of 1:00 and 3:00?
Would that be accurate?
You can't say. Uh-huh.
Got it.
You're wearing a suit?
No, not you.
No. Thanks for not a lot.
Sorry. You're wearing a suit?
Uh, yeah, I wear suits now.
Ah, understood.
What can I help you with?
May I sit?
You may sit.
- Hit me. - I, uh...
I wanna apologize.
For?
Everything, I guess.
Okay, hold on.
Hey, can the closest person
outside my office come in here, please?
What's up, Nat?
Gary, Richie would like to apologize to me,
and I'd like a witness.
- Hell, yeah. Yeah.
Go ahead.
I'm being serious.
Yeah, so am I.
Turn up the heat. Let's go.
Alright. Um...
I think for a long time, I didn't really know
where I fit, you know, and...
I would shove myself into, like, places
and things where I definitely did not fit.
And I think that that probably...
definitely... made things worse.
And I'm sorry
if I took anything out on you
and if I treated you like shit.
Um, because I actually do think that we could fit good together.
I could be good at things that you don't really wanna do.
And you're obviously really great at a whole bunch of stuff
that I don't know how to do, you know?
That's why you're wearing the suit.
Um... I'm wearing a suit
'cause it makes me feel better about myself.
What do we think?
I think he did a really nice job.
Thanks, Gary.
It felt genuine.
Like from his soul. No G&R.
Why are you wearing a suit?
Why are you covered in shit?
I was fixing the gas line.
Well, I wear suits now.
That's so sick.
Neil, honey, can you get the fuck outta here?
You're getting dirt everywhere.
Well... can my sister come to Friends and Family?
Francie Fak?
No, she can go fuck, my love.
Is it 'cause of the thing or like—
What do you think?
You— Really?
- Use your brain, babe. Yeah.
"Is it because of the thing?"
No gavones at Friends and Family.
Francie Fak.
Stupid...
Look, Natalie, you know, if there's anything at all
that I can do to make your life here easier, tell me,
I'll fucking do it.
I need this place to work.
We need this place to work.
Baby steps.
Okay? You and I will interview front of house today.
- Okay. Okay.
- Deal. Deal.
Oh-ho-ho. Ma. Ma que bella.
Yep. Oh, my God.
I know.
Where the fuck does the time go?
I don't know.
Hey.
Thank you for apologizing.
Okay.
Garde manger needs to see...
Corner. at the station.
- Behind. Behind. Behind. Behind.
Um, hey, hey.
I wanted to, uh, show you something.
Um... I was thinking about the, uh,
the-the grapes and the bone broth.
- Right? Um... Sure.
Wait. What is this?
Are we, are we drawing? Are we doing drawings now?
Well, no. I had to draw these 'cause we didn't have the heat,
- so I couldn't show you— - You had to draw them?
So then you, like, whip out these fuckin' Sistine Chapel—
- Like, there's, like, shading here. - Yeah. Right.
Okay, just listen. So, uh, uh...
I-I was thinking, we'd do the, uh,
frozen grapes in a bowl standalone, right?
- And then— - We'd pour the broth over hot.
Yes. Exactly. - Tableside. That's nice.
And then I did... I had this other thought that, um...
Housekeeping, Chef. - I'm sorry, that's just, that's actually...
This is just driving me fuckin' crazy.
This, um, prosciutto, by the way,
do we know where we're sourcing this?
Uh, yeah, yeah.
My homie, uh, from high school,
he's running an Iberico account, and, uh,
- so he's gonna hook it up. Great. Okay.
Uh, did we talk to him about a deal or...
Uh, yeah, I'll give you his number
and, uh, you can go ahead and you can call him.
Oh, um, we can get tardivo at the same place
that we're getting our spinach, by the way.
- So... - Oh, no, no. We actually...
We don't need the spinach anymore.
Why don't we need the spinach anymore?
Well, I had a thought, if you could just, um...
Thank you. I had a thought on, um...
on plating.
Um, I'll show you...
- ... uh, here. - This looks kinda like a chaos menu.
Well, no, it's like, it's a thoughtful chaos menu.
- Oh. - Look, Claire and I,
we were talking about it last night,
and-and she helped me realize that maybe I was clinging on
to some things that...
I don't know, maybe I just,
I don't care that much about anymore.
Right? And this is good, right?
'Cause this is, this is what you wanted.
- Uh, yeah, it is. Yeah. Right.
Um, yeah, okay.
Yeah. Uh, yeah.
Great. Tell Claire I said thank you, then.
Take your time.
- Yeah, totally. - Totally.
Yo. Why are you being like that? What's up?
I just, um, I didn't know that we were, like,
running our menu by Claire.
We're not running the menu by Claire.
Should I also send my revised COGS to your girlfriend?
You don't need to send anything— She's not my girlfriend.
- So she's not even your girlfriend. - Right.
And we're, like, arranging this menu—
She's not arranging anything,
and she's not looking at the menu.
- Yeah she is, man. - This is what you wanted originally,
and that's what I'm giving you, and so awesome?
- No, not awesome. And I'm sorry.
I, like, fucking, like, hated cannolis my whole life
- and now— - Stop, stop. Stop.
Stop.
- Sorry. I'm sorry.
Okay? I'm tired.
- No. No, no, no. I'm sorry. - I'm... I've-I've been tired,
but I'm really tired, and that wasn't cool.
- Yes. Same. And... Okay.
- I am tired. And, um... - Alright.
Like, wherever I'm-I'm-I'm fuckin' up,
just let me know I'm-I'm fuckin' up
'cause I am, like, I'm... You know, I'm trying.
I know that you're trying. I see that you're trying.
Obviously. You're fuckin' doing these beautiful drawings.
Obviously you're trying, it's—
Right. - Yeah.
Okay, so we're like...
We're okay? We're back?
- We are good. Good.
- We're good? Okay. - Yes.
I just think you need to decide.
What do you mean? What do I need to decide?
I mean, many things.
But chief among them might be if this person
is your girlfriend or your friend that's a girl.
- Yeah, right, that's... So...
- I'm being shitty? I mean, not great.
- Okay. Yeah.
Listen, I don't, I don't, I don't wanna be, uh, shitty.
Okay. So don't be.
Behind.
Oh, cool. So, like, I just won't be then.
- Okay, alright. - Like, that'll work.
Relax. Yeah, yeah.
I'm a problem solver, and you always put the restaurant first.
So whatever I have to do to put out a fire, lead or follow,
I'm doing it.
That's a great answer.
Thank you.
You'll be hearing from us.
Really lookin' forward to it.
Yeah, us, too.
- Thanks. Hey, good luck.
Bye.
- I mean...
Well, she ain't it.
She's got seven years.
Elske, Oriole, Smyth.
Yeah, that's a lot of moving around for seven years,
but that's not why we can't hire her.
Okay, why can't we hire her?
We can't hire her because every single napkin
on this table is folded in alignment
with the salad fork except for hers.
She just... sat there.
What do you mean?
We're here for 20 minutes.
She's there looking at that,
knowing that napkin's facing the wrong direction.
Did you turn the napkin beforehand?
Sugar, you guys want stars. That ain't a star catcher.
If I'm her, that napkin
would've driven me fuckin' crazy,
and I would have fixed it.
- Wow.
You turned the napkin.
Yeah. Of course, I did.
- What, you hiding? - Yeah.
You, too?
- Yeah. - I ran two more tests myself,
and I just... I can't figure it out.
Is Claire my girlfriend?
I think so.
What, do you have to like...
You have to, like, ask, you have to, like, to see?
- "Girlfriend's" a horrible word. - Yeah. "Are you my girlfriend?"
- That's, like, that's fucked, right? - Totally fucked.
Right back here.
This is Tina. This is the lady you wanna see.
Richie.
Baby, you just came from a funeral?
Yeah, a funeral of all my enemies.
No, I wear suits now, T.
Oh. Shit. You wear them well, papa.
Big man. How can I help you, sir?
Equipment delivery for you.
Okay.
Science, baby.
Do you want her to be your girlfriend?
Uh, like, what-what is a girlfriend?
Well, how much do you love her?
I don't know. I just like, like, I love her a lot.
Mm. That's nice.
- Hey. - Hey.
- You good? - Yeah.
- Are you? - Yeah.
Yeah, I'm alright.
Your suit is-is nice.
Oh, thanks. - Yeah.
I wear suits now.
Nice.
- You smell good. - Oh.
Uh, thanks.
Listen, Carmen thought this might be nice on the line,
but he wanted me to run it by you
in case you maybe thought it was too intense.
No, I-I think it's nice.
- Thanks for asking. - Yeah, sure.
Um...
Yeah.
Did your family have a catchphrase?
No. Uh, I'm an only child.
Yeah. Same.
It's nice, though, that you had, uh, Carm and Nat.
Yeah.
Now you do, too.
Alright. Hit me if you need anything.
Okay.
Sorry, just...
How long until they can come back?
Three weeks.
So, really, if we fail...
- We really fail. - Hit me.
- Hey, Unc. Hey, sweetheart.
Listen, I'm out back.
Can you come, uh, meet me in the car?
Uh, any particular reason?
So as to not make a scene.
Got it.
Okay.
What do you got?
So how's that baby?
Uh, getting close.
Name yet? Not yet.
I got a million things to do, Jimmy.
Okay, so, look, I gotta say a lot of things.
Appraisal on the lot came back.
Not great. Not bad. Not great.
Okay.
But here's where things get, uh, get funky, right?
Well, as long as we're closed
we're gonna get hammered on taxes, obviously,
but it's starting to look like skyrocketing interest rates.
Now, you guys, read "me,"
are into the building at three and a half.
But, you know, if we have to refinance
'cause, uh, you know, there's no money coming in,
we're still closed,
the best we're gonna do is like seven.
Oh, fu...
But in the real world, probably more like nine,
which might as well be ten.
- Fuck. Yeah, fuck.
Now, look, it's all okay if there's something coming in, right?
But, Nat, if there's nothing coming in,
it's not okay.
So I gotta ask you, and I need you to be straight with me.
Can you be open in ten days?
Or more clear...
you fuckin' gotta be.
You understand me?
Yeah.
Hm.
Okay. - Okay.
Hey, um, if you were to have kids all over again,
what would you do?
Oh, honey, I wouldn't have 'em.
Alright.
You know, Nat, I'd, um...
What would I do?
I would... I... I'd want them to be
not so fuckin' afraid of things, you know?
I'd protect them less. Yeah.
I'd want 'em to have more fun. Make more mistakes.
Get into more fuckin' trouble, you know?
I don't know how to do it, but...
but that, that's what I'd do.
Ma-make sense?
Yeah.
Thanks, Unc.
- Neil. Yes, Chef.
- May I borrow a Phillips-head? Yeah.
Okay, all new hires out front, please.
How long ago is that photo from?
Five years. Block party.
Why is it burnt?
Because Michael was on drugs.
What the fuck? Jewish lightning!
Neil, you can't say that!
- I didn't. Yes, you did, I heard you.
- Well... Well, what?
So you guys as new hires,
you gotta know we wanna do serious business here.
And in order to do that, this has to be a serious place.
Richie, Richie, Richie!
- Jewish lightning. - Don't say that.
- Jewish lightning. - Don't say that!
- Well... Yeah. - Go over there.
Uh, I'll tell you what, gang, let's just take a quick break
while I go address this, um, problematic individual.
Thanks so much, guys.
- Neil Geoff. What? - Yeah.
He did try to burn down the restaurant for insurance money.
Yeah, I know. - Yeah.
He overrode the system.
Start from the beginning.
He tried to burn down the restaurant.
I think that he overrode the fire suppression system
so the gas wouldn't turn off
and it wouldn't put the fire out.
Make it so.
- Yeah! - Good job.
- I know. Thank you. - Now go.
Okay. Okay.
- Good job. Yeah.
What are you guys doing?
Just staring at some stuff.
Fire suppression.
Okay.
Suppression seems to be working.
I will now check the gas line.
And ten...
nine...
eight...
You're good, you're good. You're okay.
seven...
He's learnin'! Yes.
I'm grateful for all y'all mothafuckas.
six...
You're gonna be such a cute dad.
five...
four...
Keep going.
three...
two...
Says here the chief operating officer is
Natalie Berzatto.
Correct. I am Natalie Berzatto.
Congrats, Natalie Berzatto.
You have a restaurant.
Fuck, yeah!
You're honestly the best. You gotta come in.
Whoo!
Hey, 'cuz.
What do you think?
- Yeah. It's beautiful. Thanks.
Yo, you got a second to help with the lighting levels?
Yes. Yeah, just give me, um, one minute, okay?
I just, um...
I gotta call my girlfriend.
They need a miracle.