All language subtitles for The.Event.2021.S01E01.WEBRip.x264-ION10

(dramatic music)

(narrator)
They call it the Shrine.

For almost a century,

it's been home
to the world's biggest stars

on their biggest nights.

Tonight, the Shrine will host
the Screen Actors Guild Awards,

and the most famous names
in Hollywood will be there.

Some will savor
the fruits of victory,

others the bitter taste
of defeat.

But, hey, at least the food
will be good.

♪

(whooshing)

(Wolfgang)
The most important thing
in life, whatever you do,

has to be passion.

(upbeat music)

(woman)
To me, Wolfgang Puck Catering

is the Holy Grail of catering,
if you will.

♪

(woman)
There isn't
an opportunity for error.

You need to be perfect.

You're working
for Wolfgang Puck Catering.

♪

(man)
You have to be on your game,

and the minute
you are not focused,

-you're going down.
-Our job depends

on making sure
that you feel great.

(man)
If you want the premium,
you want the best,

this is what Wolfgang
strives for every day.

♪

(soft music)

♪

(woman)
Good morning!
How are you guys today?

I want to go through
the SAG Awards,

which is a week
from this coming Sunday.

Guest count looks
like it's gonna be

somewhere in the 1,275 range.

(narrator)
It's January in Los Angeles

and the countdown has begun
to one of the biggest events

in the Hollywood calendar,
the SAG Awards.

(Barbara)
The menu.

So as you guys know,

it is a single
room temperature plate

that goes on the table.

(narrator)
The team
from Wolfgang Puck Catering

will be serving
over 1,280 entrees,

combining chicken,
salmon, and salad,

and the whole world
will be watching.

(Barbara)
Every award show that we do
is under a microscope,

especially the ones
that are on television.

You food has the potential

for being smack dab
in front of Brad Pitt.

It goddamn better look good.

(narrator)
Vice President of Sales,
Barbara Brass,

and Executive Chef Eric Klein

have both been with the company
for over 20 years.

They're no strangers
to the pressures of the event.

The challenges,
the difficulty, the problems.

Where there are problems,
always a solution.

All right, so, moving on
to the post party, yes?

-Okay.
-But the awards show on live TV

is only one half of the job.

Following that broadcast,

we basically bring
an entirely different crew

to manage the afterparty.

People Magazine is
sponsoring it this year,

so we have stations,
tray passed hors d'oeuvres,

specialty cocktails.

It's a beautiful room
that's set up.

Two different things happening,

two different kitchens.

I mean, imagine it's like
a conductor in music.

Taps the thing, say,

"Okay, I'm gonna play
two different orchestra

at the same time."

(mellow music)

♪

(man)
Our prep kitchen is
controlled chaos.

When you walk in,
you know you're in a kitchen,

the smells,
the kettles steaming water,

and this is boiling
and this flame is on

and the grill's smoking
and it's a fun place to be.

(narrator)
For the Awards Banquet,

the entrees will be prepared
just hours before the event

and served at room temperature.

But today, Executive Chef Eric

and his sous-chefs,
Pauline and Markus,

are designing a prototype
of how the dish will look.

(Chef Eric)
The way a plate looks
is like a painting.

We eat with our eyes.

When you see, "Oh, look, there
are a couple grains of salt,

the colors are popping,"
you know,

it's like a story in itself.

(narrator)
To feed over 1,280 guests,

the team will need
over 2,000 pounds of salads,

sauces, purees, and dressings,

along with 250 pounds of salmon

and 300 pounds
of Jidori chicken.

(Barbara)
Chicken's chicken.

It's all in how you season it.

So salt, pepper,
but then we add

this beautiful gooseberry salsa.

It's bright, it's yellow,
it's got spice,

it's got sweet, it's got salty,

it's got umami to it.

Then you move on
to the miso glazed salmon,

and it is by far
one of my favorite dishes.

(Chef Markus)
Our salmon is marinated
in this amazing miso marinade,

and it--thinking about it now
is making my mouth water.

It's charred
under the Salamander

and it's crispy
and there's sugar in it,

so it's sugary
and it's glazed

and it's beautiful
on the plate.

Putting all
those components together,

you may think,
"Oh, chicken and fish?

Why chicken and fish?"

Have you tried
our chicken and fish?

People go crazy for it.

(soft music)

(Chef Eric)
When you put balances together,

the salmon, beautiful,
crispy chicken breast,

olive oil on top and in there,
and then you have

the (indistinct) puree
and the sticky rice

and the lettuce,

it's like a symphony
happening in your mouth.

You're fulfilled.

And the lettuce
we'll season lightly, yes?

-Yes, Chef.
-Correct, Chef.

(Chef Eric)
The way you do the first step
to the last step

has to be engineered,
it has to be planned,

because if we forget
to put one item

and you produce it 1,250 times,

that is catastrophic.

I'll be happy to get that.

Looks great, perfect.

♪

(narrator)
Ten miles across town,

the Shrine dominates
the L.A. skyline.

The Shrine's Expo Hall
will host the Awards Banquet,

with the People Magazine
Afterparty

just 100 feet away
in the Shrine auditorium.

But the 100-year-old building
can take some getting used to.

(Barbara)
This right here
is that staircase.

-You're looking at the stage.
-Oh, am I?

(Barbara)
The light that you see
is the far end of the stage.

My very first event
in that space

like 26 years ago
was the Oscars,

and I walked in and I thought,
"What the ...?"

At the beginning,
if you look at it empty,

it looks like
a giant gymnasium.

They bring
every single thing in.

(mellow music)

(Kathy)
I think what people
don't understand

is how long it takes
to create our room.

It takes about 11 days,

and we have the challenge
of how to make this

very, very, very large room
into an intimate affair.

We're hanging lights,
and then in comes the carpet

and the risers,
and after 11 days,

you have a very glamorous room

that is fit for some
of the greatest artists

in the world.

(narrator)
Work has also begun
inside the Shrine auditorium.

Once the home of the Oscars
and the Grammys,

it's one of Hollywood's
most famous stages,

and in less than two weeks,
it will be the setting

for the People Magazine
Afterparty.

Over the next few days
leading right up to Sunday,

we have so much more coming in
than what you're seeing now.

We've got flowers,
we've got bars,

we've got buffet stations,

we've got 90 custom
cherry blossom trees

that are probably 10
to 17-foot-tall trees

that are gonna just implode
this entire space.

♪

(soft music)

(man)
So, all right, I
need to figure out

what to do for the SAG Awards.

I've got a couple options.

I'm the client relations guy,

so I go in
to make everybody happy.

I have a passion for fashion,
I love to get dressed up.

I think this is
a little bit too daytime,

even though the polka dots
are cute.

I like that.

Ramon and I are
very deeply connected.

I mean, I walk into an event
and I know that

my VIPs are gonna be
taken care of.

What does that guy drink?

What do you want?

Double gin and tonic.

He's pregnant.

-She's pregnant.
-Yeah, I was like,

"He's pregnant"?

♪

Jacket, yes.

-I would change the pants.
-Okay.

(Pamela)
Actually, this with the skirt.

Ooh, well, speaking of.

Skirt moment,
ascot, very traditional.

The SAG Awards is
the beginning of

what I call fashion week,

'cause people start
putting on their best.

I include myself,
but I do that

because it helps me
get in the room.

It gives me
a conversation starter,

it's part of
the Hollywood scene.

So, what do we think about this?

Oh, my God! Stop.

(Ramon)
What I'm wearing to the SAG,

I'm not clear on that just yet.

I have a couple of outfits
that I'm looking at

and then, you know,
day of is what I'm feeling.

Oh, my God.

People are gonna freak.

♪

(orchestral music)

(Barbara)
Every now and then
in this business,

a client will come at you
with a curveball,

and what makes the good good
and the best best

is how they react
to that curveball.

(phone ringing)

This is Barbara.

"No," is not in our vocabulary.

All right, that's a big change.

♪

So--

(Chef Eric)
I don't like
when you come start

-with the "so."
-Yeah.

So, the SAG Awards
just called me,

and they have decided
to go vegan.

First of all,
we've gotta stop anything

on the chicken and the fish.

When you get news like that,

and you're--say,
"excuse my French," ...,

what am I gonna do
with all the providers?

What am I gonna do
with everybody

we planned and organized?

Everything we'd had scrapped,

put it in the trash,
move forward.

We're gonna have to do
something else.

(Barbara)
We had shown them a vegan plate
at the tasting.

Some of the items on there
can translate,

but we have to figure out a way
to take those items

and make them satisfy
the non-vegans.

-Yeah.
-Our chefs have written menus

that are specific
to a guest count,

a location,
a kitchen, equipment,

and then for us
to all of a sudden change that

within days of an event

really adds
so much more pressure.

(Barbara)
You've got a Romano bean salad
to play with,

paella rice,
and you've got like

a harissa glazed carrot
to play with.

But we have to pick up,
move forward, keep going.

Smooth sailing.

(Barbara)
The post party,
they're leaving it as is

with the burgers
and the fried chicken

and everything like that.

People are gonna come in hungry,

people are gonna come in
looking for that meat,

and so I think
we need to consider

making these a little bit bigger
and hedging our bets

to make sure that
everybody leaves there

super satisfied.

Yeah, yeah,
well, we'll figure out.

-More gray hairs, okay.
-Thank you!

-Thank you.
-So we now have to, mm,

put the brakes on.

(narrator)
After scrambling to cancel
hundreds of pounds

of chicken and salmon
without cost,

the team has to quickly come up
with a vegan alternative.

The solution:
paella rice with saffron,

charred baby carrots
with a harissa glaze,

and the colorful
Romano bean salad.

Now, they have to
create an arrangement

they can repeat
over 1,200 times this weekend.

(playful music)

♪

Chef Eric is the first
to step up to the plate.

♪

(Barbara)
I don't like it from this side.

Turn your plate,
I don't like it from this side.

(Chef Eric)
Turn the plate like that side?

(Chef Pauline)
I feel like it looks
like a drunk man

-on top of rice.
-Can I play with one?

-May I borrow your spoon?
-Yup.

♪

(Chef Pauline)
Honestly, I don't like it.

(Chef Eric)
How about if we put the rice
and push it down

and build it up
like the lettuce.

♪

We're never gonna get
1,286 of those to hold.

(Chef Eric)
Yeah, I know, that's why
I'm looking, I'm thinking.

(Chef Markus)
There's those times where

we will kind of get caught up

and in our heads,

you're looking at
the same three things

over and over again

and trying
to make it look right

and it's not coming out as art.

It's just looking, like, random.

(Barbara)
It's too stacked up.

This is really
messing with me right now.

That makes two of us.

(narrator)
After almost an hour,

the vegan plate
still hasn't come together.

(Chef Pauline)
Here, can I try one?

(narrator)
And then,
Chef Pauline has an idea.

(Chef Pauline)
We're gonna put
some carrot sauce.

(bright music)

♪

(Barbara)
Oh, I like where
she's going with it.

(Chef Pauline)
The reason I put on this side,

because paella's kinda sticky,

so it'll hold the carrots
together.

♪

It's just like one nice piece

sitting--give a little height.

(Barbara)
And then what do you do
with these little babies?

-Can you just put a few in?
-You know what?

-Make 'em smaller--
-Can we just take them,

make them smaller?

Like a bread crumb.

Pita bread crumb.

It's gonna be great.

-Oh, I like that.
-I like it simple.

(Barbara)
Winner, winner, carrot dinner.

♪

That's beautiful,
it looks great.

(Chef Pauline)
And I will portion
all the carrots,

everything all ahead of time.

Literally assembly line.

(Chef Markus)
Yes, Chef Pauline!

(bright music)

♪

(narrator)
With the plating
of the vegan dish complete,

across town,
florist Chris Matsumoto

and his team are preparing
floral arrangements

for the banquet.

He's been Hollywood's
go-to florist

for over 25 years.

It's always stressful
till you really get it done

and you can see it finished.

It's about a two-month process.

Finding containers,
finding the right flowers,

going with the colors
that they want to go with.

(woman)
Chris is an amazing artist.

His brain is always churning,

and he's obsessed
with getting it right.

(Chris)
Start with the Flexi Grass.

♪

To create the motion
with the mango callas

and nestle those
inside of those.

And then we're gonna
anchor this with greenery.

Almost garden-like.

And to finish it off,
we'll add succulents to it.

We still have
centerpieces to do,

and we've still got
a lot of larger arrangements

and supplementary
arrangements to make.

It is a monster of a job.

(orchestral music)

♪

(indistinct remarks)

(narrator)
It's one day
before the SAG Awards.

Preparations
for the Awards Banquet

and the People Magazine
Afterparty

kick into high gear.

A team of 35 chefs
will work together.

Chef Eric has put
Chef Pauline in charge

of the vegan banquet,

and Eric will work
alongside Chef Markus

to supervise the tray passed
hors d'oeuvres

for the afterparty.

(Chef Eric)
I have an amazing team
right here.

This is what it's all about.

I have a lot of soldiers,
lieutenants, captains,

and on then
we have the general.

Everybody has a job.

(soft music)

♪

(narrator)
As the preparations continue,

each member of the kitchen

becomes an essential cog
in the machine.

There's a vast amount
of work to be done,

but perfection takes time.

(Chef Markus)
It may take Chef Sandra

her entire day to do one item
to do it perfect.

We could easily buy this stuff,

but why when you could
have it freshly made?

It's rewarding in that aspect,

and that's what sets us apart.

♪

(Chef Eric)
What are we doing today?

(Chef Pauline)
Prepping the sweet pepper
for the salad.

-One of the ingredients for--
-So is this one

you're gonna soak in water,
yeah?

(Chef Pauline)
Yeah, I like to soak it
in the water

so I can clean out
all the extra seeds from there.

(Chef Eric)
They're not spicy,
this one, no?

(Chef Pauline)
No, it's sweet.

So you're not gonna get
your mouth on fire in this one.

(Chef Eric)
Perfect.

(Chef Markus)
So what we do for the carrots

is we're gonna get
a nice char on them here

and toss them
in a harissa glaze.

It's gonna leave this amazing
harissa smoked flavor.

That with the whole dish
with the paella

with the gem lettuce,
it complements really well.

♪

Felix is washing
our baby gem lettuce,

and this lettuce is
naturally very sandy.

There's a lot of dirt
inside of it,

so he'll soak it in the water

and then go through
each leaf individually

to make sure that
there's no more sand.

♪

Right now, we're getting all
of our mise en place together

for the paella.

First, we make a sofrito base,

so it's red peppers,
yellow peppers,

garlic, onions
all pureed together.

We'll cook that all down,

blend it to make
a beautiful puree,

and it's just gonna bring
a ton of flavor to the paella.

(mellow music)

We'll add the rice.

We're looking to get
around 50 pounds of rice,

which will fill up
just about one of these tilts.

Then we'll do our math
from that point,

because we want to get those--
at least 1,300 portions

of the paella.

♪

Chef Pauline made
an amazing vegetable stock.

We'll use that in this.

Obviously, all vegetables
go into it

and just a ton of flavor.

♪

(narrator)
While work continues
in the kitchen,

event manager Marco Simard

and front-of-house captain
David Cohen

are arranging the table settings
for the banquet.

(Marco)
We're going to put
the plate like that

to give us more
of an idea of the spacing.

(David)
Marco is my husband,

and we both have
really strong opinions

on how to do stuff.

(Marco)
Pull on the linen down,

-tight it here like that.
-No, no,

it's the lighting,
it's a shadow.

-No, this.
-Oh, that.

-A ripple.
-Yeah.

(David)
But I'd never seen anyone
so brilliant.

(Marco)
And you just go put this
and this,

but tomorrow
we need to make sure.

The small one is water,
the large one is wine.

(David)
He can see one step
that's occurring

and what the consequences
are gonna be

two hours down the road.

(Marco)
Try to line up
with the side also.

-Mine is, yours isn't.
-No, it is.

(David)
So now I trust him 1,000%,

because he's had
so much experience.

One table down, 100 to go.

(laughing)

(Chef Markus)
Doesn't matter if we're cooking
for 10 people at home

or 1,300 people
at the SAG Awards,

it's always done the same way,

done nice, fresh, with love.

(bright music)

(narrator)
The preparations
for the vegan entree

will continue
long into the night.

Back at the Shrine,
a separate team

is building out the hot kitchen

that will serve
the People Afterparty.

And in the Shrine's
parking structure,

Marco has to make sure
there's enough space

in the cold kitchen
to handle over 1,280 entrees.

(Marco)
We need to do 48 tables of 27,

and one of your tables
need to have 17 plates.

(man)
So that's 49 tables almost.

(Marco)
And this is going
to give you 1,286.

We have 1,400 plates
to lay down,

and we need to put everything
covered with plastic.

(soft music)

Going to go to bed at 4:00.

♪

8:30 I'm waking up.

♪

(mellow music)

(narrator)
It's the day of the event,
and even before sunrise,

Chef Pauline is in the kitchen,

prepping, sorting,
and packing all of the elements

for the vegan entree
before heading to the Shrine.

♪

(Chef Markus)
It's prime time,
it's right where all

of our party's loading out,

and there's also people
getting their prep

ready for the day,
people packing their own carts.

Everything is labeled,
so everything is ready to go,

-there's no confusion.
-We gotta load fast.

Security's already want
the trucks out.

(Chef Markus)
The truck's at the dock,

a few carts
have started already.

We'll have our receivers
help out,

we'll have any prep cooks
that are available help out,

because we have
to get on the road

and into the event
at a certain time,

and we're also only allowed
a certain amount of time

at the loading dock.

(carts rattling)

(narrator)
It's a 20-minute drive
from the Wolfgang Puck Kitchens

to the Shrine.

A culmination of
a months-long journey

of preparation and planning.

The company's finest chefs
will descend on the Shrine

for a day that will test
their spirit

and their stamina.

(Chef Markus)
For any party we do,

but especially
something that's live,

it's a race against the clock,

because they are on
a very strict timeline,

which means we have to be on
an even stricter timeline.

Our cooks know
exactly our standards

and what we're trying
to achieve,

and they know
we're not messing around,

we're here to work.

(dramatic music)

(narrator)
Outside the Shrine,
a group of culinary students

has been drafted to help
with the plating of the entrees.

It's an incredible opportunity
to learn from the best,

but they'll have
a tough taskmaster.

(Chef Pauline)
No phone, no headset,
none of that.

-Got it.
-Okay, follow me.

Hoping for a smooth service,

but sometimes
big events like this,

I get--flip out very easily.

This way, this way.

Listen! This way!

Come on, let's go!

We don't have much time!

If the person says,
"Oh, I got it,

yes, Chef, I got it,"
and then boom,

they do the opposite,
that'll flip me out right away.

Yeah. That's when
you hear me scream.

Let's go!

(mellow music)

(narrator)
Just 200 yards away,
Chef Markus begins work

with his hot kitchen team
who'll be preparing thousands

of passed hors d'oeuvres
for the People Afterparty.

Unlike the Awards Banquet,
it's a non-vegan menu,

most of which
has to be served hot.

(Chef Markus)
We're not hot-boxing anything,
we're not doing that.

We're not holding anything,

everything's fresh
à la minute.

But we've gotta fly,
we've gotta keep pushing it.

I don't want to see this table
empty at all, all right?

-Yes, Chef!
-All right, let's do it!

♪

-Do you like my new wig?
-I do,

-I like it a lot.
-It's Krazy Glue on the side.

The door opens at 2:45.

Salad need to be preset,

bread needs to be preset,
water is already there.

(woman)
Okay, after 6 P.M.,
what's going on?

(Marco)
It's a live show, 5 to 7:14.

7:14, they're done
with the show,

everybody get up,

and they start going,
making their way

to the afterparty.

-Oh, okay.
-Okay?

(mixed chatter)

(Chef Pauline)
Hey, guys, you guys need
to refill them!

Take the old one back

and bring them
the new one, okay?

When they call for lettuce.

You guys need to run.

(dramatic music)

(Chef Markus)
You're gonna see
Chef Pauline running around,

making sure that
every single plate is perfect,

'cause it is not going on
that floor if it's not perfect.

(Chef Pauline)
Yeah, don't press it down
like that.

We're not making a cake.

(Chef Markus)
You will hear her
and she's strict,

and if it's not right,
she's gonna let you know.

(Chef Pauline)
Don't press it down like this.

It's supposed to look
like loose fluff like salad.

♪

(Chef Markus)
Chef Wolfgang has entrusted us

in making sure
that everything his name is on

looks a certain way.

(Chef Pauline)
Don't get on the rim, okay?

But try to do it nice and clean,
column by column.

(Chef Markus)
And if you have
an issue with it,

you can sign out and go home,

thank you
for your service today.

We'll see you another time
or never again.

(tense music)

(narrator)
Time is slipping by,

but Chef Pauline
won't allow any compromises.

Everything has to be perfect.

(Chef Pauline)
2:20, the server's
gonna start coming

to get the salad.

That means we need to be done
in 10 minutes!

Thank you!

♪

Right now I'm doing
a final touch on the plate

before we start picking up.

♪

(soft music)

(Marco)
There's a show happening on TV.

It's a big screen,
big announcement,

the stars are all there,
the people are screaming,

they're applauding,
they're doing all that stuff.

When the commercial happens,
when they announce

like they're going
to go to commercial,

you run to the floor,
you run to your table.

You're going to take the plate,
you're going to take the fork,

you're going to take the knife.

During that time also,
you refill water,

you refill the wine,
you refill the champagne.

Guys, I'm hearing people talk.

If you have questions,
please always ask me,

because when you talk,
I cannot concentrate.

Thank you so much.

I have a lot of stuff
in my head, okay?

As soon as the stuff come in,
I get a little bit panicky,

my stress meets
when I have to pass

what's inside here to them.

Commercial is two minutes.

You have two minutes
to make those tables clean,

impeccable, or good,
have their drink order.

Phone: no phone at all times.

Now, if I see somebody
with their phone,

I'm going to have
to send you home.

This is not personal,
it's business only.

Today, I know we're going
to kick it out of the park,

-is that how you say that?
-Yeah, I think so.

(Marco)
You kick it or you--
whatever you do out of the park.

We're going to do that
out of the park.

We need to have an amazing day.

(dramatic music)

♪

(Barbara)
On an event like SAG,
the clock,

it's more so you enemy
than anything else,

because you have to have

those plates down on the table

before they open up the doors.

(woman)
Perfect, perfect.

Watch your thumbs,
no thumbs on the plates.

(Barbara)
The challenge is
how do we make these plates,

make them beautiful,
get them on the table

times 1,286 plates?

Every second counts
when you're limited on time.

(Rebecca)
Okay, nobody should be
waiting in line.

You've got 1,000 salads.

It's grab, it's go, it's run.

Watch your thumbs on the plate!

Excuse me?

Hey!

No thumbs on the plates,
no thumbs on the plates.

Keep it moving, guys,
keep it moving!

♪

We are grabbing,
we are going, guys.

They're opening the doors,
so we need to rush it.

(narrator)
The red carpet is open,

the stars are arriving,

and the team is still scrambling
to get every last plate set.

We're not even through
half these entrees.

We are now at a time crunch.

Let's start that new table.

Try to keep it moving,
nobody should be waiting.

♪

All right, let's loop around
this way, please.

Let's put in the hustle.

♪

All right, entrees
are officially done!

(cheering)

(narrator)
With the placing
of the last plate,

the Shrine transformation
is complete

and the 100-year-old Expo Hall

is now the setting for a lavish,
high tech awards broadcast.

(orchestral music)

♪

(woman)
Five, four, three, two, one.

(announcer)
And now, join us
for the 26th celebration

of the Screen Actors Guild
Awards.

(narrator)
After weeks of preparation,
the show begins.

From the wings,
the Wolfgang Puck butlers

wait their turn
for the commercial breaks

when they'll be launched
into two minutes

of frenzied activity.

Okay, guys, on the floor,
on the floor.

We need to--fast,

we need to do service
right now.

(Barbara)
During the show, we do
what's called "ninja service."

We line up our staff
along the wings, off camera,

and then the minute
it goes to commercial break,

they swarm into the room.

(tense music)

♪

They hit their tables.

They know they have two minutes,
so they grab a plate.

In one ear,
they're getting a drink order

from the person sitting here.

They're kind of octopus
out there.

Cameras go back on,
they scoot off,

and it becomes a process
through the entire event

to get everybody taken care of.

♪

(woman)
You have 30 seconds before
the end of the commercial.

I want to see all the butlers
bussing, bussing, bussing.

♪

Off the floor,
everybody, off the floor.

♪

(man)
Now, send 'em out.

(announcer)
Please welcome Margot Robbie,

Nicole Kidman,
and Charlize Theron.

(narrator)
The empty stage
in the Shrine auditorium

has also been transformed

into an elegant
cherry blossom party space

for the People Magazine
Afterparty.

It's also the ideal showcase
for Ramon,

who's decided to go
with the ascot,

but not the skirt.

(Barbara)
You look so handsome tonight.

-I--
-Tonight?

(Barbara)
Well, every night.

(Ramon)
All right, guys, so,

what did I say about bussing?

Aggressive bussing.

They know you're there
to be of service.

Get the star-struck moment
out of the way.

You're there for service, right?

In our pre-shift meeting,
part of what we have,

we lay down the laws.

You don't hand out your resume,

you don't just sit
and ask for an autograph,

because you've got
to get your job done.

(Pamela)
And just make sure,
Ramon and I--

obviously, bright green dress,
can't miss me.

It's gonna get
really, really crowded,

so if at any point
you need help,

come grab me, find me.

We're gonna probably
be asking you for VIP platters.

It's a very glamorous event.

We're dealing with
a lot of celebrities.

There is that kind of

star-struck moment
for all of us,

but at the same time,
we're there to do a job.

Leonardo DiCaprio could walk
right in front of you,

and you just have
to keep moving.

Even though you take a minute,
take a breath,

"Ooh, he's quite tall,"
and you've gotta keep going.

I may not get a chance
to say "please,"

I may not get a chance
to say, "I'm sorry,"

and I may not get a chance--
I'm thanking you now.

Because we couldn't
make this happen without you.

So what I just need you guys
is to just be on point.

You have 45 minutes right now,
gather up.

Now, be gone with you!
Oh, go to your captain.

-All right, thank you!
-Thank you, guys!

(woman)
Four, three, two, one.

(man)
Rolling.

(applause)

(narrator)
The biggest stars in Hollywood
are inside the Shrine,

and outside, one of
the biggest stars in food

is just arriving.

(Chef Markus)
This is the hazelnut powder,
so what's gonna happen

is right when he gets
the arancinis,

he's gonna hit it
with a little bit of that.

How are you? How are
we doing here, all right?

(narrator)
At any event, Chef Wolfgang
can make a surprise appearance.

Tonight is no different.

(Chef Markus)
All right,
everyone on your station

unless you're cutting shrimp!

Everyone on your station,
please!

Chef is here, Chef is here.

(Wolfgang)
How do we do?

(mellow music)

Wolfgang comes into a room

and the energy shifts.

There's something about him
that is just infectious

and he just--he makes you
want to do better.

(Wolfgang)
Put a little oil on here,
what's the matter with you?

Okay.

Jesus Christ,
did Eric teach you like that

not to put anything on it?

-No, sir.
-Okay.

If he doesn't like something,
the way it looks,

he's like, "Add more of this,
put more of that,"

so I mean, this is his brand.

This is the man that--

you know,
the reason we're here is.

(Chef Eric)
We soaked the jalapenos,
give some heat,

but not too much heat.

(Wolfgang)
What do you mean,
"not too much heat"?

Who doesn't want heat?

(Chef Markus)
Whatever is nearest to him,

he's gonna taste it.

And you better hope
it's beautiful and perfect.

(Wolfgang)
Make it spicy, huh?

Mm, good.

(man)
Congratulations
to all of the winners!

-Goodnight, everybody!
-Goodnight!

(applause)

(narrator)
At 7:14 exactly,
the award show is over,

which means over 1,200 guests
will make their way

from the Expo Hall
to the auditorium

for the People Afterparty.

For the Wolfgang Puck team,

the action is
only just beginning.

(Chef Markus)
Full service,
1,200 people, non-stop.

(bright music)

(Pamela)
So many of these dishes
that we do

are quite intricate,
and they take a lot of steps.

We have to do the tuna cone,
which we make in-house.

We have the tuna tartare

that has to be mixed
with the spicy mayo,

we have the bonito flakes,

which are these fish flakes
that we finish it on top with,

add a little bit of
savory umami flavor to it.

Our Chinois chicken salad,

you have lemongrass dressing.

The chicken,
you have the cabbage,

you have the cashews.

Every single item has at least
four to five components.

The short rib grilled cheese.

Our short rib takes at least
48 to 72 hours to braise.

Even the most simple items,

like the vegetable ceviche,

every single vegetable
is a perfect square.

Our chefs put their love,
they put their passion,

they put their ideas
into these menus.

Our goal is perfection.

♪

(Chef Eric)
Service please, let's go.

Take the hot food, brother.

(Chef Markus)
Next service, right here.

Pick up right behind me
on my left right here.

Vegan ceviche,
plantain chip, avocado mousse.

Let's go, guys,
fill 'em up, fill 'em up!

I only have three items.

Short rib right here?

Short rib sandwich,
provolone, horseradish cream.

Tempura shrimp
on the pickup, please?

(Chef Eric)
Shrimp tempura, one plate!

(Chef Markus)
Taro root taco, spiced eggplant,

avocado mousse, pickled lime.

Be careful
how you're plating them, look.

Look, it's upside down,
it's upside down.

It needs to be like that.

Chef Wolfgang's standards
are so high, and we know it.

We're not here
to do the bare minimum.

We're not here to just
get through with this party

and go home
at the end of the night.

Absolutely not,
we have to be perfect.

(dramatic music)

(Chef Eric)
Give me chicken and waffle,
please, yesterday!

(Chef Markus)
Working, working, let's go!

♪

(Wolfgang)
Put twice as much honey on it
as you have, okay?

♪

(Chef Markus)
Keep it tight, keep it fresh!

Let's go, guys,
fill up the line!

(Chef Eric)
Give me that.

Take the waffle, please.

Excuse me, sir,
take the shrimp tempura, please!

Excuse me, sir,
take the burgers, please!

(narrator)
With over 1,200 hungry guests
inside the People Afterparty,

the butlers have to be
in constant rotation

from the kitchen
to the party floor.

(Barbara)
Getting the food

from the kitchen to the guest

is like one of
those crazy obstacle courses.

You gotta go through this door,
down this hallway,

through this curtain,
down over here,

don't trip on
that piece of carpet

that we laid right there,

and get to the guest
with hot, fresh food.

(mellow music)

(Pamela)
When we have celebrities

that are part of these events,
they are influencers.

They are people
that are well-known,

and it's critical

that we execute
perfectly for them,

that we keep them happy.

(Barbara)
This gentleman
played Elton John...

-Oh!
-Hi, hello, hi!

-We loved Rocketman, by the way!
-Oh, thank you!

-It was amazing!
-We're so proud of it.

-I think I fooled everyone.
-No, no, you did an amazing job!

-It was great.
-Thank you.

Thank you very, very much.
Have a lovely evening.

-Thanks.
-Our pleasure!

(Ramon)
Wolfgang, he is a celebrity.

His restaurants are in the heart
of celebrity Mecca,

so he knows them all,
they all know him.

-Nice to see you!
-Excellent, you're going home?

-You need some food?
-We're--we're--

Oh, yes, we need some food!

-For sure, yes!
-Okay, all right.

He's very friendly and very warm
with these individuals,

and he brings them back
to the kitchen.

(Wolfgang)
Henry!

-How are you?
-I'm so happy to see you.

(Wolfgang)
So good to see you!

He's a pretty, pretty,
pretty spectacular figure.

(Wolfgang)
You know what,
they are so crazy, the kids now.

They want to have
all this takeout,

they order themselves,
the food arrives at their house.

I said, "How can you eat
that crap?"

Maybe I'm in the wrong business.

(laughing)

(narrator)
As the kitchen continues
to load up trays

with more and more food
for the party,

the servers are struggling
to keep up.

(Chef Markus)
No runners, no runners.

Four items in the pass,
no servers, let's go.

-Take the pizza.
-Guys, come on, let's go!

(Chef Eric)
Take the pizza.

Hold on, give me that,
give me that.

Hey, brother, hello, hello.

Excuse me.

Take it on the tray
so you have two things.

Navigating the maze
of corridors

from the kitchen to the floor

is taking its toll
on the servers,

and with limited access points
in and out of the party,

the food isn't reaching
the hungry guests

in all areas of the room.

(Ramon)
This is not working.

We're slammed,
so I need to be able

to get them here and over there.

-This has to happen.
-Yeah, of course.

(Ramon)
This area is really stuck
and it's slammed,

and we're not getting
the food out the way we need to,

so we need access points.

It's hard to maneuver
into the room itself,

because we're looking
at hundreds of guests,

hundreds of servers,
and they all have, like,

this much space to get into

and get out of
every few minutes, constantly.

(Wolfgang)
Tray, you come from the kitchen?

-Yes.
-Okay, go, go, go, go,

go, go, go, go.

(narrator)
But the log jam of servers
getting into the party

just continues to build up.

(Ramon)
Go this way, go back.

Go this way.

You've gotta start here.

I need them to go up the stairs.

I cannot keep doing this.

I will talk to them.

Sir, I will take care of it.

-Can you do it now?
-I will do it,

there's where I'm going.

I'm going right now.

(Chef Markus)
No runners, no runners.

The pass filled up again.

(Chef Eric)
I just see a lot of people
over there

and they're not getting food,

-and I'm like, "Okay."
-Yeah.

The servers are
making it happen.

(Chef Eric)
They can wait.

My priority is supplying.

-Yes, Chef.
-I'm sorry.

(Pamela)
I got you.

(narrator)
With food in the kitchen
getting cold

and the servers still unable
to reach all guests

inside the afterparty,

the team will have
to react quickly

before the holdup
becomes a crisis.

(Chef Markus)
No matter what happens,
no matter what,

the client, the guests
will never know.

An event is never easy

when 1,200 people
come out of a room

at the same time.

Everybody wants service,
everybody wants food,

but right now,
it's trying to make sure

that we prioritize
groups of people

and make sure that
they get plenty of food,

plenty of drink,
they're well taken care of.

(Wolfgang)
All right, I need a vegan pizza.

What is vegan here?

A vegan pizza, please!

(Ramon)
That's for Leonardo? Leo?

(Wolfgang)
Yeah, I got it.

(narrator)
Even Chef Wolfgang
gets involved,

hand-delivering a pizza

to one of the biggest stars
of the night.

(Wolfgang)
For DiCaprio.

I think he's a vegan today.

This is how dedicated Chef is.

Leo wanted a vegan pizza.

He basically came in here,
made it, walked it back to him.

It was pretty amazing.

(mixed chatter)

It's like the old saying

that you're like
the duck on water

and no one should ever see
how furiously you're paddling

underneath the water,

you're just smooth sailing
like a swan right across it.

(narrator)
With dozens of trays

finally arriving
inside the party,

guests descend on the food
the moment it arrives.

Now, it's the kitchen's turn
to try and keep up.

(Chef Markus)
Guys, let's go, I have runners
and I need food!

(Chef Eric)
Why are we waiting on waffles?

We should have
all the waffles done!

Hey, waffle man, let's go,
waffle man, over there!

I feel like
I'm peddling a bicycle

with no chain over here, bro.

(Pamela)
We sort of thrive on
a little bit of that fear

that we're not gonna
be able to make it.

We chase that adrenaline,

we chase that feeling
of being alive.

That's what makes us great.

(Chef Markus)
Let's go, guys, don't stop.

I've got two items on the line.

(Chef Eric)
Come on, come on.

Put that down right here,
take the arancini.

Thank you.

Let's go, let's go,
let's go, let's go.

(suspenseful music)

♪

Good job, Mark, good job,
good job, good job, let's go.

♪

(Chef Markus)
Let's go, guys,
keep pushing, great job!

-Perfect, great job!
-Keep 'em going out.

(Chef Eric)
Yes, Chef!

♪

(Chef Markus)
All right, guys, 9:15,
we are closed!

Good job, guys!

(cheering and applause)

Really good job,
really good job.

Thank you all so much!

(Chef Eric)
Thank you, good job, guys,

great job, everybody,
great team on everything.

(Ramon)
I've had no incident,
no accident reports,

no drama, nobody's fainted,
nobody's passed out.

I'm good!

You can't get better than this.

(Wolfgang)
All right, great job, everybody!

Thank you!

You've made me
look good out there,

so we'll see you
at the next one!

Our kitchen, spot on,
the food, spot on,

our service team, on the ball.

All the guests have been fed,

the VIPs have been
taken care of,

so at this point,

for us it's really
a moment to breathe.

(cheering)

The feeling I have after
an event like this is pride.

I mean, our entire team,

everyone's strengths
all coming together

to execute this event.

It's amazing.

Pride is the only thing
you can describe,

because all this time
we spent together

working and working,
it pays off

right now at this moment.

Successful event,
client is happy,

we're happy, and it's a wrap!

(mellow music)

♪