All language subtitles for The.Event.2021.S01E02.WEBRip.x264-ION10

(tranquil music)

♪

(birds chirping)

(dramatic music)

♪

(narrator)
There are few proving grounds
as demanding as the gridiron,

and this one--Pasadena's
legendary Rose Bowl--

has been called
the granddaddy of them all.

It's been a place to put up,
or shut up since 1902,

and you'd better not show up
without your A game ready.

It's here that some
of the biggest businessmen

and venture capitalists
are about to take the turf

to talk big ideas,
and bigger deals

at the upcoming Upfront Summit.

Hungry for change,
and also...

well, just hungry.

♪

(tense music)

(Barbara)
Good morning, everybody,

-how are you today?
-Hey!

(Barbara)
So today we're gonna review

the Upfront Ventures
Summit 2020.

It's happening next week
at the Rose Bowl,

Wednesday and Thursday.

Super VIP.

It is the largest gathering
of venture capitalists,

they come together.

Tons of speakers,

I know Wolfgang is
gonna be speaking at it,

so we wanna make sure that

everything is spot-on.

(narrator)
It's a busy morning
at Wolfgang Puck

headquarters in Hollywood,

where plans are underway

for one of the year's
most challenging events.

The Upfront Summit
is a marathon.

It's a two-day event
that we are feeding

the same people.

You have to be super creative
in not only what they're eating,

but how you're presenting it.

What does it look like?

What's the interaction
with the guests?

What are they gonna
take away from this

that's gonna set
Wolfgang Puck Catering apart?

(Pamela)
So, we're gonna start with
assorted pastries.

We have individual
small quiches.

-Two different types.
-Two different types.

We have kale,
mushroom, and parmesan;

bacon, spinach, and cheddar.

(narrator)
With management finalizing
the schedule and menu,

work has been happening
around the clock

20 miles away at the Rose Bowl.

(Lisa)
What I would like to do
is take those ovens,

and move them on this side.

(narrator)
WPC newcomer, Lisa Baffo,

has been put in charge
of operations for the event,

and the pressure is on.

(Lisa)
The Upfront Summit is

a huge opportunity for me.

It's my first very, very large
off-site event at the Rose Bowl.

It's a lot, and it's something
that I haven't done before.

Yes, I've woken up
in the middle of the night

at 4:00 AM thinking about it.

It's a lot on your shoulders,
it's a lot to have in your head.

(Barbara)
Lisa Baffo, who's new
to our team, is a firecracker.

I love her.

She really wants
to grow with us,

so this is gonna be an amazing
learning experience for her.

(Lisa)
There is no power here yet,
so I've been asking

-all day for that.
-I'll find out about that.

(narrator)
Event director,
John Ferdenzi, is overseeing

the transformation
of the Rose Bowl,

and the clock is ticking.

This is a massive undertaking.

This is something that,
it takes a village.

It takes a lot of people
to put this up.

(restless music)

Tuesday's my last day

to get all the finessing done

because Wednesday morning,

doors open, show time.

(narrator)
And when the doors open,

two full days of
food service will begin.

Executive chef, Eric Klein,
is no stranger to the Rose Bowl,

and the challenges
his team will face.

(Eric)
The Rose Bowl is very unique.

If you do an event
inside the building,

you have to have couple floors
where you can cook,

you can serve
on a certain floor.

Now if you work on a field,

you have to build
a kitchen from scratch.

So, I think, you know,
the Rose Bowl is difficult.

(narrator)
Chef Eric is pulling
two of his top chefs

to run culinary at the event.

Chef Jake will take the lead

on breakfast, lunch,
and dinner on both days.

And Chef Markus
will lend support

on the day two closing gala.

This is my good luck charm.

Every event,

I wear this.

Look at that--
There may be events

that we have a giant kitchen,

and no one's near us,

and we have so much space.

And then there's events
like the Upfront Summit

at the Rose Bowl, where we have
a 70 by 10-foot wide kitchen.

It's gonna be tough.

(narrator)
Planning the kitchen
layout in the tunnel

is one of Lisa's
major responsibilities,

and there's a lot riding
on every choice she makes.

(Chef Jake)
As a chef,
you gotta trust your ops.

They do the walkthroughs.

Rose Bowl,
everything's kinda tight,

and there's not a lot
of wiggle room.

(Chef Markus)
We will do everything we can

to make sure the food
is beautiful and perfect.

But, when you put us in an alley

that golf carts are flying by,

and VIPs are going this way,

and tables are movin' that way,

and you gotta maneuver
all this stuff?

It's gonna get frustrating.

(tense music)

(narrator)
With the structures
in place on the field,

work is full steam ahead

converting an iconic LA landmark

from football stadium
to meeting venue.

-So, welcome to...
-Holy cow!

-...the Upfront Summit!
-Unreal!

(Diana)
What do you think?

-I think it's amazing!
-Amazing!

(narrator)
Event planner,
Diana Rayzman, is overseeing

all logistics at the Rose Bowl.

Along with the Upfront
management team,

it was her call to bring in
Wolfgang Puck Catering.

It's not just about having,

you know, food
that tastes great,

but it's also
beautiful to the eye,

and is presented beautifully,

and it's really part
of the entertainment of the day.

(narrator)
Besides Chef Eric's
top kitchen staff,

many of the team's key players

will be lending support
over the next two days--

including Sales Executive,
Pamela Pimiento;

Executive Vice President,
Barbara Brass;

VIP Concierge, Ramon Leon;

and Service Captain,
Marco Simard.

And come morning,

it's game time
for rookie Lisa Baffo.

(Lisa)
Copy that, thank you.

(Diana)
Good morning!

Welcome to Upfront Summit 2020,

here at the beautiful Rose Bowl.

(Diana)
The day's just getting started.

Guests are arriving.

We're watching them come in,

and go "Wow!"
at what we've built,

so this is the moment
that it all pays off,

and things are off
to a great start.

(narrator)
As doors open,

Pamela arrives to lend support

to Lisa and her team.

(Pamela)
With every single event,

three things go wrong,

every single event.

It's the nature of our business,

whether it's you have
breakage on your rental order,

or the oven doesn't work,

or we ended up having
a guest who fell in the pool,

it happens!

And so, what my job is

for my team, and for my client,

is to make sure that even though
these things are happening,

at the end of the day
everyone's happy.

(narrator)
The client has requested
a simple continental breakfast.

But at Wolfgang Puck,

simple is open
to interpretation.

(Lisa)
We did add some nice
little elements on there.

We are doing an acai bowl

that's gonna be very beautiful.

And then,
we're doing some quiche,

which is a warm element
to the breakfast.

(narrator)
Chef Wolfgang's
irresistible quiches

have been a staple
at his restaurants

for over 40 years.

But as hungry guests arrive
for the morning breakfast,

the quiche is quickly
becoming a problem.

(Lisa)
We need the quiches now,
we need the quiches now.

(Lisa)
The guests are
walking in right now,

we need it now.

(female chef)
I can't--it's not, um,
baking in the middle.

-It's almost done.
-Are the sides cooked?

Can we cut the sides off?

-How much longer?
-Four more minutes.

(Lisa)
Okay.

It should have
been ready by 7:15.

We're a little bit behind
on the quiches,

so we are trying to get those
out as quickly as possible

'cause the buffets are open.

There are fruit and pastries,

so the guests
have something to eat.

But, the quiches
should have come out,

so I'm waiting.

(narrator)
The chefs hustle to get
the first quiches out,

but the problems are not over.

Chef Jackie has been
making quiche on-site,

which is not ideal.

(narrator)
With no time to cool,

the quiche is almost
impossible to cut,

and Lisa Baffo is learning
her first big lesson.

I get the intention

was to make it the freshest,

most delicious quiche
ever imaginable.

I don't think anybody
took into account

that we needed time
for it to rest and set.

(tense music)

♪

(Lisa)
Runner.

(incoherent speaking)

-One, no go to one.
-Buffet one.

It's walking, Elaina.

(narrator)
In the buffet tent,
guests finally get to enjoy

Chef Wolfgang's famous quiche,

but the client's
production manager

has another concern.

(man)
I took a picture
of this to show you.

-Oh.
-This is after just like

two guests took two quiches.

It looks just
very empty and sparse.

-Yeah, sorry about that.
-No, it's okay.

(Pamela)
We're making
some more right now,

and then we're gonna just
try to, you know,

-make it as plentiful--
-And then for tomorrow, too.

Just letting you know
for tomorrow.

(Pamela)
Okay, so we're just,
we're just going down right now.

(Lisa)
Yeah, Pamela always finds
her way to keep her cool.

I don't know how she does it

because sometimes I feel
like I lose it.

We're in contact
with the client.

They understand.

Obviously, everybody on the team

is just trying
to make it happen.

So, we jump in,
we'll figure it out.

♪

(Mark)
What's up, Pasadena?

(cheering)

Should be a pretty great day.

Do a lot of networking.

Raise a lot of money.

The Upfront Summit

was designed to bring 1,200
invitation-only people

to Los Angeles every year.

So first, we have investors.

But on top of that, we have
a lot of founders and CEOs.

Then, the VCs themselves come.

And when they come, they all
invest in the LA ecosystem

because they meet
entrepreneurs when they're here,

and they realize
what a vibrant community is.

(narrator)
With the guests
focused on business,

the Wolfgang Puck team
focuses on lunch,

and an opportunity
to turn things around

after the quiche incident,

but then Pamela
gets a phone call

that stops her in her tracks.

(man)
What's going on?

(man)
Oh, my God.

(Pamela)
Max is in the ER.

-What?
-Yeah, he's got low oxygen.

I'm a working mom.

What I do is what I love,

and I do it for my family,

and for my son.

But when something
like this happens,

it just, it makes
you take a minute

and just say,
"You're good, you're good.

I'm gonna go take care
of my family."

And, it was so overwhelming,

the amount of love
that I got that day

from my colleagues,

my friends just saying

"Everything's good.

Take care of your family.

We got you covered."

It just shows that

this job is not a job.

This company
is part of my life.

(upbeat music)

(narrator)
With Pamela gone,

the weight on Lisa's
shoulders has doubled.

But there's no time to linger

because another potential crisis

is about to blow in.

(foreboding music)

♪

(John)
We have a wind event,

and this wind is really intense.

This is the shit
you don't know about.

They tell you it's not
the stuff that you do,

it's the stuff that you don't.

So, you know,
I got a great crew here,

we're gonna take care of it.

(narrator)
As John Ferdenzi's crew
furiously anchor down tents

throughout the stadium,

the Puck team still
needs to cater lunch

for 900 in gale-force winds.

(Lisa)
There's a huge wind gust

that's picked up over
the last 30 minutes, or so.

The kitchen tent was
flyin' around a lot in there.

Hopefully it dies down.

Fingers crossed.

(narrator)
By 1:00 PM, the morning
sessions are letting out,

and hungry guests
are eager for lunch.

Chef Jake is
running the kitchen,

keeping his crew calm,
even as the winds swirl.

(Chef Jake)
As a chef, you kinda,
you're dealt all these punches,

and then you just kinda
have to react and respond.

In a tunnel with wind,

if my burners are blowing out.

Those are just things
that we're just--

I mean, it's catering,
you kinda have to adjust.

To me, catering is
just all about adjusting.

(calm music)

(narrator)
Top of the lunch menu

are Wolfgang's chicken pot pies.

(Barbara)
Our chicken pot pie has

become one of the most
iconically recognized dishes

in Hollywood.

It is layers of puff pastry,

and underneath that is this

incredible rich,
truffle-infused velouté

that then has our hand-pulled

Jidori roasted chicken,
and farmer's market vegetables.

When you dig into it,

you get that perfect bite
of crunchy pastry

and that
truffle-infused velouté.

It's like you died
and went to heaven.

(narrator)
Lunch is delivered
hot and on time.

And despite conditions,

a ravenous crowd
settles in to talk business

over delicious food.

It's been a rough start
for the Wolfgang Puck crew.

But even with the challenging
breakfast and lunch behind them,

the trickiest part of the day

is still to come.

(people chatting)

(upbeat music)

The Rose Bowl is the 15th
largest stadium in the world.

And for the chefs,

the end of lunch means
a half-mile trek

through tunnels and corridors

to a fourth floor kitchen,

where they'll be preparing
the night's dinner service.

(Chef Jake)
Can we put 12 on that

big, humongous platter?

And then, maybe after that,

you know, "Hey, those went out?

Okay, here's ten."

(narrator)
Former boxer, Chef Jake,

will be leading
a team of 25 chefs

for tonight's event.

Go heavy in the beginning,

punch them in the mouth.

Then, you bring it back,
you jab, jab, jab, jab.

You know what I mean,
you walk them into a knockout.

Let's knock 'em out
in the beginning, all right?

(narrator)
With just hours
before the guests arrive,

the chefs will be
working flat out

to prepare 14 different dishes
hundreds of times.

And always a favorite,

chargrilled New York steaks.

To the naked eye,
it's a beautiful New York steak

that has these
perfect grill marks on it.

It is raw as could be
in the middle.

On the day before the event,

in our kitchens
at Hollywood & Highland,

we take those steaks
and mark them

to get those
beautiful grill marks.

And then, when you get it
on-site for your event,

you're pretty much finishing it.

(Lisa)
We have a split kitchen tonight.

We don't have a kitchen build-
out with equipment up here,

so we do have a team of chefs
down on the B-level,

which is two floors below us.

They're heating and cooking
everything down there.

They're hot boxing,
and bringing everything up here,

so that everybody
in the kitchen here

can plate everything up,
and then it walks.

(narrator)
It's 6:30 at the end of day one,

and the lectures are over.

Time now for guests to make
their way from the tents,

hundreds of feet up through
the bleachers, to dinner.

We have a lot of great
things on the menu.

We have yuzu and lemongrass

grilled shrimp skewers,

Hamachi crudo
on pork chicharrones,

Brussels sprout pops with
a white balsamic glaze on top,

and a really beautiful
fresh farmer's market salad

with red and yellow beets.

We've also got roasted salmon,

and, of course, our signature
24-hour slow-braised short ribs.

(Chef Jake)
Right behind, guys,
right behind, right behind.

(narrator)
With plates and buffets
fully loaded,

everything's in place
for a sumptuous dinner service.

But in catering,
the unexpected can upend

even the best-laid plans.

(woman)
It's coming, it's coming.

(narrator)
The guest count is
higher than expected.

And the buffets
and tray-pass items

quickly empty before
the butlers have time to react.

We did,

but they were so good,
and so fast.

(Chef Eric)
An event is like house of card.

You take one card off...

everything goes down.

(Barbara)
Buffet three
is completely empty.

I don't have salmon.

I don't have short rib.

I don't have arugula
and watercress salad.

And I do not have
the beet salad.

I need everything
at this buffet.

(woman)
Copy, salmon's walking,
I'm sending you a pasta.

Replace it with
something that's empty.

(narrator)
The kitchen is
busting out dishes.

But with extra mouths to feed,

and a shortage of butlers,

guests are hungry and waiting.

(woman)
Okay, I need more pasta
and more steak, please,

for buffet two.

(Chef Jake)
We don't have enough servers.

All these chefs
are doing a bang up job,

and everything's sitting.

You don't have staff.

This event, a small place,
should have been 40 people.

(Chef Eric)
Who decide that?

(tense music)

(Chef Jake)
No servers.

(Lisa)
I didn't have enough servers,

and I acknowledge that.

And, you know, Chef Jake
in the moment was screaming,

"Where are my servers?"

And I literally was just like,

"We don't have them,
I apologize."

-That's ... ridiculous.
-That's because people are

just trying to fill the buffets,

-rather than tray pass...
-Exactly!

(Lisa)
...small plates.

(Chef Eric)
There is not one problem
we cannot fix.

We adjust,
we're gonna figure out

what we're gonna have to do.

We're gonna figure out
how we're gonna do that.

-Chef Jake!
-Yes, sir?

(Chef Eric)
Can I have two trays
of steak, please?

-Two steaks, two steaks.
-Yeah.

(narrator)
Short on servers,
Chef Eric decides

to take matters
into his own hands,

grabbing the food,
and hitting the floor.

(Chef Eric)
Service, service!

(making beeping sounds)

(dramatic music)

Go in there, go in there,
go in there, go in there.

Great, great,
let's make people happy!

Perfect, okay,
hey, guys, how are you?

This is quinoa risotto
with mushroom.

There's braised
short ribs right here.

♪

-Enjoy yourself, eat, eat!
-Thank you so much.

(Chef Eric)
Thank you, we got
some steak back here.

You want a little
mushroom quinoa?

(narrator)
Dinner service is back on track
for the Wolfgang Puck team.

♪

As the night winds down,

Barbara gets a chance
to check in with Pamela.

So Pam just texted.

Checking in on her and Max.

They had an IV and draw blood,

which is one of
the worst moments.

Oh, poor baby.

I hope he's okay.

(narrator)
After tonight's staffing issues,

Lisa and ops manager, Robyn,

pump up tomorrow's headcount.

(Lisa)
Yup.

(Lisa)
Right.

(Robyn)
Adjustments.

(Lisa)
Acclimating to the environment.

(Barbara)
It's not about the fumble,

It's how you recover.

And so, if you can
take a situation,

recover well from it,
and learn from it,

and know that moving forward

you'll never make
that mistake again,

it's kinda worth it in the end.

We kinda looked like a little
bit of a shit show this morning.

If we can fix that
going forward for tomorrow.

The good news is that
we have so much ground

that we can make it up to them

that hopefully they'll
just forget about it.

But just putting it out there,

let's just make sure
it's just spot-on,

-dead on the money.
-Yeah.

(people chatting)

(foreboding music)

(narrator)
How many times
in this historic stadium

have teams gone into
halftime trailing behind?

And how many times
have they come back

to win big?

For Lisa Baffo
and her teammates,

today is all about
winning the game.

-You ready?
-We are ready, yes.

Yes, yes, yes.

Buffet should be
ready to go for you.

-Thank you.
-Thank you.

(narrator)
Day two begins just after dawn,

and reinforcements are here
to bolster the effort.

The bench is deep

with the company's best
sales and operations people

-ready to roll.
-My operations director,

Juliana, has suggested

that I have a support team
that comes with me.

And at first when I heard it,
I was like, "Ugh, gosh.

Maybe it's--I'm not
capable enough to do it."

But then, I realized that
it was more of,

"No, we're here to support you
not because you can't do it,

but because we want you
to be successful in it."

Welcome to day two
Upfront Summit 2020!

-Let's go!
-Guests arrive hungry,

and eager to begin the day.

And an expansive
breakfast buffet

is ready to greet them.

With pastry chef, Jackie,

and her team
working the kitchen,

every detail is a work of art.

The buffet is amazing.

We have hot cheddar
and jalapeno biscuits

that are made from scratch,

fresh fruit platters

from the Santa Monica
farmer's market,

wild caught Pacific salmon
that's flown in from Alaska,

an incredible assortment of
homemade pastries and breads,

and strawberry yogurt
with fresh made granola

and toasted almonds on top.

(narrator)
If yesterday was underwhelming,

today is over the top,

and the VIPs are thrilled.

(cheering)

(Mark)
You guys ready for
a good day today?

We have got a full day
of amazing content,

amazing network, amazing food,
and a couple surprises.

We have everyone
from John Legend,

to Paris Hilton,

to Reese Witherspoon.

We have J. J. Abrams.

We have Steve Ballmer,

owner of the LA Clippers,

but also formerly
the CEO of Microsoft.

We have Chelsea Handler.

She's gonna come
talk about white privilege.

One of the people who's
speaking is Wolfgang Puck,

and I should tell you that
Wolfgang Puck Catering

has catered five of the eight
Upfront Summits,

so we're thrilled to have
Wolfgang Puck involved.

(narrator)
Chef Jackie's
organic green smoothie

is one of the big hits
of the morning.

Starting with grated
cold coconut milk,

generous amounts
of chilled pineapple,

heaps of fresh garden spinach,

a good dose of agave,

and topped off
with ginger puree.

The kitchen can't
make them fast enough.

(blender whirring)

(upbeat music)

We need to put
ice tea and lemonade

up to the Court of Champions

on the big wooden tables
that are there.

I've got hands for you
right here, Mario,

that can assist with that.

(narrator)
It's a much better
morning for Lisa,

but there are still
plenty of fires to put out.

We have a,

a shortage of water
and some sodas.

So, we called some sister venues

to see if they have
any extra Voss water,

which is what the client
has asked for,

in addition to sodas.

Water's on its way.

Soda's on its way,
so hopefully in the next

four to five minutes or so,
we'll be back in business.

When we have events
that go through challenges,

it really does
allow people to rise,

and to show a side of themselves

that they might not
even know that they had.

Every event challenges us more,

and we continue to learn
so that we can

be a little bit
better every day.

(cheerful music)

(narrator)
For the guests,

the day is filled with
networking,

pitches, and deal making,

all of them fueled with plenty
of high-end organic snacks.

(Pamela)
We have delicious snacks.

We have homemade potato chips,

which are made in-house,
different flavors.

We do togarashi popcorn.

We offer homemade trail mix.

We do homemade granola
with bee pollen

because we also are part of
the health and wellness

boom that has happened
in Los Angeles.

We take all of those trends
into consideration,

and really put together
a great product.

(woman)
Don't miss the amazing
Chelsea Handler

starting now, everyone!

Get in there.

(narrator)
Among dozens of
world-renowned speakers,

Chef Wolfgang and his son Byron

have been invited to address
the closing day crowd.

Arriving early,
they head up into the stands

to find a quiet place to chat.

(Byron)
Did we ever come here together?

I think this is the first time
I've been here with you.

(Chef Wolfgang)
We came here

for the World Cup final

when Italy played Brazil.

I remember one of
the Italian players

shot the penalty.

I think it landed
in Glendale or somewhere.

It went so far, it was crazy.

(narrator)
Now the general manager
at Spago Beverly Hills,

Byron has no doubt
about the childhood influence

of his famous dad.

(Byron)
Your appreciation for wine

rubbed off on me
so much as a kid

'cause I could taste with you,
and you were always very

ready and willing
to teach me about wine.

(Chef Wolfgang)
I remember one time
when we went--

I think it was
on a skiing trip--

and the sommelier
pours me a glass to taste,

and I said,
"No, no, no, he taste."

-Yeah!
-And then,

I showed you
how to swirl the glass.

-Yeah.
-And you did this thing,

and smelled it
without even drinking,

and then looked at
the sommelier and says,

"Oh, very complex."

And he looked at you and says,

"Oh, my God, this ten year old
is drinking wine!"

(laughing)

(narrator)
The time has come
for father and son

to address the crowd.

But true to form,

Wolfgang can't resist
stopping by the kitchen

on the way to the stage.

(Wolfgang)
Are you watching everybody?

-Yes, always.
-Okay, good.

We know when
the women are in charge,

something good's gonna happen.

(woman)
You know it!

I didn't eat all day
because they said

there's good food
at the Rose Bowl.

(male chef)
Yeah, we got
a lot of food, chef.

(Chef Markus)
The first thing
Chef Wolfgang does

when he comes into the kitchen,
he says hello to everyone.

All right, what are you making?

(Chef Jake)
Chef, we're doing
a lamb Bolognese.

(Chef Wolfgang)
I come at the right time
get something warm to eat,

-also, and it's good!
-Thank you, chef.

He's gonna taste
whatever is near him.

And he's gonna tell you,
"Oh, this needs this,

and this needs that."

-Uh, put parmesan cheese in it.
-Yeah.

(Chef Markus)
But, wow, this is
Chef Wolfgang Puck.

He created this,
he is the reason I'm working.

(Chef Wolfgang)
Look at that.

Look at that!

(narrator)
With 1,000 VIPs waiting for him,

the chef just can't
tear himself away

from the bounty
of tonight's dinner.

What we gonna do
with these guys, how many?

Two, four, six, eight,

ten, twelve.

Oh, my God,
there's more and more.

(narrator)
With only seconds to spare,

a quick photo of the jumbotron,

and Byron reeling his dad
away from the kitchen,

off to be interviewed about

the incredible
dynasty he's built.

(Chef Wolfgang)
I'm gonna eat steak tonight.

-Good to see you guys.
-But an innocent question

from the chef is about to send
the entire team into a tailspin.

(Chef Wolfgang)
All right,
do we have lobster here?

Do you have some ready?

(narrator)
In a menu with over 50 items,

a client favorite
has been overlooked,

Wolfgang's famous lobster rolls.

(Chef Markus)
The lobster is
in the butcher room.

I had a driver at 5:00,
I could of had him bring it!

(Barbara)
The lobster didn't make it
onto the truck.

It just puts you
back in your spot,

like, do not get ahead
of yourself, do not get cocky.

Do not get comfortable because
things can change like that.

(narrator)
With the chefs pondering
the lobster issue,

the evening crew
begins to roll in

as the pace picks up
in the kitchen.

VIP Concierge, Ramon Leon,

is ready for a busy night.

(Ramon)
Part of the Wolfgang Puck
culture is that

we all do what we have to do
to get the job done.

We're not afraid of the hard
work, we've all done that,

I mean, I was a butler,
I was a captain.

I've been in those positions,
so I know sometimes

it's easier to point
to somebody to do the job,

but it's also if you
have the opportunity

to get up and do it,
just do it.

Another veteran of
huge events like this one,

head captain, Marco Simard,

has hand-picked his
best servers for the occasion.

(Marco)
So exciting.

How can you feed 1,000 people

three times a day

and have no hiccup?

(host)
First off, I'm sure
everyone here will join me

in thanking you for
the delicious food

that we've all been enjoying
over the past 48 hours.

(Chef Wolfgang)
You're welcome, thank you.

(host)
Starting as
a humble restauranteur,

you've now got 25,
as I understand it,

owned and operated
fine-dining restaurants

around the world--including
three that have Michelin stars.

(narrator)
With Wolfgang and Byron
on stage in the main tent,

bartenders are being briefed

on the night's
specialty cocktail,

a smoky mezcal margarita
created by WPC's Jake Brown.

(Marco)
Jake is in charge of
pretty much all the beverage

at Hollywood & Highland.

That night he's gonna
be there helping us.

Jake's going to have all
the bartenders at some point,

and give them exactly
how it's going to be,

how it's going to be mixed,

how they're going to
pour it over clean ice.

(Jake)
So, we're doing
two ounces of the mezcal,

we're doing one ounce of lime.

(calm music)

Quarter ounce of agave.

♪

Orange curaçao,
put 'em in the shaker.

(ice clinking)

A lime wedge around the rim.

You just dip your glass
in the orange,

dip it into the salt rim.

You don't put it
all the way around the rim,

so you give the guest
the opportunity

if they want to sip it
from the salt rim, or not.

We're gonna double strain.

♪

And then we have
dehydrated lime wheels

as a garnish.

Simple enough?

(Ramon)
It's delicious.

(dramatic music)

(narrator)
The kitchen is bustling,

but still missing a dish,

as Chef Jake puts out
a lobster SOS

to Chef Eric in Hollywood.

(Chef Jake)
No, it's (indistinct),
yeah, yes, yes.

It's six.

Oh, yes, yes, chef, hurry.

Thank you, bye-bye,
thank you so much.

Stuff like this
happens all the time.

We kind of expect it.

We can never get
too comfortable.

If we have to send
someone to the store

to get whatever we need,
that's gonna happen.

(narrator)
Chef Eric has located
the lobster at the prep kitchen.

But in rush hour Los Angeles,

it will be a race
against the clock.

(Chef Wolfgang)
And then, I really said,

"I wanna open
my own restaurant."

I want it to be different.

So, I said we're gonna build
the kitchen in the dining room,

have a totally open kitchen.

And I know to you all
out there probably today,

you see almost every restaurant
with an open kitchen.

But at that time,

there was no restaurant
with an open kitchen really.

(energetic music)

♪

The final night
dinner menu is amazing.

We start out with
hors d'oeuvres.

One of them is my favorite,
it's a crispy, crunchy crostini

topped with creamy burrata,

perfectly ripened avocado,
and a little tear drop pepper.

We have some beautifully
grilled local asparagus

that's topped
with some charred lemon.

Our snapper ceviche has
an absolutely perfect

bite of spice to it.

Our whole bass are
rubbed down with a paint brush

made out of herbs,

tied, and then grilled
on a cedar plank.

We have this delicious
homemade rigatoni

that we toss with
a short rib ragù

that's been cooking
for--I wanna say--days.

And then, we round it all out

with a double-cut
New York steak,

perfectly grilled,
red in the middle,

and finished with a savory
sweet onion soubise.

(host)
Thank you guys so much.

This has been a real pleasure.

Give it up for
Wolfgang and Byron Puck!

(applause)

(Barbara)
Did they break,
are the guests here?

-Yeah.
-All right, guys, let's go.

Full court press
with hors d'oeuvres!

(intense music)

♪

(woman)
Please make your way
to the front of the tent

for dinner and cocktails.

(narrator)
As the crowd pours out
of the tent and into the party,

Chef Wolfgang can't get back
to the kitchen fast enough.

He has a plan
to keep the guests happy

until the lobster arrives.

Is the lobster here?

(Barbara)
Not yet, it's with Klein.

(Chef Wolfgang)
Barbara, give them
a ceviche here.

(Barbara)
We think quickly on our feet.

We threw the ceviche out there
as another tray pass item

while we waited for the lobster.

Wolfgang jumped back in there

'cause nobody can
put out food like he can.

Whenever he's at an event,
he jumps in,

and makes sure
that no one realizes

that what's going on back here,

you don't feel it
out on the floor.

(Ramon)
Oh, this is a party,
and I wanna miss it.

(narrator)
Fifty waiters make
trip after trip

from the tunnel kitchen
onto the playing field

delivering tray pass
hors d'oeuvres

and action station
platters non-stop.

(Lisa)
Yes, chopped salad times two.

(indistinct) times two.

(narrator)
Even at the end of her
second full day of service,

Lisa continues
to call the shots.

(Lisa)
I've been standing here
for ten minutes,

and he called pasta
ten minutes ago.

(narrator)
Just as the ceviche
is running low,

Chef Eric arrives
with the lobster,

and not a moment too soon.

(Chef Eric)
Hey, chef, you know I drive

100 miles an hour
to just come over here.

-The Autobahn!
-Autobahn.

(Chef Wolfgang)
He woke up,
Eric woke up, finally!

(Chef Eric)
Hey, you know what, chef,
better late as never.

(laughing)

I love our little lobster rolls!

We take these hand baked

miniature top-slit
hot dog buns,

then we take our
Maine lobsters, poach them,

chop up the lobster meat,

and fold it in with celery salt,
Old Bay seasoning,

a little mayonnaise,
a little crunchy celery.

You take a bite of that thing,
and you feel like

you're in the middle
of New England.

(Ramon)
We're doing a VIP platter
for me for ten people.

Ten lobster rolls,
ten pot stickers,

burrata with cheese as well.

Thank you.

-Ramon!
-Copy, thank you!

VIP platter going.

(intense music)

(narrator)
With Jake and Markus
seeing to business

in the tunnel kitchen,

Chef Eric takes to the field

to give the guests
his own personal touch.

I love to be on the stage.

I love cooking
in front of the people.

Cook the pasta, you season it.

Technically, dish
does not call butter,

but I put butter.

I'm French, whatever.

You know, it's a wow effect.

You have $1,000
wheel of parmesan.

You know, a lot of people
go to work to work.

I go to work
to do what I love.

When you're in front of a guest,

and you hand something
you make something,

you season it,
you tasted it, you make it.

You put your
heart and soul in it,

you share the moment with them.

You know, everybody
can come eat food,

and set up a buffet station.

But you know, when you have
the chef behind up there,

and he takes
the extra step to say,

"Hey, let me make you
a pasta dish.

You want extra pepper,
let me grate some (indistinct)

parmesan on top of that."

That is, it's priceless.

Enjoy yourself, thank you!

(calm music)

♪

-All right!
-So I'm very excited.

-Okay, the lucky guy!
-That's good, that's good,

yeah, lucky, exactly right.

(Lisa)
Marco, I'm confirming desserts

starting in 25 minutes, at 8:00.

(Barbara)
We have these amazing
dessert stations

that are so fun and interactive.

The pastry is really pulling
it together right now.

♪

You're gonna see some
amazing dessert pops

where guests can put
freeze-dried raspberries,

and strawberries,
and sprinkles on everything.

(Chef Markus)
You can have the most
amazing piece of steak,

the most amazing fish,

delicious pasta, but if
you don't get your dessert,

there's gonna be a problem.

(lively music)

♪

The Upfront Summit
is extremely theatrical.

The marching band,
and fireworks going off.

(fireworks crackling)

♪

Chef Wolfgang's there.

(energetic music)

It's a lot going on,
and it's so fun,

and it's amazing!

♪

(Diana)
This has been
a really challenging,

like, day with
a lot of last minute

stuff that we've thrown at you.

-Listen...
-And you guys have been

-grace under fire.
-...Wolfgang is

a last minute everything.

If you've got
a last minute problem,

we have a last minute solution.

(Lisa)
Upfront Ventures
was a really rocky start.

Second night was just
absolutely beautiful.

The action stations
were gorgeous.

The staff was happy.

I doubled the staff.

I was so upset,
really, the night before

that I was like, "I cannot
have this happen again."

It turned out to be just

a really great event in general.

Knowing that it's almost over,
I'm like, "All right."

(Barbara)
You survived,
you survived, you survived.

(fireworks exploding)

(Pamela)
My son is doing well.

He's healthy, he's happy.

The strength and courage
that these little babies have

is so beautiful to watch.

(Barbara)
From our perspective,

we struggled a little
behind the scenes.

But from the guests'
perspective,

I think it's a total win.

-Say, "Pizza!"
-Pizza.

The best thing was

we're able to cook food,

people are enjoying it.

Beautiful setting.

I'm happy!

(cheering)

(upbeat music)

♪