All language subtitles for For.Grace.2015

(Crackling)

(Dishes shuffling)

Five to bring, two five.

Yeah, would you say two four?

There's a soup scallop,
he wanted a veg.

(Thoughtful piano music)

It's frustrating.

But it's been frustrating
for three years.

My most comfort zone

Is in the kitchen, of course.

Do I like this kitchen?

No, I hate it.

But the space is a
big limiting factor,

Because if the space was bigger,

We could certainly
expand on our food

That we want to expand on.

We can't push forward

Without the extra hands.

And we're very short-staffed
in the front house, too.

We don't have a manager.

We haven't had a
manager in six months.

And Michael's our expeditor.

He should be up-selling
all of our wine right now.

He should be making
the restaurant money,

But what's he doing?

He's forced to stand
there and expedite for us,

Because we don't
have an expeditor.

Because they're
not gonna hire it.

They won't hire.

They want more, but they
don't want to give more.

We're still a restaurant
that has six coffee cups.

That's it.

You know, we're
still a restaurant

That doesn't have the
ample amount of silverware

To feed our patrons every night.

Now, you walk out of
here, you're paying

Over $200 a person,
for an experience.

We better damn well be
giving that to them.

(Banging)

So, this is it.

We're looking at
5500 square feet

Up top,

Which we'll use all
for the restaurant,

Kitchen, storage.

After looking at 80 to 100
different spaces in Chicago,

Obviously it was exhausting.

It suits what we wanted to do

And the location just kept
getting better and better

Over the last year or so
with pre-existing restaurants

That are our neighbors now.

This row of Randolph is
just gonna be amazing.

It's a huge opportunity.

I mean, we get one shot to
make a great restaurant.

So we have to put
150% into this space,

From now until the day we open.

And then, we even have to do

Even more.

Because once the doors open,

It's even more important.

[Voiceover] You want this
to be the best restaurant

In Chicago?

I want it to be the best
restaurant in the country.

That's the goal.

We know we can do it.

I think we have a lot
of the key people,

We have the talent,
we have the know-how,

We have the drive.

You know, a lot of sleepless
nights thinking about

What's gonna happen, how
I'm gonna get this done,

You know, there's a
list of a million things

That need to get accomplished
in the next eight months.

[Voiceover] How confident
that you'll meet that deadline?

Not confident at all. (Laughs)

I mean, I say, if we say eight
months, I think we'll hit

Maybe the eight-and-a-half,
nine month mark.

(Twinkling music)

He's very disciplined.

And that comes off right away.

I mean, one of the things
that I remember about him is,

He has an impression about him.

He's fit.

He exercises, he lifts
weights, he runs.

His hair is always clean cut.

He's like a,

He's solid, right?

Everything about him.

His persona, that, he's just,

Meticulous, detail-oriented,
ready to go.

Well, his reputation
is brilliant.

I mean, I've eaten his
food many many times

And he's just such a huge
force to be reckoned with

As far as his talent goes.

His food is very thoughtful.

It's very thought out.

It's very, incredible
concentration of flavors

And the look is beautiful.

Beautiful, beautiful look.

He has a sensuality
with food and a touch

That you can't teach.

He has a way with people,

You know, I think that
naturally he's calm,

He's a natural teacher.

He's a very good teacher.

He never got frazzled.

He was always very calm.

No matter what.

Under the most pressure.

We're gonna get it done,

Don't worry chef,

We'll make it happen.

Like, that's very rare

In the cooking world.

(Beeps)

I think you'd be foolish
not to be scared of failing.

It's like Mike Tyson, you know,

Like he's scared to death
to step in that ring

Because he doesn't want to lose.

It's the same thing for me.

I don't want to lose.

I'm putting everything
on the line.

Not only that,

I have 60 employees
that depend on

What we do on a daily basis.

On the choices that we make.

That's a huge burden to
have on your shoulders.

When I first took
the job at Avenues,

Not meeting Michael yet,

And I just read his last name,

I said Muser, I'm like, aw.

This is gonna be
some French fuck.

Goddamn, some stuffy French guy

That I'm gonna
have to work with.

European.

(Laughs) Muser.

That's all I could think
about, and I'm like,

Ugh, this is gonna suck.

(Laughs) But it was
completely the opposite, so.

Even when we're
not getting along,

And we're at opposite
ends of the spectrum,

I still love the guy.

You know what I mean?

That's when you know
you got something good.

And we've reached a point where
we can definitely go there

Under any circumstances

And there's no topics
that are off the line.

We have a lot of
the same interests.

You know, wine and food

And motorcycles and girls.

Well, I like girls, he don't.

(Laughs)

Cooking at his
level like that?

Charlie Trotter?

Come on.

I mean, you can't say
anything bad about the guy.

He's an incredible chef.

He's been doing what he's
been doing for 20 years,

25 years, so.

If I'm doing what he's
doing in 25 years,

Awesome.

Curtis had a great training
ground in the sense that

Charlie Trotter was known
before almost anyone else

For just getting the
most unusual, exotic,

Specialized precious
ingredients.

And so, there was
really the sense of,

The ingredient was
very important.

And that was well
before farm to table

Became something that
every gastropub did, right?

Alinea also had wonderfully
sourced ingredients,

But there also was
a high degree of,

Sort of, manipulation to them.

Like, what can
you do creatively,

What can we do with foie gras

Other than serve
it as foie gras?

What can we dehydrate
or make into a powder

Or, you know, make
into some other thing

That's gonna surprise you,
when you bite into it.

What Curtis Duffy
has done since then,

His personality is not
to be, sort of, science-y

For the sake of science-y.

Whereas Curtis' stuff
tended to be plated

Fairly traditionally, as
opposed to using a lot of,

You know, unique,
crazy service ware.

But, he also still brought
that creativity to it.

How can I make these
ingredients sing,

Maybe in a way that they
haven't sung or anyone else.

We gotta hustle,
we gotta hustle.

I'm gonna read this real quick.

Five o'clock, we got
a dues payable 25,

F & B, professional
SVP, US Chairman,

At the what?

Calorie Control Council, wow.

And this is on Courtney's
request to be here tonight,

She just wants to wish Chef
well on his new venture,

And Tom and Courtney
are obviously people

That we want to keep
close to our side, so.

Nine o'clock, table 44.

We would love a window
table if possible,

Looking forward to
dining for the last time

With Chef Curtis at Avenues!

Web reservation,
no avocados here!

The guest is a lawyer.

They enjoy sparkling water.

The attorney office
is on Wacker Drive.

He attended Ohio State
University in 1988.

[Woman] They've
been here a lot.

Okay.

Pumped up.

[Curtis] Ten times.

Ten times.

Any questions on
any of the resos?

We're good?

Awesome.

Pretty awesome
last service, right?

It's pretty incredible.

I've walked away from
a lot of restaurants

Through my career.

Never closed one, though.

Hopefully the last
one that I close.

This is hard, sorry.

We achieved a lot of great
things in this restaurant.

I don't know, I'm speechless,

To be honest with you.

I've written down a
couple pages of stuff,

But, you know, I speak
from my heart from this,

But I'd rather speak to you

Without having to read
stuff that I've written.

So.

It hasn't been the most
restful week, for sure.

It's been a lot of
sleepless nights,

A lot of laying in bed, just,

A lot of thoughts
going through my head.

You're constantly
around these people

For 12 plus hours a day.

These people that
you grow to know

Or you become
intimate with them.

You're with them all
the time, you know?

Even more so than your families.

It's like ending a
relationship, you know.

You put all that energy
and effort into it,

And all of the sudden it's gone.

(Driving percussive music)

Service, please.

Last beef, guys.

Last beef.

Last beef, guys.

(Laughs)

You know, we look back
at the style of food

That we put out
every single day,

And what it means
about that definition.

Grace, and the gracefulness
and graciousness

That we offer to our guest

And extend to our guest.

It's all about that one word.

Grace.

Thank you.

Take care.

See you in a bit.

All right.

See you guys down there?

Yep.

Do you need the keys,

I don't need the keys any more?

See you, Chef.

Goodnight.

Take care of yourself.

I will.

Goodnight, Chef!

Goodnight, see you!

Going down?

24?

Okay.

Okay, hang on one second

Because I'm gonna read
these dimensions out to you.

The boys are
kicking ass, Mike.

They already have a 3-D
rendering of the space.

We're looking at, for as
far as workable space goes,

Actual square footage
we're looking at,

4400.

This is our first
official meeting with them

After hiring them.

You know, you start to get
excited about the possibilities.

That's essentially why we ended
up going with an empty box,

Because it's essentially
our canvas at this point,

We can make it as complex
or as simple as we want.

It's definitely a
marathon, for sure.

You gotta train like it is.

So we do things
on a daily basis.

We try to get a little
bit done each day,

And by the end, obviously
it's gonna come together.

The pressure will come

Once we get a schedule
down, I think.

Yeah.

You know, we have to
start hitting deadlines

And things like that
when we know that

X, Y and Z needs to be here.

Yeah, we'll be under a little
more pressure than we are now.

For sure.

What are you doing on Thursday?

Nothing.

Getting caught up on some
emails and stuff like that.

I just gotta check
in with my wife,

Because I haven't seen
her in three days.

(Phone ringing)

Pretend like I'm still married.

Yeah, so I'm free tomorrow.

What's up?

(People chattering)

Everybody really respects him,

Because he's a talented chef,

But he's a great person.

And I used to work
with Trotter with him

For like two years.

So we're like,
next to each other

On a hot line with Trotter.

He was a great guy,

Just head down and
work really hard.

That's what he does
right now, too.

He's a chef, like two
star Michelin restaurant.

And I know he wants to, like,

Get his third star.

And someday he's gonna get it.

Hey!

How you doing?

Good, how are you?

This is my friend, Jackie.

Hi, nice to meet you.

So there's a lot
of, constant struggle,

Physically and
mentally, what happens

In the kitchen.

You take a lot of baggage home,

And you sleep on it,

Talk about it with your spouse.

You know, me and
Yvonne have this rule,

When we get home, to try
not to talk about work,

And be husband and wife
when we come into the door.

It hardly happens!

It hardly happens.

I do the same thing.

Never talk about work.

My wife ask me, like,
so how was your day?

I'm like, well, it was good.

I fired somebody, had
a great day in there,

And that's part of our day,
I'm done talking about work.

Well, I think the low
point is separating from Kim

And moving in that
direction's been difficult.

Not just for me,

For the girls, for her.

I think the high point, for me,

Has been the concentration
on this restaurant.

I'm finally being able to
build the dream restaurant

That I've always wanted,

It just happens to be at
the worst fucking time.

I am surprised that he
succeeded so well, yes.

But does it surprise
me that he did succeed?

No.

Because he's always been,

You know, goal-oriented.

From all that we have
went through in our lives,

Whether together as a family,

Or him on his own or whatever,

The tragedy set me
back a few notches.

And he was striving forward.

I don't know how he feels

Emotionally, now,

Of the whole situation,

But he's doing so well,

And I'm so proud of him.

He has always set his
mind to something,

He has always achieved.

(Hopeful music)

What I'm showing here,

Is there are a number
of ways to do this.

In this same amount of
space, in this 10 feet two,

We could put two Traulsen
reach-in refrigerators.

The financial side of it
freaks me out a little bit,

How much we're gonna
spend on this restaurant,

Knowing that we have
to financially pay back

With a percentage.

So, do I wanna spend
$500,000 on a kitchen?

No.

This size of the kitchen, yes,

This is what we have to do.

You know, we can go back
and change a few things,

Negotiate further.

But every time we
negotiate, two weeks.

Two weeks.

And it takes three
weeks to do the bid,

It takes two weeks to go
back and refigure it out,

So now we're waiting for that.

It's a waiting game.

Today we're
basically just walking

Around the merchandise mart,

Looking for table
tops and table bases.

Unfortunately, because
Curtis has this obsession

With a particular type of linen

That he wants to use
in the dining room,

The table bases are
extremely important now.

Because they're
going to be exposed,

Because the linen's
going to be really tight,

It's gonna wrap up
underneath the table.

Do you feel like, if you
sat at that table Chef,

That your feet
would get tangled up

And be banging into those legs?

You essentially have
to ask yourself,

If you notice them
during your experience,

Then that's a fail.

Well then we
fail, because, yeah.

Your feet are gonna hit this.

You know what I mean?

Thanks, peace out!

Anything that's
aesthetically pleasing to us

Takes a long time to fucking
figure out, you know?

The other thing to
remember too is.

Fucker!

What is wrong with you? (Laughs)

Oh, my God.

(Banging)

(Whistling)

(Drilling)

And we're not sold on this
for our dining room carpet.

Nope.

I think it's too dark.

Too dark?

What about that one,

That's just black, right?

If you had told me
three months ago

What we were going to end up
paying for dining room chairs,

I would have said,
you're insane!

There's just no way.

The reality is,

The world of chairs is
not what I thought it was.

(Laughs) And chairs are
fucking expansive, man,

They are really pricey.

We bought 90.

A lot.

We paid a lot.

(Laughs) It's embarrassing
to say, I don't know.

We paid a lot.

We paid more than I
thought we were gonna pay,

We paid more than 600.

We paid $1000 a chair.

$1000 a chair.

That's a lot of money.

That's damn near
$100,000 on chairs.

Can we call SML and find out

If they have our plans and
are they in that process

And when can we expect
a number from them.

Because if that number
comes back at $350,000,

Then it's going to
be a process of,

Take that out, move that there.

We're gonna be
back at square one.

Not at square one.

Close.

The longer that we wait,

The longer our doors are closed,

We're spending money that
there's no revenue coming in.

We're spending a lot
of money right now.

I have no idea.

June, July.

Might as well wait until
2013, at this point.

Let's fucking, let's
not rush anything,

Let's just build brick
by brick, you know?

Door by door, hinge by
hinge, nail by nail.

Let's do a nail a day.

Let's fucking take our time.

Obviously we're talking
about opening up a restaurant,

But we've got a brand
we want to represent,

We've got a demographic,
a target audience

That we want to cater to,

And we've got a certain
style and aesthetic

That we really want to present.

The differentiation
thing, for us,

Is that Denis Ray Wheaton
said in Chicago Magazine

When he wrote Curtis
up, he said that,

Because Curtis comes
from Charlie Trotter's

And then he was with
Grant for a long time,

And he said that Curtis is the
bridge that connects the two.

That was brilliantly said
and brilliantly written.

Mhm.

So he's this middle
version of that.

That connects him
to the Alinea thing.

The thoughtfulness,
the intensity,

The concentration, the
gravity of every single plate

That leaves the kitchen,
fine, we're tied to that.

But the performance
aspect of it, we're not.

He's still got that piece
of classic, traditional,

All about the ingredients
Charlie Trotter aspect to it.

Is that representing
you properly?

You're not talking
a lot right now.

No, it's fine.

You're saying it all.

(Laughing)

So, as much as people
want to draw connections to

And say, you know what I
mean, oh, he's that guy from.

Because Alinea is
such, this monster.

Uh huh.

It's so hard to get
out of it's shadow.

Part of the story
is watching the rise

Of this new and
different animal.

One of the tough questions that
he has to field all the time

Is why'd you leave,
what was wrong.

I don't know that I'm often
happy with your answer,

Because it's not
always positive.

(Laughing)

Can we package it in a way that,

Essentially what we had
was a caged tiger before?

I'm not even joking,

If you added three more feet

To the other side of
this table on the width,

That's the size of the kitchen.

We had limited staffing.

We had extraordinarily
limited staffing regiment.

Going into work every day
with your boxing gloves on.

I needed to fight
for every single.

All right, enough.

To be positive.

(Laughing)

You know, it's like,

That's how I personally feel.

Right?

It's like, I look
at him and I go,

Dude, if you think my
kid was badass before,

Wait 'til you see him when
he designs his own kitchen

And gets to play
with his own toys.

And has nobody to
ask or deal with,

And just spreads his wings
and just starts freaking out.

That's gonna be exciting.

Charlie Trotter became
this mecca for young chefs,

And really has an
incredible alumni list

Of people running kitchens
who came from his kitchens.

Curtis was one of
these people who,

Charlie Trotter was very
influential in these cookbooks,

You know, it just looked
beautiful, sounded amazing,

Looked really difficult to make,

And this cookbook turned out
to be a great recruiting tool.

Curtis Duffy read the
Charlie Trotter cookbook

And was really blown away by it

And came up, and
went to the kitchen,

Said he wanted to work there.

And one of the things
that amazed him

Is that when he
got in the kitchen,

They were actually
making the stuff

That looked like the
stuff in the cookbook.

And it was like, oh,
this isn't just for show,

This isn't sort of this
showpiece for the book,

This is what they're
doing every single day.

And just the level that they
were making these dishes at

Really, kind of, it was
a big defining moment,

I think, for Curtis.

How are you?

Hi!

(People chattering)

It could have been maybe a
year or so after he had left,

He was contacted by,

Well it had to be
some legal folks,

You know, attorneys
or something,

About a class action suit
that had been brought

Against Charlie Trotter.

And it had to do with labor.

I still to this day don't
remember signing anything

That says, yes, I want
to be a part of this.

That's where I was so shocked

When I got the
letter in the mail,

Like, a check.

I don't remember signing

And agreeing to be a
part of any lawsuit.

There were two lawsuits filed.

The first one was
the kitchen staff,

Basically saying that they were
being paid a certain amount

But they weren't
getting any overtime,

And they should have
been getting overtime,

And so they were
being underpaid.

There was also a lawsuit
from the front of the house,

Saying that they were not
only working these long hours,

But they weren't receiving
all of their tip money,

Their service money.

I don't think anyone had to
sign on for this lawsuit,

But people who had been there
a certain amount of time,

Were said, okay, you
receive X amount of money

Because this
lawsuit was settled.

At the time when
I got the check,

I was at Trio.

And I was making the
same amount of money

That I was making at Charlie's,
which was 400 a week.

You know, as a cook

In a city this big,
you're scraping pennies.

So, you know, I wanted
to travel extensively,

And get the knowledge abroad

And dine at all these
great restaurants

That I've only looked
up to and emulated.

So I felt like,

Here's an opportunity
to take this money,

And do exactly that.

I mean, Charlie Trotter
felt like he was right.

He did things in a certain way

And he felt like everyone
who worked for him owed him

Because he gave
them the opportunity

To work at Charlie Trotter's.

And so, if they
complained about it,

Or if they sued him
or were part of a suit

Or accepted settlement
as part of a suit

That they hadn't filed
in the first place,

They were kind of dead to him.

Um, you know, I felt
a little disappointed.

But I can see his point.

I'd probably feel the same way.

Do I respect him as a person?

No.

I've dealt with him for
three years, he's a monster.

But he's from a
respectful level,

The way he ran a business and
the way he ran a restaurant

And the way the
food was operated.

You can't take
that away from him.

I still respect him for that.

Dropping off plans.

Hopefully in about 58 days,

We'll actually get a permit.

It's a big step.

I mean, having the
permit drawings ready,

That's a big chuck
of the project.

That makes it serious, you know?

This is like, we're
set with this now.

We're going for it.

This is the permit
that we're gonna get.

I'll feel better
when it's built.

(Laughing)

Then I'll probably sleep
a little bit better.

But yeah, no, it's a major step.

(Relaxed bass guitar music)

This is actually
the first time

I've been back in the
kitchen since I left Avenues.

It's a great feeling.

Philip Voss has been nice enough

To allow us to use his kitchen

To prep for, you know, 800
people that the event's for.

We try to balance the
dish with fat, acid,

Herbal notes, and a
textural component.

So we think the fatty
component's gonna be squash

That's been roasted
and caramelized.

Another fatty component's gonna
be the coconut, of course.

And then we think of acidity,
we're making a vinaigrette

With kumquats and Buddha's hand.

As a counterbalance
to the fatness.

We've got the pickled
han-ja-meen-gees.

We've got an herbal note
from five different herbs

That we're using.

And just the texture
that we're getting

From the whipped
herbs that we're using

Is gonna bring out another
fatty mouthfeel to your palate

Without actually having
to add fat to it.

(Sizzling)

Where are we at with
the rest of this stuff?

Julienned squash,
we're doing tomorrow.

Or is that done?

We're just going to shave it.

Today or tomorrow?

Tomorrow.

A young chef who's trying
to make a name for themselves,

Are always going to be
cast upon the shadow

Of someone who they worked for.

I had an amazing time
working for them.

But, you know,

Every article that comes out,

I don't wanna be mentioned
with Grant Achatz

And Alinea, all this stuff.

Because, it's about
Grace at this point.

It's not about where I've been.

It's more about
what we're gonna do.

Grant did the same
this, with Thomas.

You get tired of
seeing Grant Achatz

Associated with Thomas Keller,

And I know he got tired of it.

Heard him say it many times.

Not an article didn't come out

That didn't have the French
Laundry attached to it.

Okay, at some point
that's gotta get old

When you're trying to
have your own identity,

You know, as a restaurant.

By most people, Alinea is
the best restaurant in Chicago.

By some, the best
restaurant in the country.

Those are his ambitions.

So now, he needs to bump me out.

He needs to surpass me.

In order for him to
achieve his goals,

He needs to jump over me.

I'm okay with that.

Chase it down.

I did the same thing.

As the mentor,

If the protege never
surpasses their mentor,

The mentor didn't
do that good a job.

So if Curtis comes on the scene,

Comes up with
something that is new,

Attracts enough attention

To achieve a status
that's higher

Than Alinea has achieved,

I win too.

There's no losing.

I mean, we're always
early to these events.

Curtis always wants us here

At least two hours
ahead of time,

Set up and ready to go.

It's one of the first
dishes for Grace, too.

So it's gotta be perfect.

I haven't seen the dish yet.

So I'm a little concerned
that it's not gonna work.

The idea is that the
bubble sits in the glass

And then they get to pop it,

And then kind of
work through that.

I think when the
bubble hits the glass,

I don't know if the bubble's
gonna be able to sustain it.

You know what I mean?

I think the bubble's gonna pop.

Ah! (Laughing)

799 more.

(Lively samba music)

So you have butternut squash,

A little piece of Buddha's hand,

Whipped herbs and
smoked coconut,

With a breath of lemon tea.

When you lift that coaster up,

You're gonna get a
little bit of smoke,

That's a lemon tea breath.

Wanna say hi to the camera?

No.

Aside from like
rock musicians,

And policemen and firemen
who are putting their lives

Out on the line
on a daily basis,

You'll be damned to
find a profession

That is more taxing
on the individual

And creates itself
for failed marriages,

For drug addiction,
for alcoholism.

For losing control
of one's life.

And it's from as early
as you can stand to get up

'Til as late as you can
stand to stay awake.

You start to, you almost
start to shut down

And shut out everything.

At least, for me.

Not spending time
with your wife,

Not communicating
with your family.

If I were to walk
out of here tonight

At 11 o'clock at night,

Go home, go to sleep,

I would wake up
tomorrow feeling guilty.

Because I didn't put in the
amount of time that was required

To run one of the best
restaurants in the world.

Conversely, my girlfriend
would really like it

If I came home at
11 o'clock tonight.

And I'm sure Curtis can
speak to this directly.

We've all been through it.

When you're in a relationship

And you're a chef
working at this level,

It's incredibly difficult.

In fact, it's
basically impossible.

It's just not fair
to someone else to say,

Let's date, you can have
two and a half hours a week.

Especially if they're not in
the industry, because then,

What, they're going
to bed at 10 o'clock

To get up at six
AM to go to work?

And it's like, okay, well,

I'll meet you at four AM

To make a bowl of
cereal for you?

You know, what do you do?

A lot of people who
don't work in this business

Don't understand why
you can't do things.

You know, why can't you have
drinks with me on Friday night?

Well, because we're working.

Why can't you, oh, can
you meet me at three AM?

That's when I can
go have a drink.

Because we're closing.

So it's hard.

People who don't work in this
business, who never have,

Don't understand it.

You know, I tell cooks
who come in to Alinea,

Before they're hired, I say,

You're basically getting
in a relationship.

Like, you need to really
think about working here,

Because you're basically
getting married.

And you're going to devote
14, 16 hours of your day

To Alinea.

And it's going to leave
you very little time

For anything else.

If you have a dog,

Find somebody to feed it.

If you have a girlfriend?

Good luck.

You need to take
out your garbage?

You might want to pay
somebody to do that,

Because you won't have time.

You know, you just
start to grow apart.

It became very
difficult to talk,

And I think that's
ultimately what separated us,

Was the lack of communication

And being able to talk

Because I was never there.

And when I was there, it's like,

It's not the thing you wanna
do, is deal with problems,

Because you want to
spend time with somebody.

But it's not what
you want to be doing,

Talking about issues.

This is going to be
the first Christmas

That I don't get to wake up

To hear them running
around the house,

All excited about the
Christmas presents

And things like that.

So, it's gonna be painful.

I can tell you that right now.

It's not gonna be
a fun day for me.

But I don't have an answer
of how to deal with it

Because this is the
first time for me,

And I have to learn
how to deal with it

As time goes on.

I want to see them,

I want to continue
to experience that.

But right now it's not possible.

(Sentimental hopeful music)

Johnstown, Ohio
is a rural setting.

It's 20 minutes from Columbus

And it's 20 minutes
from the Amish country,

So there's a lot of
farm area out here.

It's very wide open.

It hasn't changed much.

It's still a small little berg.

Not a lot of restaurants
in Johnstown.

This is what amazes
me about Curtis.

There wasn't
anything here to say,

Boy, I'd like to be in
culinary school for this reason

Because of this and
this restaurant.

It's a big area, but it's
still got that small town,

You know, everybody knows
everybody's business. (Laughs)

Everybody knows you,
everybody, you know,

Especially when you've
been here for so long.

When you experience something
very dramatic in your life,

You tend to forget a lot of
things from your childhood.

A lot of those memories I
either push away, or hide,

Or I don't remember at all.

We weren't wealthy,
we were pretty poor.

And I think that's where
I get a lot of my drive,

Is because I never wanted
to live the way that I lived

When I was younger.

It was a tough childhood.

They were very strict.

My dad would kick
my ass all the time.

All the time.

And my mom, the same way.

Actually, my dad was a
cop for a while as well.

And my uncle, both were cops.

And I think, had them not
both of them been cops,

I probably would be in jail.

I was headed up to a
football game here in town.

He threw a ball or something,

Hit me in the back of the head.

Next thing you know, we're
wrestling around on the ground.

One thing led to another,

Ended up being good
friends, you know?

He was the guy in
class that, you know,

He had olive skin and
all the girls liked him,

And I was kind of
the short, tubby kid

That, you know,

I figured, well if I hang
out with a good looking guy,

Maybe I'll get one
of them gals too.

Junior high, you have
to take certain classes.

Home economics was
one of the classes

That everybody had to take,

Part of your curriculum.

Well, as a guy, you
look at that and go,

This is gonna suck.

Because I was into
skateboarding,

I was into heavy metal music,

And I was just like,
that's not what I,

I don't wanna iron.

I don't want to learn
how to sew something.

But, when it would
come to cooking,

My teacher Ruth Snider, would
see this sparkle in my eye

About like, we're
gonna cook today

And I was really
excited about it.

The home ec room
has always been here.

And this is where
I first met Curtis,

Probably in the late
'80s I believe it was,

He was in the sixth grade.

And this is the room.

I can just picture
Curtis, I remember him,

Especially as a sixth grader,
being at the back table,

And we were making pat-a-pizzas.

And he just was so
engrossed in working,

You know, working with the food.

He could be a little
ornery at times,

Never disrespectful, though.

Never, ever disrespectful.

You know it's funny,
some people can't even sew.

Some people don't know
how to iron their stuff.

But every time I iron a shirt,

I always think
about Ruth Snider.

Always.

He kind of led the group.

He was the go to
person, you know.

Somebody didn't know how
to do something, it was,

Well, Curt will know.

He really wanted certain
things done a certain way,

And I think that's what's
gotten him as far as it has,

Is how he just really
likes to have it done

Absolutely the
best way possible.

She was such a great
teacher in that sense of,

Very patient with everybody,

And just the sweetest
lady you would ever meet.

Ever.

She's incredible.

He had a rough start
before he came here.

Okay, that I do know.

I really feel that he
thought it was a safe place

For him to be.

And that he knew that things
would be okay in here,

At least for that 40 minutes.

In the eighth grade,
the students would
be able to choose,

Like I would say, you're
doing a main dish this week.

He always had that extra flair,

Or the extra, you
know, let's try this.

And he had that
ability about him

That other kids would
kind of follow along then

And say, oh, okay, if that's
what you think we oughta try.

Then I moved on
to high school,

And at that point,
home ec was optional.

So you could take it or
you not could take it,

And I opt to take it.

When he learned how to cook

And he was old
enough to get a job,

It really did change him.

He had more of a direction.

So I had already
started working

In a restaurant full-time.

And my focus was
like, this is it,

This is what I want to do,

I'm going for it.

The first time I met
Curtis was in the kitchen

In the pavilion at
Muirfield Village.

I mean, just different
from any other young person

That comes in.

He separated himself from
the rest of the pack there,

And he just had a yearning,

He just wanted to learn
learn learn, he was a sponge.

So I went directly
from school to work.

And I worked from
like 3:30 to 11:30.

So by the time I got
home after the commute,

It was 12:00, 12:30.

I didn't spare a lot of
time for family at the time.

I didn't see him any more.

He was either working,

Or doing his
competitions at school.

Mhm.

The summer of '94, I had
just finished high school.

My parents had been going
through some rough times.

So they decided that
they wanted to separate.

Mostly my mom's decision.

It was a game to both of them.

It was a game that
they were playing

With each other's lives.

You know, they started
going, I mean basically,

Through a divorce.

My dad didn't want
it, my mom did.

My dad had started taking
some antidepressant.

And he seemed to be
doing really well.

And decided to really
just, stop taking it.

You're not supposed to stop
medicine like that cold turkey

Like he did, you're supposed
to slowly wean yourself off.

So it started messing
with his head a lot.

I would walk into the kitchen
or I'd walk into the house,

All the lights were off

And there would be
pills on the counter,

Just kind of
randomly spilled out.

And there were times when
I couldn't wake him up.

He wasn't stable.

You know, he was a very
unstable person at the time.

The day of their
wedding anniversary,

Dad tried one more time

For my mom to drop the divorce.

He had come up to the
apartment in the morning

With roses and a card

And said, give this
one last chance.

She said no, she was going
through with the divorce.

He left, she went to work.

But he had already
had it planned out,

What he was going to
do if she said no.

She went to work and
it was about lunchtime.

Her and Angie were walking
over to McDonald's for lunch,

And Dad pulled up on a brown car

And had a sawed-off shotgun.

Bought an old car,

Ripped the insides out of it,

Took all the door handles off,

All the window rollers off,

The locks off, everything.

Once you were in,
you couldn't get out.

Made my mom get in the car,

Threatened to shoot
her friend Angie,

And Angie took off running
and he grabbed my mom,

Put her in the car.

Drove 40 miles back out to
the house where he was living.

At the time, the
house, you know,

It was completely barricaded in.

He had set everything inside

To where you couldn't see in.

And I want to say Angie
and a police officer

Came to the school,

To get me out of school
because they weren't sure

Where Dad had taken Mom.

We weren't sure what
he was gonna do,

So they were
gathering us all up.

I had a police
office knock at my door

And said, you need
to come with me.

This was probably two
o'clock in the afternoon.

And I asked what was going
on, why, what's going on?

And he explained to me
that my dad had come

To take my mom hostage, and
they're out at the house

And I need to be out there.

The police officers took
me and Angie and my daughter

To a safe house

Until he could be located,
until they could be located.

And of course, there
was a phone there,

So I called Dad's house.

And that's where they were.

So I called and I
talked to my mom.

Tried to talk to my dad,

But my dad wouldn't talk to me.

I just promised,

I promised my mom that I
would get her out of there,

And that I loved her.

She told me to stay away.

And I just promised her I
would get her out of there.

And then he hung up the phone.

(Phone ringing)

Hey, this is Bear.

Me and Jan aren't
home right now,

Leave your name and number,

We'll get back with you
as soon as possible.

Later on.

(Beeps)

[Voiceover] Bear,
this is Sergeant Mason.

You need to pick up the
phone and talk to me.

Right now.

I need to know that everything
is all right in the house.

(Beeps)

Bear, Sergeant Mason.

You need to pick up the
phone and talk to me.

Bob, you promised me
that you were coming out.

That everything was okay.

(Beeps)

[Voiceover] The person
placing the call has hung up.

I was literally down the
street about a quarter mile,

About three houses down.

In a hostage situation,

It's a give and take
negotiation type thing.

From what I understood,
he was constantly asking

To talk to me.

I don't know why,

And I still struggle
with that today,

I don't know why.

I can hear the radios
of the police officers,

Or the detectives
that were there.

All I remember is
hearing, shots fired,

Shots fired, shots fired.

The end happened very quickly.

(Crashing)

(Yelling)

Close the doors!

My dad had shot my mom
and then shot himself.

Basically it ended
in a murder suicide.

14, 15 hours later.

I remember being very confused,

A lot of it was very
confusing to me.

Because it was planned out,

Extremely well.

I think at my
dad's calling hours,

I can remember my brothers.

I don't remember any
reaction from Curtis,

There was nothing really there.

It seemed like he was
almost in a dream state,

Like, is this really happening?

I mean, that he
just hadn't grasped

The severity of
the situation yet.

I just remember the dark
circles under his eyes,

He was going through the
motions, at that point.

My mom's funeral
was in Colorado

Because my grandparents
wanted her there.

The communication was lost
between us, as an entire family,

And people who were dealing
with the arrangements.

She was literally on
her way to the airport,

And we were able to get
on the phone with somebody

Able to bring her back to
a very random funeral home

Where we could at
least say goodbye.

So, the last memory I
have of her is very,

It's very cold, it's not warm.

I know my mom had goosebumps.

That's the only
thing I can remember.

She was on a gurney.

A pretty gurney.

Yeah, she had goosebumps.

I wasn't able to make
the funeral in Colorado

And from what I understand
and see pictures,

It was very beautiful.

And I'm glad she was
able to have that there.

Unfortunately I missed it

By a day, I couldn't
get out there.

I didn't have the
funds to do it.

I was at least able to
see her before she left.

It just wasn't the
most pleasant setting.

I remember writing a letter
that I gave him that day

And asked him not to
open it 'til he got home.

Because I know that, as a young
man, he needed his privacy,

But I also wanted him to know

That he was not
out there all alone

And that he was not forgotten.

I think that was
probably a turning point,

Even though we were
close to that point,

I think it was something
where I kept in touch with him

A little bit more.

I just felt so
devastated for him.

I remember going
into the house,

And I literally
couldn't be in the house

For 10 seconds at a time

Because the tear
gas was so strong,

You couldn't breathe.

It was just like
it hadn't hit him.

We went to the house

And it still didn't seem
like it had hit him yet.

When Curt's mad, he always
just kind of stayed reserved.

He just wouldn't speak to you.

That was the type
of person he is.

I felt like he was
bewildered and I was trying

To basically put his
heart at ease, you know?

I actually found this
notebook at his house.

So it was a letter
that I never got.

He had finished, I can
show you if you like.

There's a page in there that's
addressed to my brother,

There's a page in there
that's addressed to my sister,

And there's a page that's
addressed to my mom,

But none of them are
written except for me,

Except for mine.

[Voiceover] Do you
think we could see it?

Yeah, of course.

I found this at the
house when I went back.

But I had put it away for
a long time, of course.

Says, "this is Dad."

"I'm telling you from my
heart that you, (laughs)"

"You're a very
special young man,"

"And I wish I could tell you"

"How proud of you I am,"

"But words do not cover it all."

(Clears throat)

"You will be a great chef."

"No doubt in my mind,"

"You will be one of the
best in the world someday."

"Please don't ever say you
can't because that is not a word"

"But can is, and I know you can."

"Your life is just beginning."

"Try to do all the
right things in it."

"Make sure if you ever get
married and have children,"

"That you show them and your
wife all the love in the world."

"Always take time
to be with them"

"And show them love."

"Your wife should be,"

"Your wife should be shown
the most love of all."

"Take time to talk to her
and hear what she has to say,"

"Because she will be the most
important person in your life."

"I asked you Curt, to look back"

"And see how many wrong
things you have seen me do,"

"And please don't
walk in my footsteps"

"Because you will be in
a world of pain, hate,"

"And sure won't be loved,"

"And won't be able to show love."

"I know you have it in you,"

"So please show it
to your loved ones."

"Everybody needs it, you
can't survive without it."

(Sniffs)

I need a minute.

"I love you, son."

"Signing off for now,
we'll talk another day."

"Remember I love you,
son, and always will."

"My love, your dad."

(Sparkling creative music)

We've been staring
at it on paper

For like, eight months now.

When you walk in,
it's hard not to smile

Like an eight year old child,

Because you see the actual
physical wall structure

Of what you put in your head.

I don't know, man.

It's pretty cool.

If I go down that hallway,

It's a very gradual ramp

That goes up into
the dining room.

If I'm gonna go into the lounge,

I go, step, step, up here.

It's progress,

And it's one step closer
to getting into the space

And opening this restaurant,

So how can you not
be excited about it?

It's a lifelong dream.

Every single day,
it's a new step.

(Laughing)

[Curtis] We're at
the chef's garden,

Which is located five hours
east of Chicago in Huron, Ohio.

They're here to
serve and provide us

With ingredients that you
can't find anywhere else.

The purpose of coming here to
the chef's garden this weekend

Was really to get the
team away from the city,

And get the team back
together in the kitchen.

Over the past few months,

That sense of reality is
starting to sink in quite a bit,

So it's intensifying these
moments that we're having now.

I mean, it's really
starting to get real.

(People chattering)

Five seconds, stand by!

Well it is one of the
most highly anticipated

Restaurant openings
in the country,

And it's happening right
here in the West Loop.

It's called Grace,
and it will be homed

By Chef Curtis Duffy, and he's
here with us this morning,

So give it up for him
right now, good morning!

Thank you, thank you.

(Audience applauds)

That's a pretty
nice intro, huh?

It's fantastic.

Does that put the
pressure on you?

A little bit, yeah.

Absolutely.

Okay, now this has got
to be one of the most

Highly anticipated openings
across the whole country.

How are you holding up
under all that pressure?

I'm good, we just started
menu development yesterday,

So we're excited about
getting back into the kitchen

And really start to hone
in some of the dishes

That we've been
thinking about for,

Now, a year or so.

Can you tell us an exact date?

Because I know the opening's
been pushed back a bit.

Yes.

You know, we're
pushing for late October,

But probably the
first week of November

Is where we're really
gonna focus on, so.

We're really close,
we're really close.

Why so many delays?

Because this was supposed
to open up in June, right?

Yeah.

There's so many delays,
there's just obstacle

That we have to overcome, you
know, all the subcontractors

And things like that, so.

Right, right.

You know, they're kind
of unexpected things,

So you try to foresee
a little bit of them,

But some of them you just can't.

I wish sometimes
the subcontractors
had the same drive

And mentality as a chef does,

Where it's like, you do what
it takes to get it done,

All the time.

Whether you stop to
take a break or not,

It's not even an option.

They blame it on one person,

Who blames it on the next,

Blames it on the next,

Which goes in this
big circle of,

I can't do this until
this guy does this

And I can't do that
until this guy does this

And this guy can't do that
until that guy does his stuff.

And they're all pointing fingers

And going, what do I do?

I worry about him.

I know that being a
chef has taken its toll

Personally on his life.

And I hope he knows
that, in a drop of a hat,

If he would call and say
Ruth, can you come to Chicago,

I need you here,

I would drop everything
and I would be there.

I just feel very fortunate

That I can look
upon him as a son.

I really do.

That completes the life.

The day that Grace opens,

Or when he has family
and friends night,

Or whenever he wants me there.

If he wants me there both times,

I will be there both times.

I'd wash dishes if he needed
me that night to wash dishes.

If he needed me to set
tables that night, I would.

Whatever he would need
done, I would do for him.

There's no doubt in my
mind, I will be there.

It's 4:00AM and we're
at Acadia restaurant

In the South Loop, working
on menu development

For Grace restaurant.

Chef Brian McCaskey was
very generous in allowing us

To step into his kitchen.

Basically handing over
his restaurant to us

And letting us come in here.

We're working on
the sunchoke dish

That's based around
four ingredients.

We have sunchoke,
we have mustard,

We have celery, we have onions.

We typically take sunchoke

And peel them and
cook them in a way

That to me was very
boring, always.

I always thought, why did
we get rid of the skin?

We use potato skins, we used
a lot of different skins

When we cook.

My thought process
was, let's poach it,

Try to get some flavor
into the sunchoke,

And then let's fry it
and see what happens.

And the result ended up being,

Because of the natural
sugar in the sunchoke,

Became sticky and had this
really nice chewy texture,

A little crispy
at the same time.

Then we started thinking of
what else do we want to use

Within that realm.

First thing that came to my
mind was celery and mustard.

We've taken the ricotta, it's
actually goat milk ricotta,

We wanted a little bit
of a sour note to it.

What we've done with the onions,

We've also roasted the onions.

We burn them
completely, dry them,

And then turn them into oil.

And then we also
blacken some other ones

That we keep one
side of it is charred

And one side of it
is cooked through.

So we take four
major components,

Usually no more that five,

And try to expand
on that ingredient

And see how many different
techniques we can use

For that element.

Once we get back
into the kitchen,

It'll be refined even more.

It just needs to be a
little bit more balanced,

So it needs to have
a little bit more fat

Throughout the dish

And a little bit more
acidity throughout the dish.

(Muffled talking)

Right now, we're gonna
call our potential hires

And see if they're
still interested,

And then offer them
a position, so.

(Phone ringing)

[Voiceover] Morning, Chef.

Good morning, how are you sir?

[Voiceover] Very
good, Chef, how are you?

Fantastic.

I'm calling you to let
you know and ask you

If you're still interested
in the position at Grace.

[Voiceover] I am, Chef.

Okay.

Well, then I want to
say welcome aboard.

[Voiceover] Oh, man!

Awesome, thank you Chef!

You're welcome.

Andl'd like for you to
keep it very confidential

That you're hired, as well.

[Voiceover] Okay, Chef.

Thank you.

My pleasure, thank you.

[Voiceover] Okay, Chef.

I look forward to
hearing from you again.

Okay, we'll talk to you soon.

[Voiceover] Okay.

Thanks, bye bye.

Super enthusiastic.

Really excited.

(Energetic music)

We've been waiting on
the truck, it's been late

For four days now,
and when it shows up,

The shit is just in total chaos.

Some of these major boxes that
have all the equipment inside

Have fallen on top
of each other, so.

Trying to assess the
damage as they come out.

We're spending hundreds
of thousands of dollars

On this kitchen, and
to me, it seems like,

Eh, just another kitchen.

You know what I mean?

And it's not.

Can you just, it's
kind of right here,

Your first name, last name
and then he lists it here.

Okay.

Have fun.

Jordan.

Nice to meet you.

This is your restaurant,
so walk around.

Go see the kitchen.

Stone went in on the
countertops in the kitchen.

It's breathtaking.

It's absolutely beautiful.

So, walk around, see
the bathrooms and stuff.

(People chattering)

This is the largest
piece of glass

That can be tempered.

And we have three large
pieces brought over here.

We have to take 17 people

From zero to 150 miles an hour

In, you know, these
next two weeks.

The expectation on behalf of
the people walking in the door

Is that they're gonna
be at that level.

So if they're not,
then shame on me.

And shame on Chef.

So we just can't
let that happen.

(Serious piano music)

All we're doing today
is just going over

The employee handbook.

Talking about, in general,
just Grace philosophy.

What we do here,
how we got here,

Our expectations of you.

Our goal is to achieve the
highest level of culinary

And service standards
without pretense,

Snobbery, or presumption.

Instead, every moment
in our service pattern,

Every gesture we make,

Every ingredient we
place in a plate,

Every drop of wine
we pour in a glass,

Comes from an honest
and genuine place.

We are never called
robotic, dry or insincere.

This is not a job.

It cannot be.

It represents much
more than that.

Our ability to achieve
these standards

Does not represent what
we do, but who we are.

There are 50 billion restaurants
in the city of Chicago.

And you travelled
here and chose us.

And for the prices
that we charge,

It's even that much
more of an honor.

What an unbelievable thing.

They gotta know, they will know,

That we are faithful,
that we are gracious

About their presence
and their participation

In our dining room.

Good afternoon, thank
you for calling Grace.

This is Amy, how may I help you?

Certainly, for one?

Any food allergies or
dietary restrictions

That we should be aware of?

Oh, certainly.

You said four people, what
time would you like to come in?

Okay, wonderful.

Thank you so much!

Bye.

(Cars honking)

Yeah, Ava's lost
four teeth now.

I was there for her last
one, which was last week.

Unfortunately I'm
not able to be there

And put that stuff
under her pillow

That she's thinking
is the Tooth Fairy.

I remember the conversation
that we had with Ava

When we told her that I wasn't
going to be living there

Any more.

It was pretty upsetting
for her, of course.

And then, Eden?

Yeah, I just think she
thinks I work a lot.

When I leave at night time,
after I tuck them in bed,

I tell them that I'm
going back to work,

And that I'm leaving.

I'm thankful Curtis cooked
the turkey in our new oven.

And I'm thankful all of
our health and success

In the future, yeah?

Cheers.

Happy Thanksgiving, everybody!

(Adventurous music)

32, thank you.

At home, I do
practice by myself,

Giving a full description to
the mirror, or with my brother.

I practice on my standing point,

And speaking out loud clearly.

But not too loud where I'm
bothering the next table.

Gonna be 14, 12 to 16
hours in the kitchen.

Yeah.

[Voiceover] Is that
normal for cooks?

When you work in
restaurants like this, yes.

When you're trying
to be the best,

You sacrifice your
sleep, family, friends,
your social life

To become the best.

Yes, I miss my friends, but
at the same time it's like,

I've gotta get
somewhere in my life,

And I know what I need
to do to get there.

So this is part of it.

So I'll keep pushing and
pushing and pushing until I do.

(Building percussive music)

You know, you eat
with your eyes first.

And it's very seductive.

You know, from the
linen to the china

To the ambiance, and
then the flavors,

And it just, it
all comes together,

It's like poetry.

Well, I have a son,

And I decided to come
see how well he cooks.

When he was young, he didn't
eat a whole lot of food.

He was kind of finicky.

Very proud, very impressed
with him, getting very full,

And it's, the food
is out of this world.

Coming from a small
town in Louisiana

To come eat food like
this, it's pretty amazing.

Give me a kiss.

Only on camera.

Yeah, we love what we do!

Every night's been
such a stress fest,

And you know, you're sitting
thinking to yourself,

At some point I'm gonna
start crying like an idiot.

You know what I mean?

I said to every
single one of them,

If you bring to me every
day drive and focus

And positivity and
energy and work ethic,

If you bring that to me,

Then what we will
give back to you

Is a thousand times that.

If you need a ride and I
got a car, you'll have it.

If you need money and I
got it, you'll have it.

If you need support, if you
need to learn something,

If you know, whatever.

Most of them haven't seen
their significant others

Or done anything, you know.

To be here until
four in the morning

And turn around, see
them here at eight,

Doing fucking laundry.

How do you say thank
you to those guys?

You can't.

You just can't.

I'm grateful.

I'm thankful.

Trying not to be
emotional about it.

But this is, for me,
it's a dream come true.

This is what I've worked
so many hours for,

So many days away
from my family.

I wanna say, to you guys,

From the very bottom
of my heart, thank you.

Thank you very much for
being a part of this team,

Being a part of opening
this restaurant,

And the journey towards
something great.

I'm blessed to have a
business partner, Michael,

To support me 100% in
every decision that I make.

But mostly as a friend,
first and foremost.

Because I know he
has my back 100%

And I'm thankful for that.

What he said.

(Laughs) I don't know what else,

Yeah, exactly, ditto.

I don't know, I can't, how
am I supposed to say it?

I can't.

So, be good.

Do good, try hard, okay?

That's it.

(Sniffs)

(Positive excited music)

I'm nervous as hell.

I'm anxious.

I'm overwhelmed with excitement.

It's hard to sit back and
realize that this is the day

That all those thought
and all the time,

Everything that we
sacrificed for this moment,

I don't think about that.

But I have to sit back
at some point today

And try to enjoy this moment.

Because this is everything
that we worked for.

Yeah.

(Laughs)

(Building guitar music)

Good luck, Daddy!

We love you, goodbye!

(Laughs)

Goodnight Daddy, we love you.

Good luck.

That's awesome.

Push push push, pairings
pairings pairings.

Captains, my Cadillac salesmen,

Let's see pairings all
night tonight on that.

Let's see some real
sexy pairing sales.

Move fast.

Move, fast.

This is our business, ready?

This is what happens with us,

And this is what's
going to happen to us

Forever from here on out.

These 5:00 to 6:30
resos, they gots to go.

They gotta go.

Push, push, push!

At 5:30, we have a one top.

He's a conductor.

He is a big fan of ginger ale.

Not so big on food descriptions.

He's a regular at many
of the other restaurants

That we've dined,
let's befriend him

And show him how warm
and gracious we can be.

At 6:00PM, we have three tables.

Two deuces and a three top.

The first deuce, Juan Flores.

He's a line cook
over at the Trump.

Mr. Flores is also a Marine.

He served in
Afghanistan and Iraq.

I have a soft spot for
taking care of those

Who have done those things.

Let's take very, very
good care of him,

And champagne, on me please.

7:00PM, another two top.

A Chicago-based foodie

Who's always looking
for the next new meal.

Fond of Twittering.

Pulls out her phone,
pay attention.

8:30PM, a two top at table one.

What's this name?

No Facebook, doesn't turn
up anywhere on the internet.

Somehow figured out how
to score a reso here

On our opening day.

Why do I say that?

'Cause we're so hot?

No.

If anybody was
here on opening day

And saw how many
times the phone rang,

You had to call like a thousand
times just to get through.

For somebody like that to try
that hard to get a reso here

On our opening night, and
not exist on the internet,

Is weird to me.

And then at 9:30PM,
our final two top.

Table 11, Ruth Snider.

This is Chef Duffy's
home economics teacher.

Very close and
personal friend of mine.

No check for them.

Champagne 'em, the whole nine.

All right, let's go!

Have fun.

Okay?

Stay focused.

(Uplifting rock music)

We got two caviar?

Two caviar, table four.

I'll take those right back.

Hands, please?

Thank you.

Four beef and a
chestnut on deck?

Take hands, please.

Ruth has always been there.

You know, she's
always been there.

She's there for support,

And that's hard to ask somebody
to be there for support.

If you need anything, if
you need a place to live,

If you need money, if you
need whatever you need,

I don't care what it
is, I'm there for you.

To have that, and feel
that from somebody is,

You know, it's pretty special.

A true friend.

Ruth Snider's a true friend.

Oh, my God.

Oh honey, I'm so happy for you.

How've you been?

I'm just so happy for you.

So awesome.

Hi, how are you?

Good to see you.

You too.

This is just so elegant.

Wow.

So elegant.

Oh, we do get to
see the kitchen!

Oh my, thank you sir.

Thank you.

Enjoy.

Thank you, thank you.

Amy?

Great, Amy, thank you.

I know Chef
Duffy's very excited

To have both of you in tonight.

And you'll be able to
really get the nice feeling

Of getting to see.

Oh, this is wonderful.

[Curtis] I'm gonna
take care of that.

Let me see them.

[Voiceover] They're two
of the best pieces, Chef,

Your best ones.

If you need to fire
more, fire more.

These are your
two best ones, Chef?

They're oiled and salted?

I want him to know
that I'm proud of him

For being the man that he is.

Not the chef, not all of
this wonderful restaurant.

I'm proud of him for him.

But I'm so thrilled that
his dream has come true.

I mean, all his hard work,

And we've talked,
he has sacrificed.

There's been things
that have happened

That he has sacrificed
to get to this point.

She's special because she
was able to see somebody

That was not in a place
to financially buy things

That I needed to buy for school,

And I was constantly in trouble.

And I think she was the
lady that looked past that

And could see something
unique or special

Or whatever you want to call it,

And nudged me and guided
me in that direction.

I'm just, it's just,

It is just awesome.

I am just so so proud of him.

He really, he means a lot
to me, he really does.

So, he's like a son.

Clock out and
go home, everyone.

Please go home.

2:00PM tomorrow, two
o'clock tomorrow.

It was a good night,
but don't get all crazy,

Because tomorrow we have more,
and it's gonna get crazier,

And then Friday,
and then Saturday.

(Thoughtful piano music)

Yeah, it would be nice to
understand happiness, sure.

I mean, I'm happy of course,

But balance is what's missing.

In this lifestyle,
there is no balance.

You can't be great at something
and put 100% into everything

Without sacrificing
something else.

Because I'm so hungry
for the professional,

Yet I'm still hungry
for the personal.

But this kind of overweighs it.

For some reason.

(Phone ringing)

[Voiceover] Hi Curtis,

I'm calling from
the Michelin guide.

We are calling you
with some amazing news.

You are being awarded three
Michelin stars for Grace

In the new edition.

Oh my God.

[Voiceover] Congratulations.

All right, thank you.

[Voiceover] All
right, bye bye.

Bye bye.

We did it.

Yeah, buddy.

Let's go tell the kids, huh?

Three stars, guys.

(Erupts in cheers and applause)

(Uplifting rock music)

* What is it you're looking for

* Do you really think
you need any more

* It's the edge of waging war

* To even out to score

* 'Til you feel secure

* Enough to break the rule