Transcript
ROLO
Jeff! Lardone! Thank you guys so much for coming.
LARDONE
Hey, hey!
JEFF
You bet, you bet, you bet!
ROLO
Yeah, come in, come in, come in.
LARDONE
Yeah!
JEFF
We haven't seen it!
ROLO
This is the place! Grand opening is tomorrow.
JEFF
Oh my gosh!
ROLO
Yeah, I know.
LARDONE
It looks amazing! Rolo, you outdid yourself, Rolo!
ROLO
Well, you know what, after Karen left me, I just said, "I have to really put my nose
LARDONE
Oh yeah, yeah.
ROLO
to the grind here and just kind of try to make a name for myself."
LARDONE
Yeah, Rolo, you worked so hard all these years. I mean, I'm really proud of you.
This place! In New York City!
ROLO
Thank you, yeah.
Not-
JEFF
This place is enormous.
ROLO
Not cheap. Yeah.
JEFF
Well, have you - did you use any of the Cook-IN money to...
do it or did you not?
ROLO
I didn't get any.
LARDONE
None!
ROLO
None. So yeah.
LARDONE
Not a single... not a single hairy penny, huh?
ROLO
Nope. I mean they said that I would get something,
but it just ended up being advertising.
LARDONE
Oh.
ROLO
But I didn't have anything to advertise, so
it expired after three months.
LARDONE
Aw, that's a real bummer.
JEFF
Okay.
Well, let us try the food!
LARDONE
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah!
ROLO
Yeah, yeah, so I have my chef de cuisine is actually prepping my signature. This is gonna be the
signature dish that we serve here at Sandeuh.
That's the name by the way.
JEFF
Ooh, Sandeuh!
LARDONE
Ooh!
ROLO
Sandeuh!
LARDONE
Who did you get for your chef de cuisine there?
I imagine the market's tough here in New York.
ROLO
It is really tough. Um,
When I actually signed the lease I had to meet the the property owner, but he didn't show up-
This is a really funny story-
LARDONE
Okay.
ROLO
I got mugged,
behind the building,
JEFF
Oh, wow.
ROLO
and the guy who mugged me ended up being a chef!
LARDONE
What?
No way!
JEFF
Wow!
ROLO
I know.
LARDONE
It's like a small world moment, right?
ROLO
Right? He was like, "Give me your money."
I was like, "I'll do you one better."
JEFF
Wow, so...
LARDONE
Yeah, you didn't swing-
If you didn't swing it with the Cook-IN money, what a...
How'd you do it?
ROLO
Well...
JEFF
Yeah, this place is enor- and you're in Chelsea.
LARDONE
Yeah.
ROLO
Yeah, after after Karen left.
I took what the money I had left over, which was...
two- two sixty?
JEFF
Two hundred sixty thousand?
LARDONE
260,000?
ROLO
Just two hundred and sixty dollars.
LARDONE
Oh!
ROLO
I bought some letterhead and I started typing up letters and I just reached out to everyone I knew
and I got some donors and they were able to raise me...
thirty-two million dollars.
LARDONE
Oh.
JEFF
Oh my gosh!
LARDONE
Oh wow, that's
ROLO
Yes.
LARDONE
out of the goodness of their hearts, huh?
ROLO
I have to pay it back. So, it's a loan.
LARDONE
Oh.
JEFF
We got some time, I'm sure.
That's like 10, 15 year money.
ROLO
One year.
One year after open is when I have to pay it back.
JEFF
ONE YEAR?
LARDONE
What?
Rolo!
ROLO
It's okay, because once you try this, this is gonna be a hit, okay?
It has to be.
LARDONE
Okay.
JEFF
Okay, yeah, I hope this is...
ROLO
And actually, here's the food right now.
JEFF
32 oh great.
Yep. Hope this is 32 million dollars worth.
ROLO
This is a dry aged Wagyu beef with
LARDONE
Oh.
JEFF
Okay.
ROLO
Hen of the F-... Wood... Forest...
um
JEFF
Hen of the Woods?
ROLO
Hen of the Woods mushrooms
JEFF
Oh, okay. Good.
ROLO
And then Densuke watermelon salad,
LARDONE
Oh.
ROLO
with a shaved Iberian ham,
JEFF
Oh.
ROLO
and Beluga caviar on the side.
because it needs a little more. It needs something a little more indulgent, you know?
JEFF
Sure, yeah, that's great!
ROLO
I actually-
I learned how to make this because I took- I signed up for Chef Naples
'Learn How to Cook' seminars.
JEFF
Oh, Naples Florida!
ROLO
Yeah.
LARDONE
From the... when you were on the... yeah.
ROLO
Karen sent me the link because she got a discount from him
because she's wi-
She's seeing... him.
JEFF
Wait, Rolo-
ROLO
So I got a discount.
JEFF
Your wife, your ex-wife left you
ROLO
I got a discount.
JEFF
for the chef who beat you on Cook-IN.
LARDONE
Oh.
Rolo, I'm so sorry. That's rough.
JEFF
Oh wow.
ROLO
It's okay, hey, you know? Um...
JEFF
Well hey, food looks great! Food looks great!
LARDONE
Yeah, yeah, yeah, it does!
ROLO
Take a bite, take a bite. Yeah,
JEFF
Yeah, okay.
LARDONE
Mmm.
ROLO
I want to see, you know, how you like it.
LARDONE
Yeah!
Forks are kind of small. Is that like a sort of part of the fanciness?
ROLO
Yeah, yeah, that was...
in chapter three.
LARDONE
Okay.
JEFFcough
LARDONE
Mmm, it's...
ROLO
Good, right?
JEFF
What's the spice rub on the beef?
ROLO
It's dry aged, so there's no spice.
JEFF
There's this uh...
ROLO
It's like a chalky, kinda, but...
JEFF
No, it's...
ROLO
Grit gritty maybe?
LARDONE
No!
JEFF
It's like a...
LARDONE
Veiny?
JEFF
It's like a veiny taste.
ROLO
Okay.
LARDONE
Yeah, it's veiny.
Yeah, I can feel the vessels in it.
JEFF
It tastes a lot... You know when you get-
LARDONE
Mmm
JEFF
What is it? You know when you get stung by a bee?
LARDONE
Mmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
JEFF
Are you allergic to bees, Rolo?
ROLO
Yeah, yeah, oh yeah.
JEFF
When you get stung by a bee and the
second right before you put in the EpiPen.
ROLO
Okay.
LARDONE
Yeah, the edge of anaphylaxis.
JEFF
Yes.
ROLO
Oh, oh.
JEFF
It tastes like that feels a little bit.
ROLO
Is that?
LARDONE
Yeah, but sweet, but it's like there's a sweetness to it. Yeah.
JEFF
Yeah, it makes my mouth feel really scared.
ROLO
So, so good it's scary.
LARDONE
Do I have to swallow it?
ROLO
Well, you're supposed to eat it.
LARDONE
Oh, okay.
ROLO
Do you not want to swallow it?
LARDONE
No, I do.
(coughs)
ROLO
I'm just, I'm a little confused because actually neither of you even ate the beef.
LARDONE
(coughs)
ROLO
That was just, that was mushroom and watermelon.
JEFF
That was the watermelon?
ROLO
It was... that was the watermelon.
LARDONE
I gotta be honest, I've never had...
Densuke watermelon before and-
ROLO
Yeah, Densuke watermelon comes boneless,
But! The texture profile makes it
like beef, with-
if you put like, bones in.
JEFF
Rolo, you...
you boned the watermelon?
ROLO
Yes.
JEFF
Huh.
ROLO
But it's not-.
it's like a-
it's like really thick...spider web type.
JEFF
Okay.
ROLO
Like spaghe-
JEFF
I'm gonna try the beef.
ROLO
Okay, yeah, try the beef.
LARDONE
Yeah, why don't we try the beef?
Mmm. Mmm.
JEFF
Wow. Yeah, this- Now this tastes
LARDONE
Mm.
JEFF
very very hot and not spicy
LARDONE
Mm-hmm.
And kinda... I don't know how else to say this, but dirty?
JEFF
Yeah, it tastes like you made Jell-O...
out of a bird.
LARDONE
Yeah, it's kind of like if Ambrosia was a meat.
JEFF
Yeah, that's exactly what it's like.
LARDONE
Mm-hmm
ROLO
I don't know.
LARDONE
It's like if Jell-O had to die!
ROLO
I don't...
JEFF
Yeah! To me, that's exactly what it is. It's like you eat it and I...
ROLOcough Okay.
LARDONE
Mm-hmm
JEFF
Okay, so now we got past the Jell-O part, but it was weird because, you know,
meat has a life expectancy, but Jell-O does not. But it tastes like the Jell-O...
LARDONE
Mm-hmm.
Didn't live as long as it could have, yeah.
JEFF
Yeah, it tastes like veal.
ROLO
I feel- I feel like-
JEFF
But Jell-O
LARDONE
Yeah, like if Jello was killed as a child.
ROLO
I feel like you're being...
JEFF
That's exactly what it tastes like!
LARDONE
if Jell-O was killed as a child.
JEFF
As a child, yes.
ROLO
But I don't think...
LARDONE
Yeah, yeah. It tastes like dead child Jell-O
ROLO
So would you spend-
would you spend $200 on this dish?
LARDONE
That's $200?!
JEFF
$200 on this dish?
I'm... and I mean this as a fr-
You and I have known each other for what? 15, 16 years?
ROLO
15, 16.
JEFF
about 15, 16.
LARDONE
15, 16.
JEFF
Lardone, we've all known each other for about what?
15, 16, 17 years?
LARDONE
15, 16.
JEFF
About 17, 16 years?
ROLO
17 yeah?
LARDONE
Yeah.
16, 17.
JEFF
I mean this as a friend, as a very true friend.
I thought this dish was complimentary.
all the time.
ROLO
Well, aside from this, we only...
sell soup.
JEFF
What kind of-
What kind of soup?
ROLO
It's mostly like broth water-
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