Italian Restaurant Has Problems To Stand Out From The Crowd | Restaurant SOS ep1

Alex Polizzi and Oliver Peyton are going to help Giovani and Amanda with their Italian restaurant, because they are struggling to stand out from the crowd. Subscribe to Our Taste: https://bit.ly/3OZoDcV

Series 1 – Episode 1 | This film was first broadcast: 2017

Alex Polizzi and food critic Oliver Peyton take on a challenge to help various restaurants with their problems.

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Owning a restaurant was these people’s dream we’ve always said we’ll start a restaurant some invested everything we put 50,000 into the business busting their guts to make it work priority is to pay my staff I do have sleep this night but it’s a ruthless business 4 minute Stakes for table five it’s an

Element of survival we’ve just been living off credit cards I can’t pay my bills we’re so completely consumed I’ve seen him in tears I’ve seen him not be able to eat it’s business or marriage and with so many big Brands crowding the High Street the pressure is greater than

Ever I don’t know how we’re going to cope I’m Alex pitzi hello hello having set up and managed successful restaurants around the world let’s get on with it then I want to try and help struggling owners sort out theirs you want to entice people in it’s too big

Because that slows down service doesn’t it it does be practical to have it here and it will separate off the room a bit you obviously struggle with customers at lunch time we’re going to have to unpick this it won’t be easy no mate no I think it’s the nerves that are getting the

Better of me but if I can bring some inspiration why don’t you do an offer and say subscribe to the supper clock and they some hard work and determination chicken Tika one py excited to get it to work for us there you go it feels a lot more curated as a

Menu amazing can I turn things around and leave them a lasting Legacy look at this are you happy absolutely this is what a restaurant should be like I love it I’m seeing what we could do and be more positive about it Tech the restaurant feels it’s got a

Brighter future I love it when a plan comes Together this time I’m going back to my roots to help an alien it Ian eery in Bedford help You two years ago joavan orandi convinced his reluctant wife Amanda they should gamble their future taking over a 70 cover restaurant it’s all his idea I did put my input in but I’ve backed you yeah yeah we’ve had the restaurant from the 24th of December 2015 so I was a baptism

Of fire on that day are you ready to order should I put back I’ve never done waitressing I’ve never even worked behind a bar so this is all totally new to me we’re not restauranter by tray by any stretch of the imagination Bedford is home to over

10,000 Italians so you would think that there was a lovely captive audience there however there are also 40 Italian restaurants in Bedford so so the competition is pretty stiff and Rio Bell isn’t managing to stand out from the crowd we’re going for the more traditional Vibe what we’re

Trying to do here is be authentic because I wanted it a bit more upper class in terms of the way it’s cooked the way it’s presented I don’t know whether our name helps sometimes or there something against us my wisdom said well people know the name let’s

Keep it the same maybe in hindsight we probably should have relaunched really despite working 6 days a week jaani has yet to make a penny of profit and his dream has become a nightmare of dwindling trade and escalating debt Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday was Bleak uh we only had four customers in

All night so we ended up cleaning kitchen waiting for customers to come in we’re just not making money and we we need to make money to live when you think ah we’re making a little bit Headway and you get knocked back down again all our savings and even the

Little bit put aside has gone you know all our money what WIS me more is how you are now because you’re normally such a positive person and you’re not anymore you he doesn’t even want to come into work anymore you also carry the guil that

You’ve put us in this position I do it has been getting harder for me not to resent the fact that you’ve put us in this position I know that we cannot go on the way we’re going On with a restaurant and a relationship at risk this is going to be a big challenge hi Hello Alex so what was the dream I suppose what made you take this place on the dream was always to have an Italian restaurant uh for my sins you know

Something I was passionate about I love cooking love food what does Amanda think of this whole project she’s B me 100% uh she’s helped me as much as she can but I think it’s got to a stage where she’s a bit tired had enough had enough um because we’re working for nothing and

She’s probably just nervous about what the future holds okay let let me have a look around may I yes sir thank you how many covers are there in the restaurant we can see 70 comfortably and when’s the last time you did 70 um I haven’t not for a long time do

You get any lunchtime business sometimes not very often so in the last two weeks how many covers have you done over lunch last 2 weeks um just ballpark I’m not expecting you to seven gosh if that so nothing two were yesterday so all right before we go any further can I have a

Coffee I would love to make you a coffee I I think I need something to stiffen the SP proper Italian comp yes please how are you right this is Alex Alex this is Amanda my wife nice to meet you how are you I’m all right thank you

Thank you so much for coming in to talk to me I think we should all go and sit down I know this was Joan’s dream but we’re all going to have to work together if we want to turn things around he has said to me that you have been

100% supportive do you still feel like that I do but I’m tired and I’m stress is it the fact of the restaurant and the different hours and the lifestyle and thing or is it just the money thing no it’s everything it’s not just the money it’s everything I just look at Gio and

He’s stressed all the time to the extent that he’s sh you will shake with being stressed all the time and it worries me we can’t go on the way we’re going because he’s changed our marriage has changed our life has changed Everything’s changed and not for the better and it’s

Sad very sad okay so I understand that changes need to be made if they’re not made what what next from my point of view it’s it’s either the restaurant or our marriage I know that’s that’s really God har that’s tough it’s hard it’s really hard it’s been the hardest time that we’ve been

Together these last two years because I know um you’ve hidden a few bits from me IE credit card debt I didn’t know that about about that till about 3 weeks ago probably and I know he didn’t tell me cuz he was worried and I know he feels

The guilt because it was his dream it’s he put us into it Saved by the Bell so are you cross with him I go from being crossed to being upset for him cuz I know I know he’s stressed and I know I don’t want to

Be cross with him and I don’t want to Res to him I think you’ve got to start making some tough decisions and you got to start making them now clawing back a bit of time and a bit of family life something you can do straight away because obviously you know this

Relationship needs a bit of time and attention yeah okay two years after opening Rio Bello in Bedford joavan and Amanda orandi are struggling to juggle their business and their relationship it’s got to a stage now it’s business or marriage this is the way it’s going because I we cannot

Go on the way we’re going on the restaurant has never made a profit and a glance at their menu tells me their work life balance isn’t the only thing that needs to be better defined what would you say you specialize in cuz I’ve got no idea from looking at this yeah um

Special izing pizzas pastas steaks fish and there’s some dishes in there that one night we’ll be sending loads of and next night nothing and I’ll give you a prime example on the back oh my God sugar didn’t realize there was a back it’s a fairly extensive menu oh it’s too

Big it’s too big because also that slows down the service doesn’t it it does of it Chef’s trying to do too many things all at once it won’t just be heaping on the pressure when the kitchen’s busy it means more costly ingredients to bin when it isn’t no wonder he’s losing

Money I think I’ll do a margarita a margarita yeah that’s the real test of a pizza okay we’ll get one marar for you a lot of comments on your trip advisor review is about the huge portion sizes yeah it’s the Italian mentality put l then he don’t sell any desserts and he

Don’t sell an aato and then you don’t send cont and then you know it has a knock knock on effect yeah food waste costs UK restaurant $680 2 million a year nearly a pound for every meal served those generous portions could be a sign of a bigger problem are you good on the

Figures I’d like to think I’m pretty good but are you you on top of costings and expenditure and all of that as much as possible that’s one of the main things that restaurants fall down on more worrying though if joavan can’t identify what his restaurant specializes

In how A din is supposed to know why they should come here I have to admit that is a good pizza it’s good with over 10,000 people in Bedford of Italian descent there’s a large potential market for Rio Bello right on the doorstep people tend to move where

Their communities are so you tend to find concentrations of a particular nationality it means that there’s usually a very vibrant food scene from that Community it also means there’s a lot of competition for the past 20 years Cafe owner Libby has been serving many of the

Italian Community at his Cafe in St Paul Square hi hi I’m Alex Liber liby hi very nice to meet you Italian right of course yes yes so what restaurant do you go to I don’t know if you’ve been to San danelo which is a pizzeria which um is

One of the original sort of places that’s opened up still got the the oven with the the wood inside there Checker tablecloths everybody sits in benches you I mean it’s like it’s one of them places you know you just have pizza there it’s a lovely place it’s a nicer

Place that’s the trick to everything in life it has to be bloody good cuz we’ve all got so much choice these days if it’s not good people vote with their feet and they go somewhere else I’ll take for both of you 350 special price

For you bye see you next time we need to get riell on the radar of the Italian Community but there’s a lot to tackle starting with refining the large unfocused menu thank you very much in a crowded Marketplace you have to stand for something you know is it a past and

A pizza place is it somewhere that you go to get a really good Resort and really good meat I want to feel sure that you know what it is that you’re offering and also why would someone come to you rather than one of the other 39 restaurants in this

Place need to look at your opening hours cuz I think you’re killing yourself for nothing I mean how many people came in today six for lunch look at the figures and you’ll quickly realize what days it’s worth staying open and what days it isn’t you have to see that as you

Reclaiming your life and actually having time then to sit down with a marker and write yourself some lists it makes sense yeah because I found myself working too much on the business not in the business and uh the other way around but it’s taken up too much of my time and I

Haven’t got the time to focus on the menu the costings you know it’s all basic stuff but you can’t just hope you’re going to open a restaurant and it’s going to work you’ve got to get the offering right and you’ve got to get the costs Right it’s not enough to have a dream it has to be built on really firm foundations the only way of competing is a give Sal and B give a point of difference and C make it clear that this is an act of Love ultimately what makes us different from all the other

Restaurants that’s going to be the challenge Big Time defining Rio Bello’s unique selling point among the Sea of competition won’t be easy so to help I’ve called in Renown restaur Oliver pton he’s my brother-in-law and I trust him implicitly as you see we have 40 restaurants here in Bedford Italian restaurants all serving more or less the same stuff I

Don’t think it’s clear how he’s standing out in any way shape or form I mean you literally are faced with a menu and you just think well what is it that’s going to be half decent here the thing about a menu like this is when you look at it

You just don’t trust it do you straight away there too much happening to trust it people want something much more focused I completely agree I think we’ll get some Italians to come and eat see what they think of the quality give food get some feedback yeah

Yep while Oliver goes in search of some gastronomic guinea pigs hello do you mind me interrupting no no can I just ask you uh do you like Italian food hello hi Hi how are you you’re right I’m looking for some people to come and try Italian food you’re all Italians right

Yeah we’re all uh Italian I head to riell to deliver our plan hello hello Hello Alex how are you when I was here last time it was quite quiet at lunch time it was and I’m really Keen to see how it works I’ve organized for a whole load of people to

Come and try out the food okay um I’d like to see what kind of things they choose right uh I have reached out the Italian Community interesting our challenge aims to give us valuable feedback on the size and quality of Rio Bello’s menu from some potential customers come on come on

It will also be a chance for us to scrutinize the restaurant when it’s busy darling Oliver knows so much about food and so we’ve partnered up on this okay because I think you know we’ve got quite a big challenge yes we don’t have very long to do it yes and um with his

Guidance I’m sure we’ll get there much quicker thank you thank all of those with the restaurant filling up the first challenge is taking the orders okay so I’m going to leave you in the cable hand of your host and then I’ll come back and talk to you in a minute

I’ll pop back in a minute for your drinks have a look at that okay easier said than Dum try well something testing cuz there’s all also of course all the stuff on this side oh wow sorry volum with Mains costing between 8 and22 there’s a baffling array of 80

Dishes the big men very very big too much of aice seora uh scop scalapino I’ll have the sal sal and then I’ll have the Ling offering more toys might seem like a way to attract more customers but it puts the chefs under pressure and it can end up leaving everyone

Confused what did you think of the menu Oliver way too much to digest you know it’s just not clear it lacks any personality I think it’s very interesting listen to everyone here you know I think there’s obviously a few places that are selling you know where

The owner is really large and in charge it’s part of the community you know no one knows who the owners are there the decision not to change the restaurant’s name or relaunch when they took over has left it invisible to the people who should be its core

Trade right now though we have a more pressing problem I’m feeling quite stressed out at the moment because I think the food’s coming out quite slowly considering I’m me there is only 14 people here offering so many different menu options can make it impossible for the chefs in the

Kitchen to deliver a consistently high standard of food and on time what was your order it’s the gabino you like to try those just piles of food it’s just not forse house in any way you know I want Amanda and javanni sit down and meet the

Food sit down and you order off the menu and that’s I’d like to try the food Again that’s it that’s not the way it’s done like I don’t it should have it should have the sauce on the side it should have tomatoes it should have cucumber it should be a bit more decorative as well under pressure from the huge menu the whole real Bell dining experience is

Suffering I think they got 19 20 different pastors is ridiculous you don’t need that many too much of a choice and it’s probably hard for the kitchen to keep up with that choice I’ve got 3,000 clients I could say yeah go to Rio Bellow they’re brilliant but if I do

That they’re going to come back to me and say next day hey what happened to that Italian restaurant that was supposed to be good there has to be a change made quite quickly here because honestly the food going out was not Brant I winced let’s put it that way

The last thing we want to do is Crush javan’s dream but we do have to encourage him to have a major rethink youve two years you’ve done quite a lot of things wrong you admit that yourself so I’m not telling you anything you don’t know got to take you back to

Basics and we got to get the foundations in that you can then build on yeah I mean that menu you you just got to throw it out let’s use fresher ingredients in a simpler Manner and let us structure menu so the chef can deliver it for service

You need to do less and you need to do it better this is not just about the food none of the locals know you exist the only chance of you surviving is you becoming one of those local Hub Italian restaurants that’s going to take a Monumental effort from all of us amander

Included I think the hard thing is that do you have it in you to do it I mean if actually the idea just makes you want to leave him and run away and get get him to rent a bed sit somewhere and be gone with you because there’s no point

Pretending that it’s going to be easy cuz it’s not cuz you’re here and you’re nowhere yeah this is not a something where we wave a magic wand and sprinkle the fairy dust and so you two obviously need to discuss things and um we’ll be waiting to

Help we’ve certainly given them a lot to take in positive or negative how calmly they to C I think they’ve been battered so much as people by the whole experience and I I I think that’s what concerns me do they have enough left in the engine in the tank to to keep going

I don’t know daring let’s see what they come back to us with yes you know they need to be pretty bloody gung-ho cuz otherwise they’re in you know they’re in trouble that we can’t save them From in Bedford I’m I’m working with restorator Oliver pton to help owners joavan and Amanda improve the fortunes of Rio Bello we invested everything all our savings and a lot more and I must admit I sometimes do have a breakdown and get upset with a huge menu most kitchens

Would struggle to deliver quickly and one that isn’t enticing the locals away from the other Italian restaurants in town we need a major rethink having had to give them some tough love last time I want to check their okay and up for the challenge ahead R can I help

You so hi darling it’s Alex I was wondering how you were after everything Oliver and I had to say to you I thought a lot of it was fairly spot on have you and am man talked about your commitment yes I mean we had a long

Conversation at the end of the day so yeah we’re 100% committed been giving this our best shot and no definitely definitely okay that’s Job we’ve identified three key areas for improvement connect with the local Italian Community offer something different from the competition and reduce the menu size we have to make your menu something that is really high quality that’s deliverable a cost you can afford to make a profit you know and

We have to find your little niche Oliver’s brought Javan and Amanda to London’s highly saturated Food Market to show them it’s possible to thrive with the limited menu if it’s done really well this is a slice of pizza in the West End of London

At4 or a whole pizza 20 in 20 that’s all they do nothing else hey Mark how you doing I’d like to meet my friends Giovani and pleas to meet thank you yeah hi how you doing tell them about pizza we kept it really simple Just Pizza wine

And beer we do 10 variations a day we change them seasonally just cooked in a Woodard only oven for us it’s about the quality of what we do quality of what we put on the pizzas it’s like we ship our mozzarella in twice a week from Naples

Our uh salami comes from a independent producer right in the center of it ho ho so that takes about 70 seconds to cook and then you got the dressing the finishing of the pizza and then out it comes so you get your slice pull it apart like that pick it up

Fold it in the middle little contain there and that’s it that’s it fewer choices mean the kitchen can deliver high quality food every time and fewer ingredients lowers costs and waste so it’s also easier to make money our menu is too large I would like

To see a proposed menu on A4 with four salads four pizzas four pastas because otherwise I don’t know how long the restaurant can stay open as it is you have to do something new and different and better to succeed next stop Notting Hill and a place voted London’s local restaurant of

The Year Serv for its unique take on regionality and the provenance of its ingredients in a Pella taste that actually peeling Pella is pretty hard you know tastes precious yeah very very fresh I like the art chokes it reminds me of Rome very much so my dad and my uncle where they live

There used to grow them in the garden so used to pick them and cook them and you know it brings back all those flavors and Aromas back back of Rome so yeah you have to get those on the menu yeah yeah I mean since the last meeting we had I

Me thinking a lot about the menu design and what we’re going to do and going back to maybe a lot more Roman and Lazio kind of dishes and I’ve been looking and researching a lot of the other restaurants and none of them do that get all that food from around the hills of

Roman get them on that plate there yeah javan’s clearly been doing his homework and he’s not the only one feeling inspired it’s making me think when go back and we to do this this this this that’s process now like you know we got

To do this we got to do that we got to change this we got to change that but it isn’t going to be easy if they can get a half decent menu down to 44 and four I’d be really surprised and very happy but I just got to give them something that’s a

Target to start off with it’s been very um eye openening I think especially seeing how people cooking the ingredients and the Simplicity of on how quick they’ve done things and I think we need to kind of take that forward now feeling inspired Jaan and Amanda waste no time working on Oliver’s strict 444

Target menu and joavan thinks old Family Recipes could be the key to success so there’s no other restaurant in bedf that uses this do you know not as far as I know so let’s boil some water um get some sauce on the go do you use some

Onions chops or you all right uh no we’re okay on that when we ever used to go to Rome my uncle was us used to cook this and my auntie as well cuzz it is easy and it’s tasty they use the Guan Chola which is the cheek but again you

Don’t have to use that you can use banetta obviously we got to work out the costings it’s going to be important factor for us as well and ption control is another big factor that’s quite a lot as well I think we’ll try that we’ll try on an 80 and see what that looks

Like how hot is that going to be hopefully not too hot is that all right nice is that okay it’s tasty adding new dishes is easy but hitting Oliver’s Target of shrinking the menu by 75% is a big ass still looks quite a lot on there it does seem like a

Lot and I think you know it is a working progress because a lot of people love the favorites okay they’re not traditional Italian dishes but that’s what they seem to go for and everything also that we need to do has got to be fresh ingredients as well cuz that’s

What was suggesting that we need to do so we can’t have anything that’s got anything frozen on it no there’s nothing going to be there that’s frozen go there seora and let’s go and try simple but really tasty do you think the portion is right think that’s okay I

Think so for a main course yes rellos never made a profit rigorously costing out every serving will help them ensure their action making money she looking at about 85 87 P per dish yeah really yeah that making the profit that we you need to make on it

Yeah if you’re making the the normal standard GP margin it should be fine okay there’s lots of restaurants that sell dir cheap pasta at $4.99 or $5.99 fair enough that’s up to them but do we really want to go that low no I don’t why should we if you’re selling a

Quality ingredient at a reasonable price people are going to pay for It it’s a promising start hello hello hello hiia but I’m worried opening for lunch 6 days a week isn’t just coming at a cost to their family life it’s actually costing them money too the very first day I came in I said to you why are you open all the time

I have been saying to him you need to really close a couple of afternoons because you’re not busy at all you’re opening up and paying wages and and it would be nice for him to actually be at home for a little bit more but I think you know there is really an undeniable

Economic reason why and I’m going to go through it with you at the moment profit from the busier evening trade is simply swallowed up paying to heat light and staff an empty restaurant during the day so whether you open or not it costs you £7 a day the moment that you’ve come in

Here and you open for lunch and you put the lights on utilities bills um electrics etc etc wages that is another £289 a day which takes you to 376 did you realize you had to take that much money every day I think we both realized we needed to take a lot more

Than we’re doing now you know you’re not so busy that you can justify being here every day so I think we need to kind of address that balance and also we need to make a difference to the bottom line closing on the quietest days will make a big difference to their overheads

And hopefully their relationship too and I also have a plan to make a difference to the decor if Amanda agrees I want to show you what I’m thinking about doing um to give you a chance before I do it to say oh my gosh no you must be crazy

Basically is to make the place look a bit warmer a bit more properly authentic Italian um it’ll look like that all right okay yes Lely then we’d like to change the chairs I think these are very oldfashioned chair so I’m getting you a job lot of

Chairs so along this wall we’re going to do a Shelf with bottles all along it okay mirrors and some pictures underneath so it will really fill up that wall and look nice okay that’s great we want to add color and we want to add life and we want to add interest

Make it a bit more l y sounds lovely good sounds really good okay well that’s fantastic it really feels like we’re making progress but it’ll count for nothing if no one knows about the new and improved Riello I brought you here to the club Italia because I always feel like us

Getting out and seeing people and talking to people is a good thing and that’s a lot of what being in business is about you must have really been beaten down by life because meeting you this time you feel a lot lighter and a lot more kind of able to

Deal with whatever’s chucked at you you seem much more cheerful darling yeah but don’t let’s let’s pissed off yeah I mean I think that if I have to really put it it’s just you know less cross encouraging them to spend time together working on the business seems to be

Paying off before you were trying to take it all over yourself but now I’m seeing what we could do and be more positive about because we’re talking about things more now what you’re doing now is being proactive you’re actually finding ways to sort it out and I think

That’s a clever thing to do because the only alternative is a lock the door throw the keys over your shoulder and walk away into the sunset yeah you know and we don’t want to do that hearing Amanda so committed to the future of the restaurant is such a positive step but

There’s another issue we still need to address there’s a lot to do and I’m really think we we need to relaunch real Bell you said yourself that you came in and you took it over and he just did it under the radar you never put Under New

Management the more we do to make it obvious that there’s been a massive change the better it Is a few days later they both hit the streets to put the final stage of our plan into action hello as of next week Thursday we’re doing a new menu it’s actually a lot smaller but it will be fresh ingredients hopefully you all love it working together to reinvigorate r or Bell isn’t

Just bringing them closer to the local community either just to invite you again to come around and enjoy the hospitality like did last time Manda has been a tremendous support she’s been very uh enthusiastic and upbeat and very very committed now people associate the restaurant is me it’s not it’s us come

To invite you to a reopening or relaunching of our new many and for her to be a bit more proactive and a bit more there is encouraging for her and it gives her a bit more an upbeat uh feeling as well which is Great the next day work begins on the revamp of Rio Bello really excited about how everything’s changing because obviously there was a lot that we would love to have done but we couldn’t afford to do any more than we’ve done now unfortunately our plan to make over and

Reduce their huge menu and only offer dishes inspired by javan’s Roman roots is not running so smoothly he knows he’s got to let go of this big menu but I think he’s finding it really hard really really hard yes I have a few reservations a lot of the dishes that

Are very very popular are no longer on the menu so reaction to change we shall see two months ago I joined forces with restaur and food critic Oliver pton to help Rio Bello an alien Italian that was driving a wedge between owners joavan and Amanda the aim is to for us to try

And get a bit of our life back together again because it was all about the restaurant we’ve asked them to really analyze whether they could afford to open for lunch 6 days a week and they’ve bitten the bullet and reduced their opening hours it’s like a new start for

Us now we’ve also o asked them to slim their menu right down to entice the locals in and to give the kitchen a chance of delivering good food but joavany needs some reassurance hello hi darling how are you yeah very good I’m very impressed with how tackle the challenge I want us to

Celebrate everything you’ve achieved so far and hopefully to reassure you that you’re now on the right path you’re nervous about it but what is going to make that successful is that you’re going to do those dishes perfectly every single time they leave that kitchen it is a bit scary at

The end of the day but we just need to push on now and get it finalized and ready for the relaunch all right well I look forward to seeing you thanks a lot Al to make such a huge change is terrifying but the only way really to

Stand out in such a crowded Market as Bedford is is to really have the courage of your convictions and just to do a few things and do them really really really well streamlining the menu is never going to be easy but streamlining the time they spend at the restaurant is

Making it easier to put things in perspective yeah it’s always that dilemma thinking you know when you’ve been analyzing all the old menus and the new menu yeah but you’ve been analyzing it too much you’ve been going over it too much you need just do it now then we

Can change it every month every week if we have to yeah here’s to um hopefully um a change of um quite a few things not just the menu which makes a change isn’t it it does when was the last time we did are you you’re the one I see at home sometimes yeah Sometimes with the day of the big relaunch Upon Us Oliver and I have traveled back to Bedford so remember what it was like when we first got here their marriage on the Rocks yep no money in the bank yeah I mean honestly it couldn’t really have been much worse

Could it well I remember walking through the door and it looked like two people stuck in the headlights of a car didn’t it but I really feel they have put their back into this yeah I agree Joan and Amanda’s openness to the changes we’ve suggested has been amazing but there’s

One major change we haven’t seen yet wow using a simple but stylish mix of bold colors and design Classics has given Rio Bell the warm look of an authentic Tratoria I’m really really pleased money well spent it really is well spent and it’s transformed it hey hello hello

Hello what do you think fantastic fantastic I want to know how many people are coming we’ve packed oh my gosh fully booked down we fully booked in yeah two tors here so have to actually turn people away for tonight that is a high class problem good isn’t it good problem to

Have but there is still the matter of the menu we advised it had to shrink but has it I am dying to see what you’ve done to the menu okay follow me we have coffee on let’s go my God this is what it was let us just remind ourselves

Let’s have a look at the new thing how do you get from that to that you’re not a chef how do you do that we um all honesty in all honesty listening to people is the biggest thing I assume you’ve done the GPS on these we have and

That they are coming in at the right spot The Sweet Spot focusing on fewer more unusual specialities gives diners a clear reason to come and should help the Kitchen deliver consistently good food I’m really excited me too I’m going to keep a tally of what everyone’s ordering okay

Yeah tonight’s Full House is C certainly going to put that to the test how are you all right take a seat get your to share no problems the shorter menu means diners are no longer being left baffled about what to choose and the kitchen can now properly handle orders when they

Do that looks nice yeah doesn’t it yeah it’s fresh cold wear chickp that’s very nice better still it means quality and consistency won’t be sacrificed for Speed yummy oh is it yummy it’s yummy she says it’s yummy so a restaurant packed with locals enjoying authentic dishes they can’t get

Anywhere else it doesn’t get any better than this to me it’s all about the menu it’s very challenging to change over that quickly and I actually think they’re all doing a good job he knows where he wants to go I mean that’s really important before this was a

Rudderless ship he had no idea where he wanted to go with the food taking control over the menu also means joavan has more control over his profit margins the figures aren’t the only thing that’s working better though J and Amanda are just they’re on fire I know they’re really working and

They’re really loving it are you having this as well as youon after my own heart Jes so charming and she’s having such fun yes but tonight isn’t just about having a good time I’ve been keeping a close eye on the takings too it’s going really well

So far after only 11 covers 433 kid it’s looking good it’s looking good we’re getting there you’re looking good listen to that noise this is like to a restaurant this is like the best music you will ever hear at the start of this process we were concerned jaavan and Amanda might not

Have the energy to turn Rio Bell around okay let’s go we needn’t have worried it was fabulous fantastic fere best pizza I’ve in a long time I tell people about it yeah very happy how do you think it’s gone atmosphere wise and people enjoying themselves I think it’s gone really well

When we arrived here you hated this place I do feel so differently about it and I really want it to work really do want it to work and I feel like it’s ours and actually you two are so capable and you’re a Fab team aren’t they great

Team cuz you created the magic when it works it’s like directing a symphony orchestra and everyone playing in tune what I think is quite impressive is what you turned over tonight is what you turned over the Hall of last week yeah I can imagine over a grand and a half you

Do that three four nights a week Don you got really viable business absolutely Sal thank you very much cheers to the Future two years ago jaavan convinced Amanda to gamble everything they had on this place tonight it’s starting to feel like the odds might finally be stacked

In their favor I’m leaving here on a real high they seem much more happy together they seem much happier with the restaurant fantastic evening absolutely fantastic thoroughly enjoyed it always very very proud of Amanda watching I love you do for that that’s what I do

For you thank you I love you good it’s been hard but I’m very proud of you as well I promise you now they’ve got the taste for it now they see how great it can be they’re going to want this really enjoy AR are this is just the

Start success here me too genuine I the best we’ve done I know I’m so glad darling oh thank goodness