It's never good when one of the first clips shown of a restaurant is of the Robert screaming about cockroaches. Right off the bat it takes the odds of him saving a restaurant and decrease them quite a bit. There is always hope. I will get to how they are doing since the show after a look at what took place during the episode.
Smitty's Restaurant | Click here for the restaurant's website
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Problems Robert Had to Address
1. Cockroaches everywhere!
2. Stove unsafe to cook on
3. Dirty and disgusting decor
4. Huge menu with way too many proteins
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Lesson for Home
Their menu was huge. So they had to have a lot of things at hand. I think people make this kind of mistake in their homes as well. They go to the grocery store, see a bunch of stuff they like it and over buy, more than they need for the week. Some food ends up going bad because they don't get to eating it. That is why it's a good idea to have your own menu for the week, so you know what you need and what you have, so you don't waste food and money. If you find yourself with too much food to eat before it will go bad, then try to see what you can freeze. We waste way too much food in this country and with some simple planning that problem could be much less than it is.
The Recipes
Turkey Reuben | Print the recipe
A Reuben sandwich made with homemade dressing and kraut, served on rye bread with Swiss or Gruyere cheese.
Spanakopita Eggrolls | Print the recipe
A Greek style egg roll containing spinach, feta cheese, fresh dill, onions, and seasonings served with a sauce for dipping. A good appetizer.
Follow-Up
For now this place is still in business but frankly I don't have much hope for it. People don't forget the cockroaches and they were such a huge part of the show that is negative publicity. Will they be able to keep the place clean over the long term. That is a big question. I was hoping this was a wake-up call that they will keep on answering. However an restaurant inspection that took place after Robert's visit (which was in February, according to Robert's twitter account). You can read the inspection notes yourself, by going to the local news station's website. The fact they found cock roaches wasn't a surprise, Robert said it would take a while for them to be completely gone since it was so bad. The red flag on the report was all the other stuff about not storing food properly. They weren't covering things right, storing food near chemical sprays, storing raw food near cooked food, etc. They may be on their way to becoming bug free, but there still seems to be a ton of problems with proper cleaning/storage procedures.
I was also discouraged to read that they still have their large menu intact according to Food Network. They need to concern on turning out quality dishes, not a zillion mediocre ones. Plus as Robert pointed out keeping all that food on hand at once is costly as some will go to waste. It's not a good business practice.
I expect this restaurant will join the list of Restaurants That Have Closed After Restaurant Impossible. But I hope that I am wrong for the sake of their owners.
If you want more Robert Irvine recipes, here are some of his available cookbooks:
This cookbook contains 111 recipes many with complete timelimes and several that are gluten free. An example of the kind of recipes you will find are Lime-Cured Shrimp and Roasted Corn Chowder, Porcini-Dusted Pork Chops with Cremini Mushrooms and Golden Raisins over Horseradish-Scented Potatoes.
In this book Robert shares his personal stories (including cooking for First Lady Laura Bush) and cooking philosophy. There are also recipes to be had like Black Angus Beef Tartare with Toasted Brioche and Fried Quail Egg, Roasted Duck with White Bean Ragout.
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