I stopped by the casting call for CBS News’ 24 Hour Restaurant Battle.  I had originally planned on trying out but the friend I would have been partnered with landed a last-minute day job, and couldn’t attend.  So, my friend Amy Melrose of Free in DC suggested I just go down there and cover it for DCFUD.  She even joined me there for a little while and got pulled in by the Nyema/Tommy tractor beam.

I spoke to over a dozen teams, so I’ll break this into 2 articles and cover some of the teams.  I was definitely interested in the kinds of people and teams that were trying out for this show and a chance to run a restaurant together.  There had to be an existing relationship (friends, family, etc.) between the team members.  I asked them if they have a restaurant concept and why they wanted to do this reality show.  Every team said having a restaurant was their dream.

Mauricio and Chef Jose Luiz Molina are two brothers who are in the restaurant business. Mauricio works for Busboys & Poets, and Jose Luis works for Kington Hotels.  If cast for the show, Jose would work the back of the house and Mauricio would work the front.  They are Bolivian, and have a top secret concept for Latin American Fusion.  They grabbed my attention immediately since they seemed friendly and approachable.   I spoke to them first, and they turned out to have a very friendly and comfortable vibe. They are a lot of fun to hangout with, and are very cool guys.

Lauren (back of house) and Maryam (front of house) were the next team I approached because they seemed vibrant and positive.  They are friends who met in college, and recently discussed a “joke concept” for a restaurant while exploring Spain and Portugal.  They were one of the few teams that didn’t have a “fusion” concept and didn’t use the phrase “with a  twist.”  Their concept is trendy mid-scale American, and would appeal to families.  A signature dish: meatloaf muffins AKA portable meatloaf.  Got ketchup frosting? Mmmmm.

Nyema and Tommy are friends and are very friendly and charismatic; they just draw you in, and this is the table Amy was at the whole time she was there.   I guessed correctly that larger than life and very expressive Tommy would be front of the house.  Nyema joked that Tommy is the “hot girl” on the team, and he added that he “sashays something fierce.”   Concept: American Food with French and African American accents.  Signature dish: Fillet Mignon with sweet potato puree, shitaki mushrooms, and a sweet potato twill.

Braddock and Tanya are dating, and Tanya and Dan are brother and sister.  Tanya would be front of house, Dan would be back of house, and Braddock could be either front or back.  They were originally going to apply as two teams that both included Tanya, but consolidated into one team.  They all work together at Costello’s in Kingston, PA.  Their food concept is new age soul food with an astrological twist in both the food and layout of the restaurant.  Pisces anyone? 🙂

Sandra (back of the house) and Silvia (front of house) Baird are Australian identical twins who spent part of their childhoods in Toledo (Spain, not Ohio).  They speak fluent Spanish and their signature dish is paella Valenciana.  I teased them about the matching outfits.  They had a lot of presence – they were outgoing, radiant, and in stereo!   They gave me a tip about trying the “dietary restriction” menu at P.F. Changs.  I know….Ray‘s gonna bust on me for that one…but seriously, have you HAD those grease-dripping tempura green beans at PFC? 🙂

-JAY