July-August Coming Soon!

Its been a crazy couple weeks, filled with televison interviews, out of town guests, and an awesome trip to San Francisco! I promise shortly I will have both July's posts and August out soon.. I really want them out before we get into September back to school stuff!

My Love for Food on the Food Network!

So a while back I was both channeling surfing and web surfing when I came across one of my favorite shows "Diners, Drive-In's and Dives," I love how Guy Fieri (the host) travels from place to place and explores awesome, local, funky, and yummy looking food! I noticed however that the show never ventures to Ohio..mainly Cleveland!
At the end of every show they say that you the viewer can write in and mention your favorite place. I decided that I would write in and picked MELT bar and grilled in Lakewood as the place I would mention. The premise of Melt is they make specialized grilled cheese sandwiches.. They serve an awesome variety of beer and offer a fun atmosphere..nevermind its usual a 45min wait!
I decided that Melt symbolized everything I find great about Cleveland-funky, self motivating, and creative. I probably could picked a couple of other places, but I really thought Melt would be the best bet..so here is what I wrote:

Hello!

My name is Kate Baker. I am an avid Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives viewer and I wanted to try my luck and recommend a place in Cleveland. I noticed that the show does a lot of Mid-west places, but has yet to show any place in Ohio. I'm from Cleveland and know many wonderful places that are on par with the places I've seen on the show.

I would like to recommend MELT located in Lakewood Ohio. They specialize in amazing grilled cheese sandwiches , the atmosphere is funky and exciting, and the staff is a lot of fun! What I also really like about MELT is that they are all about participating in the local community.They buy their dairy products from Amish markets, and their meats they purchase from West Side Market (a local historical market). I consider myself to be an advocate for buying local and taking advantage of local produce and knowing that MELT participates in their local economy is really assuring.

I hope you consider MELT for any of your future sites!


http://www.meltbarandgrilled.com/

Thanks,
Kate Baker

2881 Meadowbrook blvd.
Cleveland hts. Ohio, 44118
216-321-5386

I emailed and totally forgot about it. Several months past and I got a call from the food network! My email had been picked and we were to appear on the show! I told everyone I knew.. The whole idea of writing about something you believed in and having it recognized made me very proud!
Day of the shoot comes and I bring along my brother, mom, Liv and Jack. We were approved to have that many people at my table, but come actual shoot time I was asked to pick just one person. I ended up choosing Jack, leaving my brother, mom, and Liv behind. I felt awful that my family was turned away.. I tried to remain positive but that was definitely the beginning of a series of let downs..
We had to wait patiently for awhile Guy and Matt Fish (the owner) filmed in the kitchen. I ordered my usual "The Popper" herbed cream cheese, cheddar cheese, jalapeno peppers all deep fried! Jack has been dying to have one of his own, but the producers wanted him to get something different from me..he ended up with the Tokyo Tuna which was tasty in its own right, but would not have been good deep fried..
They filmed us eating which was weird. Being the food consumer that I am, felt totally awkward stuffing my face with greasy fatty goodness on camera... I was also intimated when I was finally interviewed by Guy! I believe I stumbled over my words and pretty much no sense...
The final blow that made the whole event seem a little bittersweet was when we were getting ready to leave the waitress from Melt gave us the bill! We had to pay for the f*ing meal! I was floored and really upset.
So my emotions following my evening was again bitter and followed by email to Matt the owner:
Dear Mr. Fish,

My name is Kate Baker. I am one the patrons who wrote the food network about MELT. I attended the taping and wanted to take a second and express some feelings regarding my experience. I was honored that my email was chosen and received a lot of positive feedback. and was very excited at the chance to be a part of the filming. However, some aspects of the occasion left me feeling disenchanted.

I wrote food network several months ago when I noticed they had not featured any restaurants in Cleveland. I decided I would write to them about MELT. I thought MELT was the best up and coming restaurant, and met all my expectations in dining (except maybe the long wait..) I wrote about how MELT was locally owned, supported the community and offered awesome food! For a better understanding here is my original letter:


Imagine my surprise when I received a phone call from the production company of Diners, Drive-In's and Dives, asking if I was available to come to a filming at MELT! I wrote about it on my blog, invited my family, and promoted the restaurant to everyone I knew.. I was honored and excited that a place, I wrote about, was being nationally recognized, and wanted very much the opportunity to share that excitement with everyone.

Prior to the day of filming, the producer informed me that my meal would be covered and it would be fine if I invited my immediate family. So, my mother, brother, daughter and boyfriend accompanied me. When we arrived we were told by a DDD staffer that I could only have one guest. While I completely understood the explanation that it would be too tight if we all were seated, we were all disappointed nonetheless.

My boyfriend and I remained intrigued and excited to participate in the filming. As we waited patiently for the kitchen filming to end we were told what to order by the DDD staff. Though we didn't have our first choices we, as always enjoyed our food and were delighted to be interviewed by Guy Feiri! We enjoyed all the pleasantries of meeting a celebrity.

When it came time for us to leave, I was again confused and a little disappointed to find a bill waiting for us. Not that I am upset we had to pay for our meal, but rather that there was no acknowledgment from your staff or you (the owner), that I or the other viewer Frank, were the two people who took the time to write about your restaurant and wanted very much for you and your staff to be recognized on the show.

While I'm very happy everything went so well, thrilled I will be on the show and happy for your recognition, I did want to convey my disappointment. I think what is most frustrating is we were the ones who thought enough of your restaurant, to go above and beyond the average, and you and your staff did not think as much of us.

Sincerely,
Kate Baker

With the hour I received an email back from Matt:

Hello Kate,

I am terribly sorry to hear about your disappointment with how you were treated during the filming.

I feel that I must explain the situation to you.

The filming began at 6am on that Wednesday. Myself and my staff were involved in a very intense and time sensitive day from the beginning. The production crew from DDD was fabulous to work with, but they did not give us much information. We were told that viewers were coming in and that they were going to be interviewed by Guy on camera. I apologize, but we were not told about the compensation offer. We should have offered it to you ourselves, but with all the craziness we simply forgot. I am not sure if my front of the house staff knew exactly who the viewers were, but I did not. I apologize for not thanking you personally, but I was involved in a very intense day and simply had to stay on the schedule that the production crew set up for me. Things were being added to the shoot and taken away from the shoot very fast. It was a struggle just to keep up with what they wanted or needed. The shooting day finally wrapped up at 7:30pm.

I want to extend my apologies and my thanks to you. I apologize that you did not feel recognized or that you had to pay for your meal. I thank you very much for all your efforts to help get us on the Food Network program.

I am going to send you out a $50.00 gift card to compensate you for your meals on the shoot day and also to thank you for all your efforts.

I again apologize for not thanking you and recognizing you on the shoot day. I was extremely focused and needed to keep every aspect of the restaurant perfect for the shoot.

Please accept my sincere apologies and the gift card.

You are a very important person to myself and Melt Bar and Grilled.

I hope that this experience does not tarnish your positive view of Melt Bar and Grilled.

There was some further dialogue between us, but nothing that I need to mention you get the idea..

This whole event to me is a clear example of standing up for yourself, and advocacy.. I know it was just for a restaurant, but I think its every little step to making a difference..