November 13th, 2008
Snyder! Snyder!
Red Maple executive chef Jill Snyder got a roar of support Wednesday night at a Top Chef premiere party as about 100 viewers watched the first episode of season five. Jill is one of 17 cheftestants competing for the Bravo show’s top prize—$100,000 to start a restaurant. The good news is that she moves on to the second episode. For details of the show, check out my colleague Max Weiss’s excellent recap.
The en-masse viewing started off last night at Red Maple with hors d’oeuvres prepared by our cheftestant—including lovely little bites of lamb burgers and veggie spring rolls (which were scarfed up quickly by the hungry masses). The event, sponsored by the Baltimore Foodies, attracted a mix of urban hipsters and suburban adventurers of varying ages. The place was buzzing until an announcement was made at about 9:45 that the TV equipment wasn’t working and the party would move across the street to the upstairs lounge at Grand Central to view the 10 p.m. show.
With two free drink tickets in hand, party-ers rushed to pay their bar tabs, grab their coats, and climb the steps to the new location in time to watch Jill in action. There wasn’t a whole lot of focus on her last night (the judges did like her jerk scallops with plantain fritters in the elimination round), but every time, she appeared on the screen, the crowd chanted her last name, cheered, and whistled. Jill was in the mix, surrounded by friends and followers. She had to be pleased.
Wednesday night was meant to celebrate Jill, and Baltimore. And that was the driving force of the premiere party.
I came up with the idea, and sold the tickets. Red Maple drove the planning. In their defense, a couple of things, out of their control did occur.
Total attendees exeeded our projections by 20%. Long story. No excuses.
Secondly, at 7:00, the TV was working great, something happened between then, and the show airing to cause a signal loss. Again, not an excuse.
The event did, in my eyes, fail to meet expectations. At Baltimore Foodies, I am dedicated to provding guests with a great experience. If they aren’t happy, I’m not.
As of 1:00pm Friday, I have received seven e-mails from attendees, exprerssing their disappointment. I offered my apologies, and gave each one a full refund, fees and all.
Though the premiere party did not meet expectations, Jill did. She got through the first show, where others did not. I think that’s the important thing. Baltimore Foodies has never been about me, it’s about promoting the great, independent restaurants we have in Baltimore, and the chefs who work in them. ROCK ON JILL..!!!!