Privacy is a thing of the past and “reality” television seems to be popping up everywhere. I received this e-mail yesterday about a video shoot that had impacted a guest’s anniversary dinner at the popular Chapeau in the Richmond. I would like to have your input on how to handle the following situation at one of my favorite restaurants. Last week we arrived for our reservation at which we made a week in advance, to be greeted with a sign on the window that unless we are OK to appear on a TV show we should not enter. Upon check-in we were told that the Food Network has been recording the dining room from cameras planted in fake flowerpots in the past few days and they are just about to finish up. We were also asked to sign a waiver to appear on TV — we declined. It was halfway into our anniversary dinner when things turned for the worst, as the camera crew from Mystery Diner rushed through the dining room with lights and mikes to catch a naughty bartender/actor in the act of giving away free drinks for a group of fake diners.

When a restaurant owner suspects employees of not doing their jobs, they call in the Mystery Diners. Watch highlights from the show on Food Network.

When the drama ended about 20 minutes later, the owner went around the room explaining the commotion and told us about his participation in the reality show. Unfortunately, we were not be able to get back those lost minutes we spent trying not to be in the way of the film crew’s cables instead of enjoying our dinner. When we returned home, we looked up Mystery Diners and find out that not only it is a low-rated scandal-laden show, but that it harms the livelihood of restaurant employees as they are falsely accused of theft, rudeness, etc. My wife and I along with our friends have been dining at Chapeau for over 13 years. This recent incident especially the TV shows impact on the servers we came to know over the years is really bothering us.

Do you have any suggestion on how to let Chef Gardelle know our deep dissatisfaction with our whole experience at Chapeau last week? I called chef/owner Philippe Gardelle to get the lowdown. The camera crew was in the restaurant for two nights. On one night, it was secret, and on the second there was a sign on the door, he said.

People who said they didn’t want to be on camera weren’t photographed, he said, including two of his waiters. Like the reader, I wasn’t familiar with the show on the Food Network, so I went on the to read: “When a restaurant owner suspects employees of not doing their jobs — whether it be stealing, lying, mistreating customers or generally doing lousy work — they call in the Mystery Diners. These Mystery Diners are undercover operatives who go into restaurants, bars and food service establishments with hidden cameras to perform surveillance to find out what’s really going on when the boss isn’t around.” On the surface, at least, it doesn’t seem like the kind of show that most restaurants would want to be associated with. I asked the exceptionally personable Gardelle why he decided to do it. “I have a hard time saying no to people,” he said.

“The producer came to me and I said no the first time and then they came back. Cmi8738 Pci 6ch Mx Hrtf 3d Audio Driver Download. ”.