Lachey's Bar: Night of the restaurant review

The eighth episode of "Lachey's Bar," which aired last night, centered around two of the mini-dramas that characterize this sweet family reality show.

First, Nick and Drew's mother Cate gets involved  at Lachey's, the bar that her celebrity sons have opened in Downtown Cincinnati. (See episodes 1-7)  Nick is in L.A. with wife Vanessa, where their daughter has just been born, so Mom decides to lend a hand, which makes her sons nervous.

"Mom's a go-getter," says Drew, "but it's hard to tell an employee what to do when she's changed your diapers." 

Second, a restaurant reviewer visits.

Naturally, they make the same mistake that so many movies and shows about restaurants make. They include a scene when they know a restaurant reviewer is coming.

I'm sure Julie Niesen Gosdin of "Wine Me, Dine Me" doesn't call restaurants ahead of time and let them know when she's planning to dine any more than I do. But this is reality TV, not reality. Setting up a scene with someone sitting in your restaurant eating while you know they're going to publicly judge you does make for some natural tension.

And then what happens? Mom inserts herself into the reviewer situation. Drew has tried to keep her busy in the "dungeon," re-stocking shelves and what not, but she kind of escapes, starts running food, and then finally gets slotted in as a hostess--a greeter and a friendly schmoozer.

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She schmoozes Godsin (without realizing who she is, apparently.) She schmoozes her pretty far past most restaurant patrons'  schmooze limit. Anyone who's ever been just a little embarrassed by their mother will understand when Drew, watching nervously, mutters "OK, let's wrap it up, Mom." (Though I'm on Mom's side here. No celebrity should ever get above their mother.)

Well, all ends well. Lachey's Hair of the Dog burger gets a positive nod, despite not-crispy-enough goetta, and Drew is vindicated when Godsin likes the buffalo chicken dip. (See episode 3.) No mention of Mom in the write-up.

"Well, all in all not bad," says Drew. "One down, many more reviews to go."  (See what I wrote, several weeks later, here.)

Only one cliffhanger to resolve. Is Vanessa's "Ketchup" right, or Nick's "Katchup"? Stay tuned.