Restaurants on the Edge (2019–…): Season 2, Episode 7 - Restaurants on the Edge - full transcript
Are you wondering how healthy the food you are eating is? Check it - foodval.com
---
[classical music playing]
[Nick] We've been invited by restaurants
on the edge
of the most beautiful views imaginable.
[Karin] Who really need some help
keeping their business from going under.
[Dennis] There is nothing more inspiring
than celebrating a community on the plate.
But far too often, the better the view,
the worse the food.
[Karin] This is about reviving
not only the restaurants...
Everything's at stake for us.
For us, this is life.
...but also the owners' belief
in themselves.
- [woman gasps]
- [man whoops]
This means the world to me.
Oh, my God! [chuckles]
It's like a part of us here.
[Dennis] So, together, we're traveling
the world in search of inspiration
to transform these restaurants
into authentic hot spots
that paint a picture
not just of that restaurant,
not just of that chef,
but of that community.
I'm telling you, my brother,
you all changed my life.
[Nick] Arizona is so dramatic.
The landscape with all of the huge cacti
and jagged cliffs
looks like something
out of a classic Western movie.
[Karin] Bordered by Utah, New Mexico,
California and, to the south, Mexico,
Arizona is in the heart
of the American southwest.
[Dennis] There's deserts, mountains,
freshwater lakes,
and the sky goes on forever.
[Karin] We've got the top down,
the sun is hot,
we're driving through the desert
in a Cadillac.
It's beautiful and peaceful.
[Dennis] I've traveled across most
of America and I've never been to Arizona.
So I'm really excited to be here.
And, obviously, I'm excited to hit
the restaurant and make our mark there.
[Nick] The Vu Bistro is popular
for a drink on the patio
to enjoy the gorgeous sunsets.
But the owner, Heidi,
is at a complete loss
on how to draw customers inside
and have them actually stay for a meal.
Her finances are taking a huge hit.
[Karin] Heidi admits
that the interior decor
is a work in progress.
But she feels way over her head
when it comes to making any choices.
[Dennis] If people aren't sticking around
for a meal,
that tells me the menu is missing the mark
in a major way.
Exactly how? We'll have to see.
[Karin] I have this amazing journey
to the restaurant.
I'm feeling calm. I'm feeling excited.
And then I walk into the restaurant,
and I think, "Oh, my gosh.
This is so confused."
It's very dark in here.
And a lot of brown and gray and black.
Look at all this lighting.
It's all mismatched.
It's in different places.
It doesn't make any sense.
The ceiling is unfinished.
None of the barstools match.
There's glasses all over the bar.
There's glasses that are just stationed
in odd places around the restaurant.
How much glassware does a restaurant need?
It feels just really disorganized.
That sets the tone for the guests.
When they sit down,
they're looking at all that,
and their mind's already confused.
They don't know how to process
what to order, what to drink, what to eat.
It's not a place I wanna go sit down
and have a beautiful meal.
It doesn't feel like a restaurant.
It feels kinda like a living room,
like someone's home.
[Dennis] That's what it reminds me of,
my house.
- Is this what your house looks like?
- This is exactly what my house looks like.
- We should make over your house.
- Mmm-hmm.
[Dennis] Once you make your way through
the restaurant, then you hit the patio.
That's where I wanna be.
It's a million-dollar view.
It's one of the most breathtaking views
I've ever seen
in a desert anywhere in the world.
[Karin] Standing on the patio
and looking out at this view,
you're looking as far as the eye can see.
And it's so peaceful and serene.
And then behind me,
you've got this restaurant
that is a stark contrast to that.
No wonder customers
don't wanna sit inside.
- [Heidi] Hi, guys. Hi.
- [all] Hi.
- You're Heidi. Nice to meet you.
- Hi. Yes. Hi. Nice to meet you, too.
[Dennis] Heidi's an absolute sweetheart.
She's lovely.
I'm so happy you guys are here.
Thank you for coming.
- [Karin] Aw! We're so happy to be here.
- [Dennis] Yeah.
[Karin] I'm really taken aback by the fact
that she starts crying before we've
barely even opened our mouths.
It's almost like our arrival
is a sign that help has arrived,
and she's crying with relief.
[Dennis] Heidi's the sole owner and
manager, which can be overwhelming.
The decor, super confused.
We'll see if that's translated
to the menu.
[Heidi] We've kind of been eclectic,
so it wasn't just Italian
or just a Mexican restaurant
or this kind of restaurant.
You could get a little bit of everything.
We try to change it weekly.
So, these are a few of our favorite dishes
at the Vu.
[Nick] All right.
[Heidi] We have mussels fra diavolo,
bison fillets prepared
three different ways.
And then we have a pan-seared halibut,
bruschettas with bacon prosciutto
and goat cheese.
And these are our Arizona patio oysters.
And they're delicious.
It's our chef's favorite recipe.
[Dennis] The food hits the table,
and right away I'm confused.
Oysters? Fish?
I'm looking out over the Arizona desert,
but I'm eating seafood
that I know traveled thousands of miles
to get to my table.
It doesn't taste like Arizona,
that's for sure.
We do a lot of fish here.
The halibut is really popular.
[Nick] There's far too much
on the platter. It's confusing.
The plates are even a mess.
It's matching the decor inside this place.
Nothing has been thought out.
When you try to create a guest experience,
it's gotta be clean,
it's gotta be consistent and precise.
That's how the guest's gonna read it.
And it's either gonna make them come back
or never come back.
What's the story
with you and this restaurant?
This restaurant is different
than it was when I first opened.
We started about 17 years ago.
And we opened up as a full day spa
with a very small restaurant.
Then it's making people feel good,
and they come in and they're happy,
and they're getting a facial or a massage,
and they're with their friends.
And then they'd go over to the restaurant
and have martinis and lunch.
[Karin] That sounds like
an amazing Saturday, just so you know.
Going to the spa,
and then going to eat right after.
I think that's
the world's first "spasterant."
- [laughing] Good one, Dennis. I like that.
- [Dennis] That is a new word.
I invented it.
You can have the rights to it.
[Heidi and Karin laugh]
We weren't really expecting to grow into
a full restaurant at the time.
What made you make that transition
completely from a spa to a restaurant?
It was hard for me to do both businesses,
to go back and forth.
So, I kind of was having to pick
which one that I wanted to do.
The restaurant industry is really fun.
And doing events and parties
was really fun.
I think I just went with my heart.
Taking it from one business
to another business gradually,
it was never finished.
And so, it was overwhelming.
Every day we walked into that.
Honestly, it's depressing.
And I was... kind of just getting to
the point where I can't do any more.
[Nick] I really feel for Heidi.
I mean, she started off with
a very strong sense of what is possible.
But she lost her vision along the way
trying to handle everything
that was thrown at her.
If this restaurant were to fail,
what is at stake for you?
We could... [crying]
Sorry.
[Nick] Heidi can't even
entertain the reality
that her business could fail.
But you can't bury your head in the sand.
Restaurants have a high failure rate.
It's just a fact.
She needs to get clarity if she wants
a fighting chance to keep her dream.
We're gonna come in here
and make a big transformation.
So, I need to know what are the things
that you're prepared to let go of,
and what must stay?
Honestly, I don't really have
any real connection
to anything that has to stay.
I'm open to a new start.
- This is your fresh start.
- Thank you. [chuckles]
[Karin] The Vu Bistro
began as a spa/wine bar
that morphed into a restaurant.
But Heidi fell short of her vision.
Arizona is very beautiful.
You're looking at this gorgeous,
earthy-tone landscape,
and it's really relaxing.
But inside, the Vu Bistro is so chaotic.
It's no surprise customers
stick to the patio
and never wanna come inside
to spend any time.
So, I really wanna bring the outside in
and make these two things cohesive,
and create the restaurant
Heidi has always dreamed of.
This is a huge job.
Where do I start?
It's kind of overwhelming.
A little bit of tidying is gonna help.
A lot of color is gonna help.
It needs to feel bright and fresh,
like the outdoors.
I'm looking to the landscape
for my inspiration.
[Dennis] I'm just outside of Phoenix
in this little community called Mesa.
There is a ton of people here,
and they are all here
for one thing: vegetables.
Some of the best produce in America.
It's coming right across the border
from Mexico and ending up here in Arizona.
The restaurant right now
doesn't really have a food direction.
They're doing a million different things.
The direction of this restaurant should be
celebrating vegetables on the plate.
They are here o'plenty.
And there's a million things
you can do with them.
But the crazy thing is that all of this
beautiful produce was headed to the dump.
There is a massive food-waste problem.
And if a tomato or a carrot has
any blemish on it, that's not sellable.
About 60 million tons of fresh produce
is wasted every year
in the United States alone.
Luckily, there are people
doing something about it.
People like Yolanda.
This woman is on a mission
to save wasted food.
- Hello. How are you?
- [Yolanda] Hi! Hey. Hi, Dennis.
- Welcome. How are you?
- Thank you so... I am amazing.
It looks incredible here.
We are rescuing approximate
33 million pounds of produce per season.
We bring it to these markets
all over the state of Arizona.
[Dennis] What do people pay?
It's $12 for 70 pounds of produce.
17 cents a pound.
[Dennis] If you got in your car
and you drove to the supermarket,
you would spend probably hundreds
of dollars more for the same thing.
- This all looks perfect to me.
- [Yolanda] Isn't it?
- There's nothing wrong with this.
- So, why was it donated?
Because maybe it's got a little scarring.
And people at the market,
they don't wanna buy
a scarred yellow squash.
"No, it's ugly." Who cares?
Inside, it's perfect.
And when I grow carrots in my backyard,
they look ugly.
But they also taste beautiful.
And they shouldn't need to look just so.
We've got this broken system.
We've got to do our best
to save our planet.
[Dennis] We waste way too much food.
And we shouldn't be wasting any of it.
It's a precious resource.
[Yolanda] Look at these green beans.
Are they beautiful?
Look at those romas.
Tell me they're not beautiful.
[Dennis] They're salsa beautiful,
is what they are.
They are salsa beautiful,
or... your Italian salsas.
I like how you say "salsa" better than me.
[laughing]
The restaurant right now
is struggling financially.
Heidi is blowing her budget
on imported fish and seafood.
If she partnered up with
an organization like Borderlands,
she'd get access to local fresh produce
at wholesale prices
and do good for the planet
at the exact same time.
It seems like a no-brainer to me to
partner with somebody like Borderlands.
I'm gonna do my best to tell your story
and the story of this produce
and the story of food waste
on the plate of the Vu restaurant.
So, so honored to be able to do that.
The Vu Bistro doesn't look like
it belongs to the environment at all.
But right in Heidi's backyard
is an amazing example of a building
that's rooted in the landscape.
Frank Lloyd Wright was one of
the world's most influential architects,
and Taliesin West was his winter home.
Being here, I feel like
there's lots of takeaways
I can bring back to the restaurant.
Jeff Goodman makes it his mission
to help people understand
Wright's impact on the way we live.
[Jeff] You know, Wright was always
inspired by nature his whole life.
And he told his students,
in fact, study nature.
That's what you need to know
to learn how to design and build
because nature's already
figured it out for us.
[Karin] Frank Lloyd Wright believed
in organic architecture,
meaning the environment really inspired
what the buildings would look like.
[Jeff] I think this is one of the prime
examples of organic architecture,
the way the building just literally
disappears into the landscape behind it.
[Karin] It's so amazing,
the impact that design can have
on a person's experience.
When I walked into the Vu Bistro,
I felt anxious,
like I didn't know where to look.
I didn't wanna stay there.
That's the opposite
of what you want for a restaurant.
Oh, cool!
[Jeff] This is the garden room
in Frank Lloyd Wright's private residence.
It's clearly one of the most amazing rooms
in all of architecture.
But we don't necessarily notice
the radical ideas
because they make so much sense
that we've incorporated it
into how we live today.
We have floor-to-ceiling windows.
We have natural light that flood in.
But when Wright started designing homes,
at that point, houses were boxes.
And inside those boxes were little boxes
with maybe a little window.
What Wright did is he exploded the box.
[Karin] It really feels fluid
from the inside to the outside.
It really does feel like
an oasis in the desert.
[Jeff] You're really
still deeply connected
into this land that
Frank Lloyd Wright loved so much.
When I'm here, at this house,
I feel like I don't wanna leave.
It feels so calm and peaceful,
which is completely opposite
to the Vu Bistro.
It's dark and cluttered,
and it makes me feel anxious.
That environment has been
affecting Heidi for a long time.
So, my takeaway is that I really want
the Vu Bistro to be a space
that makes you feel good,
that makes you feel happy,
and that makes you feel like
you wanna stay there.
[Nick] So, today I decided to take Heidi
to a really cool spot.
Hip little diner, been there since 1971.
I've taken a look at reviews
for the Vu Bistro,
and I wanna talk to her
about one in particular
that really gets to the bottom
of Heidi's issues
and why her restaurant is struggling.
People are coming here
after 38 years consistently
because they're getting the same thing
every time they come to this diner.
They know they'll get the same service.
I wanted to talk to you
about what your struggles are.
I wanna go over a review with you.
You go over those every now and then?
Um...
- Not real often.
- Not real often.
"We made reservations, but we had to wait
45 minutes to be seated,
another 20 minutes before anyone
came to our table.
The bartender and manager are both nasty.
She screamed at us when we expressed
our displeasure with the poor service.
One star is too high of a rating
for this establishment."
- Do you remember that?
- I do remember that.
- So tell me about that.
- It was an extremely busy night.
The best thing in the world is being busy.
She called me stupid. Did she
put that on there? She called me stupid.
So I feel like she would write that
when she's calling people names.
If you see that we're crazy busy,
and you wait,
and then you complain,
then we can apologize,
- but I don't know what else to say.
- Yeah.
[Nick] When a guest is being abusive,
it's not a good experience.
But I do think that Heidi could have
kept things from escalating.
Do you feel that your life is chaotic?
It's chaotic in the way that
we're trying to make this restaurant
all work together.
And we've just had a hard time.
You keep saying "we." You're the leader.
You run that ship as far as
what people are gonna be seeing
and feeling in the place. That's your job.
We don't want bad reviews.
We don't want people not to be happy.
We don't want people
to have a bad experience.
I don't feel good about that,
and I don't want that to happen.
And I'm sorry, but sometimes I feel like
I don't know what else to do.
These situations, these reviews,
could have certainly been handled
that much better
if you were in that much better
of a clearer head space.
You would have had better communication.
You would have had way better way
of handling that.
At the end of the day, you've been
in this business for 17 years.
You're doing something right.
But everything that you're doing
along that way is very disorganized.
I feel like I'm having to do
every single thing.
So, watering the plants,
doing the windows,
getting the place set up.
Taxes. Payroll.
There's so many jobs that I have to do.
You and the business
is all over the place,
and it's showing
in everything you've executed.
You have to get a lot more focused
and find some balance.
This is a crazy business.
If you don't have your mind straight,
you're never gonna be able to create
a great experience.
[Heidi] We're gonna do
everything we can
to make this a destination
for people to come.
Heidi just needs to balance out
her mind, body, and soul.
Once she has that in line,
she's gonna be able to do anything
in this business.
[Dennis] I'm looking to put
some really unique ingredients
on the menu at the Vu Bistro.
I'm all for sourcing local,
and I'm in Arizona.
Local here means the desert.
People have lived here for thousands
of years and survived off of this land.
I'm really stoked
to just dive into the deep end
and learn what's available and delicious.
But, honestly, to me, it looks dead.
I don't know what's here.
Vincent is a survivalist. He's an expert.
He's a biologist. He knows these lands.
So we're gonna go out and forage today.
[Vincent] Dennis, this plant here
is called ocotillo.
These leaves might make you upchuck,
lose moisture, and get sick,
so we're gonna go for the flowers.
There you go.
So, go ahead and try one of those.
Chew that, and tell me
what you think of it.
There's a little bit of honey in there.
- Yeah.
- A little floral, little bit of orange.
The only bad taste you might get
if there's an ant in there.
Crazy ants taste like rotten blue cheese.
And what we can do with this is soak them
in water. We can make a drink with it.
Ocotillo drink is actually
quite delicious.
[Dennis] How do you know what's edible
and what's not?
[Vincent] You don't magically know,
so what you wanna do is know your plants.
Some are edible, some are less edible
and some are poisonous.
You have to know them, hands down.
That's why you have me here.
So, don't just willy-nilly
walk into the desert
- and start eating stuff.
- No.
[Dennis] It is much more lush
than I expected.
The Sonoran Desert you see out here
doesn't look like a desert
you see on TV or you've been to.
This is the tropical rainforest
of deserts right here
because it gets two rainy seasons,
a winter rainy season and a summer one.
So, look at all the vegetation out here.
The one thing I know about the desert
is it's not your friend.
[Vincent] Watch your rattlesnakes.
[Dennis] Is that where they hide,
in bushes like this? That's bananas.
The desert is out to get you.
It's there to hurt you.
And you know that there's
all these little creatures hiding,
but you can't see them.
You're just waiting for them to pop up.
- [Vincent] A stripe-tailed scorpion.
- [Dennis] Got it.
Look, he's trying to sting me.
And I better be very careful.
I better try to
get that stinger off there,
because, boy, he's gonna give me
a full dose of venom.
Let's cook it up by a fire
if we're lucky enough to make it
by twirling sticks together,
which is no easy thing.
- Can we just circle back?
- Yeah.
- You can eat these?
- You bet.
Minus the stinger, of course.
And these, obviously,
they're pretty abundant, I'm assuming.
They're very abundant. You might be
appalled how abundant they are.
- I've never eaten a scorpion before.
- Let's hold it first.
[Dennis] Is it still alive?
- [Vincent] It's still alive.
- How do I hold it?
I think I took the stinger...
- No, I'm just kidding. It's off there.
- [Dennis laughs]
- [Vincent] Just grab it anywhere.
- If you invited me over for dinner...
- [Vincent] Right.
- ...and you said,
"Hey, we're having scorpion," I may
or may not show up. I gotta be honest.
- You're a scorpion virgin.
- I am a scorpion virgin.
That's not something I thought I'd say
today. But I'm excited to try it.
I do really believe
when you go to a place,
the best thing you can do is eat
what's local and available.
We're in a desert. This is local
and available, so it's what we should eat.
I know that that might not inherently
end up in the restaurant
or on the menu,
but surviving on what you have,
taking those few ingredients
and making them delicious,
that is what's gonna end up
in the restaurant.
[Nick] I'm sending Heidi
to the most peaceful, tranquil environment
you can possibly get into.
It's a sound bath.
Hopefully, it's gonna help her
gain some clarity
so she can focus on running her business
in a calm and organized way.
[Ronee] The sound waves
help to entrain the brain waves.
So all the chatter
that's going on in your head,
it wants to be there for a little while,
and then after a couple of minutes,
your whole subconscious mind
just falls away
because it cannot make sense of the sounds
that it's hearing.
And it helps us to come into
a deeper state of relaxation.
[Nick] I really want Heidi
to get her mind together.
But you need that time away from
your business to make that happen.
That way, when you come in,
you're clean up here,
and then everything around you
is gonna be organized.
I really hope this is gonna be
a transformative experience for her.
[Ronee] Allow the vibrations
of the crystal singing bowls
to move the energy throughout you
to clear out anything that's stuck,
any emotions,
and to allow you to drop into a deep space
of relaxation and healing.
[Heidi] I don't have the stressful feeling
right now,
the anxiety of work and business.
I kind of just feel
like they've gone away.
And having the calmest inner feeling,
it's been so long.
[Ronee] Remember that
whatever you're feeling is fine.
And if you feel like you have tears
about to flow, let them flow.
That's how we cleanse.
That's how we purify ourselves.
[Heidi] The vibration,
I could feel it inside of me.
I could feel it in my fingers, in my toes,
and so peaceful that it just made me feel
like I wanted to cry.
It's been so long, for so many years.
It's so hard. [sniffles]
And I just feel like it's a new beginning
and it's a hope. It's a start.
I feel very relaxed, very calm.
I will continue to do this
at least once or twice a week.
I feel like the balance
would help me go to work
and not feel so uptight or so nervous.
[Ronee] Satnam.
Bless you, bless you, bless you.
From our hearts to yours.
[inhales deeply]
[exhales deeply]
[Karin] Repairs to fix the walls
and ceiling are underway at The Vu Bistro.
Right now, the paint on the walls
are dark and depressing.
I wanna bring in colors that are gonna pop
and truly reflect the Arizona countryside.
And there's no better way
to see those colors
- than on the back of a motorcycle.
- [engine revving]
I mean, I love adventure
and I love doing new things.
And it's doing new things
that really sparks ideas and inspiration.
I'm here to meet a woman named Geri,
and she's part of the Navajo Honor Riders.
And we're gonna go for a ride together.
- You're Geri? I'm Karin.
- I'm Geri.
- So how long have you been riding?
- I've been riding since I was little.
Basically, on the reservation,
there's a couple ways to get around,
and being on a motorcycle is one.
The second is being on horseback.
But we had a motorcycle
that we all shared.
The riding community
really brings people together.
It's a common interest.
You could have somebody
that you've never met ride with you
and become an instant friend.
And today is a beautiful day.
It is hot, and we're gonna go for a ride.
Before we head out, we're gonna have
a sage-smudging ceremony.
As the smoke is rising,
you're using that to bless your body,
from your toes all the way
to the top of your head.
You're basically blessing yourself,
your body, your bike, for the journey.
You're preparing yourself
for strength and protection.
[Karin] Meeting the Navajo Hopi Riders,
at first, it's a little bit intimidating,
'cause they're like this big biker group.
But they're so friendly,
and it feels like such an honor
to be doing this ride with them.
[engine starts]
I'm here to collect ideas for design
and take it back to the restaurant.
So, I know that this is gonna be
a really cool experience.
[Dennis] I'm still in the desert,
foraging with Vincent.
His buddy Mick has joined us,
and he's got a crazy story
of getting stranded in the desert
for 46 hours after his car died.
It was 108 degrees.
They say I walked 19 miles.
All of a sudden, a dirt biker showed up.
He's like my personal superhero.
- I've been lost for an hour...
- [Mick laughs]
...and been terrified
in the grocery store,
so I can't even comprehend
what you would have been going through.
How about we learn some desert foods
that maybe you could have eaten
during your ordeal?
[Dennis] Vincent just showed me
what is in this desert,
what you can eat, what you shouldn't eat,
and how to really
start to navigate your way around
kind of living
in these really harsh conditions.
Vincent is the perfect person
to have by your side in this scenario.
He knows what he's doing.
So, all of these edible flowers,
these greens, and the scorpion,
we are gonna cook up right now.
Doesn't get any fresher than that.
[Vincent] That scorpion, we'll watch as it
turns color and maybe shrivels a bit.
How do you know this is cooked?
It's like a shrimp, where it's
translucent, and it's gonna go to pink?
No sushi here.
We're gonna overcook it, just in case
there are intestinal parasites and such.
Meanwhile, we have our drink we set up
from ocotillo flowers earlier.
[Dennis] It's great.
It's really refreshing.
- It's like flavored mineral water almost.
- [Vincent] Exactly.
Floral. A little bit sweet.
[Vincent] Guys, I think the scorpion's
been in there long enough.
What we're gonna do is section it up.
Do you fancy a tail, a head, a claw?
What do you like?
- You know what, I'll do the tail.
- [Vincent] It's hot.
[Mick] I get the pincers and the head.
[Vincent] The pincer and the head.
Best part.
[Dennis] All right. Bottoms up.
[Vincent] Enjoy, Dennis.
[Dennis] To be very honest,
that is much better
than I thought it would be.
Yeah. It's very pleasant.
[Dennis] It's actually
really naturally salty.
Slightly crunchy on the outside.
I've eaten lobster
a million times in my life.
- [Vincent] Right.
- It's like a mini little lobster.
You bet. Lobster of the desert,
let's call it.
[Dennis] Being in the desert is all about
finding what's around you,
what's available, and cooking it simply.
Right now, at the restaurant, it's
way over-complicated. The menu is nuts.
They need to whittle that right back,
get back to basics,
and make sure that it's sustainable.
[Karin] I'm riding into Apache territory
with a convoy of Navajo Hopi Riders.
This is how you see Arizona.
Looking around
at this beautiful, gorgeous landscape,
I keep thinking about the restaurant,
and I keep thinking about how much I wanna
bring in some of these earthy tones.
Native American tribes of Arizona
began mining turquoise
in these parts thousands of years ago.
During the Old West,
prospectors were digging for silver.
- Hello.
- [Karin] Hi.
Tyler is a silversmith
who's keeping the Navajo legacy alive.
This looks really good.
What I'm doing here
is creating Navajo jewelry.
A lot of designs labeled
as Southwestern wear
are all derived from Navajo designs.
We've always incorporated
geometric patterns into our weavings
- and then eventually into our jewelry.
- [Karin] It's beautiful.
- [Tyler] Thank you.
- It's really beautiful.
[Tyler] Start with the bare essentials,
silver and turquoise.
Some of this here
is turquoise in its natural form.
[Karin] So, when you get the turquoise,
- you get it in this raw form, like this?
- Yes.
- [Karin] Then you make it into these.
- [Tyler] Yes.
I actually had no idea that turquoise,
there were so many variations in blue.
It depends on the amount of copper
and different elements that are in it.
So, in Nevada,
you'll see more green turquoise,
whereas in Arizona,
you'll see more blue turquoise.
The turquoise stone is actually
a protection stone for us.
It will help you in your journey
for protection and strength.
And it's also a way
for the Navajo gods to see us,
and that also provides for our protection.
So this is really
like a spiritual stone, then?
Yes.
It's also a stone
that's a part of our creation stories.
It's a part of our ceremonies,
so it's a very sacred stone for us.
[Karin] Today has given me
so much inspiration.
Not only just from the landscape
and the environment,
but I love the idea that turquoise
is considered sacred.
So I really want to incorporate
turquoise into the restaurant
to give Heidi a source of protection,
but also as a jumping-off point
for the design.
[Nick] I'm here
at the Buffalo Chip Saloon and Steakhouse.
This place has
one of the best Western vibes,
where a rodeo is attached to it.
Talk about an experience.
I mean, never in my life have I walked
into an establishment... with a horse.
This place has been rocking since 1951.
To be able to achieve that,
you're doing something right.
But there is a lot going wrong
at The Vu Bistro,
especially when it comes
to customer service.
So I wanna dive into this cowboy culture.
I wanna taste the food.
I wanna have the drinks.
I wanna talk with the locals
and get the goods
on what you need for success
straight from the horse's mouth.
Larry, tell me about this place, man.
I bought it in 1998, and we determined
that we were gonna make the Buffalo Chip
the happeningest Western place in Arizona.
[Terry] Buffalo Chip
is a memory-making place.
You have a relative or a friend
come in town from anywhere,
you bring 'em here,
and they're gonna remember Cave Creek.
- They're gonna remember the Buffalo Chip.
- [Nick] Yeah.
I knew a lot about this place, but what
I didn't know is they have church here.
Every Sunday. And here's why.
I spend all week making sinners
out of these people.
You see what I'm saying?
How many people come through here
roughly on an average week?
About 10,000 people a week.
- Wow.
- [Larry] Yeah.
- We do 10,000 pounds of meat a week.
- Oh, my goodness.
Between the chicken,
the brisket, the ribs.
I imagine they're always on the menu.
- [Terry] Oh, yeah.
- Always on the menu.
You gotta be consistent.
If you get somebody that comes in,
and they have those ribs tonight,
and they come tomorrow,
and you don't have them,
they won't be back.
The reason I'm here is I'm working
with a restaurant called Vu Bistro,
and I'm trying to figure out
how to drive more business,
similar to what you have going here.
- [Larry] Sure.
- [Nick] What's your recipe for success?
How can I create a consistent crowd
like you have here?
[Larry] Treat every person
that walks through that door special.
They can sit at home in their living room
and watch their big screen
and eat or drink
at a third of the price that they do here.
You gotta give them something extra.
[crowd cheering]
[Nick] The Vu Bistro, it's got
one of the most beautiful views
you've ever seen.
Do you think that's enough
to drive a crowd in?
You know, my gut tells me no,
because, my gosh,
there's so many beautiful sunsets
and sunrises here in Arizona.
And there's so many places
that tout a view.
So tell me, what are you
gathering from your viewers
that people are looking for in this area?
If everyone has a view, what do they want?
It's what they've got going here,
a sense of community.
[Larry] They're not just here
for the view.
They're here to feel like
they're part of this community,
and that's what we try and do.
[Nick] Creating community actually starts
with getting the word out.
So, I asked Matthew,
who is a well-known DJ in town,
to promote the Vu's reopening on his show.
They always say people will never remember
what you tell them.
They will only remember
how you make them feel.
- Right.
- Nothing else matters. It really doesn't.
[Nick] I'm never gonna create
the energy level
that they have at the Buffalo Chip
and apply it directly to the Vu Bistro.
The Vu isn't a cowboy bar,
but Heidi's dream
to create a fun atmosphere
that caters to big parties
and events is a great hook.
With all the changes we're making
and being organized
and consistent with customer service,
Heidi's gonna build that community,
and people are gonna keep coming back.
[Matthew] So, there's a new spot
in Fountain Hills,
it's called the Vu Bistro.
Not so new. They just had a facelift
and a new menu.
So, if you're looking for a fun night out
with one of the best sunset views in town,
drop by, or even better,
make a reservation.
Heidi and her team are looking forward
to making you feel at home.
[Karin] Our time in Arizona has given us
a lot of inspiration,
and now we're coming together to discuss
our game plan for the Vu Bistro.
I don't know about you guys,
but I had some pretty amazing adventures
here in the last couple of days.
I got to go in the desert. We cooked.
We made a fire. I ate a scorpion.
- That was crazy.
- Wait, I have to ask. How did it taste?
It was equal parts salty and terrifying.
- Okay. [chuckles]
- But really my biggest takeaway was
the desert looks desolate,
but it's abundant.
Now, obviously, I'm not putting scorpion
on the menu.
But cactus, they are everywhere,
and they're edible.
So, I'm gonna make cactus fries.
They're the perfect appetizer.
You're looking at cactus
while you're eating cactus,
how awesome is that?
I've never eaten cactus before.
- Well, you'll be able to try it.
- [laughing]
And I met this woman named Yolanda.
She runs this organization
called Borderlands. They save produce.
See this little notch right here?
That means that it's getting thrown out.
This looks like a perfect tomato to me.
[Dennis] Produce comes in from Mexico.
First stop is Arizona,
so it's super fresh.
The restaurant needs to celebrate that.
Right now, they're not.
They're bringing in ingredients
from God knows where.
Oysters, mussels. The ocean's not here
and they need to use what's available.
I'm gonna make a shareable taco platter
inspired by my trip to Borderlands.
It's all about produce.
Yeah, there's a little chicken
and some tortillas.
But really, it's about the pico de gallo,
the grilled veggies.
It's all about using every single bit
of every vegetable.
I'm actually gonna plate it
on a sheet pan,
really family-style and rustic.
And things like this.
Things like beans, tomatoes,
things that are canned,
they're super cost-effective.
The restaurant should be using this.
I'm gonna make a vegetarian chili.
Everybody loves chili.
And it's really inexpensive to reproduce.
I wanna use every
partially-spoiled vegetable
that I got from Borderlands
and throw it into this chili.
And if those veggies change
season after season, just change it up,
use whatever you have available.
I think Heidi's really gonna love the menu
I'm creating for her,
because she wants people
to come and hang out here.
She wants people to tell their friends,
and them tell their friends,
so that they all get together
and have one big party here,
just like she started that spa years ago.
That's what these dishes will do.
They're all about having fun at the table.
Every one of those things you said
are far more appealing
than the plate of oysters that came out
to us that first night.
[Dennis] Yeah, absolutely.
Do you guys know
who Frank Lloyd Wright is?
- I have heard of him.
- You have?
He's an astronaut, isn't he?
He's probably known as one of
the most iconic American architects.
I got to go see his home, Taliesin West,
and it was unbelievable.
I wanna bring in
some of Wright's philosophy
of bringing the outdoors inside
and creating a space that feels calm,
so that you wanna be there,
you wanna relax,
and you wanna stay in that environment.
I had another amazing adventure.
I had the honor of hopping
on the back of a motorcycle
with the Navajo Hopi Honor Riders.
While I was on the back of this bike,
I'm seeing these beautiful
terra-cotta mountains in the background.
I'm thinking to myself,
this has to come into the restaurant.
So, the main room
is gonna be painted terra-cotta.
The Navajo Hopi Honor Riders
took me to meet Tyler.
He's a silversmith,
and he makes Navajo jewelry
- with silver and turquoise.
- [Dennis] It's beautiful.
Turquoise, I learned,
really represents prosperity and safety.
It'd be great to bring that
into the restaurant.
So, the room in the back
will be painted turquoise.
And I found these baskets,
which I think are really, really cool.
These would be fun to use
as artwork on the walls.
And the great thing
is that they match the color scheme.
I'm going to reupholster
some of the chairs in the dining room
in this cowhide because it's gotta feel
a little Western in there.
We're gonna bring in
some leather barstools.
I think the leather is gonna look
really good against the terra-cotta walls.
And then we'll change out the lighting,
putting in new fixtures
that are soft and beautiful.
We'll also bring in
some eclectic artwork and plants.
I wanna make the restaurant feel
like it's from Arizona.
And when you're looking out
at that incredible view
and you're looking inside, the whole place
is gonna feel really cohesive.
It's gonna have
a completely different vibe,
and it's gonna feel fun.
That's what this restaurant needs.
It needs to feel fun.
So, I went to this really cool saloon.
It's called
the Buffalo Chip Saloon and Steakhouse.
This place has been in business
since 1951.
It's showed consistency.
And everything is really done right
inside that place.
Service at the Buffalo Chip
was so on point,
and part of that was how organized
they were, especially the bar.
So, I wanna do that for Heidi.
Get her bar organized.
I wanna brighten it up a little bit.
Allow people to know that there's
some freshness, that it was thought out.
I really think Heidi is going to love
the outcome of this place.
[Karin] This is a huge restaurant
and an even bigger transformation.
The restaurant has come together
exactly the way that I want it to.
It looks really, really good.
I'm really excited for Heidi to see it.
Oh, my God!
[whimpering]
I just can't believe it.
Oh, my God!
Wow.
So cute. I love it.
It is so awesome.
It's so perfect. It's so beautiful.
- [Karin] Hi. [chuckles]
- [Heidi] Hi!
Nice to see you.
- [Heidi] It's a big transformation.
- [Karin] Huge transformation.
[Heidi] It's beautiful.
[Karin] The first thing I wanted to do
was declutter and clean up.
A decluttered space is a decluttered mind.
Nick came in
and completely reorganized the bar,
so now it's very functional.
I love these stools,
because they almost look like saddles.
We painted out the ceiling black.
Looks really clean. The TVs just disappear
right into the ceiling.
The ceiling looks amazing.
This is so much bigger over here.
And now it's all so open.
The low seating that was
at the front of the restaurant there,
we moved all of that out.
We painted the walls terra-cotta.
The terra-cotta was really inspired
by the Arizona landscape.
[Heidi] When the sun shines
on that mountain right there,
that's almost the same color.
- You get the terra-cotta. Exactly.
- Yeah.
[Karin] Everything just flows
really nicely together.
It's just so beautiful.
[Karin] Let me take you
to this part of the dining room.
[Heidi] This is so much different,
just the feel when you walk in here.
[Karin] The biggest change is, obviously,
the color of the walls.
Turquoise is my favorite stone,
and it's my birthstone,
so it's awesome you picked that color.
I would have never thought that.
I've reused your sofa,
but brought in
a whole bunch of Navajo prints.
Fun pillows,
these Navajo-inspired baskets.
So, the whole vibe is a little bit
Arizona, Southwestern, Bohemian.
We reupholstered the chairs
in this cowhide print.
[Heidi] Look how great they look.
I can't even believe it.
And look at these amazing lights.
I replaced your chandeliers.
What I love about these lights
is that they're big, they fill the space,
and they're light and bright.
It's absolutely gorgeous. I love it.
- You love it?
- I love it.
Now it has a theme,
and it has a story to it.
[Karin] And the story is Arizona.
[Heidi] I absolutely love it.
Thank you for picking this out for me.
- Oh, my gosh, you're so welcome.
- [crying]
You're so welcome.
[Heidi] To come in and have it
completely done and fixed and new,
and I didn't have to do
any of the thinking,
has given me the chance to go forward
and not having the weight
of all the responsibilities on my own.
[Karin] Sometimes, people just need
a bit of a push in the right direction,
and I think this restaurant transformation
was exactly that for Heidi.
It's a fresh start.
[Dennis] Heidi's been lost
for a long time.
She's been confused.
Her restaurant didn't make sense.
And I'm so honored that we got to
come here and give her direction,
give her a menu that works.
- What's up, everybody?
- Hey.
- [Karin] There he is.
- [Nick] Look at that.
[Dennis] We get to show her
about what it means
to celebrate Arizona on the plate.
- All right.
- [Karin] Holy!
That looks amazing.
So, Heidi, I made you some dishes
based on, kind of, my inspiration
and my amazing time
touring around Arizona.
- First, cactus fries.
- [gasps]
There's cactus everywhere here.
Deep fried, it's so good.
Nice little chipotle mayo
on the side, so you can dip it.
So, this is my desert chili.
It's a vegetarian chili.
- Wow. It's so fresh.
- All of this produce
was going to be wasted
because it had a little nick in it
or the color wasn't right.
But it was saved by this organization
called Borderland.
Chili's just great any time of the year,
and it's super affordable to recreate.
Pièce de résistance, Borderland Tacos.
Super and tailor-made for a group
of people to get around and tuck in.
It's meant to be shared.
It's meant for friends and family
to come out and have a really great time
around the table.
It's absolutely gorgeous.
This looks like the food
we should be eating in this room.
Are you guys hungry?
- I wanna eat. I wanna dig in.
- I think she's...
And how cool is it that
these dishes come from the desert?
Mmm.
[Dennis] Come from wasted food
that's not wasted anymore,
that we're saving
because it's perfectly good
and should be put on the plate.
Dennis, I'm into these cactus fries.
These are really good.
[Heidi] It's fresh, it's light,
it's delicious,
and it feels like Arizona.
See the cactuses
and eat cactuses at the same time.
And it's all family style.
It's all fun.
It's all about the community.
Making dishes like this
that are meant for communal-style,
family-style eating,
it just invites an environment
where people wanna hang out.
And I feel like having
family-style platters like that
will also help us as marketing
for bigger groups.
- Mmm-hmm.
- I think that'll help.
I guarantee they're gonna go away.
They're gonna take photos, post it online.
- They're gonna show their friends.
- You're gonna have a hot spot.
This is gonna be great.
- [Nick] Yeah.
- Yeah.
- Totally.
- Prepare yourself.
- [Nick] Yes.
- [all laughing]
Heidi, I have to say,
I just can't get over your energy
- and the aura that's coming off of you.
- Thank you.
I remember the first time we met you,
and you started crying.
It must have been five minutes
of meeting you.
I almost took it personally.
To be fair, I cried when I met you
for the first time, too.
I don't blame you.
Seeing you here now,
you just seem cool, calm, and collected.
Yes, I feel it.
I've been so interested to see
how that sound bath was for you.
It was so relaxing and centering.
And that made me feel
more in control, I think.
Even the next day,
I looked in the mirror, and I thought,
"I look different."
I mean, I felt... [laughs]
I did. I felt like I just looked
not as stressed.
You're so laser-focused.
I'm so proud of you.
- Thank you.
- [Nick] I'm really, really proud of you.
- This is a big transformation.
- Thank you.
- It's a big transformation.
- Huge.
[Nick] We're looking at a whole new Heidi.
Not only did we change her space,
her food, the entire vibe in this place,
but we changed her inside.
And I feel that Heidi
is on the track to success,
and having her mind
and her business in line.
And more than anything, organized.
She's now Tidy Heidi.
A weight has lifted off of me
on so many different levels.
This was such a huge gift
that you guys brought to me.
[sniffles] I'm very grateful.
I feel like I can
start my business, fresh start.
- Yeah! I like it.
- [laughs]
- [Dennis] Mission accomplished.
- [Karin] Nice!
---
[classical music playing]
[Nick] We've been invited by restaurants
on the edge
of the most beautiful views imaginable.
[Karin] Who really need some help
keeping their business from going under.
[Dennis] There is nothing more inspiring
than celebrating a community on the plate.
But far too often, the better the view,
the worse the food.
[Karin] This is about reviving
not only the restaurants...
Everything's at stake for us.
For us, this is life.
...but also the owners' belief
in themselves.
- [woman gasps]
- [man whoops]
This means the world to me.
Oh, my God! [chuckles]
It's like a part of us here.
[Dennis] So, together, we're traveling
the world in search of inspiration
to transform these restaurants
into authentic hot spots
that paint a picture
not just of that restaurant,
not just of that chef,
but of that community.
I'm telling you, my brother,
you all changed my life.
[Nick] Arizona is so dramatic.
The landscape with all of the huge cacti
and jagged cliffs
looks like something
out of a classic Western movie.
[Karin] Bordered by Utah, New Mexico,
California and, to the south, Mexico,
Arizona is in the heart
of the American southwest.
[Dennis] There's deserts, mountains,
freshwater lakes,
and the sky goes on forever.
[Karin] We've got the top down,
the sun is hot,
we're driving through the desert
in a Cadillac.
It's beautiful and peaceful.
[Dennis] I've traveled across most
of America and I've never been to Arizona.
So I'm really excited to be here.
And, obviously, I'm excited to hit
the restaurant and make our mark there.
[Nick] The Vu Bistro is popular
for a drink on the patio
to enjoy the gorgeous sunsets.
But the owner, Heidi,
is at a complete loss
on how to draw customers inside
and have them actually stay for a meal.
Her finances are taking a huge hit.
[Karin] Heidi admits
that the interior decor
is a work in progress.
But she feels way over her head
when it comes to making any choices.
[Dennis] If people aren't sticking around
for a meal,
that tells me the menu is missing the mark
in a major way.
Exactly how? We'll have to see.
[Karin] I have this amazing journey
to the restaurant.
I'm feeling calm. I'm feeling excited.
And then I walk into the restaurant,
and I think, "Oh, my gosh.
This is so confused."
It's very dark in here.
And a lot of brown and gray and black.
Look at all this lighting.
It's all mismatched.
It's in different places.
It doesn't make any sense.
The ceiling is unfinished.
None of the barstools match.
There's glasses all over the bar.
There's glasses that are just stationed
in odd places around the restaurant.
How much glassware does a restaurant need?
It feels just really disorganized.
That sets the tone for the guests.
When they sit down,
they're looking at all that,
and their mind's already confused.
They don't know how to process
what to order, what to drink, what to eat.
It's not a place I wanna go sit down
and have a beautiful meal.
It doesn't feel like a restaurant.
It feels kinda like a living room,
like someone's home.
[Dennis] That's what it reminds me of,
my house.
- Is this what your house looks like?
- This is exactly what my house looks like.
- We should make over your house.
- Mmm-hmm.
[Dennis] Once you make your way through
the restaurant, then you hit the patio.
That's where I wanna be.
It's a million-dollar view.
It's one of the most breathtaking views
I've ever seen
in a desert anywhere in the world.
[Karin] Standing on the patio
and looking out at this view,
you're looking as far as the eye can see.
And it's so peaceful and serene.
And then behind me,
you've got this restaurant
that is a stark contrast to that.
No wonder customers
don't wanna sit inside.
- [Heidi] Hi, guys. Hi.
- [all] Hi.
- You're Heidi. Nice to meet you.
- Hi. Yes. Hi. Nice to meet you, too.
[Dennis] Heidi's an absolute sweetheart.
She's lovely.
I'm so happy you guys are here.
Thank you for coming.
- [Karin] Aw! We're so happy to be here.
- [Dennis] Yeah.
[Karin] I'm really taken aback by the fact
that she starts crying before we've
barely even opened our mouths.
It's almost like our arrival
is a sign that help has arrived,
and she's crying with relief.
[Dennis] Heidi's the sole owner and
manager, which can be overwhelming.
The decor, super confused.
We'll see if that's translated
to the menu.
[Heidi] We've kind of been eclectic,
so it wasn't just Italian
or just a Mexican restaurant
or this kind of restaurant.
You could get a little bit of everything.
We try to change it weekly.
So, these are a few of our favorite dishes
at the Vu.
[Nick] All right.
[Heidi] We have mussels fra diavolo,
bison fillets prepared
three different ways.
And then we have a pan-seared halibut,
bruschettas with bacon prosciutto
and goat cheese.
And these are our Arizona patio oysters.
And they're delicious.
It's our chef's favorite recipe.
[Dennis] The food hits the table,
and right away I'm confused.
Oysters? Fish?
I'm looking out over the Arizona desert,
but I'm eating seafood
that I know traveled thousands of miles
to get to my table.
It doesn't taste like Arizona,
that's for sure.
We do a lot of fish here.
The halibut is really popular.
[Nick] There's far too much
on the platter. It's confusing.
The plates are even a mess.
It's matching the decor inside this place.
Nothing has been thought out.
When you try to create a guest experience,
it's gotta be clean,
it's gotta be consistent and precise.
That's how the guest's gonna read it.
And it's either gonna make them come back
or never come back.
What's the story
with you and this restaurant?
This restaurant is different
than it was when I first opened.
We started about 17 years ago.
And we opened up as a full day spa
with a very small restaurant.
Then it's making people feel good,
and they come in and they're happy,
and they're getting a facial or a massage,
and they're with their friends.
And then they'd go over to the restaurant
and have martinis and lunch.
[Karin] That sounds like
an amazing Saturday, just so you know.
Going to the spa,
and then going to eat right after.
I think that's
the world's first "spasterant."
- [laughing] Good one, Dennis. I like that.
- [Dennis] That is a new word.
I invented it.
You can have the rights to it.
[Heidi and Karin laugh]
We weren't really expecting to grow into
a full restaurant at the time.
What made you make that transition
completely from a spa to a restaurant?
It was hard for me to do both businesses,
to go back and forth.
So, I kind of was having to pick
which one that I wanted to do.
The restaurant industry is really fun.
And doing events and parties
was really fun.
I think I just went with my heart.
Taking it from one business
to another business gradually,
it was never finished.
And so, it was overwhelming.
Every day we walked into that.
Honestly, it's depressing.
And I was... kind of just getting to
the point where I can't do any more.
[Nick] I really feel for Heidi.
I mean, she started off with
a very strong sense of what is possible.
But she lost her vision along the way
trying to handle everything
that was thrown at her.
If this restaurant were to fail,
what is at stake for you?
We could... [crying]
Sorry.
[Nick] Heidi can't even
entertain the reality
that her business could fail.
But you can't bury your head in the sand.
Restaurants have a high failure rate.
It's just a fact.
She needs to get clarity if she wants
a fighting chance to keep her dream.
We're gonna come in here
and make a big transformation.
So, I need to know what are the things
that you're prepared to let go of,
and what must stay?
Honestly, I don't really have
any real connection
to anything that has to stay.
I'm open to a new start.
- This is your fresh start.
- Thank you. [chuckles]
[Karin] The Vu Bistro
began as a spa/wine bar
that morphed into a restaurant.
But Heidi fell short of her vision.
Arizona is very beautiful.
You're looking at this gorgeous,
earthy-tone landscape,
and it's really relaxing.
But inside, the Vu Bistro is so chaotic.
It's no surprise customers
stick to the patio
and never wanna come inside
to spend any time.
So, I really wanna bring the outside in
and make these two things cohesive,
and create the restaurant
Heidi has always dreamed of.
This is a huge job.
Where do I start?
It's kind of overwhelming.
A little bit of tidying is gonna help.
A lot of color is gonna help.
It needs to feel bright and fresh,
like the outdoors.
I'm looking to the landscape
for my inspiration.
[Dennis] I'm just outside of Phoenix
in this little community called Mesa.
There is a ton of people here,
and they are all here
for one thing: vegetables.
Some of the best produce in America.
It's coming right across the border
from Mexico and ending up here in Arizona.
The restaurant right now
doesn't really have a food direction.
They're doing a million different things.
The direction of this restaurant should be
celebrating vegetables on the plate.
They are here o'plenty.
And there's a million things
you can do with them.
But the crazy thing is that all of this
beautiful produce was headed to the dump.
There is a massive food-waste problem.
And if a tomato or a carrot has
any blemish on it, that's not sellable.
About 60 million tons of fresh produce
is wasted every year
in the United States alone.
Luckily, there are people
doing something about it.
People like Yolanda.
This woman is on a mission
to save wasted food.
- Hello. How are you?
- [Yolanda] Hi! Hey. Hi, Dennis.
- Welcome. How are you?
- Thank you so... I am amazing.
It looks incredible here.
We are rescuing approximate
33 million pounds of produce per season.
We bring it to these markets
all over the state of Arizona.
[Dennis] What do people pay?
It's $12 for 70 pounds of produce.
17 cents a pound.
[Dennis] If you got in your car
and you drove to the supermarket,
you would spend probably hundreds
of dollars more for the same thing.
- This all looks perfect to me.
- [Yolanda] Isn't it?
- There's nothing wrong with this.
- So, why was it donated?
Because maybe it's got a little scarring.
And people at the market,
they don't wanna buy
a scarred yellow squash.
"No, it's ugly." Who cares?
Inside, it's perfect.
And when I grow carrots in my backyard,
they look ugly.
But they also taste beautiful.
And they shouldn't need to look just so.
We've got this broken system.
We've got to do our best
to save our planet.
[Dennis] We waste way too much food.
And we shouldn't be wasting any of it.
It's a precious resource.
[Yolanda] Look at these green beans.
Are they beautiful?
Look at those romas.
Tell me they're not beautiful.
[Dennis] They're salsa beautiful,
is what they are.
They are salsa beautiful,
or... your Italian salsas.
I like how you say "salsa" better than me.
[laughing]
The restaurant right now
is struggling financially.
Heidi is blowing her budget
on imported fish and seafood.
If she partnered up with
an organization like Borderlands,
she'd get access to local fresh produce
at wholesale prices
and do good for the planet
at the exact same time.
It seems like a no-brainer to me to
partner with somebody like Borderlands.
I'm gonna do my best to tell your story
and the story of this produce
and the story of food waste
on the plate of the Vu restaurant.
So, so honored to be able to do that.
The Vu Bistro doesn't look like
it belongs to the environment at all.
But right in Heidi's backyard
is an amazing example of a building
that's rooted in the landscape.
Frank Lloyd Wright was one of
the world's most influential architects,
and Taliesin West was his winter home.
Being here, I feel like
there's lots of takeaways
I can bring back to the restaurant.
Jeff Goodman makes it his mission
to help people understand
Wright's impact on the way we live.
[Jeff] You know, Wright was always
inspired by nature his whole life.
And he told his students,
in fact, study nature.
That's what you need to know
to learn how to design and build
because nature's already
figured it out for us.
[Karin] Frank Lloyd Wright believed
in organic architecture,
meaning the environment really inspired
what the buildings would look like.
[Jeff] I think this is one of the prime
examples of organic architecture,
the way the building just literally
disappears into the landscape behind it.
[Karin] It's so amazing,
the impact that design can have
on a person's experience.
When I walked into the Vu Bistro,
I felt anxious,
like I didn't know where to look.
I didn't wanna stay there.
That's the opposite
of what you want for a restaurant.
Oh, cool!
[Jeff] This is the garden room
in Frank Lloyd Wright's private residence.
It's clearly one of the most amazing rooms
in all of architecture.
But we don't necessarily notice
the radical ideas
because they make so much sense
that we've incorporated it
into how we live today.
We have floor-to-ceiling windows.
We have natural light that flood in.
But when Wright started designing homes,
at that point, houses were boxes.
And inside those boxes were little boxes
with maybe a little window.
What Wright did is he exploded the box.
[Karin] It really feels fluid
from the inside to the outside.
It really does feel like
an oasis in the desert.
[Jeff] You're really
still deeply connected
into this land that
Frank Lloyd Wright loved so much.
When I'm here, at this house,
I feel like I don't wanna leave.
It feels so calm and peaceful,
which is completely opposite
to the Vu Bistro.
It's dark and cluttered,
and it makes me feel anxious.
That environment has been
affecting Heidi for a long time.
So, my takeaway is that I really want
the Vu Bistro to be a space
that makes you feel good,
that makes you feel happy,
and that makes you feel like
you wanna stay there.
[Nick] So, today I decided to take Heidi
to a really cool spot.
Hip little diner, been there since 1971.
I've taken a look at reviews
for the Vu Bistro,
and I wanna talk to her
about one in particular
that really gets to the bottom
of Heidi's issues
and why her restaurant is struggling.
People are coming here
after 38 years consistently
because they're getting the same thing
every time they come to this diner.
They know they'll get the same service.
I wanted to talk to you
about what your struggles are.
I wanna go over a review with you.
You go over those every now and then?
Um...
- Not real often.
- Not real often.
"We made reservations, but we had to wait
45 minutes to be seated,
another 20 minutes before anyone
came to our table.
The bartender and manager are both nasty.
She screamed at us when we expressed
our displeasure with the poor service.
One star is too high of a rating
for this establishment."
- Do you remember that?
- I do remember that.
- So tell me about that.
- It was an extremely busy night.
The best thing in the world is being busy.
She called me stupid. Did she
put that on there? She called me stupid.
So I feel like she would write that
when she's calling people names.
If you see that we're crazy busy,
and you wait,
and then you complain,
then we can apologize,
- but I don't know what else to say.
- Yeah.
[Nick] When a guest is being abusive,
it's not a good experience.
But I do think that Heidi could have
kept things from escalating.
Do you feel that your life is chaotic?
It's chaotic in the way that
we're trying to make this restaurant
all work together.
And we've just had a hard time.
You keep saying "we." You're the leader.
You run that ship as far as
what people are gonna be seeing
and feeling in the place. That's your job.
We don't want bad reviews.
We don't want people not to be happy.
We don't want people
to have a bad experience.
I don't feel good about that,
and I don't want that to happen.
And I'm sorry, but sometimes I feel like
I don't know what else to do.
These situations, these reviews,
could have certainly been handled
that much better
if you were in that much better
of a clearer head space.
You would have had better communication.
You would have had way better way
of handling that.
At the end of the day, you've been
in this business for 17 years.
You're doing something right.
But everything that you're doing
along that way is very disorganized.
I feel like I'm having to do
every single thing.
So, watering the plants,
doing the windows,
getting the place set up.
Taxes. Payroll.
There's so many jobs that I have to do.
You and the business
is all over the place,
and it's showing
in everything you've executed.
You have to get a lot more focused
and find some balance.
This is a crazy business.
If you don't have your mind straight,
you're never gonna be able to create
a great experience.
[Heidi] We're gonna do
everything we can
to make this a destination
for people to come.
Heidi just needs to balance out
her mind, body, and soul.
Once she has that in line,
she's gonna be able to do anything
in this business.
[Dennis] I'm looking to put
some really unique ingredients
on the menu at the Vu Bistro.
I'm all for sourcing local,
and I'm in Arizona.
Local here means the desert.
People have lived here for thousands
of years and survived off of this land.
I'm really stoked
to just dive into the deep end
and learn what's available and delicious.
But, honestly, to me, it looks dead.
I don't know what's here.
Vincent is a survivalist. He's an expert.
He's a biologist. He knows these lands.
So we're gonna go out and forage today.
[Vincent] Dennis, this plant here
is called ocotillo.
These leaves might make you upchuck,
lose moisture, and get sick,
so we're gonna go for the flowers.
There you go.
So, go ahead and try one of those.
Chew that, and tell me
what you think of it.
There's a little bit of honey in there.
- Yeah.
- A little floral, little bit of orange.
The only bad taste you might get
if there's an ant in there.
Crazy ants taste like rotten blue cheese.
And what we can do with this is soak them
in water. We can make a drink with it.
Ocotillo drink is actually
quite delicious.
[Dennis] How do you know what's edible
and what's not?
[Vincent] You don't magically know,
so what you wanna do is know your plants.
Some are edible, some are less edible
and some are poisonous.
You have to know them, hands down.
That's why you have me here.
So, don't just willy-nilly
walk into the desert
- and start eating stuff.
- No.
[Dennis] It is much more lush
than I expected.
The Sonoran Desert you see out here
doesn't look like a desert
you see on TV or you've been to.
This is the tropical rainforest
of deserts right here
because it gets two rainy seasons,
a winter rainy season and a summer one.
So, look at all the vegetation out here.
The one thing I know about the desert
is it's not your friend.
[Vincent] Watch your rattlesnakes.
[Dennis] Is that where they hide,
in bushes like this? That's bananas.
The desert is out to get you.
It's there to hurt you.
And you know that there's
all these little creatures hiding,
but you can't see them.
You're just waiting for them to pop up.
- [Vincent] A stripe-tailed scorpion.
- [Dennis] Got it.
Look, he's trying to sting me.
And I better be very careful.
I better try to
get that stinger off there,
because, boy, he's gonna give me
a full dose of venom.
Let's cook it up by a fire
if we're lucky enough to make it
by twirling sticks together,
which is no easy thing.
- Can we just circle back?
- Yeah.
- You can eat these?
- You bet.
Minus the stinger, of course.
And these, obviously,
they're pretty abundant, I'm assuming.
They're very abundant. You might be
appalled how abundant they are.
- I've never eaten a scorpion before.
- Let's hold it first.
[Dennis] Is it still alive?
- [Vincent] It's still alive.
- How do I hold it?
I think I took the stinger...
- No, I'm just kidding. It's off there.
- [Dennis laughs]
- [Vincent] Just grab it anywhere.
- If you invited me over for dinner...
- [Vincent] Right.
- ...and you said,
"Hey, we're having scorpion," I may
or may not show up. I gotta be honest.
- You're a scorpion virgin.
- I am a scorpion virgin.
That's not something I thought I'd say
today. But I'm excited to try it.
I do really believe
when you go to a place,
the best thing you can do is eat
what's local and available.
We're in a desert. This is local
and available, so it's what we should eat.
I know that that might not inherently
end up in the restaurant
or on the menu,
but surviving on what you have,
taking those few ingredients
and making them delicious,
that is what's gonna end up
in the restaurant.
[Nick] I'm sending Heidi
to the most peaceful, tranquil environment
you can possibly get into.
It's a sound bath.
Hopefully, it's gonna help her
gain some clarity
so she can focus on running her business
in a calm and organized way.
[Ronee] The sound waves
help to entrain the brain waves.
So all the chatter
that's going on in your head,
it wants to be there for a little while,
and then after a couple of minutes,
your whole subconscious mind
just falls away
because it cannot make sense of the sounds
that it's hearing.
And it helps us to come into
a deeper state of relaxation.
[Nick] I really want Heidi
to get her mind together.
But you need that time away from
your business to make that happen.
That way, when you come in,
you're clean up here,
and then everything around you
is gonna be organized.
I really hope this is gonna be
a transformative experience for her.
[Ronee] Allow the vibrations
of the crystal singing bowls
to move the energy throughout you
to clear out anything that's stuck,
any emotions,
and to allow you to drop into a deep space
of relaxation and healing.
[Heidi] I don't have the stressful feeling
right now,
the anxiety of work and business.
I kind of just feel
like they've gone away.
And having the calmest inner feeling,
it's been so long.
[Ronee] Remember that
whatever you're feeling is fine.
And if you feel like you have tears
about to flow, let them flow.
That's how we cleanse.
That's how we purify ourselves.
[Heidi] The vibration,
I could feel it inside of me.
I could feel it in my fingers, in my toes,
and so peaceful that it just made me feel
like I wanted to cry.
It's been so long, for so many years.
It's so hard. [sniffles]
And I just feel like it's a new beginning
and it's a hope. It's a start.
I feel very relaxed, very calm.
I will continue to do this
at least once or twice a week.
I feel like the balance
would help me go to work
and not feel so uptight or so nervous.
[Ronee] Satnam.
Bless you, bless you, bless you.
From our hearts to yours.
[inhales deeply]
[exhales deeply]
[Karin] Repairs to fix the walls
and ceiling are underway at The Vu Bistro.
Right now, the paint on the walls
are dark and depressing.
I wanna bring in colors that are gonna pop
and truly reflect the Arizona countryside.
And there's no better way
to see those colors
- than on the back of a motorcycle.
- [engine revving]
I mean, I love adventure
and I love doing new things.
And it's doing new things
that really sparks ideas and inspiration.
I'm here to meet a woman named Geri,
and she's part of the Navajo Honor Riders.
And we're gonna go for a ride together.
- You're Geri? I'm Karin.
- I'm Geri.
- So how long have you been riding?
- I've been riding since I was little.
Basically, on the reservation,
there's a couple ways to get around,
and being on a motorcycle is one.
The second is being on horseback.
But we had a motorcycle
that we all shared.
The riding community
really brings people together.
It's a common interest.
You could have somebody
that you've never met ride with you
and become an instant friend.
And today is a beautiful day.
It is hot, and we're gonna go for a ride.
Before we head out, we're gonna have
a sage-smudging ceremony.
As the smoke is rising,
you're using that to bless your body,
from your toes all the way
to the top of your head.
You're basically blessing yourself,
your body, your bike, for the journey.
You're preparing yourself
for strength and protection.
[Karin] Meeting the Navajo Hopi Riders,
at first, it's a little bit intimidating,
'cause they're like this big biker group.
But they're so friendly,
and it feels like such an honor
to be doing this ride with them.
[engine starts]
I'm here to collect ideas for design
and take it back to the restaurant.
So, I know that this is gonna be
a really cool experience.
[Dennis] I'm still in the desert,
foraging with Vincent.
His buddy Mick has joined us,
and he's got a crazy story
of getting stranded in the desert
for 46 hours after his car died.
It was 108 degrees.
They say I walked 19 miles.
All of a sudden, a dirt biker showed up.
He's like my personal superhero.
- I've been lost for an hour...
- [Mick laughs]
...and been terrified
in the grocery store,
so I can't even comprehend
what you would have been going through.
How about we learn some desert foods
that maybe you could have eaten
during your ordeal?
[Dennis] Vincent just showed me
what is in this desert,
what you can eat, what you shouldn't eat,
and how to really
start to navigate your way around
kind of living
in these really harsh conditions.
Vincent is the perfect person
to have by your side in this scenario.
He knows what he's doing.
So, all of these edible flowers,
these greens, and the scorpion,
we are gonna cook up right now.
Doesn't get any fresher than that.
[Vincent] That scorpion, we'll watch as it
turns color and maybe shrivels a bit.
How do you know this is cooked?
It's like a shrimp, where it's
translucent, and it's gonna go to pink?
No sushi here.
We're gonna overcook it, just in case
there are intestinal parasites and such.
Meanwhile, we have our drink we set up
from ocotillo flowers earlier.
[Dennis] It's great.
It's really refreshing.
- It's like flavored mineral water almost.
- [Vincent] Exactly.
Floral. A little bit sweet.
[Vincent] Guys, I think the scorpion's
been in there long enough.
What we're gonna do is section it up.
Do you fancy a tail, a head, a claw?
What do you like?
- You know what, I'll do the tail.
- [Vincent] It's hot.
[Mick] I get the pincers and the head.
[Vincent] The pincer and the head.
Best part.
[Dennis] All right. Bottoms up.
[Vincent] Enjoy, Dennis.
[Dennis] To be very honest,
that is much better
than I thought it would be.
Yeah. It's very pleasant.
[Dennis] It's actually
really naturally salty.
Slightly crunchy on the outside.
I've eaten lobster
a million times in my life.
- [Vincent] Right.
- It's like a mini little lobster.
You bet. Lobster of the desert,
let's call it.
[Dennis] Being in the desert is all about
finding what's around you,
what's available, and cooking it simply.
Right now, at the restaurant, it's
way over-complicated. The menu is nuts.
They need to whittle that right back,
get back to basics,
and make sure that it's sustainable.
[Karin] I'm riding into Apache territory
with a convoy of Navajo Hopi Riders.
This is how you see Arizona.
Looking around
at this beautiful, gorgeous landscape,
I keep thinking about the restaurant,
and I keep thinking about how much I wanna
bring in some of these earthy tones.
Native American tribes of Arizona
began mining turquoise
in these parts thousands of years ago.
During the Old West,
prospectors were digging for silver.
- Hello.
- [Karin] Hi.
Tyler is a silversmith
who's keeping the Navajo legacy alive.
This looks really good.
What I'm doing here
is creating Navajo jewelry.
A lot of designs labeled
as Southwestern wear
are all derived from Navajo designs.
We've always incorporated
geometric patterns into our weavings
- and then eventually into our jewelry.
- [Karin] It's beautiful.
- [Tyler] Thank you.
- It's really beautiful.
[Tyler] Start with the bare essentials,
silver and turquoise.
Some of this here
is turquoise in its natural form.
[Karin] So, when you get the turquoise,
- you get it in this raw form, like this?
- Yes.
- [Karin] Then you make it into these.
- [Tyler] Yes.
I actually had no idea that turquoise,
there were so many variations in blue.
It depends on the amount of copper
and different elements that are in it.
So, in Nevada,
you'll see more green turquoise,
whereas in Arizona,
you'll see more blue turquoise.
The turquoise stone is actually
a protection stone for us.
It will help you in your journey
for protection and strength.
And it's also a way
for the Navajo gods to see us,
and that also provides for our protection.
So this is really
like a spiritual stone, then?
Yes.
It's also a stone
that's a part of our creation stories.
It's a part of our ceremonies,
so it's a very sacred stone for us.
[Karin] Today has given me
so much inspiration.
Not only just from the landscape
and the environment,
but I love the idea that turquoise
is considered sacred.
So I really want to incorporate
turquoise into the restaurant
to give Heidi a source of protection,
but also as a jumping-off point
for the design.
[Nick] I'm here
at the Buffalo Chip Saloon and Steakhouse.
This place has
one of the best Western vibes,
where a rodeo is attached to it.
Talk about an experience.
I mean, never in my life have I walked
into an establishment... with a horse.
This place has been rocking since 1951.
To be able to achieve that,
you're doing something right.
But there is a lot going wrong
at The Vu Bistro,
especially when it comes
to customer service.
So I wanna dive into this cowboy culture.
I wanna taste the food.
I wanna have the drinks.
I wanna talk with the locals
and get the goods
on what you need for success
straight from the horse's mouth.
Larry, tell me about this place, man.
I bought it in 1998, and we determined
that we were gonna make the Buffalo Chip
the happeningest Western place in Arizona.
[Terry] Buffalo Chip
is a memory-making place.
You have a relative or a friend
come in town from anywhere,
you bring 'em here,
and they're gonna remember Cave Creek.
- They're gonna remember the Buffalo Chip.
- [Nick] Yeah.
I knew a lot about this place, but what
I didn't know is they have church here.
Every Sunday. And here's why.
I spend all week making sinners
out of these people.
You see what I'm saying?
How many people come through here
roughly on an average week?
About 10,000 people a week.
- Wow.
- [Larry] Yeah.
- We do 10,000 pounds of meat a week.
- Oh, my goodness.
Between the chicken,
the brisket, the ribs.
I imagine they're always on the menu.
- [Terry] Oh, yeah.
- Always on the menu.
You gotta be consistent.
If you get somebody that comes in,
and they have those ribs tonight,
and they come tomorrow,
and you don't have them,
they won't be back.
The reason I'm here is I'm working
with a restaurant called Vu Bistro,
and I'm trying to figure out
how to drive more business,
similar to what you have going here.
- [Larry] Sure.
- [Nick] What's your recipe for success?
How can I create a consistent crowd
like you have here?
[Larry] Treat every person
that walks through that door special.
They can sit at home in their living room
and watch their big screen
and eat or drink
at a third of the price that they do here.
You gotta give them something extra.
[crowd cheering]
[Nick] The Vu Bistro, it's got
one of the most beautiful views
you've ever seen.
Do you think that's enough
to drive a crowd in?
You know, my gut tells me no,
because, my gosh,
there's so many beautiful sunsets
and sunrises here in Arizona.
And there's so many places
that tout a view.
So tell me, what are you
gathering from your viewers
that people are looking for in this area?
If everyone has a view, what do they want?
It's what they've got going here,
a sense of community.
[Larry] They're not just here
for the view.
They're here to feel like
they're part of this community,
and that's what we try and do.
[Nick] Creating community actually starts
with getting the word out.
So, I asked Matthew,
who is a well-known DJ in town,
to promote the Vu's reopening on his show.
They always say people will never remember
what you tell them.
They will only remember
how you make them feel.
- Right.
- Nothing else matters. It really doesn't.
[Nick] I'm never gonna create
the energy level
that they have at the Buffalo Chip
and apply it directly to the Vu Bistro.
The Vu isn't a cowboy bar,
but Heidi's dream
to create a fun atmosphere
that caters to big parties
and events is a great hook.
With all the changes we're making
and being organized
and consistent with customer service,
Heidi's gonna build that community,
and people are gonna keep coming back.
[Matthew] So, there's a new spot
in Fountain Hills,
it's called the Vu Bistro.
Not so new. They just had a facelift
and a new menu.
So, if you're looking for a fun night out
with one of the best sunset views in town,
drop by, or even better,
make a reservation.
Heidi and her team are looking forward
to making you feel at home.
[Karin] Our time in Arizona has given us
a lot of inspiration,
and now we're coming together to discuss
our game plan for the Vu Bistro.
I don't know about you guys,
but I had some pretty amazing adventures
here in the last couple of days.
I got to go in the desert. We cooked.
We made a fire. I ate a scorpion.
- That was crazy.
- Wait, I have to ask. How did it taste?
It was equal parts salty and terrifying.
- Okay. [chuckles]
- But really my biggest takeaway was
the desert looks desolate,
but it's abundant.
Now, obviously, I'm not putting scorpion
on the menu.
But cactus, they are everywhere,
and they're edible.
So, I'm gonna make cactus fries.
They're the perfect appetizer.
You're looking at cactus
while you're eating cactus,
how awesome is that?
I've never eaten cactus before.
- Well, you'll be able to try it.
- [laughing]
And I met this woman named Yolanda.
She runs this organization
called Borderlands. They save produce.
See this little notch right here?
That means that it's getting thrown out.
This looks like a perfect tomato to me.
[Dennis] Produce comes in from Mexico.
First stop is Arizona,
so it's super fresh.
The restaurant needs to celebrate that.
Right now, they're not.
They're bringing in ingredients
from God knows where.
Oysters, mussels. The ocean's not here
and they need to use what's available.
I'm gonna make a shareable taco platter
inspired by my trip to Borderlands.
It's all about produce.
Yeah, there's a little chicken
and some tortillas.
But really, it's about the pico de gallo,
the grilled veggies.
It's all about using every single bit
of every vegetable.
I'm actually gonna plate it
on a sheet pan,
really family-style and rustic.
And things like this.
Things like beans, tomatoes,
things that are canned,
they're super cost-effective.
The restaurant should be using this.
I'm gonna make a vegetarian chili.
Everybody loves chili.
And it's really inexpensive to reproduce.
I wanna use every
partially-spoiled vegetable
that I got from Borderlands
and throw it into this chili.
And if those veggies change
season after season, just change it up,
use whatever you have available.
I think Heidi's really gonna love the menu
I'm creating for her,
because she wants people
to come and hang out here.
She wants people to tell their friends,
and them tell their friends,
so that they all get together
and have one big party here,
just like she started that spa years ago.
That's what these dishes will do.
They're all about having fun at the table.
Every one of those things you said
are far more appealing
than the plate of oysters that came out
to us that first night.
[Dennis] Yeah, absolutely.
Do you guys know
who Frank Lloyd Wright is?
- I have heard of him.
- You have?
He's an astronaut, isn't he?
He's probably known as one of
the most iconic American architects.
I got to go see his home, Taliesin West,
and it was unbelievable.
I wanna bring in
some of Wright's philosophy
of bringing the outdoors inside
and creating a space that feels calm,
so that you wanna be there,
you wanna relax,
and you wanna stay in that environment.
I had another amazing adventure.
I had the honor of hopping
on the back of a motorcycle
with the Navajo Hopi Honor Riders.
While I was on the back of this bike,
I'm seeing these beautiful
terra-cotta mountains in the background.
I'm thinking to myself,
this has to come into the restaurant.
So, the main room
is gonna be painted terra-cotta.
The Navajo Hopi Honor Riders
took me to meet Tyler.
He's a silversmith,
and he makes Navajo jewelry
- with silver and turquoise.
- [Dennis] It's beautiful.
Turquoise, I learned,
really represents prosperity and safety.
It'd be great to bring that
into the restaurant.
So, the room in the back
will be painted turquoise.
And I found these baskets,
which I think are really, really cool.
These would be fun to use
as artwork on the walls.
And the great thing
is that they match the color scheme.
I'm going to reupholster
some of the chairs in the dining room
in this cowhide because it's gotta feel
a little Western in there.
We're gonna bring in
some leather barstools.
I think the leather is gonna look
really good against the terra-cotta walls.
And then we'll change out the lighting,
putting in new fixtures
that are soft and beautiful.
We'll also bring in
some eclectic artwork and plants.
I wanna make the restaurant feel
like it's from Arizona.
And when you're looking out
at that incredible view
and you're looking inside, the whole place
is gonna feel really cohesive.
It's gonna have
a completely different vibe,
and it's gonna feel fun.
That's what this restaurant needs.
It needs to feel fun.
So, I went to this really cool saloon.
It's called
the Buffalo Chip Saloon and Steakhouse.
This place has been in business
since 1951.
It's showed consistency.
And everything is really done right
inside that place.
Service at the Buffalo Chip
was so on point,
and part of that was how organized
they were, especially the bar.
So, I wanna do that for Heidi.
Get her bar organized.
I wanna brighten it up a little bit.
Allow people to know that there's
some freshness, that it was thought out.
I really think Heidi is going to love
the outcome of this place.
[Karin] This is a huge restaurant
and an even bigger transformation.
The restaurant has come together
exactly the way that I want it to.
It looks really, really good.
I'm really excited for Heidi to see it.
Oh, my God!
[whimpering]
I just can't believe it.
Oh, my God!
Wow.
So cute. I love it.
It is so awesome.
It's so perfect. It's so beautiful.
- [Karin] Hi. [chuckles]
- [Heidi] Hi!
Nice to see you.
- [Heidi] It's a big transformation.
- [Karin] Huge transformation.
[Heidi] It's beautiful.
[Karin] The first thing I wanted to do
was declutter and clean up.
A decluttered space is a decluttered mind.
Nick came in
and completely reorganized the bar,
so now it's very functional.
I love these stools,
because they almost look like saddles.
We painted out the ceiling black.
Looks really clean. The TVs just disappear
right into the ceiling.
The ceiling looks amazing.
This is so much bigger over here.
And now it's all so open.
The low seating that was
at the front of the restaurant there,
we moved all of that out.
We painted the walls terra-cotta.
The terra-cotta was really inspired
by the Arizona landscape.
[Heidi] When the sun shines
on that mountain right there,
that's almost the same color.
- You get the terra-cotta. Exactly.
- Yeah.
[Karin] Everything just flows
really nicely together.
It's just so beautiful.
[Karin] Let me take you
to this part of the dining room.
[Heidi] This is so much different,
just the feel when you walk in here.
[Karin] The biggest change is, obviously,
the color of the walls.
Turquoise is my favorite stone,
and it's my birthstone,
so it's awesome you picked that color.
I would have never thought that.
I've reused your sofa,
but brought in
a whole bunch of Navajo prints.
Fun pillows,
these Navajo-inspired baskets.
So, the whole vibe is a little bit
Arizona, Southwestern, Bohemian.
We reupholstered the chairs
in this cowhide print.
[Heidi] Look how great they look.
I can't even believe it.
And look at these amazing lights.
I replaced your chandeliers.
What I love about these lights
is that they're big, they fill the space,
and they're light and bright.
It's absolutely gorgeous. I love it.
- You love it?
- I love it.
Now it has a theme,
and it has a story to it.
[Karin] And the story is Arizona.
[Heidi] I absolutely love it.
Thank you for picking this out for me.
- Oh, my gosh, you're so welcome.
- [crying]
You're so welcome.
[Heidi] To come in and have it
completely done and fixed and new,
and I didn't have to do
any of the thinking,
has given me the chance to go forward
and not having the weight
of all the responsibilities on my own.
[Karin] Sometimes, people just need
a bit of a push in the right direction,
and I think this restaurant transformation
was exactly that for Heidi.
It's a fresh start.
[Dennis] Heidi's been lost
for a long time.
She's been confused.
Her restaurant didn't make sense.
And I'm so honored that we got to
come here and give her direction,
give her a menu that works.
- What's up, everybody?
- Hey.
- [Karin] There he is.
- [Nick] Look at that.
[Dennis] We get to show her
about what it means
to celebrate Arizona on the plate.
- All right.
- [Karin] Holy!
That looks amazing.
So, Heidi, I made you some dishes
based on, kind of, my inspiration
and my amazing time
touring around Arizona.
- First, cactus fries.
- [gasps]
There's cactus everywhere here.
Deep fried, it's so good.
Nice little chipotle mayo
on the side, so you can dip it.
So, this is my desert chili.
It's a vegetarian chili.
- Wow. It's so fresh.
- All of this produce
was going to be wasted
because it had a little nick in it
or the color wasn't right.
But it was saved by this organization
called Borderland.
Chili's just great any time of the year,
and it's super affordable to recreate.
Pièce de résistance, Borderland Tacos.
Super and tailor-made for a group
of people to get around and tuck in.
It's meant to be shared.
It's meant for friends and family
to come out and have a really great time
around the table.
It's absolutely gorgeous.
This looks like the food
we should be eating in this room.
Are you guys hungry?
- I wanna eat. I wanna dig in.
- I think she's...
And how cool is it that
these dishes come from the desert?
Mmm.
[Dennis] Come from wasted food
that's not wasted anymore,
that we're saving
because it's perfectly good
and should be put on the plate.
Dennis, I'm into these cactus fries.
These are really good.
[Heidi] It's fresh, it's light,
it's delicious,
and it feels like Arizona.
See the cactuses
and eat cactuses at the same time.
And it's all family style.
It's all fun.
It's all about the community.
Making dishes like this
that are meant for communal-style,
family-style eating,
it just invites an environment
where people wanna hang out.
And I feel like having
family-style platters like that
will also help us as marketing
for bigger groups.
- Mmm-hmm.
- I think that'll help.
I guarantee they're gonna go away.
They're gonna take photos, post it online.
- They're gonna show their friends.
- You're gonna have a hot spot.
This is gonna be great.
- [Nick] Yeah.
- Yeah.
- Totally.
- Prepare yourself.
- [Nick] Yes.
- [all laughing]
Heidi, I have to say,
I just can't get over your energy
- and the aura that's coming off of you.
- Thank you.
I remember the first time we met you,
and you started crying.
It must have been five minutes
of meeting you.
I almost took it personally.
To be fair, I cried when I met you
for the first time, too.
I don't blame you.
Seeing you here now,
you just seem cool, calm, and collected.
Yes, I feel it.
I've been so interested to see
how that sound bath was for you.
It was so relaxing and centering.
And that made me feel
more in control, I think.
Even the next day,
I looked in the mirror, and I thought,
"I look different."
I mean, I felt... [laughs]
I did. I felt like I just looked
not as stressed.
You're so laser-focused.
I'm so proud of you.
- Thank you.
- [Nick] I'm really, really proud of you.
- This is a big transformation.
- Thank you.
- It's a big transformation.
- Huge.
[Nick] We're looking at a whole new Heidi.
Not only did we change her space,
her food, the entire vibe in this place,
but we changed her inside.
And I feel that Heidi
is on the track to success,
and having her mind
and her business in line.
And more than anything, organized.
She's now Tidy Heidi.
A weight has lifted off of me
on so many different levels.
This was such a huge gift
that you guys brought to me.
[sniffles] I'm very grateful.
I feel like I can
start my business, fresh start.
- Yeah! I like it.
- [laughs]
- [Dennis] Mission accomplished.
- [Karin] Nice!