Seascape

The Seascape opened its doors in 1967 and it was the toast of the town. The place was jam-packed and did as many as 300 covers on a Saturday night. There was energy in the place and everyone was making money.

Fast forward 40 years, and the restaurant is failing. The place reeks of raw sewage. The décor is outdated and dilapidated. The kitchen is filthy. The food is of deplorable quality.

Part of what led to this was the death of the original owner—Peter’s father. While he was hands-on and authoritative, Peter was a wimp who had very little people and leadership skills. His chef, Doug, just brushed him off as he saw him as a joke.

Throughout the show, Gordon and Irene (Peter’s mom) were trying to encourage Peter to man up. Gordon even had a sparring session with him to encourage him to take more control and be more assertive. Gordon tried to give Peter a pep talk to encourage him to live up to his father’s expectations.

Things seemed to look up for the restaurant on relaunch night. The place was restored back to its vintage look. The tableside flambé, which was a signature dish at the restaurant, was brought back by Marilyn—a waitress who worked at the restaurant since day one. Doug, who was a cancer in the restaurant, was fired.

Sadly, the optimism was short-lived. The restaurant reverted back to its old ways and was sold after the show was recorded. It even said so at the end of the episode.

It is a very common story for one generation to build wealth and for another to lose it. That is the story of Seascape.

Peter's dad built the restaurant into a great success. He had a strong personality and was able to captain the Seascape into become one of the finest restaurants in Long Island.

Sadly, he was not able to instill his skills and passion into his son.

Peter was weak-willed and was not able to provide the much-needed leadership that the restaurant required. His chef was out of control, staff morale was very low, and there was no buzz for the restaurant. If you look at the families such as the Waltons, the Johnsons, and the Mars, you see families that were able to keep their wealth through the generations because the founders were able to successfully mentor their succeeding generations.

Peter was not able to gain the knowledge and skills of his father. This led to the restaurant's downfall.

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