An appearance on reality television show The Kitchen Job has left a Kensington cafe owner feeling short changed and vowing not to repeat the experience.
The show is based on the idea that New York restaurateur extraordinaire John Palino will save restaurant and cafe owners around New Zealand from the brinkof ruin.
Owner of Piece a Cake cafe Tracy Telfer applied to be on the show last year and was in two minds about whether to sell her business - with a focus on cakes and cupcakes - when the show's producers called.
Mr Palino arrived in June, interviewed staff and formulated a plan, before returning with a team three weeks later. His list of criticisms included the cafe's hard to find location, lack of a brunch menu and cluttered kitchen space.
The team got to work repainting the cafe, relocating the dishwashing area and removing an island bench. The producers failed to convince Ms Telfer to open on a Saturday and they disagreed over new logos.
After swapping the baking and kitchen areas around the makeover maestros forgot that gas and electrical supplies were in the wrong position and were a "bit fazed" by their mistake, Ms Telfer said.
Her friends painted a planter box outside the cafe but when washing their brushes in the sink noticed red paint pouring on to the cafe floor - the team of experts had forgotten to reconnect the wastewater pipes to the sink. "They had all day to get everything fitted and painted but they left the place in a mess. It was the third late night in a row and I thought why did I do this?"
More drama followed when the team jammed umbrella stands into the freshly painted planter box and wind blew the whole lot over.
"There was dirt everywhere. I thought oh no not another thing to go wrong."
"Then John managed to stab himself to the bone while cutting rope."
It was difficult to say whether business had increased as a result of the improvements but after watching other programmes Ms Telfer said she felt she had got the "short end of the stick".
"I'm not ungrateful but I look at other shows and feel more time and money could have been spent."
The Kitchen Job, Piece A Cake, TV3, Tuesday at 7.30pm.
