Grilled: 2008 Taste of the Nation

Jeannette Ortiz, Buddakan

What do you think of the blogs/Web sites aggressively covering the NYC scene?
My favorite is Eater. Every morning or afternoon, we open up our computer to Eater. That’s how we get to know about the restaurant world. The new dishes, who’s in and who’s out.

Who opens it up?
The six sous-chefs.

So where’s Dale?
Oh my goodness, this is the second time somebody has asked about him. I think he is going to win, but he can’t tell us anything. He’s working tonight. We have a buyout.

Does he always freak out like he did a couple weeks ago on the show?
Not only him but all of us. It’s a very stressed environment. Normally on Saturdays we have 1,100 covers. So how would you not melt down?