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I want you to stay over there,
and don't tell me nothing else!
IRVINE: Next on "Restaurant Impossible"...
IRVINE: "Loud, mean...."
Nobody wants to work with you.
IRVINE: ...besides a restaurant owner
who's as stubborn as they come...
You're gonna fail 'cause you don't have the answers.
...I also have a design team that's at each other's throats.
But when other things get messed up
because I'm not there to watch it,
don't come crying to me.
TOM: You're wasting my time.
This mission will have me looking to the clouds
for direction.
NARRATOR: Chef Robert Irvine has 2 days and $10,000
to do the impossible.
-- Captions by VITAC --
Closed Captions provided by Scripps Networks, LLC.
I'm in Atlanta, Georgia -- Day 1 of my next mission.
I'm headed to meet Mikell and Jaliwa,
owners of Marie's at the Ummat Café.
I opened Marie's at Ummat Café a little over a year ago.
I love to cook, I love catering,
so I thought I could open a restaurant no problem.
We thought that we would just come in here,
give great food, great service, and people would come in,
but it hasn't happened that way,
and so it's been frustrating
because we aren't making any money.
We're losing money every month.
I quickly learned that there was no similarity
in catering and being a restaurateur.
MIKELL: Many of our customers
are from the Muslim community in this area.
They keep us afloat.
But it just isn't enough to sustain a restaurant.
We really need to bring in the community --
you know, non-Muslims.
MIKELL: I think the thing that upsets me the most
is seeing my wife just getting beaten down.
I think she deserves, you know, a lot of help.
JALIWA: When my husband and I first opened the restaurant,
I thought my children would be on board.
Our vision was, we were opening a restaurant
that we could hand to our children --
you know, that this was an investment for the future.
They think their mother is a micromanager.
They don't want to work for her because she's always on them.
I want you to stay over there, and don't tell me nothing else!
I just handed it to him!
JALIWA: It's hard, as a mother,
to think that your children don't like you,
children don't want to be around you.
MIKELL: My wife -- she's one of the kindest,
most generous people that I've met,
and I think a part of this restaurant
is her wanting to give back to the community.
And I see it breaking her down and beating her up.
They're counting on me to turn things around,
and I've got just two days and $10,000 to do it.
On first looks,
it's a shopping mall with a mosque next to the café.
Pretty much nothing else.
Wow!
Floor -- well, two types of tile.
Tables and chairs -- very, very mismatched.
Holes in the ceiling.
I'm trying to figure out what type of restaurant it is.
This is not a place
I would drive from my home if I lived down the road
to come to.
Good morning.
Good morning.
So, tell me about the restaurant --
Marie's at Ummat Café.
Marie is my mother.
She passed away when I was 19,
and I always wanted to honor her
and have, you know, a restaurant for her.
No.
So, why would you invest in a restaurant
with no knowledge?
We don't know. We don't know.
We had a mental breakdown for a second, I think.
Who's predominantly the people that come in?
We're right next door to the mosque,
and so most of our customers come from the mosque.
Not really.
That people that have trickled in
thought that we were the dining hall for the mosque.
So, is this a Muslim-based menu?
No. Not at all.
It's a little bit of soul food, and we do chicken wings.
And we do, you know, fish, fried fish, hush puppies.
We have falafel, salad.
Who says so?
I say so.
I'm cooking.
Three servers,
and we have three people in the kitchen.
Yeah.
My husband had a knee replacement,
so he came for the recuperation period.
Five.
Was it for the kids that you bought the restaurant?
I think we saw that as something that they could take it over, yes.
[ Sighs ]
And then, a month to the day
after we purchased this restaurant,
our house burned down.
Your house burned down?
It was 100% loss.
Then, a month to the day after that,
my nephew passed away --
29 years old.
So, he became like your son.
So, it's been a pretty tough year all around, right?
So, hopefully, you can change some luck around,
but here's what I want you to do --
I want you to do a service for me,
but don't change anything.
Off you go. Get yourself ready.
Thank you.
Thank you, chef.
Welcome to Marie's.
The decor is kind of a mix of a little bit of everything.
It doesn't feel cohesive.
It's just brown, and nothing pops out at you.
There's nothing that really stipulates
what kind of restaurant it even is.
Noni.
Noni, very nice to meet you.
You, too.
So, what are you doing now?
Now, my dad had surgery,
so I was kind of running front of the house
while he was out.
Oh, you're the daughter of Jaliwa?
Yeah, the oldest daughter.
So, why are you failing?
'Cause we have no idea what we're doing. [ Chuckles ]
Did the broccoli go out with the Marie salad?
You didn't get the broccoli?
IRVINE: Right away,
I can see that they're missing proper refrigeration,
which I'll have to fix.
JALIWA: Did I get these lemon pepper and a six spread of shrimp with mac and cheese?
I need an order of fries.
That is for this order right here.
I want you over there.
That's where I want you to be. That's where I want you to stay.
What are these wings doing right here? What's that?
WOMAN: I don't know what's going on 'cause I just came over here,
so I don't know what's going on with this.
IRVINE: Jaliwa is trying to micromanage everyone,
and in turn, is causing more chaos.
JALIWA: You didn't send out the fries.
SERVER: I already gave that to them.
Okay!
I need everybody to come look at these tickets
so you know what you're doing.
That's going to table 6.
No, it doesn't. Arianna just took the ticket.
Whoo!
I need four side salads going out.
I ordered just, like, a house salad.
It just isn't very good.
It took about a half an hour
for the food to come out after we ordered it.
They're bringing me other food other than what I ordered,
so I'm not sure what happened.
What is going on in this kitchen?
This breakdown in this kitchen today
was because they didn't do what they were supposed to do.
IRVINE: Jaliwa blames the failure of this service on her staff, but I suspect...
Macaroni and cheese, tuna-salad sandwich.
...her cooking has something to do with it.
What is the biggest-selling thing on this?
The fish supreme sandwich here.
Okay. I'll try that.
Thank you.
JALIWA: Baked tilapias in the oven, y'all.
MAN: Two minutes.
Tuna sandwich.
Tuna sandwich.
But when other things get messed up
because I'm not there to watch it,
don't come crying to me.
TOM: You're wasting my time and my people's time,
and I don't have that time.
Open your eyes!
Oh, my...
IRVINE: Jaliwa assures me her food is good.
Maybe this will be the saving grace of the restaurant.
Something very sweet in the tuna.
it's far too sweet for me.
Thank you. This is the fish sandwich.
This is what you're known for.
This is flaky. The bread's nice and soft.
I don't think you need that cheap cheese on it.
I think we can expand on that.
Those are the regular wings.
Baked chicken.
Sweet and sour.
And lemon pepper.
The baked chicken.
I don't understand why everything is so sweet in this place.
Collard greens. Well...
They just taste like vinegar -- not good.
Mac and cheese.
No seasoning. No taste.
And it tastes like it comes straight from a packet.
That was not a good experience.
There was eight types of wings.
This is the lemon pepper.
I think you can get that anywhere.
Plain chicken wings.
Same as that, without the seasoning.
Sweet and sour.
Noni, do you buy the sauce for this?
Uh, yes, we do. Mm-hmm.
It tastes like store-bought.
Okay.
MIKELL: Okay.
I wish there was something good I could tell you,
but there really isn't.
This is tasteless.
I mean, seriously.
I don't think it's, like, terrible,
and the mac and cheese is fabulous -- I don't care.
You're delusional.
This is garbage.
If you're trying to attract other people
Absolutely.
it's not happening,
because they can get chicken wings in a bar down the road
better than this.
I can get mac and cheese anywhere on the planet.
If you're gonna make soul food,
then make it soulful, and make it from your soul.
Your kitchen is not set up for success, either.
I've got to think of safety
because you've got chicken, you've got wings,
you know, you've got all these things from a cooler.
You can do that at home if you want,
but you can't do it in serving in a restaurant.
'Cause I'm, at the moment, lost,
because the environment which we're in
doesn't lend itself to people just driving up.
Yeah, that's true.
How do I turn this? How do I design this,
food-wise, decor-wise,
'cause I'm trying to blend a culture
and keep your identity.
We didn't expect it to be such a great challenge.
[ Chuckles ]
All right, you can leave this.
I'm using this as inspiration.
IRVINE: I'm hoping the mosque next door
can be another source of inspiration.
It's important the changes I make
are respectful of the family's core beliefs.
Hello.
Hey. Pretty good.
Thank you very much.
Please have a seat.
So, I'm looking for guidance.
I need teaching of what I can't do and what I can do.
So, I thought it would be kind of cool
if you could give me the overview of the Muslim culture
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
I would say, as in the Muslim tradition,
there's no pork on our menu,
nothing with a pork byproduct.
What we would say is halal meat
would be meat that is slaughtered properly
and meat that is blessed.
Now, what about design?
Are there any special things
that I need to think about there?
The only thing
that would be on the side of not doing
would be using a lot of images,
in terms of eyes, people.
And people in general.
We're very conscious
about male-and-female interaction.
For a man who is not related to a woman,
Okay.
This is something
Okay.
Interesting. Well, I appreciate it.
No problem.
Best of luck.
All right.
IRVINE: Now that I've learned more
about what I can and can't do by Muslim standards,
I can start the restaurant's physical transformation.
IRVINE: So, here's my dilemma --
Mm-hmm.
We have a Muslim-run restaurant.
But not a Muslim restaurant?
But most of the customers come from the mosque.
The mosque. Okay.
It's not attracting people from the area,
which is strange because there are a lot of residents,
a lot of schools, businesses around here,
Yeah.
All right, tables and chairs -- all different,
so, chairs and tables have to be unified.
The floors are scaring the crap out of me.
Three different styles.
"Ummat" means "community."
I love the translation of Ummat.
I think the fact that it means "community"
gives me a good source of inspiration to work from.
All right, good?
Jaliwa, Mikell,
bring all your staff in the restaurant!
Let's get started!
Everything's gonna go right out front,
and then we'll sort through it from there.
IRVINE: Quick, quick, quick. Get it up, get it up.
TOM: Here, here. Stick it right there.
One space, five different chairs,
equals one big chunk out of my budget.
You know what we do with garbage -- out the door.
Out, out, out. Let's go. All of it out.
Robert came here,
he said this was the ugliest restaurant he had ever seen.
When he comes back in, he better say,
"This is the most beautiful job
in the history of the 107 restaurants that I've done."
What are we gonna do with this fish tank?
Sledgehammer.
Yep.
Your fish tank has to go.
These fish die, Robert's gonna buy me six more goldfish.
TOM: Are we putting them all there?
You know the storage unit is in the back, right?
Everything. Come on. Let's bring it back in.
We're doing this three times.
I should be working on the restaurant,
not bringing furniture in and out, in and out.
I'm angry because I took everything out of the restaurant
and it was disorganized
and now we got to bring it back to bring it outside through the restaurant.
TOM: In, in. Nice and neat.
If they had checked with me,
we'd be building a restaurant right now,
but instead, we're just reloading.
Oh, my goodness. Oh, my goodness.
Tom, what's going on? Tell me what's going on. Why are you upset?
Because we took everything out of the restaurant, right? We're done? So, I can start building?
But why?
'Cause the storage unit that we're gonna store everything is in the back.
Yeah.
And you know who I don't see right now?
Wow.
Taniya!
Tom, what's going on? Tell me what's going on. Why are you upset?
Because we took everything out of the restaurant, right? We're done? So, I can start building?
But why?
'Cause the storage unit that we're gonna store everything is in the back.
Yeah.
And you know who I don't see right now?
Wow.
Taniya!
Tom is really upset right now.
I know, but you know what?
We waste time because we take everything out,
and then we have to come all the way back through
to put it in the storage unit.
But you do understand I just walked in this space,
I don't know which tables are staying and which are going,
so in order to sort through them without it being chaos,
I figured, get them out front,
we'll figure out what are staying --
We should have just stuck stickers on them in here
and then took them out.
We ended up doing stickers out there, but my bad, then.
You better go and talk to Tom
'cause he's really upset with you.
I can't talk to him now. I'll let him cool down.
No, I know. I know. I saw.
You know what she's not saying?
It's not her fault.
I guarantee, 'cause she never says it's her fault.
Tom is probably complaining,
saying that I'm not taking the blame for anything.
Never. When I caught her doing something, she wouldn't admit it.
Guess what, Tom? I took the blame.
It was my bad.
So, after talking with Jaliwa this morning,
it's kind of evident to me that she bought this restaurant
so that she could have her five kids actually work here
and eventually leave them something.
I've got them gathered over in the mosque.
I'm gonna have a little chat with them
and find out why nobody wants to work here.
Family dynamics play a huge role in restaurants.
IRVINE: It's very apparent to me
after talking to your mom and dad this morning --
more your mom --
that she bought this restaurant for you guys.
[ Laughter ]
WOMAN: That's not true.
No.
She bought it for herself.
She may have in her mind said,
"I'm gonna do this for my children,"
but didn't ask us if we wanted it.
[ Laughs ]
'Cause we would have been like, "No."
Yeah, we don't want it,
and I think we made it clear
in the beginning.
So, let me ask you this question --
What is it about your mom that she does
that makes you not want to work here?
The way that she talks to people is not acceptable at all.
You know, I just kind of shut up sometimes
and just let the nonsense keep rolling.
The micromanaging is insane.
Yeah, "No, you don't make choices.
Yes. Yep.
You don't ask why, You don't ask how."
So, with that in mind,
what I want is for you to write down
what your mother was like before the restaurant.
Pass them all up to me.
Now, what is mom like now?
Pass me down the blues.
I think at this time, we should have your mom come in.
Yes.
Join us.
I asked them a question --
"What was mom like
before she got the restaurant?"
So, up on the wall there,
you see "happier,
"accommodating, social, caring, helpful,
considerate, selfless, loving, caretaker."
Yeah. Do you agree with that?
Whoever that person is
is just this wonderful, wonderful person.
Yeah, I agree with that.
Then I asked,
"What is mom like since the restaurant?"
Don't say a word.
IRVINE: "Irritable, unavailable,
Mm.
"ungrateful, inconsiderate, charitable, stressed,
"demanding, extreme micromanaging,
"nuisance,
Wow.
"restless, controlling, unhappy, exhausted,
"unavailable...
...trapped."
What are you feeling?
Unwanted.
I can say that if I had their help,
I would be available more often.
This is the only time in my life that I've asked them if they could help me.
But when they show up,
you don't allow them to help you,
and these are things I see.
I don't think that's true.
I didn't micromanage today.
Oh, you didn't?
I watched you in that kitchen.
You were barking orders and running.
[ Imitates yelling ]
I watched you.
Nobody wants to work with you.
That's just amazing to me.
IRVINE: It is amazing 'cause this is where
your lessons and your education of you starts.
If you weren't doing some of these,
maybe they would come and help you,
maybe they would enjoy helping you.
This is because they're not helping me!
When they do help you, you treat them this way.
TAKUMA: She was combative, you know,
towards pretty much anything that Chef Roberts had to say.
She had a rebuttal for it already.
IRVINE: If you don't change and you don't listen,
I understand that.
You don't understand that,
Let me --
No, listen, for a change.
Listen, don't have the answers,
'cause you don't have the answers.
All right?
Look at me.
You're not as tough as you think you are, and you don't have to be.
Any person that had to go through
what you went through last year --
the house, your nephew, this business...
You don't have to be the fighter
every minute of every day.
You are missing what's going on with your family.
What's going on?
I'm missing it.
You have a rebellion
because you're not listening to them.
You're so caught up in your world right now.
You're taking it out on them.
What are you thinking right now?
I'm just processing what you're saying, that's it.
ASHA: When I saw my mom's reactions,
I felt sad.
I think that it hit her hard,
but I hope that, you know, it did open her eyes.
NDOLA: My mom says that she gets it
and she understands where we're coming from.
We'll believe it when we see it.
TANIYA: This restaurant is big,
so a nice way to make it feel more cozy and more intimate
is with paint.
I'm gonna use a dark color on the base below the chair rail
and a nice, bright color up above.
Nice and bright.
Tom, what are we doing with the floor?
I can see you've started it, but...
Yeah, I mean, the only choice we had is to go over this tile --
We can't take the tile out, obviously.
That's a week job in itself.
We are using, like, a sheet vinyl,
so we're going over the entire floor.
We're just gonna patch it in between,
so that way, it levels out.
You can see we're working on the bar,
so what are we doing there?
The flooring that we're using --
it's a vinyl flooring,
and it'll wrap nicely around the corners.
And then we're gonna add
a layer of the vinyl flooring
just in the center, and I'll frame it out
The eyebrow. The eyebrow just went up.
I just think it'll be too much.
It won't be the same color, though.
Okay.
...that you see there.
I want it to be big.
I want it to have a statement and be unique,
so that's what I'm working on
is trying to think of something really "wow."
All right, so, lots to do.
You haven't really achieved anything yet
except getting everything out twice.
I've never actually seen Tom that angry at you.
I should be working on the restaurant,
not bringing furniture in and out, in and out.
If they had checked with me, we'd be building a restaurant right now,
but instead, we're just reloading.
IRVINE: Tom and Taniya need to focus on the task at hand.
Let's not waste time.
There is still a lot of work to do here,
and a family's livelihood is at stake.
I'm not confident there's a change happening with Jaliwa.
She's not gonna accept mediocrity
from anyone involved with her,
and I think that's one of the problems
we have with our children.
Today was a disaster.
Today was not acceptable.
It's Day 2 of my mission in Atlanta, Georgia,
and I'm on my way back to Marie's at the Ummat Café.
Yes.
The overall conception was...?
Well, so, the idea and the notion of community, to me,
inspired doing something that felt like houses in a row.
So, if you look at this, you almost see a community of homes.
So, it almost takes
a little play on what they do for the mosque
but modernizes it and makes it cool, so --
Which is great
because if I can't attract other people,
this restaurant's gonna fail.
I'm gonna meet Jaliwa.
She's my biggest nut to crack on this,
besides the restaurant.
Good morning.
Good morning, Chef.
When I left here last night,
my concern was that you weren't gonna listen
because you were stubborn.
What did you feel about yesterday?
Relief.
Relieved that I finally get it.
You do? What do you get?
I get that
I've given my children wings and now I have to let them fly.
I get that it's really not about me.
So, tell me the things that you fear.
Allah, which is God.
I fear not pleasing him. I fear not having my family.
My family, to me, is everything.
I fear not being kind.
The intensity of the work at the restaurant
and me having to bear that load has made me not be kind.
I fear ignorance
in the sense that you're not willing to learn more about it,
Do you feel,
in the present circumstance with the restaurant,
that you have been ignorant towards your children?
Absolutely.
Yesterday was very emotional for me --
I was hurt, I was disappointed,
Mm-hmm.
Last night, that relief came
and that burden left.
That was the best exercise
you could have done for our family.
IRVINE: Jaliwa finally understands
she has been imposing her needs onto her children
by making them work at the restaurant.
Now it's time to set them free.
Each one of these balloons represents freedom.
Five balloons, five children.
I think this is a very defining moment
because this is the beginning of something new.
I think you have to say something
to each one of your children.
Noni, I really want to thank you for being my rock,
being your siblings' sounding board,
and I thank you for that.
I want us both to let it go,
[ Chuckles ]
I love you.
Okay. There you go.
Okay.
Okay.
Asha, I know I was a strict mother.
I know I was that.
But that was because
I thought that was the way to draw you to your excellence,
which you are.
And for your wisdom, I thank you for that.
Okay. There you go.
[ Laughter ]
Love you, too.
Ndola, you cannot make my dream your dream.
I don't want that for you.
If you want to come and help, you can,
but I don't expect that of you.
I'm letting you go, and I love you.
Okay.
Okay.
IRVINE: Well, that one went straight up.
[ Laughter ]
Takuma, I want stability for you.
I want so much for you, but more importantly,
I want what you want for you.
I was gonna hang onto it.
Oh, wow!
Okay.
[ Clapping and cheering ]
Majidah, my baby girl.
I am so thankful
that when I had considered stopping having children
that I did it one more time.
I love you for that, and I thank you for that.
[ Laughter ]
This is silly. [ Speaks indistinctly ]
I've let it go,
so you do what you want with it.
JALIWA: My children told me,
and I listened and I heard them finally.
You know, I had to shake myself.
And what my children have to offer me,
I'm gonna accept lovingly,
and what, you know, they need, I'm going to give them lovingly.
IRVINE: Hopefully, setting her children free to live their own lives
will relieve some of the tension
Jaliwa has brought to her kitchen.
If there's time, we'll paint this dead last.
Because if there's time --
No, I'm not.
No, I'm not.
You are gonna have to do two coats on that dark paint.
Just leave the tape.
Why, so they can re-tape it again?
It's not.
Okay, I'm gonna show you who's painting it.
Go.
Do not touch it. Come on. You're working with me.
I have no problem with that,
but when other things get messed up
because I'm not there to watch it,
don't come crying to me.
I'm not working backwards today.
Everything was taped and ready to go.
All we had to do was roll it.
Now he ripped the tape off,
so now I'm going back in to redo it and re-tape it.
So, you want to talk about working backwards?
She's doing things twice every time.
Two times, Two times.
Paint it white, paint it black, paint it white.
If we're running behind, it's not me, it's him.
IRVINE: And now it's time for "Trivia Impossible."
The answer after the break.
IRVINE: 1.2 billion pounds of them
are eaten by Americans every year.
We're working on a short time frame, right?
You paint something once, oh, guess what?
It doesn't look exactly the way you thought it would.
So, I decided it's too dark, it's too dingy,
I want to brighten it up.
TOM: When you're trying to get a restaurant done by 3:00
and the guys are behind on painting and we're painting things over again
that we finished last night -- the few things we got done --
yeah, I'm pissed.
This is a small portion right here.
This doesn't take a lot of time,
so I don't know what he's complaining about.
He's just complaining to complain.
TOM: You're wasting my time and my people's time,
and I don't have that time.
Tired and crabby.
IRVINE: What are you doing painting?
Why don't you ask Tom that question?
TOM: Yes?
'Cause she's doing things twice.
Sometimes, a color isn't exactly the right color.
Right, stop, stop, stop.
That's twice in two days
you have been at each other's throat.
You need to get on the same page.
If you have an issue, you come to me.
At the end of the day, the restaurant has to open.
Get on with it.
IRVINE: I don't have time for bickering.
I have a restaurant to open,
and I can't let them serve the garbage I tasted yesterday.
Okay, so, yesterday, when I came in this kitchen,
the ice boxes were here,
trying to put into the fryer the fish and the chicken --
totally unsafe.
Unsafe because I don't know the temperature of these,
plus cross contamination.
So, I went out and redesigned your kitchen.
We have a brand-new refrigerator over here
and a salad top here, so it flows much better.
Nice.
Yesterday, when I came here, you made me a fish sandwich.
And I said the fish was good,
but everything else about it, I didn't like.
So, I'm gonna show you
a revised version of that same dish.
Whiting.
We've used the same fish.
When we cook, we have to impart as much flavor as possible into something.
Egg wash first. Seasoned flour.
Into the fryer.
Then gonna take a bun,
put them on, get them nice and crispy.
Take a bowl, mayonnaise, capers -- a little salty.
Fish needs...
...lemon.
So, what we're doing is actually
creating layers of flavor.
Tomatoes. I also have sliced onions.
Golden-brown texture like so, and yes, beautiful.
Lettuce.
Rings of onion.
Oh, yeah.
The ketchup in the middle.
Want to try it?
He'll try it.
I'm allergic to the combination of tomato and fish.
Oh, really? That's a shame.
I know. [ Chuckles ]
Let me try your piece, then.
It's good?
It's better than ours.
[ Laughs ]
He said it's better than ours.
It's delicious.
I think it's one of the best fish sandwiches I've had.
I'm gonna tell you,
the people that come in that restaurant,
some for the first time,
are gonna come back and back and back.
I am.
I want to tell you thank you, Robert.
What are you saying thank you for --
because I could get through to your mum and you couldn't?
[ Laughter ]
Go ahead and dance. Let's dance.
[ Laughter ]
Because you said to me you've been trying to tell your mom to do it differently, right?
And she wouldn't listen to you.
It's different when somebody comes in,
you know, who's not family
and shows a different way.
Good. Get it cleaned up. Start prepping.
Okay.
IRVINE: I had the kitchen staff start prepping some new menu items
for tonight's grand reopening
that I know will wow not only the Muslim community
but all of Atlanta.
"Ummat" means "community,"
so I'm going into the local community
to encourage these people to come.
Have you ever heard of Marie's at Ummat Café?
ALL: No.
This is Jaliwa.
Hi, everybody. Whoo!
[ Cheers and applause ]
You guys are not at Marie's at Ummat Café --
That's our trouble.
We need you there with us.
We need you to come and enjoy our delicious food.
And what we have here is shrimp and grits.
Oh, yeah, sexy food.
And little collard greens.
Come and help yourself.
JALIWA: Welcome to Marie's at Ummat Café.
[ Indistinct conversations ]
In the plaza, yes, right next door.
We'll see you there.
MIKELL: We're gonna have some collard greens, soul food,
so it'll be exciting.
We have vegetarian dishes, we have vegan dishes.
All gone!
How's everything? You like it?
Good, good.
Tell everybody.
When you come, come with somebody or with some 10-bodies
[ Laughter ]
We want to be a destination spot for you.
IRVINE: Thank you very much, everybody.
We appreciate you.
All right. Good job.
All right, so, we haven't got a lot of time,
I've got lots to do.
JALIWA: All right. Thank you.
It's gonna take at minimum another two hours
to get this restaurant ready
before I can bring in tables, chairs, set the tables,
so there are gonna be a lot of people waiting,
but the restaurant doesn't go back to an owner until it's right,
and this is nowhere near right.
IRVINE: Come on! Let's go! Let's go! Let's go! I don't have all day.
Pick up this paper. Move everything this way.
So, it's already 7:00.
We've still got to clean this,
We've still got to paint the front of this.
Tables, chairs coming up, The curtains are going up,
Dividers are coming in. Mirrors have to be cleaned.
Doors have to be cleaned.
Oh, well -- I'm not gonna open until we're ready.
IRVINE: Let's get some brooms this end!
We're so far behind.
We're still finishing up this little sliding wall.
We've got soaking-wet paint on almost every surface right now,
and there's tons of stuff I'm seeing.
Guys, this whole section is not detailed out, either.
Where's all the tables and chairs?
Hot, soapy water.
We are officially 2 1/2 hours late to open,
but when I look around, I know it was so worth the wait.
And I hope that Jaliwa and Mikell feel the same way.
I bought this restaurant
with hopes of having something to pass on to my children,
only to find out
that it was nothing that I thought it was.
I have never worked so hard
physically, mentally, emotionally
in my entire life,
and I've done some work.
MIKELL: Watching Jaliwa struggle with this restaurant
for the past year
has been both excruciating and fulfilling
because it just reaffirms for me
how strong and how powerful Jaliwa is.
IRVINE: I know it's been a tough two days.
Are you ready to see Marie's at Ummat Café?
Yes.
Open your eyes!
Oh, my...
IRVINE: I know it's been a tough two days.
Are you ready to see Marie's at Ummat Café?
Yes.
Open your eyes!
Wow.
Oh, my...
Oh, my God!
Oh, my...
Oh, my God, this is...
This is... This is f--
This is f--
This is fabulous.
This is absolutely fabulous.
[ Chuckles ]
Oh, my God.
That's why we're 2 1/2 hours late.
Oh, my God. it's worth it.
It was worth the wait.
Wow!
Wow!
This is absolutely, Robert, unbelievable.
Oh, my goodness. I am floored.
I'm glad you thought it was ugly
because you did your best.
You brought out the best in this --
This is...amazing.
I saw something this morning in you...
change.
Mm-hmm.
And I think your children saw that, too.
Yeah.
I did have two amazing human beings --
Taniya, my designer and Tom, my builder --
who, trust me,
[Chuckling] I've pushed more to the limit
in the past two days than they've ever been pushed.
Come on in, guys.
I'm emotional today. I might cry.
Oh, Taniya, this is...
Oh.
I don't want to let you go!
Okay.
Then don't let me go.
Taniya, this is your best.
I don't cry.
[ Laughter ]
Tom, thank you.
Oh, you're so welcome.
I can't hug you, but whoosh.
[ Laughter ]
You guys are amazing.
Yeah, Robert, whoosh!
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
IRVINE: I truly believe
that it's gonna give you, as a family, new hope.
Do you want to bring them in?
I do.
All right, come on in, guys.
ALL: Wow!
[ All talking excitedly ]
Pretty amazing.
Wow.
This is amazing.
[ Indistinct conversations ]
It's just amazing. It's beyond gorgeous.
It's pitch-perfect.
I'm not easily overwhelmed or whelmed,
but I'm overwhelmed.
That's bananas. That is [Laughs]
Yeah. Yeah.
This is amazing!
Wow, y'all see the "Marie's @ Ummat"?
Now they all want to work here.
[ Laughter ]
Yes, yes, yes.
...because we are extra, extra late,
Okay.
This is unbelievable.
JALIWA: It's unbelievable. This is unbelievable.
Whoo!
[ Cheers and applause ]
Welcome to the new Marie's at Ummat Café!
This is unbelievable.
Come on in, guys.
Y'all come on in.
[ Indistinct conversations ]
Very nice. Very nice.
Thank you so much. Thank you for coming. Thank you so much.
Is this your first time in here?
Amazing.
Oh, nice.
It's got a whole fresh look.
It's modern, colors are bright.
Yesterday, it kind of looked like an under-loved diner --
under-cared-for.
Now it looks like a really, really nice restaurant
that I'd go out of my way to come to.
I love the color of the bar, and I love the texture.
Everything works well together.
It's just more inviting.
IRVINE: All right, let's go!
Let's pick it up! Let's pick it up!
MAN: Just like this. There you go, for your fish.
IRVINE: I got wings! I got wings!
MAN: Mac and cheese! Two hush puppies!
[ Indistinct conversation ]
IRVINE: Here you go. Merry Christmas.
This guy, Takuma, he wanted to stay here, and here he is.
Look, he's actually sweating, and he's smiling. I don't know.
And we're cooking side-by-side.
Yeah, definitely.
Now look, look, look. See? Look at the difference.
Yes, much different. [ Chuckles ]
Much better.
Those are awesomeness.
Yeah!
IRVINE: This restaurant, Marie's at Ummat Café,
is gonna be successful because of the people in this room.
I've given them tools to be successful.
Right now, they're being successful.
MAN: I had the sweet and sour chicken wings.
They were really good,
I mean, good enough that I'd definitely come back.
WOMAN: I ordered these sweet-potato hush puppies,
and they are so good.
They just literally melt in your mouth.
I wish I could share it with you.
MAN: So, I ordered the shrimp and grits,
and it was excellent.
The grits were really creamy.
It's got just the right amount of spice in it.
That's the way I like it.
MAN: I ordered the roasted chicken leg.
It's really, really good.
It's probably the most tender piece of chicken
I've had in a long time.
Tonight, I decided to order the fish sandwich,
and I thought it was absolutely amazing.
Just the right seasoning, just the right fried-ness --
It was awesome.
We are sure, and we pray
that this will attract people from everywhere,
this will be a destination location
for anyone who wants good food or good atmosphere.
TAKUMA: Well, tonight is awesome.
You know, I'm learning so many different things.
I'm happy I kept my balloon
because I look forward to building with my mother,
you know, to the future
and hopefully passing this along to my children, you know, and saying,
"This is something that your grandmother did for you when she was alive."
JALIWA: I'm out of the kitchen right now,
and I'm usually all over the place
and, you know, "Get this," and da, da, da, da.
That's not coming back.
I'm so full of gratitude,
and I'm overwhelmed with thankfulness.
IRVINE: "Ummat" means "community" in Arabic,
but yesterday, when I arrived,
there was no sense of community to be found.
Today, Marie's at Ummat Café
is finally living up to its name.
This place is truly special, as is this family,
and they've really touched my heart.
And I hope their community fully embraces them, as well.