Restaurant Impossible to film at Mama Della’s

Restaurant Impossible, the hit Food Network show hosted by Robert Irvine, will be in Baton Rouge this week to film an episode at Mama Della’s N.Y. City Pizzeria.

Though the episode won’t be released until this fall, the restaurant will be getting off to an interesting start in 2014 with a two-day makeover that is scheduled to take place January 9 and 10.

If anybody would like to volunteer to be a part of the remodeling crew, you need to email [email protected] by Monday with FN BATON ROUGE VOLUNTEERS in the subject line. Include your name, shift or shifts you’d like to work, and a phone number. Work shifts will be 1 p.m.- 8 p.m. Thursday, 8 p.m. Thursday to 2 a.m. Friday and 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Friday. Volunteers will paint, craft, construct, remodel, clean and decorate. Skilled contractors such as electricians, plumbers and painters are also encouraged to volunteer. Volunteers are asked to wear comfortable clothes and closed toe shoes or boots with no logos.

Mama Della’s grand re-opening will be Friday night. As far as I know all the reservations have been booked for the evening. Don’t worry though, you’ll have plenty of time to check out the new space before the show actually airs.

I’m optimistic that this will be a great experience for Mama Della’s and Baton Rouge. Mama Della’s pizza is truly great. Owner and chef Barry Kalt knows what he is doing with the pie. But he also knows that he needs help with the overall dining experience including the atmosphere and customer service.

I’ll be interested to see what Robert Irvine says about the pizza and other menu items. I’ll also be interested to find out how the restaurant gets renovated and what is done with the front-of-house dining experience. Hopefully more than anything, Mama Della’s gets the kind of makeover it needs to become a Baton Rouge pizza joint that we can all be proud of for years to come. When this episode airs on Food Network, it will end with a success story of another restaurant saved by Restaurant Impossible.

This blog is from Jay Ducote’s Bite and Booze page. Click here to check out more from Ducote.