7.030 minSeason 2 • Episode 8
LatestTess learns the truth about Jake and Simone's past. She forms a plan to get everything she wants in the restaurant.
Shortly after arriving in New York City, 22-year-old Tess lands a job at a celebrated downtown restaurant. Swiftly introduced to the world of drugs, alcohol, love, lust, dive bars, and fine dining, she learns to navigate the chaotically alluring, yet punishing life she has stumbled upon.
Acting
Ella Purnell's eyes say everything she's too scared to.
Production
The restaurant feels like a character—claustrophobic, seductive, cruel.
Writing
Stephanie Danler adapted her own novel with bitter precision.
Creator
Stephanie Danler
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Stephanie Danler actually worked at Union Square Cafe before writing the novel; the 'backwaiter' slang and kitchen hierarchy are painfully authentic.
The show captures a specific pre-pandemic NYC restaurant culture—gritty, romantic, unsustainable—that basically doesn't exist anymore, making it oddly nostalgic already.
US
