As much as I hate to admit it, this season of Vanderpump Rules has been disappointing. We had to sit through nearly a dozen episodes dedicated mostly to Jax and Brittany’s nightmare fairytale wedding, and things haven’t gotten much more interesting in the weeks since. But just because the actual episodes have been slow doesn’t mean there’s not some interesting drama playing out in real life—or, because we’re all quarantined, playing out on social media.
Last Friday, Stassi Schroeder tweeted a joke about how she would willingly go back to being a waitress at SUR if it meant the quarantine would be over. If you watch the show, you know that Stassi never actually liked working at SUR, so this is a pretty big statement for her.
I’m willing to go back to waitressing at SUR for this quarantine to be over. Honestly— at this point, I’d pay to put on that SUR dress and clock in.
— Stassi Schroeder (@stassi) April 10, 2020
Stassi obviously meant it as a joke, and plenty of people found it funny, including SUR manager Peter Madrigal, who responded to Stassi with a shift assignment. But not everyone appreciated Stassi’s joke. Danica Dow, a SURver who is new to Vanderpump Rules this season, called Stassi out for being tone-deaf. She noted that due to the closure, SUR employees have had to file for unemployment, and Stassi is “insensitively cracking jokes” while the Toms are raising money for their employees (more on that in a minute).
While Tom & Tom are raising money for their employees, you’re kind of insulting this pandemic that has left everyone at sur having to file for unemployment. Everyone at sur is struggling while you’re insensitively cracking jokes & sitting pretty in your new house smh.
— Danica (@Danicadowww) April 11, 2020
While I wasn’t immediately offended by Stassi’s tweet, Danica definitely has a point. Though COVID-19 has affected everyone—Stassi even had to postpone her tour—it’s not quite the same. She’ll probably be just fine, while all of the people who actually work at SUR (they’re not all TV stars) are struggling, and would probably love to be able to go back to work right now.
Some people replied calling Danica thirsty or jealous, but even if that’s true, she’s not wrong about the situation at SUR. According to some reports, Lisa Vanderpump and the other owners aren’t doing anything to help out their restaurant employees right now, which is really disappointing. Lisa even told Andy Cohen that “they’re all on unemployment.” I don’t know the details of her finances, but if she’s anywhere near as rich as she comes across on the show, paying some bartenders seems like the least she could do. Lisa, what’s up?
But who here is actually doing the right thing? Tom and Tom! As much as Tom Schwartz is on my sh*t list right now on the show, he and Tom Sandoval are at least trying to do something good for their employees. The Toms are together during quarantine, and they joined Cameo to raise money for the TomTom staff. 100% of the money they earn from Cameo goes to the employees, and they’re matching everything up to $10,000. I’m not expecting these people to be writing million-dollar checks, but this feels like they’re really doing what they can.
In Tom Sandoval’s comments, someone tried to come for him for not just paying his employees normally. Tom, who is an angel on earth, responded that “as a 5% owner, this what I can do.” Okay, we stan. As we all know, Tom and Tom are not actually the majority owners here—that’s Lisa Vanderpump! This response from Tom feels like both an actual explanation and some subtle shade at Lisa, and she kinda deserves it.
So what does this all boil down to? Right now is an extremely tough time for people in service industries, and it’s sad that more employers (especially those with money) aren’t helping their staff out. So Stassi’s joke was probably in poor taste, and Danica wasn’t wrong to point that out, but the real issue here is that Lisa Vanderpump could probably be doing more to help her employees. Thankfully, Tom and Tom are doing what they can, but it’s just not enough. All I know is that when this is all over, I’m going to SUR, and I will be tipping generously to thank these people for all they’ve given us. It’s the least I can do!
Images: Featureflash Photo Agency / Shutterstock.com; stassi, danicadowww / Twitter; tomsandoval1 / Instagram
We attended the opening of Tom Tom, Lisa Vanderpump’s newest restaurant, and got the chance to chat with her and both Toms about what we can expect (and if that includes a spin-off). Read on for the tea!
We watched all last season of Vanderpump Rules as Lisa Vanderpump gave Tom Sandoval and Tom Schwartz the opportunity of a lifetime by partnering with them to open their own bar, Tom Tom. We got an exclusive chance to visit Tom Tom before it opens tonight and we chatted with Lisa, Tom, and Tom about all things Tom Tom. (Say “Tom” again.) We also tried to get to the bottom of a pressing question—what exactly does Schwartz do?
Nestled in the heart of West Hollywood, Tom Tom boasts a delectable food menu, a chic design aesthetic and a delicious list of signature cocktails. Nick Alain designed the sleek venue with the culinary offerings created by Chef Penny Davidi, in collaboration with LVP.
Lisa credits the cocktail list to the Toms working with “one of the best mixologists in America, Sly Cosmopolous.” Lisa didn’t want people popping in for a basic cocktail, “like a vodka soda” (ouch, but we get it). Instead she suggests her favorite libation, the “Clockwork Pink.” The drink features mezcal, fresh lemon, prickly pear, agave, habanero shrub, and jalapeño. She also loves the absinthe drink on the list—black out beware!
When asked what exactly Tom Schwartz does, Lisa giggled and then shed some light on his role in Tom Tom. “That’s a good question—he pulled up tonight in a white motorcycle and white suit so that’s pretty good. I was pretty impressed with that,” she offers. “I have never met one person who doesn’t like Schwartz,” she continues. “He brings the feel-good factor to the place. He is a meeter and greeter and he will get wasted with you,” she says with a laugh. The host with the most paired with an opportunity to brown out with Schwartz? We’re are on board.
Chef Penny Davidi—the “culinary curator” behind Tom Tom—describes Lisa Vanderpump as “very creative, very talented” and says she has “great ideas” when it came to creating the menu. When pressed about Schwartz’s role, Penny laughs and says, “Tom Schwartz is really sweet and really loving. And he comes up and thanks me all the time in the kitchen—which is great.” So we may never know the truth, but Schwartz does do meets and greets the chef—how sweet.
When we finally caught up with Tom and Tom, we had to get to the bottom of some things. Schwartz conceded that Sandoval was in fact the first Tom in the name of the new venue. “For a brief time, I had the crown. I relinquished it—it’s too much pressure,” an exasperated Schwartz offered. “Heavy is the head who wears the crown. I don’t want that much responsibility. I am very comfortable being Tom number 2—Sandoval is number1,” he continued.
Schwartz, who corroborated the rumors of a Tom Tom TV show spin-off, stated they know nothing about an actual spin-off. Sandoval said, “we are not being coy. If that did happen, we would fully embrace it. Tom Tom would be a great place to have that,” he shared.
In the meantime, the Toms have a bar to run. The have declared they will not be doing Fireball shots before each meeting (sad face), they will be featuring weekly cocktail specials (but no Scorpion cocktail on the list yet), and Schwartz welcomes the opportunity to black out with people who pop by Tom Tom when it is open to the public (aka us).
Cheers to that!
Last season of Vanderpump Rules, somewhere in between Katie telling Tom Schwartz his dick didn’t work and them making the worst decision of their lives actually getting married, queen Lisa popped her own question: would the two Toms be interested in opening a restaurant with her? Tbh, I was v disappointed in my namesake. Like, own a business with dumb and dumber? You’re smarter than this. But of course, Schwartz practically evaporated into thin air at the thought of having any responsibility whatsoever and Sandoval kinda cared at first and then was like “meh” so we all assumed this idea of a fourth Vanderpump venture was dead and the world and Lisa would be better off because of it. But jk everyone. Because now TMZ and RadarOnline aka two pinnacles of reliable journalism have reported that the restaurant is in fact a go and it’ll be opening in time for the premiere of VPR. Come on, Lisa.
Luckily for all parties involved, and like, the entire dining scene of West Hollywood, sources say Lisa is currently doing more of the “owning” part and will see if the Toms can get their shit together enough to actually help manage, versus just kinda helping sometimes. I’m going to go out on a real limb here and say they will not be getting their shit together and Lisa will continue to be the main owner/manager. I mean, Schwartz did have a legit mental breakdown after bartending for a few minutes one time, so that’s probs a bad sign. No idea what kinda of food it will serve but if I had to guess, I’d think Pump-tinis and goat cheese balls will def be on the menu. The main win here is that this is yet another storyline for Vanderpump Rules’ upcoming season, so like, shit’s bout to be lit af.
