Graf/Medici (Season 4, Episode 11)
PREMISE
Willkommen im gasthaus! Every day is Oktoberfest in the Graf family. Alexandra and Bob own a German-themed restaurant called Alphorn Bistro and Danbury Inn in Danbury, New Hampshire. The inn has 16 bedrooms and 22 bathrooms. The Grafs believe in a strong work ethic. The kids Meagan (15) Bubba (13) Daphne (10) work side by side with their parents, including serving, cooking, washing dishes, and cleaning, and get paid for their work. The work uniforms consist of traditional German dress of dirndls and lederhosen. The inn is the Grafs sole source of income, and when business is bad, the who family feels the pressure.
In Long Island, Lisa Medici lives to serve her husband John and kids Nicholas (16) and Giuseppe (12). Lisa does everything, from the chores to the meals, and the kids have 100% freedom to do as they please. Lisa and John spend $10,000 a year to support son Nick's dream of becoming a bodybuilder. Nick was inspired by his father John, who was once a bodybuilder himself and is an integral part of Nick's training. Giuseppe isn't interested spending time with his family. He enjoys drawing graffiti in his notebook and is often rude to his parents. Although John works as a contractor, he can't be bothered with repairs in his own home, making Lisa feel unappreciated.
BACKGROUND MUSIC
I Couldn't Live Without Your Love - Petula Clark
UPDATE
The Grafs hosted a party at the inn on the Wednesday evening the episode premiered and invited anyone who would like to stop by to watch the show with the family upon reservation. Reservations will not be taken after 6:30 OM.
Alexandra says “I do believe in a strong work ethic. It’s how I was raised. Discipline works but not the way it was shown on Wife Swap. That wasn’t true.” The show portrayed their three youngest children (the fourth was grown) cleaning toilets and serving as maids and waitresses many hours a day. Graf stresses that was not the case. The kids worked a few days a week after school and helped on weekends, but were always paid. Adds husband Bob, the former chef of the German restaurant, “They wanted to make it seem like all the kids did was work. They wanted them to wear their restaurant uniforms in the house, which we don’t do.”
The oldest daughter Chelsea was away in college when the show was filmed and did not want to be filmed.
The Grafs applied to be on the show after Wife Swap put out a call for bed and breakfast establishments where the owners and kids worked. Graf admits the money, $20,000, along with the exposure, was helpful. “We got a lot of new business because of the show, and there would be spikes whenever they did reruns,” she says.
In the summer of 2008, a fire destroyed the family home, which was attached to the undamaged inn and restaurant. Unable to bounce back from that loss, the inn and restaurant eventually closed in 2011. Alexandra, Bob and their daughter Daphne now run a travelling German food truck Schnitzels & Giggles. Meagan is a licensed nursing assistant in New Hampshire and Zacchaeus (Bubba) was at the US Air Force Academy training to become an Air Force officer. Chelsea was also an Air Force officer.
https://www.fosters.com/article/20080310/gjnews02/106538350
https://www.nhmagazine.com/inn-at-danbury-may-quick-look-3/
https://www.businessnhmagazine.com/article/after-the-cameras-roll
Nick Medici is currently a professional bodybuilder. In 2015 he won the NPC Eastern USA Northeast championships.
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