Today's Entertainment

Anyone who has ever worked in a restaurant knows about surges – when large numbers of diners walk in in a matter of minutes and sit down to be served. Mistakes can be made, tempers can flare and teamwork can be tested. In the front of the house, that manifests itself in slow service, wrong orders and tepid food. And it's the type of test employed to measure an eatery's mettle in the new Bravo series "Best New Restaurant." The competition series, which premieres Wednesday, Jan. 21, takes place on location in 16 restaurants in New York, Miami, Los Angeles and Austin, Texas. In each hourlong episode, two restaurants go head to head in undertaking a series of tests and a winner is chosen. At season's end – after semifinal and final rounds – one is named "Best New Restaurant," and it will receive an editorial feature in Bon Appetit, a spot at the Vegas Uncorked food festival and $100,000. But first they must run the gauntlet, which begins with a surge, or as the series calls it, "the pressure test," which held some surprising results for series host and judge Tom Colicchio. "Some of the restaurants did really well, some struggled," says Colicchio, who is also an executive producer with Gordon Ramsay. "And there was no rhyme or reason. You know, you'd expect some of the smaller restaurants that have only 40 seats to really struggle and some of them did OK. And some of the larger restaurants that you'd think would have an easy time barely made it. So it all depends. ... Simply, we said '30 people are coming in,' we turned on the cameras and that was it. There were some interviews but what happened happened." Then, there was "the undercover diner test," where a food expert – a blogger, a columnist or a chef – poses as an average patron and orders, engages staff, asks questions – anything an average diner would do. And sometimes, staff would recognize them, which Colicchio says was actually a good thing. "If you're running a restaurant," he says, "you're paying attention to all the tables and you're listening and you hear conversations, you're overhearing things and I think that's part of it. I think someone who can figure that out tells me that they're up on their game. They're not just kind of walking around aimlessly just taking care of business. They're actually paying attention to every single table. They're engaged. ... So I think the times when we were found out, I think that was also part of the test." Tom Colicchio BY GEORGE DICKIE Eateries are put to the test on Bravo's 'Best New Restaurant' What book are you currently reading? "Right now, I'm reading 'The Bully Pulpit' by Doris Kearns." What did you have for dinner last night? "I had roast chicken with sweet potatoes and green beans." What is your next project? "We're opening a restaurant in Miami in March." When was the last vacation you took, where and why? "The last vacation I took was in Mexico, Riviera Maya." Anyone who saw either of the previous "Night at the Museum" movies must have a pretty good idea of what to expect from the third and final one. With that said, as third chapters go, "Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb" is a presentable closing act. One factor adds greatly to that, and one that couldn't be anticipated when it was filmed: the last major screen performance by Robin Williams, reprising the role of Teddy Roosevelt. The movie isn't all about him, of course, but Williams' presence still loomed large in any film he was in. Here, he gets enough screen time where his entertainment value is sizable, yet there's a subtext of sadness in the realization that the performer's journey is completed by what's on view here. Front-and-center again is Ben Stiller as Larry, who has gone from being a night watchman to running the whole show of evening security at the American Museum of Natural History. That still doesn't mean the exhibits won't develop lives of their own – if Larry is present, you can pretty much bank on that – and when they do that at a most inopportune time, he has to determine why. The search takes him in a trek to the British Museum, where an ancient tablet offers big clues. The site also introduces Larry to Sir Lancelot ("Downton Abbey" alum Dan Stevens) and an Egyptian pharaoh (Ben Kingsley), as well as to Larry's opposite number in watching that place ... played to the hilt by the ever-brash Rebel Wilson, or to the degree she can do that in a family film, anyway. Owen Wilson, Ricky Gervais, Steve Coogan and Dick Van Dyke also are back in the cast, as is someone else seen in his final effort, Mickey Rooney. "Night at the Museum" fans are sure to appreciate their presence again, especially since director Shawn Levy leaves sufficient room for them while getting on with the newer business at hand. If there isn't a lot of surprise to "Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb," there's comfort in seeing it furnish the same degree of technical skill and comedy-fantasy enjoyment that lets the series justify one last round. If this "Museum" is indeed closing, at least it does so with a good share of fun. One more 'Night at the Museum' offers fine fun BY JAY BOBBIN Page 8 January 19 - 25, 2015

• Cover