Sweetbitter

The Season Two premiere finds Tess and the gang in unfamiliar surroundings: on an early morning field trip to a farm. Howard has brought his staff there to highlight the importance of knowing where their food comes from, which means, to everyone’s horror, watching a pig get slaughtered. Back at work, Tess can’t stop thinking about the pig, but she's kept busy by another night of service. Howard is interviewing hostesses to replace Becky, which makes Tess reflect on what Simone said to her in last season’s finale - did Howard hire her because she’s skilled, or because he finds her attractive? When she pushes Will for information, she learns that Simone didn’t exactly fight to get Tess hired. Tess wonders whether she can trust Simone at all, and where exactly she stands with Jake. Howard continues to pursue a complicated relationship outside the restaurant.

Jake pursues a new romantic entanglement. Tess falls in love with an expensive leather jacket, and decides to open a credit card to pay for it. But when Tess and Ari go to the bank, they receive unsettling news: Tess’s credit score is ruined, and there’s a maxed out card in her name. When Tess learns the truth about how her score got ruined, she keeps it to herself out of shame. Meanwhile, Santos has also decided to splurge, by buying himself a brand new pair of Nikes. The shoes incite a fight between Santos, Manny, and Sasha. When the Nikes mysteriously go missing, the true depth of the divide between the front of house and back of house is revealed. Word about Tess’s financial debacle spreads, and despite her plea to be left alone, the restaurant crew (Simone included) tries to help.

Restaurant dynamics shake up when Maddie Glover, 22W’s Head Chef and Owner shows up for a surprise menu tasting. Maddie is the stuff of culinary lore, and her presence, while inspiring to Tess, has Scott sweating. Underlying tensions between Howard and Simone come to the surface when the tasting takes a turn for the worse. During service, Will gets a surprising offer that makes him question his own identity, and why he came to New York. Tess connects with a soigne regular, Omar Gamal. Not only is he one of the top architects in the world who is developing what will soon become the highline, but he’s also quite a bit older than Tess. Nevertheless, both Simone and Maddie encourage Tess to go after what she wants.

Tess feels like a real New Yorker when she goes on a fancy date with Omar Gamal. After a mortifying experience back at Omar’s apartment, Tess is forced to question her relationship with sex and comes to realizes she needs to learn what she likes and wants. Meanwhile, Howard questions the status of his relationship with Becky. Tess arrives for work to learn that Sasha is a no-show: he’s late for his shift, and no one is able to reach him. Service begins, and Tess’s mind is taken off both Sasha and Omar when she overhears a table make a racist comment to Heather. Her attempt to help infuriates Heather. When Sasha still hasn’t shown up at the end of the night, Tess and Jake go to his apartment to check on him. As they learn the truth about what Sasha is going through, Tess also learns more about Jake.

Howard’s desire to shake things up results in a change that shocks the staff: five percent of the Front of House’s tip pool will be going to the dishwashers. As soon as service starts, it’s clear that there’s a retaliation happening: no one is getting food. This is particularly horrifying for Simone, who has an important soigne table of literary agents. Tess overhears that Simone was once a writer, and published a story about a mermaid who falls in love with a young boy. Tensions rise when food slowly begins to come out, and it’s revealed that no one in the restaurant has a fork. Simone works to uncover who’s behind the restaurant slowdown. Jake, of course, enjoys the chaos. He and Tess flirt throughout the night, playing games behind the bar. Howard notes that Will handled the disastrous night well, and makes him an interesting offer.

It’s the holiday season, which means longer shifts, higher tips, and, most importantly, truffles, which intoxicate the whole crew. Will makes his debut as manager, and struggles not to blur the boundary between boss and friend with the other servers - especially when it comes to Tess. Sasha explains his new obsession: “The Secret”, a way to bring goodness into your life by envisioning exactly what you want. Meanwhile, Simone is thrown off her game when Etienne, her French ex husband, shows up at the restaurant to sell champagne the two of them designed together. Simone finds herself pulled back in, imagining the life she could have had with him. With “The Secret” on the brain, and seeing how strangely Jake reacts to Etienne’s presence, Tess tries to convince herself that Will is the guy that’s best for her. However, she struggles to ignore her undeniable lust for Jake.

On a night out with Heather and Ari, Tess ends up on a late night diner date with Jake. They really talk, for the first time, and Jake reveals his ambitions outside the restaurant. They acknowledge their mutually intense attraction, and have sex in Jake’s apartment. Coming off Etienne’s rejection, Simone is emotionally wrecked. She’s pushed into deeper despair when she realizes the bond Jake and Tess are creating without her. Ari feels that, while she views the restaurant crew as her true family, they only see her as a mean to drugs and parties. She’s also angry that Heather is talking about going back to law school. Will is infuriated when he learns about Tess and Jake, and makes a questionable decision in retaliation. In spite of it all, Tess thinks for a moment that she may be able to have what she wants most: both Simone and Jake.

Howard takes his staff on a holiday field trip to a whiskey distillery, but when he ends up alone with Tess, he makes a move that causes her to wonder what exactly he wants from her. Jake and Tess continue their relationship, and Tess learns more about Jake’s childhood. Some of what he says reminds Tess of Simone’s story (from Episode Five), which Tess then seeks out and reads. She begins to piece together more about Jake and Simone’s history, and forms a terrifying idea about their relationship. This leads to questions about what Tess can build with Jake, and a brutal confrontation with Simone. All the while, Sasha navigates his immigration status, Heather considers leaving for law school, Will deals with the repercussions of his power abuse, and Howard handles a mouse loose in the restaurant. At the end of it all, Tess has a plan to set things right.