Seinfeld: The Cafe | Episode 24 Recap

Listen to the Podcast: Subscribe: Seinfeld Podcast in iTunes  |  Seinfeld Podcast RSS Feed Podcast Recap of Seinfeld Season 3 Episode 7, “The Cafe” first aired on NBC November 6, 1991 Rob Cesternino and Akiva Wienerkur were not very, very bad men this week in their recapping of “The Café”, which first aired on November 6, 1991 during the third season of Seinfeld’s original run. Both agreed that they are fully in the mix of greater episodes after the rough start of seasons one and two. Since there was no current news in the Seinfeld universe, they got right to it. Jerry’s opening standup was a bit about the certain store in a neighborhood that could not have success, referring to it as the Bermuda Triangle of retail. Akiva had a restaurant near him in college that would open and close every few weeks, that just didn’t find success. He also shared that the writer of this episode had based the Dream Café on a real life restaurant. The episode opens with Jerry and George standing on the sidewalk talking. Jerry is distracted, looking at and commenting about a new restaurant in his neighborhood, while George is fretting about his new girlfriend thinking he’s both nice and smart, to which he knows he’s neither. George gets frustrated with Jerry for not listening to his plight, especially since he doesn’t know what to do about having to take an IQ test where Monica will learn the truth that he’s not smart. When Jerry asks George what he got on the SATs, George says he tells people 1409, but will go to the grave with his real score. Rob noticed that the score itself is proof that it’s a lie, since it’s not a multiple of ten. Akiva shared that Zack Morris from Saved By The Bell also had an SAT score that ended in an odd number. Then, they speculated what score George could have actually earned, and they settled on around 820. In the next scene at Jerry’s apartment, he is looking out the window with binoculars at the Dream Café, worrying that it compares to a spider clinging for life to the side of the toilet bowl. Rob and Akiva noticed that the hat on the Nerf hoof is once again the Yankees, having switched from Mets to Yankees several times over. They wondered if there was a battle between Larry David and Jerry over this. Elaine meanwhile, is reading at the table, randomly saying the Latin phrase casus belli. When George comes in talking about having to take the IQ test, Elaine mentions she got a 145, which prompts George to think she should take the test for him. Since Monica lives on the first floor, he can just hand the test out the window to Elaine, a legendary feat that he once pulled off in college. Jerry adds that she could go down the road to the Dream Café, since it’s so slow enough to hear a pin drop. They all agree to do this, since they love a caper. We are introduced to Babu Bhatt for the first time in the next scene. Rob and Akiva pointed out that Babu is the first real recurring character to be in a scene besides Jerry’s parents. When Jerry enters the restaurant, Babu is very happy to serve him, telling him about the eclectic menu items, from moussaka to franks and beans. While at the restaurant, Jerry has several inner monologues about how good a person he is for supporting this neighborhood restaurant. Cutting quickly to the next scene, George is at Monica’s preparing to take the test, feigning arrogance about how well he is going to do. Rob and Akiva enjoyed the pace of the editing, how they would cut from the restaurant and back to Monica’s apartment. Elaine shows up outside the window and takes the test down to the Dream Café. Once there, Babu convinces Elaine to order the rigatoni,