By Nathan Duke
The owner of a popular Bayside steak house will soon be the star of a reality television show on the Turner Broadcasting System’s truTV channel that shows how he operates three restaurants he owns across the city.
William Degel, who owns Uncle Jack’s Steakhouse on Bell Boulevard as well as two others on 34th and 56th streets in Manhattan, recently signed a contract with truTV, a cable television network owned by Time Warner through TBS, its subsidiary. He will star in a reality show about how he runs his steakhouses.
“Why do a show?” Degel said. “So we can build our brand and, at the same time, expose it to more people. Most of all, we’ll hopefully show, teach and mentor our viewers to dig in and build their dreams as well and see what it really takes to build a winning business.”
Degel, who grew up in Flushing, was chosen following his posting of a video on YouTube during which he vowed to be “New York’s toughest steakhouse boss.”
In the video, he boasted that Donald Trump visited his Manhattan steakhouses and that he wanted to build an “empire.”
The video, which included bleeped-out expletives, includes tongue-in-cheek testimony from fellow employees, who said they fear Degel will fire them if they talk about him. Another worker said the restaurants have “24-hour surveillance.”
TruTV was scheduled to announce its new shows Tuesday, including Degel’s, but there is currently no date set for it to air.
Potential titles for the show are “Willionaire,” “Jacked Up” and “Willie’s World,” said Hallie Rosenbloom, the public relations coordinator for the steak houses.
Degel, who appeared in a segment on the Biography Channel several years ago, said he employs 160 workers at his three restaurants.
Rosenbloom said Degel’s show will not be about his family, but his business.
“It’s about how old school restaurants are run in New York City,” she said.
Degel is also in the midst of planning a new eatery, Jack’s Shack, an organic hamburger restaurant that will be located on Long Island.
Bayside’s Uncle Jack’s site was Degel’s first steakhouse, opening in 1996.
TruTV describes the show as being about an “obsessive perfectionist” who believes “business is all about customer service, high expectations and outrageous marketing.”
Reach reporter Nathan Duke by e-mail at nduke@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4566.
