Hey, Jeff Lewis: Why are you 'Flipping Out'?
Seems it's just part of who he is, even when he's trying to be mellow.
DRESSED T-shirt and baseball cap casual and sitting papel picado-adjacent in a red vinyl booth at Mexico City, the Los Feliz culinary institution, Jeff Lewis -- multimillion-dollar real estate investor, obsessive-compulsive freak, frequenter of pet psychics and shamanistic healers as well as star of Bravo's cult favorite reality series "Flipping Out," tried to stay focused.
Flanked as usual by his bubbly executive assistant, Jenni Pulos, Lewis was ostensibly deconstructing a project he took on that was shown on "Flipping Out," in which he was attempting to restore a historic mansion for a particularly trying Hancock Park resident. Deeper issues suddenly surfaced. "No coincidences that I've worked for someone now who's more difficult, more demanding and more abusive than I am. You think that's a coincidence or was I looking in the mirror and realizing, 'Oh, my God, that's me? Wait, is there chicken in here?' " he said, his attention hijacked by an impending burrito crisis.
'Flipping Out': An article in Sunday's Calendar section about the Bravo show "Flipping Out" gave the title of Frances Berwick as vice president and general manager of Bravo. She is its executive vice president and general manager.
"Flipping Out": An article last Sunday about the Bravo show "Flipping Out" misidentified the title of Frances Berwick as vice president and general manager of Bravo. She is the executive vice president and general manager.
"This is not what I ordered. There are onions and tomatoes in here. I said it over and over; I said beans, rice, chicken and cheese. And I'm seeing the chicken . . . wait, hold on . . . there's onions and tomatoes . . . ," he said, his fork deep in archaeological excavation.
"OK, we found out, you don't have to keep playing with it," Pulos said. Grabbing his plate, she marched off to accost the proper authorities.
Lewis, it appeared, was flipping out.
It might seem that misplaced onions are just about the worst thing that could happen to Lewis. But halfway through Season 2 of this recent entrant into lifestyles of the unscripted and wealthy, viewers have seen that things among "Flipping Out's" dysfunctional household (including numerous assistants, a sarcastic Nicaraguan maid, his ex-boyfriend/current business partner, two Himalayan house cats and three rescued dogs) have taken a dark turn. Convinced someone in his employ is seriously slacking, Lewis installed a nanny cam in his office.
