Man, I feel for the guy, he clearly cares about his books and probably just wants to feel like he's doing right by them. But honestly your cheap bags holding up since 2011 tells me he's mostly buying a good night's sleep.

400 pounds is a solid trade pile, but termites in Reno would love that free lunch.

Watched the whole first season and yeah, the kitchen scenes are loud but that's kind of the whole point of a kitchen. Line cooks yell, tickets pile up, somebody drops a pan. My cousin worked at a steakhouse and said the show is pretty tame compared to a real Friday night rush. The quiet moments are there too, like when they sit down with the staff meal or Carmy messes with that risotto. Four episodes probably isn't enough to get the rhythm of it. Sounds like your buddy just wanted a cooking show where everybody smiles and plates pretty food.