Kitchen Nightmares Season 1

November 28th, 2008

Synopsis

Award winning chef Gordon Ramsay visits horrible restaurants on the verge of failure, identifies the problems, and puts them on the road to success.

Each episode follows a standard pattern:

Ramsay samples the food and is uniformly disgusted. He tends to order crab cakes to check the freshness, and often a salmon to see if the chef has any idea how to cook. He hates frozen or canned food, garlic, parsley, and confusing menus with pictures.
Ramsay observes typical night of business and identifies a problem point, like a messy kitchen, a boss, floor manager, or chef that sucks, and confronts the issue head on.
Ramsay embarks on local research to figure out a new strategy, comes up with a new, simplified menu, and his staff performs a physical makeover of the restaurant.
Restaurant relaunch. Usually the staff is overwhelmed, not used to having customers. Problem point is somehow resolved. Ramsay gives a one sentence summary of the whole ordeal.

The Good

Gordon Ramsay. His overall objectivity is always on the mark and often brutally honest. Much entertainment comes from seeing people told bluntly they’ve been doing things wrong. The problem individuals either accept blame and step up to the plate, or get pissed off and quit.
Ramsay’s emphasis on the most basic purpose of a restaurant – quality food. This concept is usually lost the restaurateurs. Serve great food and people will come back. Serve crappy food, and nothing else can cover it up.

The Bad

Some of the participants are frustratingly reluctant to accept Ramsay’s advice, which is kind of a head-scratcher since they asked him for help to begin with.
Falls into the standard pattern above. Even if things really suck in the beginning, it always works out in the end. The only deviation from the script is who gets pissed off along the way and how pissed off Ramsay becomes.
Different from the BBC version which was more food-focused. The American version is more concerned with the interpersonal conflict and definitely more of a stock reality show.

The Episodes

Although I’ve found this show a guilty pleasure, I don’t think the episodes are worth a separate post apiece, so I’ll tackle the whole season at once. My favorites were Peter’s, Dillons, Seascape, Sebastian’s, and Lela’s.

S1E1: Peter’s

Owned by Tina, her brother Peter – a real character – is running the restaurant into the ground by doing as little work as possible and reaping all the benefits.

S1E2: Dillons

An Indian restaurant in Manhattan, featuring ghastly rotten food, too many managers, and a clueless owner. This episode resulted in a lawsuit which was later thrown out of court.

S1E3: The Mixing Bowl

The biggest hurdle is a pompous floor manager who takes 50% of the waitstaff’s tips. Ramsay transforms it into a healthy dining experience and saves a marriage.

S1E4: Seascape

The owner died and the mother and son have problems running this deteriorating seafood joint. Highlights are a pompous chef with a parsley obsession, and the son that must stand up for himself. Ramsay takes him boxing.

S1E5: Olde Stone Mill

The owner has taken out a second mortgage for the restaurant, a chopped salad molded with a funnel, and a nervous server with body odor.

S1E6: Sebastian’s

Ramsey travels to Los Angeles to take on a pizzeria run by a delusional actor, who has devised a creative but ridiculous “20 flavor combination” menu, using frozen food. The owner / chef gets pissed at one point and goes on an awesome tirade.

S1E7: Finn McCool’s

Family run, Irish pub that’s bankrupting the ex-cop owner. Ramsey throws up when trying the shepherd’s pie. The chef, who is the owner’s son, is arrogant and drinks heavily.

S1E8: Lela’s

Pomona “fine dining” restaurant with a kitchen staff “from the hood” that constantly fights with the head waitress. Ramsay catches someone stealing, and the kitchen implodes during the relaunch.

S1E9: Campania

Disastrous Italian eatery where the staff treats work like a big party. Enormous portions are losing money. Customers get unruly and the cops show up.

S1E10: The Secret Garden

Ramsey visits Ventura, and bumps heads with an arrogant French chef who doesn’t take criticism, is skeptical of Ramsay’s ideas, and is in complete denial of how much he sucks. Ramsay nearly quits. Everything is amped up for the season finale.

You can watch the whole shebang over at Hulu.

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