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RSS'Kitchen Nightmares': The wonders of filet mignon fondue
I'm so happy that Gordon Ramsay was back to fixing restaurants tonight on Kitchen Nightmares rather than just patting himself on the back for a job well done. Last week's episode certainly had its place, but it was nice to get back to the meat and potatoes of the show -- bad chefs, incompetent owners, and filthy kitchens.
This week our good buddy Gordon was in Mount Sinai, NY at the Handlebar. The owners, Billy and Carolyn, bought the place a year ago because even though it was rundown, it used to be classy and Billy is handy and can fix things. A clear recipe for disaster, hence the arrival of Gordon Ramsay.
Early on though it was obvious that the place had tons of problems, but none greater than their chef. Before Gordon even arrived, Billy and Carolyn each explained, separately, that their head chef, Melissa, was a great chef and had no weaknesses. Melissa, however told a different story. She didn't think she was a chef, she didn't even want to be a chef. Frankly, it sounded like she wanted absolutely nothing to do with a kitchen at all, whether at work or at home. She even referred to the food she served as "crap food" at one point.
Shockingly, Gordon actually enjoyed his first dish, some clam chowder. He was certainly less thrilled with the seafood crepe and his filet mignon fondue. His assessment of this last dish was somewhat unfair, because after trying it he said that there was no reason to ever deep fry filet mignon, that it should never be cooked in that manner. Even if the quality of meat and the dipping sauces were great, he was never going to rate it well.
Poor Billy, when Gordon explained to him that the food was horrible, he was completely shocked. He thought the food there was great. Clearly the man was not a restaurateur, so he probably ought not be running a restaurant, but I still felt bad for him. The next thing Billy found out was that Melissa didn't want to be a chef, that she just took the job because it was there. Great thing to learn about your head chef in front of Gordon Ramsay.
Things didn't get better when Gordon witnessed a dinner service. The place did seem more crowded than Billy suggested it would be (he claimed they didn't turn 18 tables in a night), but the food looked totally wretched. The mashed potatoes were half-powdered half old baked potatoes, and the kitchen allegedly ran out of vegetables (they started serving radishes instead). During his kitchen inspection the next morning, Ramsay found two boxes of fresh broccoli in the fridge and apparently no deliveries had been made yet. Melissa would rather serve radishes (and she eventually found frozen broccoli too) than steam some fresh broccoli. I have to tell you, steaming broccoli really isn't all that difficult.
The kitchen and food storage areas were, of course, completely filthy, but Billy's only excuse was that it was better than it used to be. That may be true, it certainly may have been better, but it was still relatively disgusting. Gordon did his best to make Billy see that it wasn't really going to make a difference if the place was "cleaner than it used to be" if it still wasn't clean.
It was a message Billy couldn't, or wouldn't hear. He refused to talk to Gordon anymore and ended up tossing his microphone on the bar and walking out of the restaurant. I still felt bad for him. He may not have been doing a good job, but he was in way over his head with the Handlebar. He must not have had any idea what he was getting into when he bought the place. He ended up calling Carolyn and telling her to put the place up for sale. He said that they could go to bankruptcy court, wash their hands of the place, and that he could go back to construction work. The man was not having a good day.
After Billy walked out, Carolyn showed up and Gordon tried to talk her into continuing with the place. Carolyn saw that the staff had started to clean the walk-in fridge, and after listening to Gordon and seeing the fridge she was in.
With Gordon running things that night, the dinner service seemed to be going well. Then Billy walked back in, and despite being gone for hours he didn't seem to be any more relaxed, he seemed like he was ready to blow his top. However, he didn't start screaming at Ramsay. Instead, Melissa slowed down in the kitchen, stopped communicating with her wait staff, and the patrons started yelling at each other instead.
It was at that point that Billy and Gordon finally had a talk with each other, and they both saw eye-to-eye. Billy finally showed that he cared not only about how far the place had come, but how far they still had to go.
He was thrilled the next day when he got to see what Gordon turned the place into. Gordon explained to them that he had turned the Handlebar into Long Island's first gastropub. Of course, no one there new what a gastropub was, but once Ramsay explained it -- nice, relaxed, good food at a good price -- they all seemed pleased. They were even more pleased when they got to participate in a motorcycle rally with Dee Snider in order to promote the relaunch. Dee even showed up again during the dinner service to announce that the bike he was riding was going to be auctioned at Handlebar's website. I'd bet you can probably go there after reading this recap to bid.
That moment was probably the highlight of the service. Melissa, as was obvious from the beginning of the episode, was out of her depth running a kitchen. I can't fathom why Gordon didn't replace her prior to the relaunch. Eventually she accepted that maybe, just maybe, the other two cooks in the kitchen could do some work and the kitchen service improved.
In the little postscript, everything seemed truly hunky-dory at the Handlebar. Allegedly, after Gordon left, Melissa found her passion for cooking. I'm not sure I buy that, but I do think that maybe, just maybe, Billy has figured out his failings as a restaurant owner and can improve on what he's been doing. I wouldn't bet on it, but I'm pulling for him.
Questions, questions, questions:
- Am I off base here? I initially thought I was going to hate Billy, but just ended up feeling bad for him instead. How about you?
- How is it that Gordon didn't fire Melissa as soon as she said she had no passion for her job and didn't even ever want to be a chef?
- Was Gordon's finger bleeding when he showed Billy and Melissa how dirty the kitchen equipment was?
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Yes his finger was cut. I rewound my DVR to see it. I hope his tetanus shots are up to date, lol!
I didn't feel bad for Billy at all. I actually enjoy watching white trash in over their head fail. The biggest problem I see with people like Billy is they have no idea how to run a restaurant. Sure, he ate a steak there once and he thought "Hey I could buy the place and reap the profits." There is a reason the place was for sale, Billy was too dense to realize it. If you think about it, a restaurant has one of the lowest barriers to entry. No wonder these nuts are in over their heads!
I find myself asking the same questions after almost every episode.
If the kitchens are so dirty, why haven't local health departments shut them down?
At relaunch, kitchen and wait staff have to learn new menus and deal with large crowds. How do they manage the huge increase? I know I couldn't - I worked as a waitress in a number of restaurants several decades ago. Ease me into it until I've developed a routine and can handle the increased business.
Carolyn Stoffel
Anybody else think that Gordon seriously needs to work on his one-liners?
Sinai-Cyanide.
Seriously?
"If the kitchens are so dirty, why haven't local health departments shut them down?"
Bribery, incompetant health inspectors, not that many doing the rounds. Burecratic procedures that reduce the ability and power of the inspection departments. All are to blame.
Dillon's from season one you can look up the inspection reports and see the violation points. We are talking over a hundred violations in food safety in one month.
The violations at Gordon Ramsay's London restaurant had to do with things like the smoking policy not being put up on a sign for the employees to read. Nothing really to do with the cleanliness of the kichen or the fridges. Basically stuff that is under the building managment to provide.
"At relaunch, kitchen and wait staff have to learn new menus and deal with large crowds."
Not really. The menus are simplified compared to what was before. Also the large crowds are what the place would typically expierance in a busy night. It's a trial by fire.
"How is it that Gordon didn't fire Melissa as soon as she said she had no p***ion for her job and didn't even ever want to be a chef?"
If you watch the British version of KN there have been very few cooks he fired. It's often after the show when the cook doesn't continue an excelleant service that they are fired. Melissa if you watched him prepare the new menu items was paying attention. He was testing her and for the week he was there and she p***ed for the moment.
the UK version of this show is MUCH better. the US version focuses only on conflict. last year's episodes were watchable, but this year's seem worse. for example, this episode ran for 40 or 45 minutes of conflict before they even starting "fixing" the problems. then they spent 1 or 2 minutes mentioning that everything was fixed and magically the restaurant became a success. the whole focus of the US show now seems to be to highlight the personal conflicts between the people Gordon are there to help and Gordon, without any sort of insight into how to fix what's wrong with the restaurant. in this episode they spent virtually no time on the change in menu, for example. in the UK version, something as important as the menu would get detailed treatment... what's wrong, why, what can be done about, etc. for this US episode, Gordon just says, "OK, now you're a gastric pub". ta-da! if the other episodes continue like this, i'll be tuning out. for those interested in seeing the real behind the scenes workings of the restaurant industry (which is one of the most stressful work environments), try watching the UK episodes. those are far more interesting, the storylines are far more real and complex, and Gordon is portrayed far more sympathetically as he attempts to identify and solve the restaurant problems.
It is really amazing that there are places that serve improperly cooked food knowing it can cause a miriade of health problems. Finding a restaurant that undercooks/overcooks food, leaves trails of food on the floor, and have a kitchen looking looking more like a cesspool only shows that the owners and or the head chef care so little for the patrins just to save a buck, they are willing to serve "crap" rather than using their ingenuity to create dishes that are wholesome and taste good but doesn't take a lot of money. If you serve good food and good drinks, have a place with good ambiance, a little music (not this white noise that is made now) all at a decent price, the people will come.