In the season finale of “Kitchen Nightmares,” Gordon Ramsey ventures out to Moorpark, California to revamp the failing Secret Garden restaurant. The restaurant features French food and a chef/owner named Michel who is very full of himself and his foo-foo menu. He’s also about 300K in debt and needs help because no one is eating there anymore.

After finding that the front door to the restaurant does not even function and having to enter through the back, Ramsey sits down to sample the food. He orders a salad with garlic shrimp and strawberries, and some kind of steak with fried potatoes on top. He sends the salad back, saying that it’s disgusting. Then he says the steak is tough and that the potatoes are just a greasy mess on top. I’m grossed out already, are you? But then Ramsey goes into the kitchen and tells Michel his food sucks.
He then tells him that he’s too far up his own ass to care about anything. Wow. But this was just setting the tone.

The next day, Ramsey inspects the kitchen and finds mold growing in the refrigerator. He makes the entire staff spend the day cleaning the kitchen, after which they prepare for the dinner service that night. Ramsey is mortified that many people are ordering this strawberry “canape,” which is a tiny appetizer. He also notices that every meat entree is crusted in something and says that the menu needs to be simplified for things to run smoother. When he presents this idea to Michel, he is furious and argues with Ramsey some more. But Ramsey wins out and some of the items are presented at the dinner service, which nevertheless gets backed up due to a lack of communication among everyone.
Michel winds up snapping at his servers, making some of them cry.

Then Ramsey has his design team come in as he always does, and gears up for a revamped dinner service with his menu in place. Michel is worried about the changes, saying they will hurt his business rather than help. But since most of Michel’s customers are senior citizens, Ramsey thinks a newer, fresher menu will attract some younger folks too.

The restaurant is packed that night, and a food critic is in attendance as well. That critic sends back her fish dish, saying it’s too salty and over-seasoned. This prompts Michel to revert back to his old menu, which makes Ramsey call him a lazy pig (with many f-bombs thrown in) and storm out.

But Ramsey decides he can’t give up on The Secret Garden and winds up going back. After the critic tries something from the newer menu, she raves about it. Then Michel polls some of his customers and finds out that they all love the new menu items. He admits to himself and to Ramsey that he had been wrong, and that he will go along with the new menu. It doesn’t hurt that he made a ton of money that evening. He even promotes his top server, Jane, to manager.

This one winds up having a happy ending, when it appeared Ramsey might just bail out on the stubborn French chef.

It’s been a fun season, and who knows if the show will be back for a second season. But it sure is interesting seeing how Gordon Ramsey can whip people into shape in a matter of days and turn things around. See you all next month for the return of “American Idol.”