Last night was the first official U.S. based episode of Gordon Ramsey’s new show, “Kitchen Nightmares.”
As we talked about yesterday, this is a show where Ramsey comes in and revamps a restaurant that is in trouble due to poor management, kitchen operations, or both.
So the inaugural guinea pig was Peter’s Italian Restaurant in Babylon, New York, which is on Long Island’s South shore. The restaurant is family owned and operated, but the principle owner is Tina, but her brother Peter, who the restaurant is named after, acts like the boss and for all intents and purposes, IS the boss. In fact, his employees say he secretly aspires to be in a “Goodfellas” movie, and if you see Peter and watch him operate, that is no stretch by any means. He’s big, Italian, and imposing.
Ramsey meets with all of the employees–chef Robert, sous chef John, Tina and Peter, their mom and dad, and waiter Angelo. His first order of business is to sample some of the food, and he quickly finds out that it’s not prepared the way it should be….the crab cakes are cold in the middle and served on browning lettuce. And the lobster in the lobster ravioli tastes like “baby food.” Not a good start.
Ramsey also quickly notices that the kitchen equipment is outdated and barely functioning, and that Peter’s selfish behavior is bringing the entire restaurant and its staff down. He has even been taking money from the restaurant’s tiny profits, putting them more in a hole.
In between all this, there are two instances of bill collectors coming to the restaurant, and Peter shows everyone why he should be in a mob movie…hell, this guy could have been Tony Soprano’s right hand man. Anyway, Peter threatens both bill collectors, telling them that he’s going to beat the crap out of them right in front of the restaurant….which he doesn’t, but it’s all good television anyway….and a good train wreck along the lines of “COPS.”
So Ramsey’s first order of business is new kitchen equipment, which makes Robert practically do back flips. He says he can finally cook the way he’s supposed to. Meanwhile, this change makes Tina and the rest of the staff incredibly happy and gives them an emotional boost. Next, Ramsey says they need to distinguish themselves from the other restaurants in the area, so he suggests and implements a “family style” menu, featuring less items that are served to the tables family style. The idea is great, but Peter sabotages the execution of it by eating some of the food meant for customers. It really gets interesting when Ramsey tells Peter to “go F–K yourself.” And Peter doesn’t know quite how to respond, which makes it even better.
In the end, Ramsey tells Peter that he needs to ultimately take responsibility for his actions, that he’s bringing everyone else down. You’d think a guy like Peter wouldn’t listen, but he really does…he goes home, comes back the next day and is basically a changed man. And with that, the whole dynamic of the restaurant changes. Peter is nice to everyone–employees and customers alike. And the end result is that Peter’s Italian Restaurant starts to make money again.
If I could take two things from this episode, it’s that no one can intimidate Gordon Ramsey–not even the most intimidating mobster wannabes….and that the man knows how to run a restaurant. Dare I say it, but I think this show is better than “Hell’s Kitchen.” I guess the ratings will tell us if I’m right.
Till next week…..
