Last night’s episode of Gordon Ramsey’s “Kitchen Nightmares” featured another Long Island restaurant, this time The Mixing Bowl in Bellmore. This was a very casual eatery, like a diner style with a very large menu. Owner/chef Billy and his wife Lisa recruited Ramsey for the show to try and turn the place around, because it was losing a lot of money and on the verge of having to shut down.
First, Ramsey arrived and ordered lunch, busting on manager Mike the whole time, who was his waiter. Ramsey was telling Mike he should get into shape, eat more salads, and that he shouldn’t stare at customers while they are eating. This was a sign of things to come, for sure. Anyway, Ramsey liked the food well enough, especially the crab cakes, but it didn’t blow him away. He even said some of it was bland.
At the dinner service, Ramsey saw more problems. First, there were very few customers. Secondly, some of them were eating at a 50% discount, courtesy of coupons the restaurant had been distributing for “10 years,” according to Billy. Ramsey also busted on Mike for all the cheesy signs he had made to try and draw people in, and Mike admitted that none of them worked anyway.
So after showing Billy and Lisa and the staff that in ten years, a whole bunch of restaurants had opened on this stretch in Bellmore, change was necessary. Another trend was that lots of gyms were opening in the area, and Ramsey suggested trending the menu toward fresh, healthy food.
So with a new, fresh menu in place, Ramsey then overhauled the decor to reflect the new cuisine.
Everyone was excited and ready to begin a new chapter. Word spread fast, and with the help of Ramsey, Lisa and Mike recruited customers from nearby gyms, and from the New York Dragons indoor football team.
But that evening at dinner, it was clear Mike was in over his head….the reservations were messed up, and he was just having trouble running a restaurant that was busy for the first time in years. But instead of taking some of the blame, all Mike did was try and point fingers, to the chagrin of everyone else working there. What’s worse, the customers saw Mike’s meltdown.
Instead of firing Mike, Billy and Lisa admitted that they had a problem and gave Mike a second chance. And Mike responded, admitting that he needed to have a “rebirth” himself to help do his part to make The Mixing Bowl a success. Luckily, he did what he said he would and the place turned around. Profits soared, everyone was happy, and most of all, Billy and Lisa were enjoying a better marriage. A feel good story if there ever was one, even on a show with the word “nightmare” in it.
And there were no cockroaches or rats this time. See you next week!
