Poll of the Day > Watching some old episodes of Kitchen Nightmare

(+) Yeah! (+)

I enjoy Gordon Ramsay's stuff, but I've never been as into Kitchen Nightmares because it tends to embody a lot more of the exaggerated-for-tv side of reality television, as well as feeling hokier and contrived. I will say that having seen some stuff from s1, the show has *massively* improved by the end (I guess it ran 2007-2014)

However, the great thing about watching old reality tv shows featuring real businesses is you get to see the actual epilogue instead of the phony "well, now everything is fixed and working great!" In the case of this episode, the restaurant shut down 2 years after the episode was filmed (and, not for nothing, but they were *clearly* re-modeling while shooting)

Anybody here ever get all that into Kitchen Nightmares or another one of Gordon's shows? (I think my favorite show was Ramsay's Best Restaurant, although I realize I never saw the finals)

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I've enjoyed Kitchen Nightmares and Hell's Kitchen.

I watch random snippets and clips of it here and there, but I've never actually seen a full episode. I find him interesting as an entertainer and personality. I would love to see a video of him eating at SunWuKung's restaurant!

I preferred the more mellow, Gordon seems to actually care and narrates it himself, british version of Kitchen Nightmares.

Not a fan of the over the top American version.

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Final Fantasy2389 posted...

I preferred the more mellow, Gordon seems to actually care and narrates it himself, british version of Kitchen Nightmares.

Not a fan of the over the top American version.

I didn't realize that the show also had a British version (although, given that the same was true for some of his other shows, I probably should have suspected). I'll have to check it out, especially if he's more tame during it.

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Not every ep but I sometimes watch episodes here:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9iRkjvEKSjsTEQtjdLDe5ovu7Q1GtMT7

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I've seen most of them, including the British one. Some of the specials I've come across have been decent too. Like there was one where he's in a British prison teaching them how to cook in hopes they can get out and then have a useful skill. Quite good actually.

He's also started up a new(ish) show called 24 Hours to Hell and Back. I guess they figured they really had to amp it up this time. Solid enough show though. It was still going strong til...2020 happened.

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My favorite epilogue since you being it up is one where he went to Paris to help out. Found a gem of a chef who went on to join one of his kitchens in england and then she went and opened her own restraunt with a employee there. Oh and the manager chick he was trying to help ended up becoming a hooker and abandoned the business

https://www.financialexpress.com/archive/chef-turned-woman-into-200-a-night-prostitute/633644/

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I've been watching some clips on Youtube lately ever since one came up in my recommendations

Dumb question but what's the ratio of reality to scripted?

Like I've watched several clips and they all follow the same formula

• Ramsey arrives
• Owner and staff are nervous and know Ramsey is going to rip them a new one
• He orders three meals and they're all terrible
• Owner does not care at all and/or is oblivious to everything
• The head chef is either frustrated at the lack of direction or like the owner doesn't care
• Staff doesn't like working there
• Restaurant is barely surviving
• Staff isn't paid well
• All the customers hate their food
• End

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Final Fantasy2389 posted...

Not every ep but I sometimes watch episodes here:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9iRkjvEKSjsTEQtjdLDe5ovu7Q1GtMT7

Thanks.

yutterh posted...

My favorite epilogue since you being it up is one where he went to Paris to help out. Found a gem of a chef who went on to join one of his kitchens in england and then she went and opened her own restraunt with a employee there. Oh and the manager chick he was trying to help ended up becoming a hooker and abandoned the business

https://www.financialexpress.com/archive/chef-turned-woman-into-200-a-night-prostitute/633644/

It's kinda crazy how much of these stories turned out badly. I'm not sure one episode I've seen so far (from season 1) has had the restaurant last. In the case of one place, it closed a few months after and then supposedly they re-opened it briefly to shoot the epilogue.

Then apparently another restauranteur killed himself after being on the show:
https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/Recipes/kitchen-nightmares-participant-joe-cerniglia-commits-suicide/story?id=11744484

Sure, I know that all of these places had problems in the first place (hence being on the show), but if nothing worked out for anybody, why the hell would people keep agreeing to go on? (Barring maybe the first 2-3 seasons before you saw how many places went bellyup anyway)

captainjeff87 posted...

I've been watching some clips on Youtube lately ever since one came up in my recommendations

Dumb question but what's the ratio of reality to scripted?

Like I've watched several clips and they all follow the same formula

The reality is if Gordon Ramsay is there, you're going to be nervous >_>

But a lot of the formula kinda makes sense:
-You're always going to start with the people who work there telling their side of things. And there are always going to be complaints because things aren't going well. (I mean, nobody winds up on a show called Kitchen Nightmares if they have a well-run restaurant where everything is going smoothly.)

-You have to have Ramsay arrive and introduce himself, since otherwise it'd be weird for him to just be there.

-He also orders food, because that's a natural way of evaluating a place and getting a sense for how things work. I'll admit that his reactions are generally over the top and that looks really fake. However, in the episodes I've seen, he has remarked that a few items were pretty good. (I'm not sure if he does two separate takes -- one where he likes things and one where he doesn't -- to suit the direction later on.)

-He observes an average night. Again, this is kinda how you have to evaluate places. The fact that things randomly go wrong feels formulaic, but part of it might also just be a matter of them recording all night to find instances of something going badly so they can highlight it. And I'm sure they interview every diner and just focus on the negative comments.

As for the problems, they tend to vary although most restaurants with issues are probably going to have some of the same problems. The fact that he's called in means that these restaurants are in trouble. Most of the big problems are highlighted in the episode preview.

I'm sure a lot of the stuff is ginned up for the show, but you're always going to have staff issues, coworker drama, etc. Most restaurants are going to have problems with either cleanliness or food safety (one episode so far it never came up, so I assume that the owner/chef did a really good job... or there was a problem but they chose to focus on other things that episode).

And you're always going to see a turnaround that seems to work, but part of that is simply because Ramsay is promoting the re-opening/revamp so you get interest (assuming that they're just not actors) and then the epilogue a few months later is going to look successful which, in at least one case, appears to have definitely been staged. However, it's not terribly surprising that a restaurant would become popular for a while after being featured on a show.

But by design, the show *has* to follow something of a formula and that's not strictly the result of scripting or fakery.

And I'll mention his best restaurant competition also followed a pretty tight formula (again, because they had to do certain things to evaluate them) and it never really felt as fake as this. Of course, in that case, Gordon had also picked restaurants he felt were promising (although some aren't here today).

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yutterh posted...

My favorite epilogue since you being it up is one where he went to Paris to help out. Found a gem of a chef who went on to join one of his kitchens in england and then she went and opened her own restraunt with a employee there. Oh and the manager chick he was trying to help ended up becoming a hooker and abandoned the business

https://www.financialexpress.com/archive/chef-turned-woman-into-200-a-night-prostitute/633644/

I did not that she became a prostitute. She was almost as bad as Amy with her attitude.
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I have watched it.
I did like it.
I was not a fan.
I can't answer the poll.

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Back to captainjeff87's formula and reality point, of the season 1 episodes I've watched so far, the two that probably stand out the most to me are Dillion's and the Mixing Bowl. Although the formula/format, etc, is still the same, it was two very different sets of problems (and not just because they were two different settings -- Seascape and Dillion's were also very different settings, but they had many of the same issues... well, at least some of them).

For Dillion's (iirc in NYC), they were trying to do everything. It was a mix of Irish, American, and Indian. And, despite being called Dillion's, it was mostly Indian food. They also had three managers, the kitchen had serious cleanliness and health issues, the owner wasn't involved in the day-to-day (instead trusting his three managers), personnel issues (all three managers complained about each other, there were communication issues in the kitchen, and so on), etc. The fix? Ramsay brought in a cleaning crew for the kitchen, he convinced the owner to fire a manager (who then quit), they simplified the menu to make it more Indian-centric, they changed the name of the restaurant, and got rid of an ugly neon sign. Plus they renovated the insides, but that might have just been for show

For the Mixing Bowl, it'd been around 10 years but business had dropped off and they were thinking of closing. (Which apparently they did? Or the business just flopped a few months later.) The problems included the owner/chef seeming "quiet" (which was silly, but it was built as a question of whether he had passion for the business or if they should just close up now), the manager just giving money away with silly discounts/promotions, the manager's weird promotional ideas (which were actually pretty fucking funny, and Ramsay's loud "Why are you doing this?" questions worked perfectly in the context), the fact that they didn't stand out in an area that had opened a lot of restaurants in that ten years, and some organization problems. The fix? Ramsay redesigned the menu to have a healthy options gimmick, they promoted that gimmick at fitness places, etc, and they tried to get the manager to clean up his act. Kinda good ideas, but the place didn't last for whatever reason and apparently it closed up fast.

In general, though, the food industry is a tough business and a lot of people who get into it don't have good business sense. In the case of the Mixing Bowl, the problems didn't seem anything spectacular. In the case of Dillion's, that place had problems up the wazoo. The biggest issue was that the owner had three "managers" running his business and none of them had a handle on things.

SKARDAVNELNATE posted...

I have watched it.
I did like it.
I was not a fan.
I can't answer the poll.

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Aaantlion posted...

Back to captainjeff87's formula and reality point, of the season 1 episodes I've watched so far, the two that probably stand out the most to me are Dillion's and the Mixing Bowl. Although the formula/format, etc, is still the same, it was two very different sets of problems (and not just because they were two different settings -- Seascape and Dillion's were also very different settings, but they had many of the same issues... well, at least some of them).

For Dillion's (iirc in NYC), they were trying to do everything. It was a mix of Irish, American, and Indian. And, despite being called Dillion's, it was mostly Indian food. They also had three managers, the kitchen had serious cleanliness and health issues, the owner wasn't involved in the day-to-day (instead trusting his three managers), personnel issues (all three managers complained about each other, there were communication issues in the kitchen, and so on), etc. The fix? Ramsay brought in a cleaning crew for the kitchen, he convinced the owner to fire a manager (who then quit), they simplified the menu to make it more Indian-centric, they changed the name of the restaurant, and got rid of an ugly neon sign. Plus they renovated the insides, but that might have just been for show

For the Mixing Bowl, it'd been around 10 years but business had dropped off and they were thinking of closing. (Which apparently they did? Or the business just flopped a few months later.) The problems included the owner/chef seeming "quiet" (which was silly, but it was built as a question of whether he had passion for the business or if they should just close up now), the manager just giving money away with silly discounts/promotions, the manager's weird promotional ideas (which were actually pretty fucking funny, and Ramsay's loud "Why are you doing this?" questions worked perfectly in the context), the fact that they didn't stand out in an area that had opened a lot of restaurants in that ten years, and some organization problems. The fix? Ramsay redesigned the menu to have a healthy options gimmick, they promoted that gimmick at fitness places, etc, and they tried to get the manager to clean up his act. Kinda good ideas, but the place didn't last for whatever reason and apparently it closed up fast.

In general, though, the food industry is a tough business and a lot of people who get into it don't have good business sense. In the case of the Mixing Bowl, the problems didn't seem anything spectacular. In the case of Dillion's, that place had problems up the wazoo. The biggest issue was that the owner had three "managers" running his business and none of them had a handle on things.

Yep I remember both episodes. Kitchen nightmares is one of my favorite reality shows. Cant think of another so it may be my favorite lol. But I think for the show I like Ramsay's attitude. It's what keeps me coming back for the most part and see how terrible these places are. But I do wish they at least mentioned some of the good points and what the restraunt was doing right if they were. But man some restraunt get realllly bad.

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