I have recently become addicted to watching Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares on BBC America (UK version) or Fox (US Version). To my surprise, it is quite entertaining to watch Chef Gordon Ramsay go to struggling restaurants and help them turn their businesses around. I’m not usually a fan of reality television, but this show entertains me, in part because I enjoy watching Chef Ramsay yelling such harsh obscenities to almost everyone he meets. It’s also entertaining to watch the chefs tell him the way they currently do things is better than his suggestions. When this happens he will usually go out on the street and give people samples of either the restaurants current food, to demonstrate why it isn’t popular, or of his new menu items, to demonstrate the wants of the local customers.
Yet the chef’s still fight with Chef Ramsay, saying they know better then him and that their food is good. The absurdity of this is that they have applied to be on the show and have him help them, yet they still fight him. Ramsay is a top chef and his restaurants have three Michelin stars, which is very difficult and says something about his cooking ability, so to have a chef working in a failing restaurant with terrible food contradict someone who is an expert in the field is laughable.
At the same time, Ramsey generally wants the restaurants to succeed and for their chefs and sous chefs to improve, so it is gratifying to see the restaurant at the end of the show, when they have changed things, usually by making the menu simpler and smaller. When the owners don’t take his suggestions and the restaurants don’t improve, Ramsey’s frustration is evident, as is his pleasure when he is able to help someone by teaching them new ways of doing things that work better. The show ends with Gordon Ramsey returning to the restaurant some period of time later to see if they stuck with his suggestions and if they are doing well. Sometimes things go wrong, and you feel bad for the people, but usually things have greatly improved, making the show gratifying to watch.
Ramsay spent three years training in France under acclaimed Chef Guy Savoy and Chef Joel Rob chon. He currently has seven restaurants in the UK, four in the US, as well as restaurants in Prague, Tokyo, Dubai and Dublin. He will also be opening Gordon Ramsay at The London, a new hotel opening in West Hollywood in April 2008.
Photography by hecklerspray.com
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