Kitchen Nightmares Season 1 (1 Viewer)

[JohnS]

I enjoyed the Sebastian's episode.

It would have been nice to get a 6 months later or some kind of later update.
I don't think Sebastian mind will ever change.

and what's up with his "Sexy" pizzas(online menu?)

Maybe Ramsey should have had a discussion with his wife, the investor of the restaurant.

I thought it was funny when Sebastian kept mentioning about franchising his pizzas.

Finn McCool's is Ramsey's next stop Nov 14th
Lela's Nov 21st
Campania Nov 28th
Season finale Dec 5th

 

[Chris]

Fox has ordered more Kitchen Nightmares for the spring.

But this last one made me laugh. What an idiot. I mean, it's one thing to be an idiot during the show if you get it and take the changes.. at least you can learn something. Sebastian never learned anything.

 

[MichaelD]

Yeah I was very surprised Gordon did not speak to his wife and tell her that her husband was ruining the restaurant. My wife would have told me to get my ass out of there if I was acting like that.

 

[Aaron Silverman]

Maybe he did, but it didn't fit the editors' storyline.

 

[MikeM]

Anyone notice the extremely small earpiece in Gordon's ear during one of his "talks" with Sebastian? In HD you could see it clearly.

Either Gordon needs a hearing aid, or they have producers feeding him info, reactions, and lines during taping.

 

[JohnS]

Finn McCool's

The weakest of the season so far.
Not a whole lot of problems to fix, except just a point in the right direction.

Everyone for the most part seemed or was competent.

The sign that they gave them for the outside was great. looked very nice.

Not an Irish food fan..so I wouldn't eat there.

But it was great that the owner finally cashed one of his paychecks after turning a profit.

 

[Walter C]

I didn't care too much for this episode either.

It is one of those happy ending episodes, with the family finally getting it together.

 

[Derek Miner]

I'm coming to this thread as a new convert to 'Kitchen Nightmares.' I absolutely hated 'Hell's Kitchen' because it seemed so harsh and soulless, so I was surprised to find myself one night a few weeks ago watching 'Kitchen Nightmares'... and liking it. It still seemed a bit tough, but I was fascinated by the idea of tweaking what a place was doing wrong and trying to help turn it around. It astounded me how so many of these places seemed filthy and poorly run. On the flip side, however, I was actually offended by the blatant "tweaking" the producers were doing, and in completely unsubtle ways. It's the best idea almost ruined by the execution.

So then, I look up the original show, 'Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares' and see it's playing on BBC America. What a shock!! Gordon Ramsay is actually not a boss from hell but an actual human being. The UK show pleased me in so many ways that the US one doesn't even attempt. I'm still watching the US show, but now it seems even more contrived.

Which is why I enjoyed the latest episode on Finn McCool's. It had more of the spirit of the UK show and seemed less overblown. I actually like seeing Gordon connect with people as opposed to just having knock-down drag-outs with them.

 

[Aaron Silverman]

Is the BBC edition viewable online (legally) like the Fox edition is? I don't get BBC America.

Forgot to watch the last episode. (One of those "I *think* there's something on Wednesday nights that I like to watch, but I can't quite remember what it is" moments. )

 

[JohnS]

Lela's was a great episode.
Had lots of fun watching it.

The changing of the food looked amazing.
I so wanted to eat the Pomona Salad and Lela's House Hamburger.

I really enjoyed watching all the staff interact and after the turn around it looked like a nice friendly place to eat.

I was so sad to hear that only after five months after the turn around, that Lela got so far in debt that she had to close her doors.
I would have went to Pomona just to eat there.

GREAT EPISODE!

 

[Derek Miner]

I agree, good episode. The chef ended up looking pretty good in the end, and I liked the moment where Gordon took him aside and told him how impressed he was.

I don't know if it's just a difference in the way the UK and US shows are "cast" or if it's a cultural difference, but the people across the pond are soooo much less stubborn than people here. I was blown away the first time I watched a UK episode where Gordon criticized the kitchen staff - they just looked sheepish and apologized.

 

[Josh Dial]

I've seen pretty much every episode of the UK series, as it's shown to death here in Canada, and I've noticed that indeed the staff in the UK series seem much more open to change and criticism.

However, the owners and managers in the UK are generally a LOT more "prickish" to Chef Ramsey than their American counterparts. Even when the place is literally days away from closing its doors, many are so studdborn they won't even change things as simple as the plates (like the Fenwick Arms episode...).

 

[Derek Miner]

Tonight's episode at Campania is definitely my favorite of the US run so far. Gordon telling off a customer was certainly a new one! I also liked how the ideas that were introduced played on the strengths of the staff. They were obviously young, energetic personalities, and that worked perfectly with the meatball giveaway and the menu "bingo" contest. In earlier episodes, it seemed almost oppressive the way Ramsay would come in and dictate everything. I get the impression the reality in those situations was more like what we saw tonight, just edited to heighten the conflict.

I suppose like any show, you have to get a few episodes under your belt before you know the ins and outs of a series. I can definitely feel a progression over this run from trying to always keep Ramsay in 'Hell's Kitchen' mode to letting his thorough understanding of what makes a restaurant tick really come out and enhance the show, like the UK version does.

 

[Jason Harbaugh]

I've really been enjoying this series. Of course it has also made me want to rethink about going out to eat at a restaurant. I know I'll doublecheck pretty much anything that is served to me from now on.

Some of the customers in this episode were obnoxious. It is a bit fishy when the entire table has the same complaint. So I was glad to see Ramsey lay into that woman. So much for the old bag...err customer always being right.

Why didn't they have a 'whatever became of' at the end of the episode? Is it just assumed that this restaurant is doing ok now?

 

[Spero D]

Looks like everything is not always how it seems. IE. the food critic from a few eps back was an actor, the producers purposely over booking the restaurants, etc.

http://stranahan.com/

 

[Jay H]

Well, the Campania's website is still up.. if that is a sign... Fair Lawn is not too far from me, Bergen County, but I'm rarely in Bergen County though...

http://campaniarestaurant.com/

Jay

 

[Steve Schaffer]

Having now worked in retail for a while I have the distinct suspicion that the entire table that "hated their food" was simply looking for a free meal.

 

[Derek Miner]

I suspected something like that. When these restaurants that are never busy are suddenly filled with customers willing to be on camera, their very harsh criticisms seemed a bit hollow (I refer to past episodes, not this recent one). It's not like this is a huge leap, either, since they essentially brought in handpicked 'audiences' for 'Hell's Kitchen.' I also considered doing an 'analysis' on the show and breaking down the editing and continuity tricks that bugged me in earlier episodes. It was starting to bug me that they seemed to make those dinner services harder on the staff just for the purpose of manufacturing conflict for the cameras.

Ah, but I just recalled something amusing that I think is a positive change from the UK show... I have been realizing that every UK episode of 'Kitchen Nightmares' seems to feature a shot of Gordon taking off his shirt to change into his chef's jacket. I'm glad I'm not seeing topless Ramsay every week on Fox.

 

[JohnS]

I liked the Campania's episode.
Even though after reading that one link, http://stranahan.com/ makes it seem like every episode is set up(Which I'm sure is true to a point)
But what reality show ISN'T set up or staged

But even so, I did enjoy Ramsey talking back to that complaining woman.

The season finale is Dec 12th Secret Garden
This Wednesday's episode is a repeat(Peter's episode)

 

[Walter C]

I laughed so hard when he referred to that woman as an "old bag". I've felt like doing the same to complaining customers who won't listen.