Fox's "Kitchen Nightmares" show

Cafe Society
1

(Excuse me if this has been done, I didn’t see a recent thread)

Do you watch it? Like it? Have any problems with the show?

I think it’s fascinating, at least the few I’ve seen.
[The big important NY restaurateur comes to family restaurants and tries to do a one-week makeover.]

But I do wonder how much of it is staged for false drama. The star Gordon always samples the food at the start and is served terrible and cold food. Seems unlikely.
Then everybody screams at everyone else. And then they find decayed food in the pantry.

I wish I could do a turnover for some of the places near my work. Bad service, dirty glassware, etc. Maybe I should just mail the owners an episode or two on tape.

2

This episode was probably the most heavily editted of the series so far. (Fox on an anti Frenchman rant?)

If you watch carefully at the clothes and the background you can see that Chef Ramsey’s Big exit and rant came days before the last service. Many of the French Chef’s most belligerent moments had him sitting in the old background (That ugly Chef statue is in the background) I’m beginning to think that the making of the original menu was also from earlier to “Heighten the conflict”

To be honest I prefer the BBC version it is more about the Restaurant Business and less about Family/emtional BS. He rarely comes in with a makeover team but has the people make do with what they have and use their own means to fix their problems.

3

I prefer the BBC version for the reasons stated, and also because it much more frequently features a mid-episode changing of Chef Ramsey’s shirt. :smiley:

While the show is quite formulaic and edited, it’s also believable in a way that Hell’s Kitchen isn’t. There really are restaurants out there where service sucks, the food’s horrific, the cleanliness non-existent… whereas it’s a bit harder to believe that Ramsey could consistently scream/throw things at people over a period of weeks and not have his brain explode (or wind up with a knife protruding from his genitals). And his intervention isn’t always successful- two of the restaurants featured have closed since their makeovers, and one (the Hollywood one) has backslid significantly.

I was concerned that they would Americanize the show too much, and there really is a distinct difference between the two versions. What they did manage to retain, however, is the sense that Gordon really genuinely wants to help these folks out- he’s not always the short-tempered blowhard he appears to be on HK.

4

I like the show. I also like the BBC version better because there is less drama and a more genuine feel of wanting to help. At least to me. The American version seems like Gordon is just doing it for the pay check.

I also like Hell’s Kitchen because of all the yelling and drama.

5

They certainly weren’t affected by the writer’s strike, because they are all the same show with different casts.

Ramsey arrives a) by cab or b) by motorcycle.

Restaurantuer and staff are happy to see him.

Ramsey orders food and declares it rubbish.

Ramsey meets with staff, finds out owner is a) broke, and b) a total megalomaniac. Also finds out head chef is a prima donna nutcase.

Ramsey reworks menu, declares a “signature” dish, and puts a frickin sign out front.

Ramsey schedules a grand reopening, invites firefighters and the Mayor.

Service starts out great, begins to fall apart, Ramsey pulls it together.

Happily ever after.

6

[QUOTE=Lamar Mundane]
They certainly weren’t affected by the writer’s strike, because they are all the same show with different casts.

Ramsey arrives a) by cab or b) by motorcycle.

Restaurantuer and staff are happy to see him.

Ramsey orders food and declares it rubbish.

Ramsey meets with staff, finds out owner is a) broke, and b) a total megalomaniac. Also finds out head chef is a prima donna nutcase.

Ramsey reworks menu, declares a “signature” dish, and puts a frickin sign out front.

Ramsey schedules a grand reopening, invites firefighters and the Mayor.

Service starts out great, begins to fall apart, Ramsey pulls it together.

Happily ever after.
[/QUOTE]
Good, but you forgot

Ramsey likens the food to male genitalia or feces.

Ramsey changes in front of the camera.

Ramsey exhorts the chef to make *simple, fresh, local *food.

Don’t get me wrong, I lerve the British show, which does much the same. The problems with the American version, to me, are:

Foxified for extra drama! “Da-DUH” music every 30 seconds, misleading editing right up there with Smithers’ bootup sound, lots of family conflict and yelling, and an artificially constructed dramatic arc with obligatory happy ending.

Not as much about the actual business of running a restaurant.

Big budget makeovers for the restaurants.

Gordon doesn’t do the voice over - it really loses something.

Showing half the damn show in “highlights” before the show starts.

7

Heh…I was wondering how long the standard “I prefer the BBC show more” would come up…got all the way to post two.

It’s a different beast, made for different audiences. I like the American one because more actually happens. The British version is far too low-key, and even a little dull. The people in the BBC version understand and worship Ramsey, which is to be expected considering he’s an icon over there, but the Americans…not so much. So instead of the agreements, you’re going to get more confrontation, more turf battles. So right there the entire dynamic is changed, and I think the people who prefer the British way overlook that.

I’m not watching it for cooking lessons, I’m watching it to see how Gordon bumps heads with the a-hole Americans who think they know better than him. And that’s what I get and I’m loving it. I turned to my wife at least three times last night, aghast, at what Michel said or did. You just don’t get enough of that on BBC America.

8

The show does disclaim clearly (at least it’s clear in high def) during closing credits that the order of scenes shown is not always the order of scenes shot. It also disclaims that the show sometimes pays a portion of the cost for customers’ meals.

9

The restaurants are always filthy. Wheres the board of health. I would never let a place get filthy. It would be shut down.

10

[QUOTE=Unauthorized Cinnamon]
Good, but you forgot

Ramsey likens the food to male genitalia or feces.

Ramsey changes in front of the camera.

Ramsey exhorts the chef to make *simple, fresh, local *food.

Don’t get me wrong, I lerve the British show, which does much the same. The problems with the American version, to me, are:

Foxified for extra drama! “Da-DUH” music every 30 seconds, misleading editing right up there with Smithers’ bootup sound, lots of family conflict and yelling, and an artificially constructed dramatic arc with obligatory happy ending.

Not as much about the actual business of running a restaurant.

Big budget makeovers for the restaurants.

Gordon doesn’t do the voice over - it really loses something.

Showing half the damn show in “highlights” before the show starts.
[/QUOTE]

I agree 100%. That’s why I like the BBC show better.

The American version is almost foolproof. A monkey could own a restaurant, and have Ramsay come in, clean the place up, redo the menu, a tens of thousands of dollar makeover, and hire a consultant, and become successful.

In the BBC show, the owners have to do the things themselves. If the owner needs a new kitchen, then Ramsay tells him that he needs to sell his high-priced car of something to buy the supplies; no freebies in the UK version..

11

[QUOTE=ArizonaTeach]
Heh…I was wondering how long the standard “I prefer the BBC show more” would come up…got all the way to post two.

It’s a different beast, made for different audiences. I like the American one because more actually happens. The British version is far too low-key, and even a little dull. The people in the BBC version understand and worship Ramsey, which is to be expected considering he’s an icon over there, but the Americans…not so much. So instead of the agreements, you’re going to get more confrontation, more turf battles. So right there the entire dynamic is changed, and I think the people who prefer the British way overlook that.

I’m not watching it for cooking lessons, I’m watching it to see how Gordon bumps heads with the a-hole Americans who think they know better than him. And that’s what I get and I’m loving it. I turned to my wife at least three times last night, aghast, at what Michel said or did. You just don’t get enough of that on BBC America.
[/QUOTE]

Problem is that more than half of the headbutting dramatics are faked by clever (and not so clever) editing. Notice how sometime Michel’s voice sounded different in tone as he was supposedly saying something to Ramsey while they cut to a shot either away from the action or a shot that obscures his face or mouth.

More than likely (In fact almost definitely) they were taped during a pre Ramsey arrival interview and played up by the chef for the camera. The closer you watch the more phoney this show becomes.

Even worse when they grab a random reaction shot of someone turning their head and make it look as if they are hearing the yelling and screaming. I highly doubt that Ramsey would do that during an actual service.

The other Foxified thing is the “Let’s redecorate to fix the problem” The idea that you can Buy success is silly, but the show seems to really revel in that idea. I understand the need for redecorating and such in a business but why does the show have to pay for it? That isn’t the way real business works. No one can magically fix your financial woes through a makeover.

Honestly if you only watched the Fox version you’d think there were only three things to make a restaraunt a success FRESH FOOD, NEW DECOR AND A CLEAN KITCHEN.

Still I love Ramsey so I watch… Too bad about the bleeping. Listening to him talk uninterupted is funny as all hell

12

I didn’t know about the British show (I don’t have cable), but I usually like those versions better. I did manage to get food poisoning on my last trip to Britain. Ate at a Wimpy Burger and as I was leaving looked at the grill and saw all sorts of crud on it and the cooks wiping their hands on the seats of their pants. So I wasn’t surprized when I spent the night in the loo.

Those expensive makeovers do seem a bit much. He hands out three restaruant ovens, and apparantly a walk-in cooler (perhaps he just goaded the guy into that one), puts up a new sign and adds outdoor seating and plants.
I guess maybe that’s so much for a TV show budget.

I do wonder what their main agreement is. If they fight him, maybe he will take back the ovens, signs, etc and bill them union scale for the cameraman.

13

I don’t think anyone can make fake moldy filth in a walk-in refrigerator (insert pukey smilie here), otherwise the rest is definitely played up in the American Version…I like the BBC version because it IS actually interesting to watch without resorting to high strung tension in the kitchen.

14

The BBC version gives a better idea of just how hard it can be to make a success of a restaurant. It’s not nearly enough to be a good cook; one place on the BBC series, Momma Cherri’s, had “bloody delicious” food and was still going down the tubes because Momma was a poor manager and a worse publicist. Another place was run by a chef who’d previously won Michelin stars but was currently cranking out poor food.

The Fox version goes for what makes hot reality TV: really gross stuff (a la “Fear Factor”) and emotional meltdowns (too many shows to name). The US is a bigger country with more restaurants to pick from than Britain, and I’m sure they deliberately selected the places with the most disgusting kitchens and the most delusional, egotistical, tantrum-prone owners. One or two places were so filthy I had qualms about Ramsay helping the owners; it would have been safer for the public to tell them to get the hell out of the food business and open an office-supplies store or something, if they didn’t know any better than to let a kitchen get to such a state.

15

Culture clash. Brits are all about the grey, nerdy details. Americans are all about drama, bullshit, and the paycheck. What else did anyone expect?

About dirty kitchens, I think it was Tony Bourdain who said he wouldn’t trust a restaurant with a clean one - it meant their priorities were in the wrong place. (Then again, he’s a recovering cokehead and likes to eat live scorpions, so he might not be the one to talk about priorities.)

16

I don’t know. The kitchens aren’t just dirty – they’re filthy. My mom said tonight that the grease trap alone was enough for The Secret Garden to be shut down until they remedied the problem, and I trust her to know. The walk-in fridge was just absolutely appalling. I’d be amazed if they hadn’t received warnings from health inspectors before this. If they hadn’t, then where the fuck are the health inspectors?

17

[QUOTE=bobkitty]
I prefer the BBC version for the reasons stated, and also because it much more frequently features a mid-episode changing of Chef Ramsey’s shirt. :smiley:
[/QUOTE]

There’s definitely not enough of that on the U.S. version.

18

This week’s show was missing the big public event to re-introduce the restaurant to the community (such as the community fair with potato sack race on one show). But it did feature a delusional head chef/owner who at one point admitted to $300,000+ in debt but at another point claimed he made a good profit from the restaurant. And it’s fascinating how the disgusting mess in the kitchen is always a big surprise to the owner/chef/manager (where are the food inspectors in these towns anyhow?). Plus you’d think that the owners could figure out for themselves that they need to simplify their menus.

And I agree that the American version of the show overuses an expensive makeover requiring professional decorators and kitchen equipment dealers. I prefer the British version where the makeovers are done by the restaurant owners and staff at little expense.

19

[QUOTE=Beware of Doug]

About dirty kitchens, I think it was Tony Bourdain who said he wouldn’t trust a restaurant with a clean one - it meant their priorities were in the wrong place. (Then again, he’s a recovering cokehead and likes to eat live scorpions, so he might not be the one to talk about priorities.)
[/QUOTE]

Actually, he says exactly the opposite and that a dirty kitchen is almost a sure sign that you’re going to get a crap and possibly dangerous meal.

20

Pwned, I am. :smack: I swear I read someone saying a kitchen can be too clean. I guess it wasn’t Tony.