Okay. I’m happy. A friend of mine that’s watched the UK version says that in on ep, Ramsay changed shirts on camera and was of course, very swoon worthy. It happened on the US version.
<happy sigh> Is British Beefcake on the menu?
As for the restaurant? Disgusting. I actually began gagging <very weak stomach> and had to close my eyes for part of it. Martin the GM deserved every bit of abuse he took.
Anyone in NY able to say if the place has kept up the transformation?
On behalf of all Brits living in the US, I apologize unreservedly for Martin.
That place was truly disgusting. I am shocked that Martin could see the state of that kitchen and say that he had nothing to feel guilty for. What did he think a general manager’s job was?
I am consistently impressed with Chef Ramsey’s bravery. After doing this show for a while, I don’t know how you could eat the food before looking at the kitchen. Almost every restaurant he has gone to (in both the UK version and the 2 US episode aired so far) have had some kind of hygiene issues. This restaurant took the cake. I loved the scene with the tomato. Ewwwww
If you get the BBC America channel, keep an eye out - it’s running the UK version under the title “Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares.” And yes, he does change on camera in many episodes. 
Just in case anyone watching did not know, Martin is the one who sued Gordon and the show. Under the contract of the show, the case was withdrawn in August and they are/were settling via arbitration.
Does anyone know if this show is being rebroadcast on any channel on a night other than Wednesdays? I so want to see this show but have class on Wednesdays and don’t arrive home 'til 10pm. We don’t have Tivo yet at Motorhouse.
What a sniveling piece of rotten tomato Martin was. That was by far, the most disgusting restaurant he’d been to. HOWEVER…
The waitress absolutely cracked me up. I have no doubt she did indeed go out and tell the customers “Today is your lucky day, the kitchen is closed.”
I think the cook should get a job with those wacky hug convention folks. Odd.
Psst! Anyone else say a silent prayer of thanks when Gordon changed shirts?
What a crazy restaraunt that was last night. I felt like the whole show was bland compared to the BBC version. Maybe it’s the bleeps, who knows. I would like to have seen what they did to that disgusting basement. They showed the transformation of everything else. I would have just filled it with cement and forgot about it!
“We haven’t lost our children” was seriously the funniest thing ever.
The shot of Martin reclining on the seat with the waitress stroking his hair was almost as nauseating as the roaches in the cooler. Gah.
I seriously wonder why people would eat at a restaurant that had that many flies buzzing around in an enclosed area. Yecch. Martin really wasn’t doing his job at all, especially considering the state of the kitchen and basement “pantry” area. (Having done food safety checks before, what you saw in Ramsay’s kitchen at his restaurant is what you should expect from a restaurant where the management is making sure that everyone is doing their job. Surfaces clean, food properly covered, stored, and checked for freshness are just a basic part of that.)
I’m really surprised that Chef Ramsay hasn’t gotten really sick before, especially considering that the vast majority of food shown in this episode had gone bad. I do, however, remember that, despite the hygiene issues in the UK restaurants, most of the issues weren’t because of rotting food but of laziness in the kitchens in general.
I personally thought the shot of Martin doing that little dance in front of the waitress during the promotional bus tour/music montage scene was quite nauseating.
The two episodes of this show have featured changes instigated by the producers and at considerable expense. Last week, they installed a new kitchen and this week they hired professional cleaners to sterilize the kitchen, designers to redecorate the dining room and then a well-known consulting chef. On the UK version, it looks like most of the changes are done by the actual restaurant owner and staff, which seemed more realistic. You can do anything if you throw money at it.
Maybe they’re having to throw money at them to get them to cooperate. That last place was disgusting and if I lived in NY, I STILL wouldn’t eat there after the transformation for fear they’d let it revert to its old condition.
The owner, although shocked, did not seem that shocked at the condition of the kitchens. Maybe wherever he had been doing business before had more lax standards toward health and food safety, and he let it slide past that point with the feeling that his managers (all of them) would be doing their jobs in making sure that the restaurant was being run properly to US standards.
I wouldn’t eat at that place either if I lived within a reasonable distance of it, but I realize that there are lots of other places that look clean from the dining room and are also “kitchen nightmares.”
Here’s an article about Ramsay’s reaction to the lawsuit. The article says that the Health Department shut down the restaurant shortly after the taping.
After watching the UK version and the two US shows so far, I’m always amazed that the resteraunt managers and owners actually need a top chef to tell them what should be bleeding obvious to anyone. Start with food that’s not spoiled, rotten and wilted, and THEN call Ramsay if you’re still not packing them in.
What was the deal with having three managers, plus the owner? Why have more than one on duty at any given time? Maybe two for a busy restaurant.
Does the Board of Health ever inspect these places, or do they just get paid off?
I hope Martin gets what’s coming to him, and it isn’t a million dollars.
I don’t know how Ramsay does it. After seeing the kitchen and the storage areas, I’d have called in a demolition crew, fired the so-called managers, and turned it into a parking lot.