MovieChat Forums > Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares (2004) Discussion > Ridiculous moment viz a viz Fenwick Arms...

Ridiculous moment viz a viz Fenwick Arms episode.

posted 15 years ago by SALTER-pt
9 replies | jump to latest

At a staff lunch Ramsay was talking about the Yorkshire puddings, and that:

"It clicked for me today - why can't this place become famous for gravy..."

I'm paraphrasing here, but that was the gist of it. Then when asked how, Ramsay takes off his shirt revealing a "campaign for real gravy" shirt underneath. So we're meant to believe that despite his flash of inspiration coming during the lunch service, somehow he'd had a shirt made up - as if on the spot!

This is the problem with what's otherwise an interesting show: it focusses too much on the Ramsay personality cult. "He" had no such flash of inspiration, and it's deliberately dishonest for him to parade around as though he's single-handedly rescuing these establishments. That campaign would have been devised by the demographers and food consultants that go to the restaurants beforehand and brief Ramsay on the status. To parade around like he's a one-man restaurant-saving band is disingenous and disrespectful to the other people who are instrumental in the plans for helping these restaurants.

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[–] 15 years ago

[deleted]

[–] SALTER-pt 15 years ago

You do realize they use writers and editing even on reality tv shows?

I realise that quite well. I also realise that Ramsay makes a big song and dance about calling people "fake", whilst defending his own integrity at all costs, and yet this is one (of probably many examples) of him happily being a fake (selling his soul to be the 'devil man' on Hell's Kitchen is another).

Someone who "clicks" during the lunch service about gravy doesn't have ready-made T-shirts advertising the fact. Fakery in its most obvious form. You could go further and call it lying (which it is), another trait Ramsay makes a song and dance about not abiding in others.

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[–] ecw1216 15 years ago

I think you are missing the point. Ramsay tries to use four methods to make restaurants make money. Quality, Advertising, Simpicity and Efficiency. He does this in pretty much every episode. All these restaurants are losing money. He tries to help them make money and produce good quality food. He is an incredible intense man, and yes there is a bit of a cult of personality to the shows, but the restaurants are on their last legs.

To me, Ramsay has a huge amount of leeway with his antics. He was risking over £1.5 million when he started his restaurant in 1998, when he left Aubergine. He was brutal with his staff, at his flagship in London. He fired staff for screwing up an order, overcooking artichokes and drinking water in front of guests. He isn't a pleasant person, but he definitely knows the restaurant business. He definitely deserves his OBE, because he is shocking the UK to care about quality food, and not to have low standards for crap, like the shocking episode of Bonapartes, in which a complete wanker cooked Ramsay a rotten scallop...

[–] captainchris5369 15 years ago

They don't have t-shirt makers in the UK?

I mean, you realize he has a network to run his errands and fetch things for him, right? Or did you think the voiceover was psychically recorded by the camera?

[–] robotrix 15 years ago

Yeah, do we really know what time of day that conversation took place?

Ramsay could have thought of it as he woke up, had the shirt made (I've worked at a silk-screening shop - it's not THAT time consuming to make up simple print artwork, burn a screen and print it. Just expensive if you're asking someone to drop all their pending orders) and could be speaking to the guy at 6 or 7pm.

There maybe be some fudging in some episodes but I doubt this was it.

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Last night, I was lying back looking at the stars and I thought...where the *beep* is my ceiling???

[–] SeanMarshall 15 years ago

It really isn't even expensive in terms of a tv budget. If someone said they wanted a t-shirt and were willing to drop 300 now and expected they'd be buying more, the only shops who wouldn't bump it to the front of the line would be those who had bigger contracts needing to be delivered by the end of business hours.

[–] zoniegrl4ever 14 years ago

He did say "It clicked for me <i>today</i>" and if this was a lunch service, he could have had the idea in the morning while brushing his teeth and since it IS a TV show, I think they could manage having a shirt ready by the afternoon. Not to say this is what happened, just offering up another plausible scenario.

[–] nutsberryfarm 13 years ago

what a cool shirt!

Golf clap? Golf clap.

[–] SkiesAreBlue 8 years ago

Would you believe that one of those plates Gordon thought was a joke was just used in tonight's Australian Master Chef. Zoe used it for her Creme Brûlée which was cold set with gelatine.

SkiesAreBlue