MovieChat Forums > Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares (2004) Discussion > So, how many of these restaurants does h...

So, how many of these restaurants does he actually save?

posted 16 years ago by otter
13 replies | jump to latest

Some of them are beyond help, obviously, like that veggie nitwit who closed down her Paris restaurant for no good reason. But what about some of the more difficult cases - like that couple in Blackpool who never realized that salmon and strawberries taste awful together until Gordon made them actually eat some?

I love the show, but I really wonder how much good he really does for his guests. What percentage of these restaurants turn profitable after he takes his cameras and his publicity away for good?

[–] Hokit 16 years ago

Well, in the UK series, the very first episode featured a place called the 'Bonapartes Restaurant'. Judging from what's been written, that business couldn't survive and therefore its proprietor, Sue Ray, had to sell it. She's now apparently living on benefits, as the restaurant was also her home.

More information can be found at:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article456638.ece

http://www.cravenherald.co.uk/news/newsscraven/display.var.813466.0.ou tspoken_chef_invited_back_to_restaurant.php

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2004/may/09/broadcasting.uknews

Although I feel bad for Sue Ray, it's obvious she had neither the right experience nor attitude for being a business owner. Maybe she needs to look harder to find what area of employment she's suited for.

[–] omisan771 14 years ago

Her restaurant failed because she hired some idiot teenager with no cooking formation or experience as her head chef.

[–] Hokit 16 years ago

On another note, I also believe there would've been some restaurants which have taken on Ramsay's input and suceeded because of it. However, that'd be due more to the attitude of the business owner and the staff. Successful chefs and managers would've had spent years taking in experience, training and education. Therefore, you've got to be pretty keen in achieving what they've done in just a week.

So who knows, maybe there's an element of fiction to the "realism" that the shows tries to portray ...

[–] lookingfordetroit 16 years ago

Gordon does a magnificent job. He's not magic though! you cant save people who dont want to save themselves like that nutjob woman with the french veggie restaurant. obviously just too spoiled.
It's too bad, vegetarians rule!

[–] longliverock 16 years ago

Check out this link provided by user RCX in a different thread on this board:

http://kitchennightmares.mangatower.com.au/

I know it will keep me busy for at least the next 24 hours straight!

I've only been through 3 or 4 restaurants, but so far every one of them is closed.

Oh, and there's even a link to an article which gives a *bleep*-o-meter for the Bonaparte's episode. 111 occurrences of the f-word (and variants) in one hour - and I'm sure he's beaten that total since!! LOL!

~~~~~~~~~~
Life is what happens after you don't die before you get old.

[–] RCX 16 years ago

Hah, thanks for the shout out!
although website has moved to http://gordonramsayskitchen.com/

Cheers

[–] jescci 16 years ago

According to:

http://kitchennightmares.mangatower.com.au/

... 8 out of 22 restaurants are still open with original owners. Some have closed, others have been sold (I didn't see any info about whether for a profit).

I consider these numbers to be good. Without the show in all likelihood zero out of 22 would still be open.

There is a God

[–] shin_okita 16 years ago

This is unrelated,
but does anyone know why they on BBC do they change the prologue for some of the episodes?

I remember watching the Bonaparte episode and the Glass House episode before.
Than I watched them recently and they've changed them.

Bonapartes
Before- The head chef had quit his job. Gordon went to his house and he was talking about not cooking. Rather he had taken a job at TV station or something of that nature.
After- I watch it recently and it says the Head Chef now works at a different restaurant. Also they don't mention that the owner Sue had given Gordon Ramsey some bad press and he didn't confront her.

Glass House
Before- He goes back to Glass House and we find out that he has taken two of his sous chefs. Iain and Claire to work at one of his own restaurants.
After- I watch it and it doesn't even mention anything of that nature.

Does anybody know why they changed it?

edit:
nevermind, I guess I know why it was changed thanks to RCX's website. Though still seems weird they would just change it.

[–] TigGRR 16 years ago

so why do they change it?? i looked around on the web site but didn't see any explanation

you got me curious

[–] 16 years ago

[deleted]

[–] firstevil-1 16 years ago

Check out the episode guide at TV.com,

http://www.tv.com/ramsays-kitchen-nightmares/show/27536/episode_guide.html?season=2&tag=season_dropdown;dropdown;1

There are several instances where restaurants were 'Revisited' which basically was the original episode with a few extra minutes of Gordon going back again at the end.

[–] winterview 14 years ago

Many of these restaurant owners make me scratch my head. They have no clue as to how to operate a restaurant, are failing miserably at it, and yet think Ramsay is wrong about everything.

Weird, but illustrative of human nature I guess.

I am reminded of a local realtor, who after you talked to him for 30 seconds, you realized he was an inveterate misanthrope. Why he chose realtor as a a career instead of lighthouse keeper remains the mystery of the ages . . . .

[–] ritamilo 12 years ago

He filmed an episode in Tuckahoe, NY; I think the restaurant was The Olde Stone Mill, a steakhouse. I remember the episode on the American version of Kitchen Nightmares. The owner fought with him constantly. A few months after he was there the place was sold to an Italian restaurant in the same town. People said they thought he'd only been brought in to help the owners get the place into decent shape so that they could sell it.

English MA: Symbolism/my life. "Truth vs the world" - Boudicca of the Iceni