Kitchen Nightmares - Gordon Ramsey

I suggest you not go into the kitchen of the restaurants you like then!

I hope the place is wildly successful and that an influx of cash will ease his dented ego.

Joan and I loved this episode.

BTW Did anyone else notice the Komondor walking across the street? Looked just like Bear!

I think it was just when the show was coming back from a commercial.

Well....

You could try http://www.fox.com/fod/player.htm?show=nightmares

It's at 12:51 in the video... but I think I caught the tail end of the dog in another spot VERRRY briefly at 1:37

Courtesy of: REALITY TV MAGAZINE

Kitchen Nightmares – Gordon Tackles Lela’s
Written By Jennifer Brown.

This week Gordon travels to Ponoma, California, to spruce up Lela’s, a fine dining restaurant that’s going belly-up. We meet Lela herself, a gentle-looking lady who is floundering under debt, and Tabitha, the outspoken waitress. We also get a glimpse into the kitchen, which is domain of executive chef, Ricky, a loud, brash cook who can’t get along with Tabitha and whose ranting and cursing is often heard out in the dining room. Alongside Ricky works mild-mannered sous chef, Lex, and prep cook, “Buzzard,” nicknamed aptly after his penchant for picking at and eating the restaurant’s food without permission.


Gordon arrives, noticing how quiet the place is. “It’s like a ghost town around here,” he says, looking around. Once inside he discovers Tabitha’s number one beef with Ricky, which is that the restaurant rarely has many of the menu items. In fact, as Gordon tries to order, most of what he wants is “unavailable.” He also notes that there are misspellings on the menu, and that everything tastes frozen. He’s seriously questioning whether or not the chef knows how to cook.

Ricky’s not worried, though, saying, “He’s a man just like I am,” and calling Gordon’s distaste for his food, “…just one person’s opinion.” It’s not long before kitchen rivals Tabitha and Ricky are at it in the kitchen, a shouting match which Gordon overhears in the dining room. He makes a beeline for the kitchen, where he confronts the staff, especially Ricky. He says our: Quote of the Night: “I thought [the food] was a pile of **ah-ooga!!** I was embarrassed for you.”

Ricky gets attitude with Gordon, but that’s not going to faze Gordon in the least. He sets into inspecting the kitchen and quickly finds that it’s not clean, confirming his suspicion that Ricky is lazy. The freezer’s not cold enough and there’s smelly, rotting meat everywhere. He gathers the entire staff together and makes them clean the whole restaurant, top to bottom, while he hits the streets to get a feel for the neighborhood. What Gordon discovers is that Ponoma is home to a lot of students, not many of whom can afford fine dining fare.

Back at the restaurant, Gordon also finds that the atmosphere in the kitchen is too jokey, too relaxed, and the chefs are playing around too much. When half the kitchen staff suddenly leaves before the dinner shift is over, Gordon chases them down on the street. He discovers that Buzzard is making off with loads of food and wine. He confronts Buzzard about this and makes him come back into the restaurant to show Lela what he’s taking. The confrontation inside gets ugly and Buzzard storms out, mad. “If it was up to me,” Tabitha says, “I would fire Buzzard’s ***!”

The next day, Gordon gathers the staff together again for a staff meeting. During this meeting he tells them that they’re not working as a team. He again confronts Ricky, who Gordon has discovered is using powdered mashed potatoes. “Where’s your respect for your professionalism? I’d rather change my career than make it out of powdered mash,” Gordon says. Lela gives the team an ominous warning that attitudes better change or she’ll be making changes of her own. Buzzard finally shows up and Lela shows just what she means about making changes by firing him on the spot.

Meanwhile, Gordon sits Ricky and Lex down, blindfolded, for a taste test (ah, shades of Hell’s Kitchen…is it the summer season yet?). He finds that Ricky often gets it wrong while Lex gets it right. He decides that Lex is the better cook. He then takes the two chefs into the kitchen and has them help him create a new “contemporary casual” menu. “I felt like I was right back in the classroom,” Ricky says, as he and Lex create a new “Pomona Salad” under Chef’s instruction. Then Gordon creates for them a new burger (“Lela’s Famous Burger”) and takes it to the streets in a mobile grill – giving away free burgers to promote the new and improved Lela’s.

Lela herself is sent off by Gordon to get a makeover and returns (beautiful) just in time to see the unveiling of the design team’s work, which has given the restaurant a new cozy look, complete with a snazzy red couch and overstuffed chairs.

One hour prior to re-launch, Gordon holds a quickie meeting, whereby he declares Tabitha the manager of the front of the house, and Lex the head chef in the back. “I don’t think it’s fair,” Ricky says, but he goes along with it. This may prove to be a bad decision on Gordon’s part, however, as the kitchen crumbles when Lex’s nerves overtake him. The food takes too long to get out to the tables and, when it does go out, it goes to the wrong tables. The pressure is too much for Lex and he sneaks out for a break, right in the middle of the rush. Lela doesn’t like this and chases him down outside. Harsh words are exchanged between the two of them and Lex leaves the restaurant. Gordon rushes outside to head him off, but Lex walks away from Gordon, too. Even Ricky tries to chase down Lex, but he’s too late. Lex is outa there. Ricky is forced to take control of the kitchen again, and he works it. The food flies out of the kitchen. Soon Lex returns to back up Ricky and they finish out the night strong.

After the dinner service is complete, Gordon pulls Ricky aside and gives him major kudos. “You did well tonight,” Gordon says. “It feels good to be back,” Ricky answers.

Time to say goodbye and there aren’t many tears or hugs, just Gordon telling the team that they “won your first battle.”

“Chef Gordon is an amazing dude,” Ricky says.

5 months later…Despite the renewed efforts of the staff and the fresh menu, Lela succumbed to her massive debt and closed the door on Lela’s for good.

Next on Kitchen Nightmares: Gordon’s challenge is an Italian restaurant with a partying staff.