Kitchen Nightmares — S1E3 — I’ll have the crabcakes, with a side of cheesey Maitre D’
Tonight Gordon tries to save a dysfunctional restaurant The Mixing Bowl run by a dysfunctional couple. The owner/chef and and his owner/wife/server disagree as to whether to pull the plug. The manager Mike is a loud-mouthed idiot who acts like he owns the place. He’s unprofessional and rude to staff.
Gordon is not impressed by the exterior. In fact, it looks like a fast food restaurant, and the interior is more of the same. Normally Gordon saves larger restaurants, so I’m not sure how this rates. Indeed, it serves salads and wraps.
Gordon immediately starts to insult the manager’s beer gut. I have a feeling the producers filled him in ahead of time about Mike being a jerk, and Ramsey is getting some preemptive digs in. I suspect it will get really, really ugly later on.
Gordon is not impressed by the way too large menu. He also is not impressed by the manager’s inability to tell him what award the purportedly “award winning” crab cakes had won. He likes the crab cakes, but everything else was bland or poorly cooked. He also complains that the manager is annoying.
Gordon comes back to observe dinner service. 7:00 and the restaurant is empty. The manager hands customers 50% off coupons with their bill, which makes absolutely no sense at all. Mike’s other brainstorm is a bunch of cheesy signs that he made up for the restaurant to pull in business.
Gordon meets with the owners and gives it to the owners with double barrels. He criticizes the owner/chef for spending all his time in the kitchen and not taking an interest in the front of the house. He also criticizes him for being so quiet while cooking. Clearly, the owner/chef is a push-over, which would explain why the manager acts like the owner. Gordon urges him to find what he is passionate about and bring that to the restaurant.
The next day, Gordon shows up with a wood-chipper to deal with the signage issue. I hoped he would push Mike in, but alas, only the signs get shredded. Next Gordon shows a 1997 map with 4 restaurants in the area, but in 2007 there are 41 restaurants in the area. Gordon points out that they are near health related businesses, but there are no healthy eating places. Gordon thinks that is an unfilled niche that can save the restaurant.
That night, more customers than usual show up–apparently word got out that Gordon was in the area. Mike is out schmoozing the customers, which I would find incredibly annoying and I bet is a reason why people don’t come back. It is also revealed that Mike takes half of the waitresses’ tips! Even from the wife/server and the sister/waitress! Unbelievable–I have to believe that this guy will be gone by the end of the hour. No wonder Gordon went after him like he did. Mike claims he was responsible for the tips, because his schmoozing brings in business. The guy is nuts. The owner/chef FINALLY stands up to Mike, though in a rather passive way.
Gordon’s team updates the look of the restaurant, getting rid of the “fast food” look. Mike, inexplicably, is in tears over it. Gordon goes out to spread the word about the new healthy direction of the restaurant. Pre-opening, Mike is a nervous wreck–he is rude to the wife/owner, and I can’t believe they keep him. Opening time comes, and it turns out that idiot Mike took too many reservations for the same time! The result is a big delay in seating, and all the orders coming at once. You would think he would have at least a minimum amount of competence–how hard is it to count chairs in a small restaurant? He tries to blame a waitress, when it was his fault alone.
A bunch of footballers [SK: metric or American?] show up (in direct response to Gordon’s personal lobbying), but Mike apparently totally forgot to put them on the list. Mike freaks out when confronted, and Gordon sends him outside. He then lobbies for the chef/owner to fire him. However, Mike apparently improves over the week and his position is secure. The editing in the last 10 minutes is absolutely ridiculous. If I have a criticism about the American show, it is that it is manipulatively edited. It is less a documentary, and more of a story arc. I’ll keep watching, though . . . for now.
October 6th, 2007 at 8:05 pm
I totally agree Sarah. I hate the US version, but I’m trying to give it a chance. I’ve seen almost all the BBC Versions and Gordon’s V.O. is much much better. Also, what the HELL was with the 3 hour introduction before we actually heard anything about the restaurant?
At first I hated both Mike and the Wife, but at the end, it was only Mike I was hoping would be boiled like a lobster.
I hope they get their act together.
December 20th, 2007 at 2:14 pm
Mike is horrible and needs to be fired … He is a child in a man’s body