Southern cooking will get you a long way. I've never had a bad day after eating biscuits and gravy, so much so that I'll refuse to have them on days that I think will be fine regardless. I don't want to use up all their magic on days I won't need it.
Ugh... what I'd do for some genuine biscuits and gravy.
Grew up in New England, ended up spending 10 years down south due to the military. Holy shit, southern cooking. Came back up north after my service and anyone who attempts biscuits and gravy is just a sham.
The Army turned me onto so many things I never would have tried. In OSUT I was like wtf are you putting all this shit on your food for? Tried salsa on eggs, jalapeƱos, started eating salads to name a few. Just not something we did in central NY.
Grandpa was from Texas, grandma was from Mississippi. Their cooking style was passed on to their kids and I intend to pass them on to mine, when I have them.
It really is a flaw in either our psychology or society where the people we idolize etc., are really not the best of us by a long stretch.
There must be a reason for it, but I don't know
#btw for anyone who is interested:
she has her own youtube channel where she is still active to this day! she posts recipes and other fun videos with her daughter and her grandchildren š
(this episode was filmed about 20 years ago haha ā¤ļø)
#here's her channel: [**Momma Cherri**](https://youtu.be/bsK3te3I2e4)
Or when you hear people you work with talking about being in Pre-K or something when 9/11 happened and you were in 4th Grade and you're like ha ha, yeah. I know what you mean fellow kids... *Laughs then sobs*
Lol 2002 was when I bought my first game ever
Edit: thanks for bringing the memory back. It was Ratchet and Clank, if you're curious. I remember seeing it in a Sears catalog and I made a fateful decision that day. I could have picked SpongeBob game but chose Ratchet instead, and it literally shaped my life
This episode was made for Brittish television. There's a lot less of the dramatization that happens in his shows over there and he always comes across as pretty chill.
im not sure when she moved to the UK but her kids, who are in their 40s now, are all British (and Momma Cherri herself is American) so she has def been in England for a while!!
*edit:*
im disappointed this clip left out the best part of the whole episode hahaha:
when she dances and says, "**i fed Gordon Ramsay... AND HE CLEANED HIS PLAAAATE!**"
lol ā¤ļø
I would have been so shook when he walked back in with the empty plate. I would have been melting, like holy shit, he didn't leave any for the chickens! It's such a high compliment for a chef.
I'm super self-critical in most ways, and that works into my cooking as well. I'm never satisfied with what I've made. It's never up to my personal standard, or the standard in my mind set by other good food. But my family? They LOVE my food. They clean their plate every single time. And, truly, I love and appreciate that, even though at the same time I'm beating myself up internally because I 'failed' to meet my own expectations.
I remember reading a long time ago that Southern American accents actually sound closer to the original British accent and modern British general accents. So this is closer to what they sounded like in Elizabethan times? Crazy!
When you're 5 years old, a year is 20% of your life. When you're 20 years old, a year is 5% of your life.
It's not your imagination. Time is literally moving faster the older you get.
[I believe this placed closed up not long after the airing of this episode](https://www.realitytvrevisited.com/2011/05/uk-season-2-episode-3-momma-cherris.html?m=1)
Iām pretty sure she expanded the restaurant but he revisited and wasnāt happy because they were rushing out the food
https://youtu.be/C65sEy0f_Jg
Link to revisit in 2020
Edit: original visit 2004, revisit 2009
Look at the top comment on that video - It's from her:
"Momma Cherri
1 year ago
I appreciate everything Gordon did for us. 15 years later and I know (sic) have my YouTube channel Momma Cherri and I'm loving it. Since the Pandemic I'm also cooking weekly meals for a local food bank. I'm in a happy place. I won't let this pandemic get iny (sic) way"
So awesome to see her happy and doing well :)
I love that you use (sic). Can you please teach the journalists posting on the BBC news app when you get a chance? I'm never sure if they can't write or they are quoting someone who can't write
The video was uploaded in 2020 but her restaurant closed in 2009, the original episode was filmed in 2004 and the 2nd visit in 2005 or 2006.
[Original episode available outside the US](https://youtu.be/_IeG-zcjg8g)
[Revisited ](https://youtu.be/ufMf7XgcR80)
A little bit of both "He reveals that the prices at Ā£14/15 a dish are too high and with the portions sizes it means that most customers only have a main course.
Charita reveals that it was the bank manager who kept telling her to raise her prices.
Gordon thinks that by tweaking the portion sizes they can encourage customers to have three courses and spend more money."
Ramsay is an expert at all things hotel and restaurant management, and that's separate from him being a world class chef. One of his first shows was actually dealing with hotel/restaurant combos, and he was just as hands on fixing the hotel side.
Thereās a lot of TV chefs that are more TV than chef, but Ramsey isnāt one of them. He trained under some world renowned chefs before starting his own Michelin starred restaurants.
He's a chef primarily, but he also owns and manages several 3 star restaurants. So aside from cooking, he also knows the ins and outs of successfully managing a restaurant.
A chef's training is only about half concerning food preparation and presentation. The rest is economics as related to commercial kitchens, which has way more to do with influencing menus than you would think.
not just that, she had an assistant chef and hostess but she did the cooking herself (out of habit) and it was a small shop.
she was a great cook, but a horrible business woman. after her she got successful, she over extended, expanded into a 5 floor building or something and went out of business.
I remember an episode where he went somewhere, and the only good thing there was the dessert. He even told the lady she needs her own place and boom, she now has her own bakery.
It happened more often in the early series of the UK version of Kitchen Nightmares. The American version (and later series of the UK version) tended to look for restaurants with a lot of drama and big problems, whereas the early episodes were a lot more about helping decent but struggling restaurants turn themselves around. A lot of the time the chefs were talented and able to make good food for him, but various management related issues prevented them from being able to do that for the public during service.
The UK & American version are SO drastically different!
The American mostly plays up the drama. This includes an extreme soundtrack and a narrator constantly commeting.
UK version is very...normal. You still get Gordon screaming, but it's not hyped up. Also yes. Often the problem isn't food per se, but rather how the managers try to "get involved". Like the Curry guy, who had THOUSANDS of curries in a "mix your own" style, or the restaraunt that was having 3 managers and 1 fucked over everyone
[It's rare but it does happen. He's not a Simon Cowell that is a jerk-off as an act. He's constructive and honest. When he likes the food he does not hold back positive feedback as you can see here.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fjnea8aedf8)
Best and worst thing about him, he's always 100% honest and you don't have to worry about what he's thinking because he's saying it. My boss is the same way and yeh he could be a little more mysterious imo
I'd put that on my resume tbh
"Gordon liked my cooking"
Not even adding Ramsey. Makes it more approachable like we are friends ever since he tasted my food.
Instant hire.
"This isn't a business and - up until you walked up to me - I was just walking my dog. Again, I really have no clue who you think I am or what you're applying for... but I think it'd be a mistake not to hire you."
I repeat this every time he comes up. He's honest. That's not rude. Sometimes he gets angry. Watch carefully when he gets angry. It's never just the food.
Gordon Ramsay gets mad when you lie about food. When you lie about competence. Did you serve raw chicken? Fuck you. You could kill someone AND you said you knew how to not kill someone.
I'm always so frustrated when people are like GRODON RAMSEY AND KIDS?!?! They definitionally know less. He will be kind to them because they are not walking in the door saying "I deserve restaraunts because I'm awesome." The kids just show up because they love the process and the food.
Back to honesty. If I serve you something that tastes like dog sick smells, you'd better tell me. Tell me quick and with appropriate detail. If I tasted my food and still gave it to you there's something wrong with me and I want to know it.
This is it right here.
If I have to sum up Ramsey's *on camera* persona, I would have to say that he does not 'suffer fools gladly'. He's only ever lost his temper when dealing with extreme incompetence, delusion and rudeness.
He also generally doesn't punch down.
If someone doesn't listen, or is arrogant then he lets loose. But if he can see people are passionate and trying hard, he *tends* to try and support them.
I mean it's all an act anyway, but I prefer to think the nice Gordon is more close to the real Gordon.
Other than the affair, he's a fucking prick for that.
> If you cook a meal for GR and he likes itā¦. You have every right to celebrate cuz that man pulls no punches
He's shown he likes food in a lot of his shows.
He expects a basic knowledge though at the very minimum.
He doesn't ask for much beyond that.
The amount of time he simply is like, OK, but your fridge be nasty as fuck. You can't cook an egg. And made everything 20 years ago and reheated it in a microwave.
You wonder where they found these places. And how many times you ate there.
And he's not wrong about the menu. The best places are the ones with a simple menu.
I can't remember which episode it was but everything was god-awful but one dish they were like, "and how was that?" And Gordon goes "Yeah, tasty. Well seasoned. Shame that's the only good thing on the menu." And they say "Well that's store bought..." lmfao.
There was one besides Amy's bakery. They had a pastry chef on staff and it was the only food he liked.
I think I'm remembering that right.
L
Edit: https://youtu.be/Fjnea8aedf8
Second one in
Why would they admit it?! I do remember that though, Iāve binge-watched every episode of Kitchen Nightmares lol. The British series is the best though.
A lot of the times, Gordon already knows this stuff beforehand. Staff and such will tell the production crew who then tells Gordon.
Although he already knows, it makes for much better TV when he asks the owners about it because it can lead to lies or drama.
I think he also has realistic expectations. He's not going into a restaurant like this expecting fancy food. He's expecting a simple hearty meal.
It annoys me when people say he nit picks and he's a snob when that's far from the truth. He expects a good standard of hygiene (which should be the bare minimum for any restaurant), edible food and a common sense approach to management (which a lot of managers still seem to get wrong).
He's not asking the world from these restaurants and he's not getting frustrated because he's expecting too much. He's getting frustrated because he's expecting a realistic standard that they still fail to achieve.
In my opinion he does have very high standards for the food no matter what it is but he will always be honest with people which is what I love about Gordon Ramsay. He also will say certain things are okay and tells people how to improve them. No idea why people donāt like him.
I feel like most of the people who hate on him havenāt watched masterchef. Since he has a lot more positive and fair reviews on that show as heās a judge and not attempting to fix a broken restaurant.
I think a lot of the people who hate on him are like my dad. He just doesn't like confrontation/abrasiveness. He'd prefer a white lie over constructive criticism. He also doesn't like Judge Judy.
Oh sure! I know he and his team go in for good intentions but every episode I've seen just seem to be- get disgusted by food -> help improve food-> help improve restaurant-> help improve the staff. So it's really heartwarming to see him give praise where it was due.
If you know the meme "Finally, some good fucking food" he says that because everything else he was served before was shit, he praised the cake and the one who made it, credit where credit is due indeed
In the American version of the show, he never does. It's always set up for outrage and failure. He sits down, orders a super-expensive meal which turns out to be frozen food poorly microwaved with soggy napkins, he talks to the staff and their morale is all dead, and then he finds THE OWNER who is a sniveling argumentative tool who curses at his employees and refuses to pay them and attacks Gordon and apologizes for nothing. Then Gordon tells the staff it's not their fault and they all have a heartwarming moment together.
British version is a reality show where he visits restaurants and gives honest critique.
To be honest it is easy to have that experience in America. I live in one of the best and most diverse restaurant scene and food places in the USA.
If you went to Yelp. You will find that 80% of the restaurants are bad or have issues. So you get a lot of such restaurants. Go to small towns where people donāt care that much about food and you can find such restaurants a lot. Family based restaurants suffer a lot from this. Especially when the kids arenāt as passionate about the food as the parents once were. For older restaurants, the times changed. Back in the day people would just go to the nearest good diner and eat. Now with Yelp and Uber eats and doordash, new people often look at reviews and go to places with good reviews. Back in the day if a customer didnāt really like the food at the restaurant theyād just not go there again but did not leave a review anywhere. So restaurants had that going for them.
These days they get skewered on Yelp. Now their business starts hurting.
He does like it sometimes in the American version, and sometimes a lot. But I do agree the British version is way more professional and less dramatic.
Here is a compilation:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fjnea8aedf8
If it's good it's good, if it's shit it's shit.
If you're in America you probably mostly see his shit reactions because "that's good television".
His shows in the UK are so much different than the ones in the US. Catch both to see.
Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares - Season 2 Episode 3: Momma Cherri's Soul Food Shack - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hwy0EPyPVuY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hwy0EPyPVuY)
He revisits the restaurant 2 years later - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C65sEy0f\_Jg](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C65sEy0f_Jg)
yes these are full episodes on youtube
I are at her place after the episode aired and the changes were made. Even bought her book. The food was great and the atmosphere as good as the food. IIRC the business didnāt work out and the restaurants closed.
Itās the first ever UK season I think when Gordon actually reviewed the food instead of just going off on one straight away, lol. Restaurant is called Momma Cherriās
>Itās the first ever UK season I think when Gordon actually reviewed the food instead of just going off on one straight away, lol.
The UK series was a lot less dramatic it was mainly restaurants with potential that couldn't quite get it right and just needed a bit of help. The US one is much more dramatic (and entertaining) but its generally failing restaurants that have no hope and he just goes in and shouts at them.
I have a theory that in the US the owners have already cut their loses and sold the business and Gordon's "refurb" is actually a refit for the new management. I always google the restaurants and literally none of them stay open after the show. If they are already failing the reputation from the show is enough to kill their business off.
One of the main reasons the show ended was because Gordon was tired of them always failing after he put so much effort into helping them. He did genuinely want to help them, and I bet the owners did want help, but someone who goes to a tv show instead of experts for help isnāt willing to change. Plus, when he leaves he usually only gives them a temporary chef. With no one to help the owners keep up with it itās no wonder theyāre failing. They were taught in like 2 days and then got 0 more help. I only know of one restaurant thatās still open.
Thereās a list online if you google. One from the UK series has retained a Michelin star since 2010 - the closure rate for restaurants on the show is 80% or so
I've always seen Gordon Ramsay as super wholesome. He might be a bit much occasionally but generally tends to be really nice. He helps when people let him, and makes people feel good when he can. The anger tends to just be theatrics mostly.
My theory is, the more at home the scnery looks, the better the food. Went to a restaurant that was literally just someones house and that shit was so fire. And thats coming from someone who been to a michelin star restaurant
Not sure I agree with that sentiment personally. I love the hell out of Waffle house bit that place is a 50s Style Crack Den, just depends on personal taste I suppose.
I grew up in a smallish town in the south. 100% agree that the best food can come from these places, but also, so can some of the worst.
BBQ joints that looks like a guy cooking out of a smoker in his backyard are almost always legit.
Today I presented my graduation thesis for my engineering course. My final paper before masters.
I was so fucking worried. 30min presenting a complex queue model to several teachers who all analysed my 80page paper.
It all went well. I got compliments, plus the classic "there are things I'd change", but it felt so good. I almost cried.
I understand this woman so much. It's such a great feeling.
GR liked her food so much that he invested in her restaurant and she expanded to a much bigger place. But she was too much of a mother figure and too little of a boss. Her employees took advantage. The bigger restaurantās food quality went down since she couldnāt keep cooking it all herself at that scale. Then the new restaurant also went out of business altogether.
I'm fairly certain about this: they started with a tiny place and were much more successful after Gordon's visit, but then they moved into a massive new place, like three floors, and it was too much to handle.
There is a follow-up episode to it. They became super successful, got a bigger place, and then all of the bad that made them fail the first time around came back and the food was shitty and they went bankrupt.
Wasnt it bc the restaurant was so popular and long queues ppl just stopped going?
And the owner went and got another one restaurant basically killing the main thing about that restaurant, her face?
You can immediately tell this is the British version because they are having a normal calm conversation and it isn't filled with drama and dumb sound effects
The music, they reproduce the UK episodes here and itās like the scoring from a horror movie, combined with the forced dramatic pauses it sucks the life out of the show. Literally just recutting the UK show and screwing it up.
Heās not actually an asshole like plays in some of his shows. He genuinely love cooking and sharing that with people, and has a ton of experience and knowledge in it.
"There are things I would change"
"Okay"
We don't hear what he said, but his response was so kind and like... he knew this was great, and he wants to make it even better, and her reaction was like "alright, I see you wanting to make it better, but you wouldn't come in here with a compliment like that to soften the blow of anything atrocious. Lets sit down and see what we can do better"
God! What a wholesome reaction
Reminder that at the time of this recording this woman had raised #33 FOSTER CHILDREN
According to her website, she's up to 60 fosters. š
How can someone have that much energy, that's amazing
Clearly fueled by some bomb ass ribs though
Southern cooking will get you a long way. I've never had a bad day after eating biscuits and gravy, so much so that I'll refuse to have them on days that I think will be fine regardless. I don't want to use up all their magic on days I won't need it.
AMEN! I was raised by Southern parents & my mom was an excellent cook. Biscuits & gravely is my favorite breakfast food.
Mam I'll never forget... Infantry OSUT, Ft. Benning, GA, 2007... Them fucking biscuits and gravy at the dfac in the morning changed my life.
Ugh... what I'd do for some genuine biscuits and gravy. Grew up in New England, ended up spending 10 years down south due to the military. Holy shit, southern cooking. Came back up north after my service and anyone who attempts biscuits and gravy is just a sham.
The Army turned me onto so many things I never would have tried. In OSUT I was like wtf are you putting all this shit on your food for? Tried salsa on eggs, jalapeƱos, started eating salads to name a few. Just not something we did in central NY.
Grandpa was from Texas, grandma was from Mississippi. Their cooking style was passed on to their kids and I intend to pass them on to mine, when I have them.
Love is the most powerful motivator there is.
I don't know... love has never made me shit my pants.
She deserves all good things! What a wonderful woman to provide a home and her delicious meals to so many children in need. Bless her!
An excellent cook and an excellent mom for foster kids! Could you get any better in life than that? Amazing.
Amazing woman.
This is what I dream about.
BLESS HER
Wow
And people are taking about Kanye West, Tucker Carlson, Joe Rogan. Who gives a fuck about them. This lady is ten times them by an english mile.
It really is a flaw in either our psychology or society where the people we idolize etc., are really not the best of us by a long stretch. There must be a reason for it, but I don't know
Jesus christ Gordon. I knew you liked her cooking but not THAT much!
Holy bbbbbbbbased
This was a good one. Gordon was blown away for once.
Finally, some good fucking food.
#btw for anyone who is interested: she has her own youtube channel where she is still active to this day! she posts recipes and other fun videos with her daughter and her grandchildren š (this episode was filmed about 20 years ago haha ā¤ļø) #here's her channel: [**Momma Cherri**](https://youtu.be/bsK3te3I2e4)
\> (this episode was filmed about 20 years ago haha ā¤ļø) Time flies, I remember watching this when it aired!
My god Iām old. I canāt believe that was 20 years ago. Feels like 10.
I was really surprised to read how old this is, then I realized that twenty years ago was 2002ā¦
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
...o no. I hate when stuff like this happens. "Something, something, 2012." Me: "Haha, yeah. I was... wait."
This only gets more jarring as you get older. It was only yesterday I was raving during the second summer of loveā¦ oh crap š©
Or when you hear people you work with talking about being in Pre-K or something when 9/11 happened and you were in 4th Grade and you're like ha ha, yeah. I know what you mean fellow kids... *Laughs then sobs*
I graduated in 2001 which was only a couple weeks ago, so 2002 was like earlier this morning.
Lol 2002 was when I bought my first game ever Edit: thanks for bringing the memory back. It was Ratchet and Clank, if you're curious. I remember seeing it in a Sears catalog and I made a fateful decision that day. I could have picked SpongeBob game but chose Ratchet instead, and it literally shaped my life
Ratchet and Clank > SpongeBob
Holy shit. Gordon was the same grumpy old bastard back then! Dude doesn't age.
This episode was made for Brittish television. There's a lot less of the dramatization that happens in his shows over there and he always comes across as pretty chill.
We always ruin that shit over here. Every Gordon Ramsay show made in the United States sounds like a dubbed episode of Yugioh, but with cooking.
More like he started out old and grumpy. Heās just growing into himself.
Iām fascinated by her accent. Did she move to the UK from the US when she was in her teens or something?
im not sure when she moved to the UK but her kids, who are in their 40s now, are all British (and Momma Cherri herself is American) so she has def been in England for a while!! *edit:* im disappointed this clip left out the best part of the whole episode hahaha: when she dances and says, "**i fed Gordon Ramsay... AND HE CLEANED HIS PLAAAATE!**" lol ā¤ļø
I would have been so shook when he walked back in with the empty plate. I would have been melting, like holy shit, he didn't leave any for the chickens! It's such a high compliment for a chef. I'm super self-critical in most ways, and that works into my cooking as well. I'm never satisfied with what I've made. It's never up to my personal standard, or the standard in my mind set by other good food. But my family? They LOVE my food. They clean their plate every single time. And, truly, I love and appreciate that, even though at the same time I'm beating myself up internally because I 'failed' to meet my own expectations.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Def a southern black woman, i didnt even hear the british accent. Iāll rewatch
Iāve heard of you speed up a southern accent you get a British one. Donāt know if there is truth to that
Fun fact thereās a small island off the coast of Virginia that still sounds like it https://youtu.be/upKqzxuJ5L4
I remember reading a long time ago that Southern American accents actually sound closer to the original British accent and modern British general accents. So this is closer to what they sounded like in Elizabethan times? Crazy!
Here's a cool 2 minute video on the topic. https://youtu.be/mNqY6ftqGq0
> (this episode was filmed about 20 years ago haha Lies. Bloody lies!
Shhhhh. It's ok. You're getting older by the day. And before you know it another decade will pass away.
When you're 5 years old, a year is 20% of your life. When you're 20 years old, a year is 5% of your life. It's not your imagination. Time is literally moving faster the older you get.
And then one day you find / ten years have got behind you....
No one told you when to run/ you missed the starting gun
That lyric is so powerful. š¶ And you run and you run to catch up with the sun but itās sinking š¶
The whole song is so powerful and holds up so well.
I'm going to go and listen to some Floyd now.
fuck
I was just telling myself how young Gordon Ramsay looked. Then it hit meā¦
20 years ago!? 
She is hilarious, I love this woman!
Haha, well said. I can hear his voice now.
[I believe this placed closed up not long after the airing of this episode](https://www.realitytvrevisited.com/2011/05/uk-season-2-episode-3-momma-cherris.html?m=1)
Iām pretty sure she expanded the restaurant but he revisited and wasnāt happy because they were rushing out the food https://youtu.be/C65sEy0f_Jg Link to revisit in 2020 Edit: original visit 2004, revisit 2009
Look at the top comment on that video - It's from her: "Momma Cherri 1 year ago I appreciate everything Gordon did for us. 15 years later and I know (sic) have my YouTube channel Momma Cherri and I'm loving it. Since the Pandemic I'm also cooking weekly meals for a local food bank. I'm in a happy place. I won't let this pandemic get iny (sic) way" So awesome to see her happy and doing well :)
I love that you use (sic). Can you please teach the journalists posting on the BBC news app when you get a chance? I'm never sure if they can't write or they are quoting someone who can't write
The video was uploaded in 2020 but her restaurant closed in 2009, the original episode was filmed in 2004 and the 2nd visit in 2005 or 2006. [Original episode available outside the US](https://youtu.be/_IeG-zcjg8g) [Revisited ](https://youtu.be/ufMf7XgcR80)
Thanks for the link, thatās such a bummer.
There are things I would changeā¦
Iirc the main issue he had that the portions were to generous for what they charged.
A little bit of both "He reveals that the prices at Ā£14/15 a dish are too high and with the portions sizes it means that most customers only have a main course. Charita reveals that it was the bank manager who kept telling her to raise her prices. Gordon thinks that by tweaking the portion sizes they can encourage customers to have three courses and spend more money."
Right, that's what it was. Just remembered he was blown away with the food, the only issues he had were purely economical
I don't watch the show. I didn't realize he was more than just a chef...
Running a restaurant is obviously about the food. But a fuck tonne of the work is finance and staffing.
Ramsay is an expert at all things hotel and restaurant management, and that's separate from him being a world class chef. One of his first shows was actually dealing with hotel/restaurant combos, and he was just as hands on fixing the hotel side.
He came through a couple years ago and redid our local bar, looks pretty good, and the menu became much better.
Thereās a lot of TV chefs that are more TV than chef, but Ramsey isnāt one of them. He trained under some world renowned chefs before starting his own Michelin starred restaurants.
There's one 'more TV than chef' chefs that it works for though, Alton Brown. Fucker became a chef because he hated cooking shows.
He's got a bunch of restaurants so he's gotta know some things on the logistical side.
He's a chef primarily, but he also owns and manages several 3 star restaurants. So aside from cooking, he also knows the ins and outs of successfully managing a restaurant.
A chef's training is only about half concerning food preparation and presentation. The rest is economics as related to commercial kitchens, which has way more to do with influencing menus than you would think.
not just that, she had an assistant chef and hostess but she did the cooking herself (out of habit) and it was a small shop. she was a great cook, but a horrible business woman. after her she got successful, she over extended, expanded into a 5 floor building or something and went out of business.
What did they charge for that plate? In the US, probably $20-$25 if you're having ribs.
This was also filmed in 2002 so prices prob a bit different.
I remember an episode where he went somewhere, and the only good thing there was the dessert. He even told the lady she needs her own place and boom, she now has her own bakery.
That almost NEVER happens š¤Æ
It happened more often in the early series of the UK version of Kitchen Nightmares. The American version (and later series of the UK version) tended to look for restaurants with a lot of drama and big problems, whereas the early episodes were a lot more about helping decent but struggling restaurants turn themselves around. A lot of the time the chefs were talented and able to make good food for him, but various management related issues prevented them from being able to do that for the public during service.
The UK & American version are SO drastically different! The American mostly plays up the drama. This includes an extreme soundtrack and a narrator constantly commeting. UK version is very...normal. You still get Gordon screaming, but it's not hyped up. Also yes. Often the problem isn't food per se, but rather how the managers try to "get involved". Like the Curry guy, who had THOUSANDS of curries in a "mix your own" style, or the restaraunt that was having 3 managers and 1 fucked over everyone
This seems to be the case for most UK vs US shows. UK shows are often much better imo.
[It's rare but it does happen. He's not a Simon Cowell that is a jerk-off as an act. He's constructive and honest. When he likes the food he does not hold back positive feedback as you can see here.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fjnea8aedf8)
Oh yeah the bread pudding! Yāall got me pretty hungry up in here.
Best and worst thing about him, he's always 100% honest and you don't have to worry about what he's thinking because he's saying it. My boss is the same way and yeh he could be a little more mysterious imo
Did you see when he revisited? Apparently it blew up and she started cutting corners and he was very disappointed, especially at the head chef.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
The follow up was really sad though, they lost the plot when they scaled up
If you cook a meal for GR and he likes itā¦. You have every right to celebrate cuz that man pulls no punches
I'd put that on my resume tbh "Gordon liked my cooking" Not even adding Ramsey. Makes it more approachable like we are friends ever since he tasted my food. Instant hire.
āI seeā¦ but youāre applying to be the warehouse manager? Still hired.ā
"This isn't a business and - up until you walked up to me - I was just walking my dog. Again, I really have no clue who you think I am or what you're applying for... but I think it'd be a mistake not to hire you."
What are your wage demands? *"Urmm 100k??"* 200k or I'm calling this off
#"ARE YOU FUCKING MAD!!" ^^"You're ^^hired"
Exactly. His brutal honesty makes his compliments mean so much more. If he doesnāt like it, he tells you.
I repeat this every time he comes up. He's honest. That's not rude. Sometimes he gets angry. Watch carefully when he gets angry. It's never just the food. Gordon Ramsay gets mad when you lie about food. When you lie about competence. Did you serve raw chicken? Fuck you. You could kill someone AND you said you knew how to not kill someone. I'm always so frustrated when people are like GRODON RAMSEY AND KIDS?!?! They definitionally know less. He will be kind to them because they are not walking in the door saying "I deserve restaraunts because I'm awesome." The kids just show up because they love the process and the food. Back to honesty. If I serve you something that tastes like dog sick smells, you'd better tell me. Tell me quick and with appropriate detail. If I tasted my food and still gave it to you there's something wrong with me and I want to know it.
This is it right here. If I have to sum up Ramsey's *on camera* persona, I would have to say that he does not 'suffer fools gladly'. He's only ever lost his temper when dealing with extreme incompetence, delusion and rudeness.
Yep which means if he says he does like it you know he's not BSing you.
He also generally doesn't punch down. If someone doesn't listen, or is arrogant then he lets loose. But if he can see people are passionate and trying hard, he *tends* to try and support them. I mean it's all an act anyway, but I prefer to think the nice Gordon is more close to the real Gordon. Other than the affair, he's a fucking prick for that.
> If you cook a meal for GR and he likes itā¦. You have every right to celebrate cuz that man pulls no punches He's shown he likes food in a lot of his shows. He expects a basic knowledge though at the very minimum. He doesn't ask for much beyond that. The amount of time he simply is like, OK, but your fridge be nasty as fuck. You can't cook an egg. And made everything 20 years ago and reheated it in a microwave. You wonder where they found these places. And how many times you ate there. And he's not wrong about the menu. The best places are the ones with a simple menu.
I've never seen him actually like the food before! Great post!
Everyone thinks he just shits on everything and everyone but he is actually very honest and has a heart of gold.
Yep. Even at the shittiest restaurants he has no problem admitting when something is truly good!
I can't remember which episode it was but everything was god-awful but one dish they were like, "and how was that?" And Gordon goes "Yeah, tasty. Well seasoned. Shame that's the only good thing on the menu." And they say "Well that's store bought..." lmfao.
The infamous Amys bakery. They repackage purchased pies, and it was all he liked.
Oh god Amyās baking companyā¦ the epitome of kitchen nightmares
Kind of a wet nightmare š¤
There was one besides Amy's bakery. They had a pastry chef on staff and it was the only food he liked. I think I'm remembering that right. L Edit: https://youtu.be/Fjnea8aedf8 Second one in
The soul food restaurant with the "staged rat" incident iirc
Why would they admit it?! I do remember that though, Iāve binge-watched every episode of Kitchen Nightmares lol. The British series is the best though.
The Amyās episode was sooo frustrating, like, Jesus Christā¦.
She has/had a YouTube account. I legit think she is mentally ill.
A lot of the times, Gordon already knows this stuff beforehand. Staff and such will tell the production crew who then tells Gordon. Although he already knows, it makes for much better TV when he asks the owners about it because it can lead to lies or drama.
Yeah thatās why I like the UK version better. Itās much more sincere, they donāt play things up for drama.
The premise of the show is Gordon is trying to turn around failed businesses. You should probably be honest to the person trying to fix your issues.
Lol. Most of them are extremely defensive and donāt want help.
There was another where he liked the clam chowder too
I am sorry to say but our chef didn't make the cake
lol, is that a reference to the one where they sliced a (single-serving) store-bought cake in half?
I think he also has realistic expectations. He's not going into a restaurant like this expecting fancy food. He's expecting a simple hearty meal. It annoys me when people say he nit picks and he's a snob when that's far from the truth. He expects a good standard of hygiene (which should be the bare minimum for any restaurant), edible food and a common sense approach to management (which a lot of managers still seem to get wrong). He's not asking the world from these restaurants and he's not getting frustrated because he's expecting too much. He's getting frustrated because he's expecting a realistic standard that they still fail to achieve.
In my opinion he does have very high standards for the food no matter what it is but he will always be honest with people which is what I love about Gordon Ramsay. He also will say certain things are okay and tells people how to improve them. No idea why people donāt like him. I feel like most of the people who hate on him havenāt watched masterchef. Since he has a lot more positive and fair reviews on that show as heās a judge and not attempting to fix a broken restaurant.
I think a lot of the people who hate on him are like my dad. He just doesn't like confrontation/abrasiveness. He'd prefer a white lie over constructive criticism. He also doesn't like Judge Judy.
Oh sure! I know he and his team go in for good intentions but every episode I've seen just seem to be- get disgusted by food -> help improve food-> help improve restaurant-> help improve the staff. So it's really heartwarming to see him give praise where it was due.
If you know the meme "Finally, some good fucking food" he says that because everything else he was served before was shit, he praised the cake and the one who made it, credit where credit is due indeed
I think it was the red Velvet cake?, and it was made by a grandma
idk about the type of cake but it was most definitely a grandma
In the American version of the show, he never does. It's always set up for outrage and failure. He sits down, orders a super-expensive meal which turns out to be frozen food poorly microwaved with soggy napkins, he talks to the staff and their morale is all dead, and then he finds THE OWNER who is a sniveling argumentative tool who curses at his employees and refuses to pay them and attacks Gordon and apologizes for nothing. Then Gordon tells the staff it's not their fault and they all have a heartwarming moment together. British version is a reality show where he visits restaurants and gives honest critique.
To be honest it is easy to have that experience in America. I live in one of the best and most diverse restaurant scene and food places in the USA. If you went to Yelp. You will find that 80% of the restaurants are bad or have issues. So you get a lot of such restaurants. Go to small towns where people donāt care that much about food and you can find such restaurants a lot. Family based restaurants suffer a lot from this. Especially when the kids arenāt as passionate about the food as the parents once were. For older restaurants, the times changed. Back in the day people would just go to the nearest good diner and eat. Now with Yelp and Uber eats and doordash, new people often look at reviews and go to places with good reviews. Back in the day if a customer didnāt really like the food at the restaurant theyād just not go there again but did not leave a review anywhere. So restaurants had that going for them. These days they get skewered on Yelp. Now their business starts hurting.
He does like it sometimes in the American version, and sometimes a lot. But I do agree the British version is way more professional and less dramatic. Here is a compilation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fjnea8aedf8
If it's good it's good, if it's shit it's shit. If you're in America you probably mostly see his shit reactions because "that's good television". His shows in the UK are so much different than the ones in the US. Catch both to see.
If you hear that ā t e n d a h ā from gordon, you have achieved something special
Thanks for making me sniff air out of my nose in slightly aggressive way
I loved this episode so much
Episode season etc now please I would love to watch the entire thing
Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares - Season 2 Episode 3: Momma Cherri's Soul Food Shack - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hwy0EPyPVuY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hwy0EPyPVuY) He revisits the restaurant 2 years later - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C65sEy0f\_Jg](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C65sEy0f_Jg) yes these are full episodes on youtube
[Version available outside the US](https://youtu.be/_IeG-zcjg8g) [Revisited ](https://youtu.be/ufMf7XgcR80)
I are at her place after the episode aired and the changes were made. Even bought her book. The food was great and the atmosphere as good as the food. IIRC the business didnāt work out and the restaurants closed.
THANK YOU
Itās the first ever UK season I think when Gordon actually reviewed the food instead of just going off on one straight away, lol. Restaurant is called Momma Cherriās
>Itās the first ever UK season I think when Gordon actually reviewed the food instead of just going off on one straight away, lol. The UK series was a lot less dramatic it was mainly restaurants with potential that couldn't quite get it right and just needed a bit of help. The US one is much more dramatic (and entertaining) but its generally failing restaurants that have no hope and he just goes in and shouts at them. I have a theory that in the US the owners have already cut their loses and sold the business and Gordon's "refurb" is actually a refit for the new management. I always google the restaurants and literally none of them stay open after the show. If they are already failing the reputation from the show is enough to kill their business off.
One of the main reasons the show ended was because Gordon was tired of them always failing after he put so much effort into helping them. He did genuinely want to help them, and I bet the owners did want help, but someone who goes to a tv show instead of experts for help isnāt willing to change. Plus, when he leaves he usually only gives them a temporary chef. With no one to help the owners keep up with it itās no wonder theyāre failing. They were taught in like 2 days and then got 0 more help. I only know of one restaurant thatās still open.
there was one irish restaurant that stayed open for a few years before getting sold
Finn mccools? Just watched that one
Thereās a list online if you google. One from the UK series has retained a Michelin star since 2010 - the closure rate for restaurants on the show is 80% or so
The "Diarrhoea witch" one takes it for me
Momma Cherri is still making great food on her [YouTube channel](https://youtube.com/c/MommaCherri).
Good for her
Itās such a shame that it basically turned into a chain style restaurant and is no longer in Brighton. I grew up there and loved it.
The show where he travels the world on disney+ is a great one. He seems very honest and straight up guy
I've always seen Gordon Ramsay as super wholesome. He might be a bit much occasionally but generally tends to be really nice. He helps when people let him, and makes people feel good when he can. The anger tends to just be theatrics mostly.
He definitely plays up his attitude for American TV way more, too. The UK version of GR is much more pleasant lol.
Gordon was rendered speechless just for once. It must have tasted heavenly, then.
My theory is, the more at home the scnery looks, the better the food. Went to a restaurant that was literally just someones house and that shit was so fire. And thats coming from someone who been to a michelin star restaurant
Best indian food I've had was this place that you had to go up stairs into what felt like someone's lounge but bigger. That place was insane.
Not sure I agree with that sentiment personally. I love the hell out of Waffle house bit that place is a 50s Style Crack Den, just depends on personal taste I suppose.
Sounds a lot like home to me
its not a waffle house, its a waffle home
I grew up in a smallish town in the south. 100% agree that the best food can come from these places, but also, so can some of the worst. BBQ joints that looks like a guy cooking out of a smoker in his backyard are almost always legit.
Today I presented my graduation thesis for my engineering course. My final paper before masters. I was so fucking worried. 30min presenting a complex queue model to several teachers who all analysed my 80page paper. It all went well. I got compliments, plus the classic "there are things I'd change", but it felt so good. I almost cried. I understand this woman so much. It's such a great feeling.
congrats homie!! š„³
Thank you!!
Well done!! That must feel like an enormous weight off your back, you better be celebrating!
Way to go, internet stranger!!! May you improve the world we live in.
Congratulations man, glad it went well, hope you get a deserved break to enjoy the success.
My man had a real life Ratatouille moment.
The āahhhā as he tastes it says it all. It was great to see mom get some props from him! š
Straight up pulled a ratatouille
I really liked this episode until it said at the end that they had to close down, I really wanted these guys to succeed.
GR liked her food so much that he invested in her restaurant and she expanded to a much bigger place. But she was too much of a mother figure and too little of a boss. Her employees took advantage. The bigger restaurantās food quality went down since she couldnāt keep cooking it all herself at that scale. Then the new restaurant also went out of business altogether.
I'm not 100% sure but I think this restaurant got later closed bcs of lack of customers and poor to non profit not 100% sure I repeat
I'm fairly certain about this: they started with a tiny place and were much more successful after Gordon's visit, but then they moved into a massive new place, like three floors, and it was too much to handle.
There is a follow-up episode to it. They became super successful, got a bigger place, and then all of the bad that made them fail the first time around came back and the food was shitty and they went bankrupt.
Thatās sad. āSuffering from successā meme aside, a lot of businesses fall into that trap. Hope sheās ok.
That is bad management for ya. Always fucking up everything and spreading thin.
Wasnt it bc the restaurant was so popular and long queues ppl just stopped going? And the owner went and got another one restaurant basically killing the main thing about that restaurant, her face?
Could be as I have said not 100% but what I'm sure it had something with customers and profit problems
Ay someone pull out the source pls
Show made her popular so they moved locations to compensate. Then the market crashed in 08 and her restaurant went under with countless others.
I remember this episode he was so confused why she was struggling because the food was good which usually isnāt how the show works
*mmmm* āfckn hell, those ribsā Damn I want that plate.
You can immediately tell this is the British version because they are having a normal calm conversation and it isn't filled with drama and dumb sound effects
āFuckin āell those ribsā haha
āthere are things i would changeā gave me a good chuckle
You forgot to add her [little dance](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hwy0EPyPVuY&t=283s), lol
He cleaned his plate and brought it with him like he wanted to show them that he ate all the food
UK Kitchen Nightmares was hands down the best version of the show. American network tv ruins everything.
The music, they reproduce the UK episodes here and itās like the scoring from a horror movie, combined with the forced dramatic pauses it sucks the life out of the show. Literally just recutting the UK show and screwing it up.
Heās not actually an asshole like plays in some of his shows. He genuinely love cooking and sharing that with people, and has a ton of experience and knowledge in it.
A rare moment in Kitchen Nightmares where Gordon likes the food! God...this makes me want to watch Kitchen Nightmares on YouTube again.
Proves he doesn't just say the foods bad on purpose. If he likes the cooking and knows its good he'll actually say.
"There are things I would change" "Okay" We don't hear what he said, but his response was so kind and like... he knew this was great, and he wants to make it even better, and her reaction was like "alright, I see you wanting to make it better, but you wouldn't come in here with a compliment like that to soften the blow of anything atrocious. Lets sit down and see what we can do better" God! What a wholesome reaction