'Kitchen Nightmares' will make you laugh, make you sick and make you think
September 19, 2007
BY DOUG ELFMAN Television Critic
On "Kitchen Nightmares," chef Gordon Ramsay visits restaurants in middle-class America, and he finds larvae, bugs, rotten meat and moldy food almost everywhere he looks.
"It's not a 'crab' cake," he says at one eatery. "It's a 'crap' cake, because I feel if I eat any more, I'll be [passing gas] for the next 105 years."
This is not something you want to watch while chowing at home. The visuals are yucky.
But it's a very entertaining public service. Merely by showing us how average eateries fail, Ramsay might egg all of us into being more suspicious of food we eat out.
In an upcoming episode, Ramsay goes to a New York seafood place that just received a 95 out of 100 from the health board. Ramsay immediately spots so much grime and putrid food, he shuts the place down so workers can wipe up the deep filth.
"You've got the nerve to tell me that you clean the walls every f----ing Tuesday?" Ramsay screams at a staffer. "Touch the wall, you dirty pig. This is disgusting!"
He's right. Obviously, Ramsay can't bust every restaurant in America. But the series can make you start questioning similar eateries in your own sphere. I was reminded of two restaurants I used to like but have avoided lately. One smells mildly of its bathrooms. At another, I've complained twice, to no avail, about mold or massive mildew piling up on the vents.
Even when the food isn't rotten, restaurants aren't necessarily doing good jobs. On "Nightmares," one family Italian restaurant buys its ravioli from Restaurant Depot. At that point, customers are essentially spending a lot of money for a frozen dinner.
Ramsay is the perfect inspector. As usual, he's demanding, brutal and fearless. He repeatedly insults egotistical managers and chefs and yells, "Just smell that for me!" And they do. And they blanch at their own nasty food.
Ramsay's people refurbish the unkempt kitchens for free, replacing broken equipment with top-notch ovens, refrigerators and dining rooms. I'm not sure these restaurants deserve this, since they have been dishing out rotten, microwaved food to customers and taking their money.
Hopefully, Ramsay will return to these places at the end of the year to see if his changes stick. And I imagine you will be more demanding about where you eat. The next time you're dining out, peek in the kitchen and look very closely. I dare you.
BY DOUG ELFMAN Television Critic
On "Kitchen Nightmares," chef Gordon Ramsay visits restaurants in middle-class America, and he finds larvae, bugs, rotten meat and moldy food almost everywhere he looks.
"It's not a 'crab' cake," he says at one eatery. "It's a 'crap' cake, because I feel if I eat any more, I'll be [passing gas] for the next 105 years."
This is not something you want to watch while chowing at home. The visuals are yucky.
But it's a very entertaining public service. Merely by showing us how average eateries fail, Ramsay might egg all of us into being more suspicious of food we eat out.
In an upcoming episode, Ramsay goes to a New York seafood place that just received a 95 out of 100 from the health board. Ramsay immediately spots so much grime and putrid food, he shuts the place down so workers can wipe up the deep filth.
"You've got the nerve to tell me that you clean the walls every f----ing Tuesday?" Ramsay screams at a staffer. "Touch the wall, you dirty pig. This is disgusting!"
He's right. Obviously, Ramsay can't bust every restaurant in America. But the series can make you start questioning similar eateries in your own sphere. I was reminded of two restaurants I used to like but have avoided lately. One smells mildly of its bathrooms. At another, I've complained twice, to no avail, about mold or massive mildew piling up on the vents.
Even when the food isn't rotten, restaurants aren't necessarily doing good jobs. On "Nightmares," one family Italian restaurant buys its ravioli from Restaurant Depot. At that point, customers are essentially spending a lot of money for a frozen dinner.
Ramsay is the perfect inspector. As usual, he's demanding, brutal and fearless. He repeatedly insults egotistical managers and chefs and yells, "Just smell that for me!" And they do. And they blanch at their own nasty food.
Ramsay's people refurbish the unkempt kitchens for free, replacing broken equipment with top-notch ovens, refrigerators and dining rooms. I'm not sure these restaurants deserve this, since they have been dishing out rotten, microwaved food to customers and taking their money.
Hopefully, Ramsay will return to these places at the end of the year to see if his changes stick. And I imagine you will be more demanding about where you eat. The next time you're dining out, peek in the kitchen and look very closely. I dare you.
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