Reviewed by Mike Anderiesz
Stars Gordon Ramsay | UK certification 15 | UK RRP £19.99 | Runtime 300 minutes | Directed by Christine Hall
It’s always hard review a whole series on a single episode, but that’s all we were given for preview and luckily I’m a closet fan of this series. The episode provided was also a fine example of what makes Gordon Ramsay one of those Marmite-celebrities that you either totally get or simply don’t.
In case you don’t know the concept, Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares shows everyone’s favourite sadist (and chef) touring restaurants in financial difficulties. Filmed over 5 days per episode, his job is to pinpoint the issues, relaunch the restaurant and restore the balance sheet to something like responsibility by the time he returns several months later for a follow up. What follows is usually a rollercoaster of tears, tantrums, and several cases of botulism in waiting.
The episode we got to see also happens to be the best of the series. Momma Cherri’s is a struggling soul food restaurant in Brighton hosted by someone who upstages Gordon from the moment she appears, Momma Cherri herself. Unlike most episodes, here it’s not the recipes that are the problem, but the fast-food preparation techniques. Potentially great meals are prepared so far in advance that the only thing missing are the letters KFC. All this shows Gordon at his best — motivating the sweet but lazy head chef to take price in himself, and teaching Momma to concentrate on the showboating she does best. As a result of his efforts, the shack becomes a huge success, moving to much larger premises while Momma becomes a daytime cookery star in her own right.
Which brings us to Gordon at his worst, returning to the establishment a few months later and proceeding to rip the woman to shreds. Admittedly, standards have slipped back to KFC-style, but Gordon’s delight in humiliating her is in keeping with his childish rants against Worrall-Thompson, Delia or whoever else he feels threatened by in any given week. It shows a man with none of the self confidence he tries to exude, someone who will happily destroy a success he largely created just for a few choice soundbites delivered straight to camera. With 8 more episodes in the series, there’s plenty of humour, pathos and stomach churning to enjoy. From dog dirt in the Costa Del Sol to Morgans, that seems to be the world’s first Wags-only restaurant, the culinary style may change but Gordon’s approach never does.
Far better than the superficial F-Word, Kitchen Nightmares shows the importance of having a brand. Gordon’s brand is pretty much the same as Simon Cowell’s — scathing, simplistic and dehumanising, but the audience continues to lap it up. However, after watching a few shows back to back, the lingering impression you’re left with is to never eat out again until you’ve inspected the kitchen first — something we suspect the owners would be a lot less prepared to allow us to do. here
EXTRAS None. We saw 1 disc, with just 1 episode on it. Nada on the extras.