"Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares"

[paul mitchell]

........that Ramsay has some good lines - it went something like this: '...Get a move on it....your a fucking 21 year old chef and you should be getting at least 12 hard on's a day!"

[Daddy-A]

Actually the first time I saw that dish "scallops and black pudding" was when  Bruno Loubet was at L'odeon just off Picadilly Circus, in '97. It was the restaurant's biggest seller!!! But that poor guy on FN couldn't cook himself out of a paper bag to save his life!

Is it really good, or is that just an English thing? (no offense intended )

I think the owner is trying to sue Gordon right now!

Which owner David? The one for L'Odeon or the one from the show? If you meant the latter, seems she only has herself to blame.

Also wondering ... have any of the chefs here ever worked with someone like Ramsey? Is that common, or is he just putting on a show for our benefit? It's damn funny television ... just wondering how real it is.

A.

[Ling]

I was just going to start a thread about this show!

I honestly wanted to kick the "head chef" or hit him over the head with a sauce pan. How can he NOT know how to make a bloody omelette?!!!!!!!!!! And all that moldy food? Not only can he NOT cook, but he's a pig in the kitchen.

Great show. I loved it. It got me all riled up...heh heh....

[SteveW]

I missed catching this show in full. It looks interesting. FNC is repeating the first episode again Wednesday(I'll catch it in full then). Does this show have a US airing anytime soon? One of advantages of Food Network Canada, over the Food Network, is that it more readily picks up the foreign programs.

-Steve

[Chef Metcalf]

He wasn't qualified to be a fry cook let alone a head chef.

And the most frightening thing....the condition of the food in his fridge.

Did they mention the name of the cooking school that he attended?

Imagine being the proud administrator of that fine establishment!

Definitely going to tape that one (but I can't imagine him finding a chef worse then that poor sod).

cm

[Coop]

I actually watched that making of Iron Chef bullcrap just before this show. I was expecting something staged and phony. I thought it was all theatrics until Ramsy and the Wanker Chef ate the scallops. From then on I was totally sold. Tim was basically incompetent and lazy. I wonder what his prospects are like now.

[d.hawksworth]

Is it really good, or is that just an English thing? (no offense intended  )

none taken

Sure, if you make the black pudding yourself with plenty of aromatics, raisins, apples, and you have fresh plump scallops. Bruno used to make a parsley-garlic sauce and I think apple compote.

Also wondering ... have any of the chefs here ever worked with someone like Ramsey? Is that common, or is he just putting on a show for our benefit? It's damn funny television ... just wondering how real it is.]

Most of the Chefs over in the UK are fairly aggressive. Gordon is intense and doesn't hold back when you're getting a bollocking. Mix that with the work load of starting at 7AM and finishing at 1AM - it becomes a nightmare. You have to really want to be there - any notion of leaving or lack of desire and you're screwed! He has other less intense kitchens but the Royal Hospital Road 3 star is the F'ing Deal.

DH

Edited November 8, 2004 by d.hawksworth (log)

[RooStew]

Bruno used to make a parsley-garlic sauce and I think apple compote.

[

Ha! I worked for a French Chef that worked for Bruno and he had scallops with 'white pudding' and parsly garlic sauce on his menu.

Also wondering ... have any of the chefs here ever worked with someone like Ramsey?

I've worked for chefs that command respect and teach in the same fashion as Ramsey, and at the the time I've thought 'what the hell am I doing here'. But now that I look back on it I treasure those moments as some of the best learning experiences and exciting times I've had in this industry. One thing I always found was that the Sous' and deParties were the real hardarses.

[Ling]

Did they mention the name of the cooking school that he attended?

Imagine being the proud administrator of that fine establishment!

cm

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He didn't go to cooking school. He started out as a dishwasher at age 17 and "worked his way up" to head chef at Bonaparte's.

At the end of the show, they said that he was now working as a junior chef for another restaurant down the road from Bonaparte's.

[eatbc]

Is that common, or is he just putting on a show for our benefit? It's damn funny television ... just wondering how real it is.

I just watched my taped version of that show. I laughed hard and loud!

That was the most "real" restaurant TV I've seen so far. That kid deserved all the abuse he was getting. I would have fired him by the end of the first day, certainly after the tainted scallop incident.

Ramsay was only giving normal, professional feedback to this fiasco of a restaurant. The swearing and badgering... I think he was holding back. He caught this faker ("takin' the piss").

And how about that unfortunate sap of an owner, more money than brains, but it looked like that was coming into balance!

How many restaurant people here have met cooks like Tim? or owners like this one?

[jayhay]

. FNC is repeating the first episode again Wednesday

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Another reminder...tonight's the night.

[RooStew]

FNC is repeating the first episode again Wednesday

Did my mise en place. I'm taping this series.

Wish I would of done done the same with Boiling Point.

[RooStew]

Rumour has it that due to the content of Ramseys Kitchen Nightmares and numerous consumer complaints, FNC has cut out certain episodes and will be finishing the series short.

Say it ain't so.

Is Gordon Ramsey to harsh for FN 'PC' C?

[DameD]

Rumour has it that due to the content of Ramseys Kitchen Nightmares and numerous consumer complaints, FNC has cut out certain episodes and will be finishing the series short.

Say it ain't so.

Is Gordon Ramsey to harsh for FN 'PC' C?

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Really it is first show this season that i actually enjoyed. Trust the FNC to kill it, maybe some more 30minutes meals by Rachel whats her name, will make me kill my cable fully now.

[Foodie in Vancouver]

The only time I watch TV is at 6 am when I am on the elliptical. I cannot stand that stupid sugar woman- I think her name is Olsen - how anyone cooks in pastel-coloured clothes is beyond me. I wish someone entertaining like Gordon was on at that time. The other morning I was reduced to watching "It's a Living" in which they featured a woman who was a pub-crawl tour guide in St. Johns NFLD in an area where there are 35 bars in a 2-block stretch. Can't imagine why anyone would need a tour guide under those circumstances or why one would even consider the area in the first place. But that is how desperate I am at 6 am. That was better than that silly Olsen woman. No one can string together as many senseless statements as she can - and she gets paid! If I thought it would do any good I would complain.

[Ling]

Did anyone catch the most recent episode--the one which featured POMEGRANATE RISOTTO?!!

[merlin]

Ling:

Certainly did. The show is terrific entertainment. I, like eatBC, have laughed hard throughout the two shows that I have seen thus far.

I though Ramsey was uncharacteristically restrained when served that pomegranite risotto. Chuckled at the director's good way of ending the show with the chef walking away muttering about the risotto.

I certainly hope FNC does not edit or horrors, stop showing all of the remaining episodes. This show, Into The Fire and Opening Soon are about the only shows I now watch on the channel

[jayhay]

I too hope they don't edit, or heaven forbid, discontinue this show.

Great entertainment, & I don't even notice the swearing....watched too many episodes of The Sopranos, I guess.

[jayt90]

Did anyone catch the most recent episode--the one which featured POMEGRANATE RISOTTO?!! 

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I've seen the first two episodes, and I suspect a sitcom, with lots of writing, set ups, and coaching. There are too many similarities, not to have been tweaked by a writer and director. And the chefs under fire don't really fall apart, they stay whole in front of the camera. Pretty good for amateurs. If the following shows are like the first two, then we'll know that FNC has latched onto another sure thing, same every week, like Opening Soon or Chef at Large.

[Coop]

Did I hear this correctly 70lbs for a fish dish? In Wales?

[Jinmyo]

Did I hear this correctly 70lbs for a fish dish? In Wales?

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Ydi.

[chezlamere]

I love this show, but did you guys say there are only 4 episodes??? Then I've seen them all. Say it ain't so.

[bloviatrix]

Ramsey's Kitchen Nightmare, which was discussed at length on this thread will be shown on BBC America starting next tuesday, December 7 at 9pm eastern.

[rlibkind]

I caught the final episode of this series during a visit to the UK last spring. It was hysterical. Definitely "must see" television. Better than the "Hell's Kitchen" series, which was more like soap opera.

[bloviatrix]

Just want to remind everyone -- it starts tonight.