http://www.realitynewsonline.com/cgi-bin/ae.pl?mode=1&article=article8497.art&page=1

by William Ingram -- 11/10/2008
Hannah & Mason’s is no longer owned by either Hannah or Mason, but by Chris and Brian. The problem is that Brian is lazy and Chris is timid. And the restaurant is only open a few nights a week. How can Chef Gordon Ramsay turn this mess around? Read on to find out!

Welcome to the sixth episode in the second season of Kitchen Nightmares. This is the show where professional chef and entertainer Gordon Ramsay drops in on various failing restaurants
across the United States and shows them how to shape up and fix all of their problems. He leaves them with a high class menu, better cooks, and hopefully a legacy of success.

Tonight we find ourselves in the quaint little village of Cranbury, New Jersey. We soon arrive at a nice little bistro called Hannah & Mason’s. We quickly see a problem since the “n” in the name on the sign is missing.

Friends Chris and Brian are co-owners of the bistro. They were both employees of the previous owner who sold it to them three years ago when he retired. Chris says that he was scared to death to own the place.

He said that when the opportunity to buy the place came up, he jumped at it. Unfortunately he didn’t have enough cash and he turned to Brian. This should have been a good match because Brian worked there and already knew how the place worked. In retrospect, however, he feels that he made a big mistake bringing Brian into the picture.

Brian seems to be rather laid back and doesn’t let anything bother him. We see a short montage of the staff members each saying that Brian is not laid back, he is lazy.

Chris notes that he does everything, including ordering the food, cooking the food, and paying the bills. Brian does nothing and Chris is tired of this unequal arrangement.

Oddly, the restaurant is only open for dinner three nights a week. Brian doesn’t think that is a problem since no one goes out on a Tuesday anyway.

The bistro is losing money fast. The staff tell us that they cannot even cash their paychecks because they keep bouncing. One waitress says that she would not be able to support her daughter if the bistro closed. Hmm. I have an idea – take your waitressing skills to another restaurant! I’m pretty sure that the ability to carry food to a table is welcome at any place with food and tables.

Anyway, who can save this bistro before that poor waitress has to give up her kids for adoption? Yes, it is our knight in gleaming apron, Chef Gordon Ramsay. He comes strolling down the street and immediately notices the missing letter from the sign. Oops!

He steps inside and is greeted by Nick the manager. Ramsay notes that he is awfully young and Nick says that he is 23. But he adds that he busts his ass every day.

Ramsay has a seat and Marie, the desperate mother, steps up to serve him. She notices the photo on the table with Ramsay and asks if that is his wife. He says that it is his lady and that today is the 14th Valentine’s Day that they’ve spent apart.

As always, Ramsay orders a few items from the menu. Today he will be dining on baked onion soup, quiche, and lamb lollipops, whatever those are.

The onion soup arrives and it is, as Chef Chris says, unique. It is topped with an overflowing handful of fried onions. Ramsay has to dig past the onions, cakes of cheese and bread before he finds any actual soup. It is not worth the wait and Ramsay calls it “dishwater.”

The next dish is the lamp lollipops. It seems to be just lamb on a plate. Ramsay notes that the dish is undercooked and the sauce is way too sweet (hence the name “lollipop” I guess). Ramsay has Nick taste the sauce and say that it is delicious. The customers love it and it gets great reviews. Ramsay is not impressed.

Back in the kitchen we find Nick telling the camera that Chris is afraid of anyone telling him that his meals are just not good enough. In fact we get a short montage of Chris threatening to leave if Ramsay doesn’t like the food.

The final dish is the quiche. This doesn’t fare any better as it is very undercooked and is nothing more than a pile of mush.

Ramsay gets up and goes into the kitchen to meet the owners and chefs. The meeting is tense. Ramsay says that being closed four nights a week tells the community that they should be closed all the time. Chris says that they don’t try staying open because they are being super cautious. He adds that Brian just doesn’t have the passion to run a restaurant. After chatting with them for a bit, Ramsay agrees.

A few hours later, Ramsay returns to watch them cook and serve dinner. First off, Ramsay finds the dessert cart and notes that all the items are old and stale. He says that the display items need to be fresh. Personally, I disagree. By definition, the items are just for display. It seems perfectly reasonable to use yesterday’s leftovers as display models today.

The next problem seems to be that food is not being served. We see pictures of finished food sitting on the warming plate for 19 minutes. Apparently, Brian forgot to hit the little bell indicating that it was ready.

Ramsay then finds rotten and unwashed lettuce being served as salad. He is appalled. The next appalling thing is that one of the display desserts has been served to a customer. Oops! I guess that is a good reason to make the display desserts fresh – you never know when an incompetent server will send one to a customer. A closer examination of the dessert case finds bread pudding that is several weeks old and smells rancid.

Ramsay is almost to the boiling point. He demands to see the cooler and freezer. He finds partially cooked and old food all over. In one bin he finds cooked chicken mixed with raw chicken. He uses his favorite line of declaring that the chefs are trying to kill their customers.

He becomes so irate that he tells the manager to shut everything down and send everyone home. The kitchen is officially closed. He overdramatically provides yellow “caution” tape to wind around all of the kitchen fixtures. Yes, that is humorous.

The staff doesn’t think it is funny as they have to send off all of the remaining customers.

Later, Ramsay discusses the matter with the staff. He tells both of the chefs that they have lost their passion. Chris is too timid to make sure things are done properly and Brian is just plain lazy. Both need to shape up.

The whole staff spends the rest of the night cleaning everything.

The next day, Chef Ramsay tours the local countryside. He finds lots of small farms that sell fresh produce and he thinks that access to this food would be a chef’s dream come true. He knows that he can make that idea work for the bistro. He starts with several big baskets of apples.

He returns to the restaurant and shows them to Brian. Brian is lackluster and Ramsay asks why he never wants to try to improve. Brian replies that if he wanted to cook like Ramsay he’d just buy his cookbook.

As we all know, Ramsay doesn’t take well when people treat him as less than a god. Ramsay chews him out and Brian leaves to go cool off.

Meanwhile, Ramsay teaches Chris to make pork medallions with braised apples. It looks yummy.

We fast forward to that evening’s dinner service. Ramsay challenges Brian to lead tonight’s dinner service. He accepts. Ramsay, of course, dogs him all night and criticizes everything he does. Remember that Ramsay holds grudges a long time.

But the problems in the kitchen tonight really are Brian’s fault. He is slow and plodding and indecisive when he needs to take charge. The whole service backs up immediately. Chris says that the constant pressure from Ramsay is slowing him down.

Ramsay continues to badger him and Brian nearly walks out. But Brian hunkers down and actually gets a lot of good food served. Brian admits that he is a bit happier serving good food than he is when he sits around and does nothing.

The next morning dawns and we find that Chef Ramsay’s crew has rebuilt the whole interior. Instead of being a bistro, the place is now a café. The staff arrives and see the changes, including a new “n” for their sign. They are thrilled to pieces.

The biggest change is the addition of local products. The deli counter now features named products from local farms and bakeries. There is also a big display of fresh fruits and vegetables.

Chris is afraid of the changes. He is worried that the old restaurant is gone and that the new one might not work. The menu is different and that scares him as well.

To enhance the re-opening of the café, Chef Ramsay has organized a farmer’s market outside the restaurant. People can buy fresh fruits and tasty baked goods.

We flash forward to the evening service. The customers arrive and the orders start pouring in.

As an aside, Ramsay tells us that he was surprised that Brian is actually the one that embraces all the changes and is excited about the new direction. Chris is dragging his feet and worried about everything. Brian is smiling and Chris is frowning.

The overwhelming crush of customers is causing a back-up in Chris’ kitchen. Brian is doing better than ever on the appetizers station but Chris is falling behind and falling apart. He is making excuses and looks very panicky.

For example, about three quarters of the way through the service, Chris runs out of mashed potatoes. He figures that he’ll just substitute something else and the customers will just have to accept it. Ramsay tells him that that is not the way to run a kitchen. After a bit of arguing, Chris relents and agrees to cook more potatoes.

Despite Chris dragging his feet and complaining, the rest of the service goes well and soon everything is finished. Whew! Ramsay congratulates them all. He says that he has seen some extra heart in the owners and he is confident that they can make it work.

And everybody lived happily ever after.

Be sure to tune in next week to see Ramsay overhaul another restaurant.