This episode is being repeated this week in Canada.  This is an excellent review of it.  Especially the scathing view of the spoilt little bitch owner.

http://www.tvscoop.tv/2007/11/tv_review_ramsa_4.html

Ramsay spent three years in his early twenties working his arse off in a Parisian kitchen, and as such, is quite impressive with the old French. Conversing with the staff, he flicks from English to French with great ease... although, in saying that, the staff do not provide him with ease conversation as they are all clearly bone-idle, cocky and irresponsible.

Ramsay quickly found a waitress (best friend of the owner) who didn't want to get her finger out and was incredibly lazy. Tardiness, attitude and stubborn when pushed, it seemed that this young lady didn't seem to mind that her lacklustre approach was losing her mate huge sums of money. Ramsay pointed this out, no-one seemed to mind one bit. The chef managed to slack jaws even further by being completely insane. Burnt food, ingredients that had gone off, no preparation, slow service... and he couldn't care less. So bad was his attitude that, when fired, he wouldn't leave the premises preferring to bother the customers. It resulted in Ramsay picking him up, tossing him over his shoulder and dropping him off down the street.

However, aside from these reprobates, the worst culprit of the lot was the owner. The owner, a potty mouthed Glaswegian, was obviously playing at being a restaurateur and clearly not willing to work hard for a successful business. It would seem that the owner had been bailed out by wealthy parents too often to get a reality check. Probably the best example of this laissez-faire attitude was the indifference to the plight of her new chef, flown in from Scotland. The chef, called India, uprooted from Scotland to work in an ailing business and was prepared to fight and graft for success. Sadly, the owner wasn't and merely flitted around, essentially jeapordising the career of her young chef, now stranded in France.

Ramsay, all-heart, decided that this was appalling behaviour and gave India some work at one of his London restaurants. In fact, this episode quickly became the story of Ramsay giving someone a chance... someone willing to put the work in... as opposed to a tale about a restaurant.

The owner was clearly a spoiled little brat who wasn't used to people giving it straight. At the close of the programme, the show down between Ramsay and the (forty minutes late) owner, saw her stomping off because of the "abuse". To me abuse is more akin to throwing someone's help back in their face, giving up on people and deserting people in your employment. The success of this show was Ramsay's approach to veggie food ("sexy, vibrant, pure indulgence") and his helping of the young and eager India. In short, sod Piccolo Teatro, the owner got what she deserved... and three cheers for Ramsay and India... let's hope we see her with her own show in ten years time.

Posted by mofgimmers on November 7, 2007 in | Permalink