By Jennifer Larson

Tonight we get to see Chef Ramsay bring a funky, dirty and utterly unorganized Indian restaurant called, Dillons, back to life. At this point I think most of us realize that Gordon can turn just about any disaster around, as long as the owners are able to withstand his constant demands. And demanding he is, but it’s worth putting up with because this man knows what he’s doing. Gordon Ramsay is a chef through and through, but even more than that, he knows what it takes to run a successful and profitable restaurant. That’s really the point of KITCHEN NIGHTMARES, learning how to run a business. Sure there are many examples of bad cooking and filthy cleansing habits, but those problems are easier to fix than trying to teach an unwilling or stubborn person how to run a business. Herein lies the difference between this show and HELLS KITCHEN. In the latter, Gordon teaches aspiring chefs how to run a kitchen, but the stakes are much higher in the former.

Tonight’s episode opens up focusing on the three – yes count them, three – managers. Don’t ask me what each of them is in charge of because I can’t figure that out. Apparently, neither can any of the staff. But, perhaps, the worst of the three is Martin, who introduces Dillons as an American, Irish restaurant with an Indian flare … huh? Not being able to focus on the exact direction of the restaurant is just the tip of the iceberg. There are flies roaming around the dinning room and the customer’s food, and there are myriad of cooks from several different countries who can’t even communicate with each other – or most of the staff. At least operations manager, Andrew, has the good sense to be mortified. Martin believes serving Chef Ramsey a piece of lamb in his vegetarian plate is the worst of things. Wow, talk about living in a dream world. I can see why the business is losing 20 to 30 thousand dollars a month!


It becomes evident early on that a big part of the problem is general manager, Martin, who spends more time talking on his phone and flirting with the waitresses than he does running the restaurant. But there was worse to come, a day spent in the most disgusting and dangerous kitchen I’ve ever seen. Forget the flies settling down on every surface in the kitchen, they boldly land on any and all food in sight. You would think things couldn’t get worse, but once Gordon discovers the nest of cockroaches living in the basement, we realize they can. I don’t know what makes me more sick, the infiltration of bugs, or the green hamburger meat. I’m dead serious; the meat was moldy and green. All I can say is thank god I don’t live and eat in New York. The ironic thing is the fact that this disgusting excuse of a restaurant is literally within walking distance from one of Gordon’s own establishments.

That just goes to show you that location doesn’t always mean everything. So let’s see, we’ve talked about the moldy meat but the party’s not over, because now it has been discovered that the tomatoes are rotten. Good god, where are the quality control people. Don’t they have the grading system back east? This place was so bad that Gordon had to bring in the big guns, a professional Indian cook, an interior designer to revamp the restaurant’s look and a new name, Purnima. Of course it goes without saying that a thorough scrub down was required for the kitchen.


Miraculously, they were able to pull things together enough to launch a re-opening. But we still have Martin’s attitude to deal with, and as they were about to open the doors, it came flying back like a banshee. And keep in mind, that professional chef is just a loaner. So even though the opening night was a success, I don’t know how this cast of characters is going to be able to keep it up. In fact, midway through, things began to fall apart. One of Gordon’s solutions was to pump Khan up from floor manager to general manager, and he convinced the owner, Mohamed, to get rid of the dead weight. And I think we all know what that is … Martin. Actually, knowing that he was going to be fired, Martin did the only honorable thing and quit. Now that’s what I call a happy ending.