How Gordon Ramsay’s food took over the world
After nearly a decade off our screens, Kitchen Nightmares is back with a whole new host of struggling restaurateurs lining up to get the full Gordon Ramsay treatment. Arguably the chef’s most popular TV show, Kitchen Nightmares debuted in 2004 and ran for six seasons in the UK and seven in the US, until the 56-year-old chef called it quits in 2014. At the time, he said he had grown frustrated with seeing the business owners he helped on the show repeat their old mistakes instead of following his advice. However, time has obviously healed his wounds, and the new series is showing on FOX in the US every Monday at 8pm, although there’s currently no international premiere date.
Fans will be pleased to hear that the new series doesn’t stray far from the original Kitchen Nightmares format, which saw the famous fiery chef visit failing restaurants in a bid to uncover where they were going wrong (unsanitary refrigerators and lazy or inexperienced staff were usually involved). Gordon and his team will have a week to turn the restaurant’s fortunes around, and his ambitious but harsh approach often results in extremely heated confrontations with the owners and kitchen staff – with plenty of fruity language along the way, of course.
The season eight premiere kicked off with a bang as Gordon pulled up a bar stool at the Bel Aire Diner in Astoria, New York, a busy but struggling spot with a gargantuan menu, chaotic kitchen and plenty of family drama. In shocking scenes, the chef was so horrified by what he saw in the kitchen he appeared to vomit on camera, calling the restaurant a ‘death trap’ and dramatically ordering all of the diners to stop eating and leave. Happily, after a new Ramsay-approved menu and restaurant makeover, the Bel Aire Diner is thriving, and social media posts suggest that the owners are clearly enjoying the notice the show has given them.
Gordon Ramsay, once the enfant terrible of the restaurant scene, is one of the most successful celebrity chefs in the world. A TV personality, author, marathon runner and restaurateur he is, above all, an outstanding chef with an enduring presence – even if his talent is occasionally eclipsed by his temper and bad language. Read on to discover how he conquered the world, one restaurant at a time.
