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UPDATE: My must-read interview with the Mazzios is now online.
This week’s restauarant is Finn McCool’s in Westhampton, New York.
An article in the New York Post has good insight into the casting process and it confirms what I’ve suspected about the U.S. Kitchen Nightmares - restaurants are ‘cast for conflict’, not because the restaurant is really in danger of failing.
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McCool’s ended up on “Nightmares” because Brian applied to be a contestant on “Hell’s Kitchen” last year. He didn’t get picked, but the casting agents remembered him and his volatile disposition, They called to see if he’d be interested in “Kitchen Nightmares” instead.
“Interested?” he grinned. “He’s the No. 1 chef in the world.”
On the food side, the family never thought that they had a bad restaurant to begin with. For one thing, the kitchen was always sparkling. Ramsay had no complaints there.
And business was not terrible. The regulars loved the artery-clogging, fried everything.
‘KITCHEN NIGHTMARE’ IN WESTHAMPTON
It seemed to me that the places used in the UK version were really on the verge of financial ruin - in fact, I know they were because one restaurant was basically repossessed from the owner’s during the show and another one is closed now. Also, the article points out that Ramsay spends four days at the restaurant, not the seven he’d spend in the U.K. - plus, there’s no follow-up.
What it comes down to is that the U.S. version really is a much more low-rent, slapdash, sloppy, worse version of the U.K. show and I don’t think it’s doing anything to help Ramsay’s reputation as a chef in the U.S. As a personality, sure. But they seem to think that having everyone repeat ‘Ramsay is the number one chef in the world’ is a substitute for SHOWING that he knows how to cook. I’m not letting Ramsay off the hook here; he made this deal. But it’s a damn shame if you ask me.
Update: A lot of other questionable edits in this episode; I’m not at all sure Brian really walked out of the restaurant, for example. And I’m pretty sure the show intentionally overbooked the restaurant so the kitchen would get in the weeds…only to pull it out in the nick of time. Cue the upbeat music!
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Want to under the current Writer’s Strike? Check out my son’s interview with the head writer for Jay Leno’s tonight show….
November 14th, 2007 at 7:18 pm
As an Englishman who has watched the UK’s version of ‘Kitchen Nightmares” I have to agree with your conclusion that the U.S. version “is really a much more low-rent, slapdash, and sloppy version”. This unfortunately reflects the demographic that the Fox network has acquired with their sensationalistic type of programming over the years. Gone are the passion and true emotive experiences of a well crafted thoughtful show, and replaced with cookie-cutter, time sensitive paradigm that does not even come close to touching the real experience of turning around a doomed restaurant into something special. What the Fox network omits in order to, and please pardon the pun, feed its carnivorous conflict coveting audience, is the ability to delicately navigate a real problem, into a program that is profound and long lasting. This program deserves a better forum than that of the Fox Network.
November 14th, 2007 at 7:28 pm
For whatever reason, one of thoughts that keeps coming back to me as I watch is “Man, they must think Americans are dumb.”
But I don’t think we are, really - I think they just treat us that way. I think the UK version with American restaurants would do even better then what they are feeding us.
I think they did it right with The Office - the Brit version is great and…British. The U.S. is still smart, but it’s American. Not worse, just different. And of course a lot of the humor is universal to anyone who’s worked anywhere in the known universe.
November 14th, 2007 at 8:11 pm
Whatever comparison you’re making between the two continents on show quality I haven’t seen the UK version so I can’t give my input, but, I think that because of the current state of the “family” run and chain restaurants, Gordon Ramsay is a breath of fresh air. American restaurants need a good swift kick in the “pan” and if Chef Ramsay can leave his boot print on the bottom of their pots they should all consider themselves lucky and welcome him into their kitchen. And if he has to cook and clean the place himself to show them how it’s done correctly……then so be it. Thank goodness someone has finally stepped up to the plate and started to make people take pride in what they do. I hope he cleans up every single restaurant in the country ……one course at a time!!
November 14th, 2007 at 8:16 pm
I have a few links to episodes of the UK version, but it airs on BBC America and you can find episodes on YouTube. It’s everything you’re saying you like in the US version but even more - and Ramsay comes across as a much more 3-dimensional person.
November 15th, 2007 at 5:59 am
C.,
Your point is valid, if that’s what the show was doing. The original point was that the show is staged. FOX is notorious for producing low-brow, scripted-”unscripted” t.v. that follows a clear formula.
This restaurant wasn’t in trouble, they just picked a guy who would be willing to show his ass on camera and fight with Ramsay. Let’s face it, Ramsay is not known in the US for his cooking, he’s known for being confrontational. Americans, particularly FOX viewers it seems, love confrontation.
I’ve seen some of Ramsay’s UK programs and he is much softer and legitimately constructive. He doesn’t roll up like a rock star in his porsche, kick in the door and shout, “Oh, Bloody Hell!” all over the place. Here, he plays a character and so do the participants.
This just isn’t a show about whipping kitchens into shape.
Jen
November 15th, 2007 at 7:24 am
I rarely watch TV but I like Ramsey and the idea of getting a dirty unorganized restaurant and arrogant chef into shape. When I saw the first few episodes (American) I really enjoyed it, but now even after last nights show (McCools Irish Restaurant), I’m really starting to believe that its all a facade and a setup.
The shows are becoming so predictable and it always seems that there is the arrogant jerk chef that halfway through the show has a change of heart due to Gordon’s coaching and becomes changed and all of a sudden the restaurant is successful.
I used to live in Babylon NY for many years and I actually ate at Peter’s Italian restaurant (previous showing) at least 5 or 6 times and the food was always good (the last time was about 5 years ago though).
I guess my point is that I just hate the fact that it all seems scripted and a fake.
I also cant believe how dirty these restaurants are and how the chefs don’t even care about it.
November 16th, 2007 at 4:16 pm
In all honesty, I think it all comes down to FOX and the producers in charge of making the “American adaptation.”
I don’t want to reiterate what’s been said here, in fact, I am glad to find a website where people actually make insightful posts.
Anyway, I just want to say that I don’t think it comes down to them thinking Americans are dumb or any such nonsense, it’s really just what the producers think, since it’s their money, their “show” and that’s that. A few episodes seemed to have a bit more of Ramsay’s influence, while most of the other ones just seem staged :/
By the way, season 5 is now playing on Channel 4, for those of you who can’t watch it since you’re not in England, try searching on YouTube or even downloading it. It’s definetely worth it.
November 17th, 2007 at 4:20 am
I read the comments you wrote after talking to the owner of McCools and the way they change things in the show are fairly dramatic but I still enjoy the show.
What Im not quite clear about is how much of the show is supposedly faked. From your comments its clear the old assistant who drops food on the floor, if he was hired by the producers temporarily, does make the show seem like its extremely staged.
However, was the entire drama of the show completely faked? Was the restaurant owner and family telling a kind of scripted story about Brian the bull-headed, out-of-control son dragging down the restaurant?
Or was Brian actually pretty awed by Ramsey and willing to change from the start? Because he clearly sounded full of himself and critical of Ramsey at the beginning of the episode. Was all of that fake? It seems plausible that it may be real because many contestants on Hell’s Kitchen and Top Chef are clueless and full of themselves, cocky even when they seem to be terrible cooks.
Theres a description of McCools that makes it sound as if the restaurant wasnt dirty at all and that Brian was completely willing to listen to anything Ramsey had to say from the start. Are the dirty kitchen scenes completely faked every week? I thought Id read the Indian restaurant in NY was indeed filthy.
I guess I want to know is — at first it seemed like your writings implied a few things here and there, were changed for dramatic effect , fairly major but it was still basically somewhat of a reality show. After all the Indian restaurant did seem pretty filthy and in disarray and the restaurant in Burbank , the owner did seem to be clueless, though theres the claim it wasnt really failing at all.
However it increasingly sounds as if the drama is completely faked though it did seem like Ramseys changes and PR did make McCools much more successful, according to the bit at the end where they say its still packed two months later.
November 17th, 2007 at 8:41 am
JohnS,
Different episodes are different - so Sebastian came across fairly accurately for the most part, I think.
Your specific question about the drama of the arrogant son dragging down the restaurant at Finn McCools…that was made up, for all the reasons I’ve stated.
Buddy told me that the Ramsay show has helped them a lot and that Brian is the one most adamant about sticking to the Ramsay plan.
December 6th, 2007 at 8:07 pm
I get a huge laugh out of this show. Nothing about it being scripted had crossed my mind until watching the rerun of the first episode filmed at Peter’s Italian Restaurant. In the scene where the argument is beginning at the door the Dad is wearing a tan suit. In just a few seconds while the argument at the door is still going on his clothes are changed to black. Unless this scene was shot at two different times it doesn’t seem as though this would be possible.
March 9th, 2008 at 1:01 pm
Of course it’s fake. Everything on TV is fake. If you haven’t realised that by now, you’re an idiot.
Three words. Prop Pag Anda.
August 5th, 2008 at 6:58 pm
Reality TV is for the entertainment, so enjoy it. But If you want to watch sometime real that watch the news. But make sure it not FOX News
August 5th, 2008 at 7:04 pm
The BBC version is reality TV, too - and it’s much much better.