Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares

Only weeks before the more mainstream 'Hell's Kitchen' came along, this one-hour, 4-part documentary series on Channel 4 was a real unexpected treat for viewers, particularly for jaded ones such as myself, tired at the whole cringe worthy "celebrity chef" genre.

Grizzly chef Gordon Ramsey travelled around Britain, each week visiting a different restaurant that was struggling to make money, serve decent food etc. In his now-famous way, Gordon would shout, swear & threaten the incompetent chefs at the restaurants, warn the restaurant owners that they will go out of business if they don't put their foot down & try & turn their fortunes around, help out in the kitchen, & promptly criticise anyone who had the guts to disagree with him on any sort of decision he made.

Seeing Mr. Ramsay tear into young upstarts, arrogant owners & generally anyone who got in his way, made for fascinating television, but it was also pleasant to see that, more often than not, the help Gordon had provided made a lot of difference, & that the restaurant began attracting more customers & serving better food.

No doubt there will be a second series of 'Hell's Kitchen' on ITV1 next year, but I would also like to see this show recommissioned as well. Not as glamorous as seeing celebrity chefs whinge at each other in a glorified TV studio, but 'Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares' was the best cookery-related show to come out in a long, long time

Really outdid themselves with the UK version. Don't even bother with the American KN, loses all semblance of personality and charm the UK version has. It's so personal and stylistic, Gordon really cares about the restaurants he helps instead of the US where he practically does all the work to get a restaurant out of the rut.

Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares is without doubt the better of the Kitchen Nightmare versions. It is raw, and focused on the restaurants with of course drama thrown in. However it is not over the top like the US version of the show.

Gordon Ramsay is formidable as he works his way around from restaurant to restaurant trying to help owners get their struggling businesses back on their feet.

This is definitely a show I never tire of and can watch over and over. I am particularly fond of the first season and will on occasion check in to see what restaurants are still in existence from both versions of the show.

If you love Ramsay, love cooking and love drama. Then look no further.

This possibly the best , most watchable reality series that came out of Britain at the turn of the century . It came late to the party but actually brought a lot to television and one that has a high rewatchability . The premise is simple: a restaurant business is failing and Gordon Ramsay arrives as a troubleshooter and get the business back on its feet

I have some professional kitchen experience myself and the three golden rules to a successful kitchen are

1 ) Team work

2 ) Communication

3 ) No skiving

Obey these three golden rules and things should work out . Watching the series it becomes very clear that the problems of the failing business are often caused by a lack of team work and communication and an excess of skiving or lassie faire attitude by the management who leave everything to the head chef who is as passionate as a week old rice pudding

The very first episode sums this up with Tim a head chef who is 21 years old and in charge of Bonaparte's restaurant . " He's either a great chef or he's a bullsh*tter " and you don't need multiple choice to find out the answer . As someone who has worked in a kitchen I was actually shocked at the state of the kitchen with mouldy food clogging up the fridges

" What do you do with mouldy food ? " asks Ramsay

" Throw it in the bin ? "replies Tim nice but dim as if he's asked a question on quantum physics

Long pause from Ramsay " So you're going to put it back in the fridge for two days then throw it out ? Can you see the point I'm making "

Tim starts nodding as the penny finally drops " Yeah yeah "

Ramsay goes out of his way to get the business back on its feet and what the programme does very well is show how much dire straits the owner is in . If the business goes under that's it - they lose everything , their restaurant , their home and possibly their marriage which comes as a shock when Ramsay returns a few months later unannounced only to find things were as bad as they were mainly down to the manager not sacking the head chef and employing competent professionals who have a pride in their work and a loyalty to their employer

There is a danger of the show becoming repetitive but a short season of four or five episodes is probably the most effective length and an angry Ramsay is always good television . Anyone with any military experience will recognise how similar Ramsay is to a sadistic drill instructor carrying out a kit inspection as tries to separate the men from the boys . It's also a superior show to the American spin off as the focus is very much on Ramsay rather than the slightly larger than life American managers

While I do enjoy seeing angry humans completely meltdown, this hideously contrived show is nothing more than a vessel to display what a perfect specimen of an alpha male Gordon Ramsey is, as he coddles pretty waitresses and undermines everyone who has the temerity to assume a position of power.