Kitchen Nightmares

[sammi]

i really enjoy this show-the bbc version is a bit better than the fox version. I like him coming in and not holding back on what is wrong with the restaurants he is trying to save-it is amazing how much resistance he gets from the staff/owners and chefs

anyone else enjoy this show?

s

[Tenure]

Well, what I've always liked about him rather than, say, Simon Cowell on X-Factor, is that he doesn't immediately dismiss the owners and the chefs or the staff. If someone is completely incompetent, he advices they be fired, but his goal is not to get rid of people; it's to make a good business. He knows that they can pull it out of the bag, and he simply tells them that they need to start focusing on doing their job. He gives them his frank opinion on what they're doing wrong and why.

Some people view him as an irratible grouch on a power trip, but he always seems very benevolent to me, like Roark - he is incredibly harsh, but only because he knows that being soft and pussy footing won't achieve the best results in the short amount of time he has to turn the restaurants around.

Another thing is that he also understands life from a Restaurateur's point of view. He'll sit in the restaurant and order food and take note of everything: was he seated? Were his plates clean? Did the menu reflect what the chefs told him was the theme of the restaurant? Was the food actually any good? Were the prices worthy of what they were buying and the location they were in?

Gordon Ramsey is, from what I've witnessed, first and foremost a good businessman. He is certainly a great chef, from his display of knowledge (though I have never tasted a meal cooked by him), but what strikes me immediately is that he's a man who sees no dichotomy between the abstract idea of cookery, and the concrete (often literally) world of the kitchen.