The London West Hollywood Opens

June 6, 2008 10:08:26 by Christine_Navratil

Chef Gordon Ramsey has opened his new restaurant, The London West Hollywood in, where else, Hollywood, just a month shy of the season finale of his hit show Hell’s Kitchen where the winner will be offered the job of senior sous-chef with a hefty $250,000 salary. 

Topics: Hell's Kitchen, Kitchen Nightmares | No Comments »

Fox Reveals Summer Reality Lineup…

April 10, 2008 08:49:20 by Jennifer_Brown

Looks like FOX is sticking with the tried-and-true for the most part this summer. Earlier this week, FOX announced its summer lineup, which includes plenty of reality shows we know and love.

Moment of Truth — Seven more episodes of this powerful game show will air, beginning May 27th. In this show, contestants are asked tough questions, such as “Have you ever had sexual relations with a man more than twice your age?” in front of an audience, as well as in front of family, friends, and loved ones of the contestant. The players win money with each question answered truthfully…but many find the hot seat too hot to make it worth the money.

Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader? — This Thursday night game show, hosted by comedian Jeff Foxworthy, puts adult contestants in the hot seat, asking trivia questions based on information taught in grade school. A “class” of fifth graders sits nearby, also answering the questions. A monetary prize grows according to each question answered correctly by the adult.

So You Think You Can Dance? — This is the fourth season for this hot summer dance show. Beginning May 22nd, dancers will compete in front of judges to land a spot as one of the Top 20 dancers. Those dancers will compete for a grand prize, which in the past has been as much as $250,000, and other perks.

Hell’s Kitchen — Get the **** out of here, you donkey!!! The immensely popular cooking competition starring Chef Gordon Ramsay, usually a summer show, began a little early this year (reportedly due to the writers’ strike). Thus, the fourth season of this show has already premiered. In this competition, aspiring chefs compete head-to-head in a nerve-wracking battle against one another…and against the screaming and cursing Chef Ramsay…to prove themselves the best in the kitchen. Each week a chef-to-be is eliminated. The grand prize is an executive chef position in one of Ramsay’s restaurants.

Kitchen Nightmares — And speaking of the notorious Chef Ramsay…Kitchen Nightmares, the American Spinoff of the popular BBC show, will be back late this summer. In Kitchen Nightmares, each week Chef Ramsay takes on a struggling restaurant and whips it back into shape.

Check back with Reality TV Magazine for news and updates on these shows.

As an extra bonus, you can now read all of the current Hell’s Kitchen Cast Bios!

Photo Courtesy: FOX

Topics: Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader?, Hell's Kitchen, Kitchen Nightmares, Moment Of Truth, So You Think You Can Dance | No Comments »

Jamie Raftery Wins Gordon Ramsay Scholarship

December 19, 2007 06:35:33 by Jennifer_Brown

Jamie Raftery is no “doooo-nkey,” thank you very much! This promising chef withstood the heat at Gidleigh Park Hotel in Devon and rose to the top among 32 other semi-finalists to win the impressive Gordon Ramsay scholarship. Raftery was announced the winner after a rigorous 5-day competition with the most promising chefs in the United Kingdom, in front of a live audience.

The judging panel consisted a carefully-selected panel of prestigious chefs, and included Gordon Ramsay’s Holding’s executive chef Mark Askew and Angela Hartnett.

Gordon Ramsay is the star of popular Hell’s Kitchen and Kitchen Nightmares, as well as BBC’s Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares. Best known for his crude delivery of…uh, we’ll call it critique…and his vein-popping screaming, Chef Ramsay has taken the culinary world by storm by combing chef training with entertaining reality TV.

As winner of the Gordon Ramsay Scholarship, Raftery wins a VW car, £5000, and a week-long placement in each of Gordon’s signature restaurants in London, Paris, and New York.

Source: GordonRamsay.com

Photo Courtesy: FOX

Topics: Hell's Kitchen, Kitchen Nightmares | No Comments »

Kitchen Nightmares — Gordon Battles Chef Michel at Secret Garden

December 12, 2007 09:03:51 by Jennifer_Brown

 

If you think chef Gordon Ramsay comes off as a little arrogant from time to time, wait till you see Secret Garden’s chef/owner, Michel. As his own waitress, Sammy, says, “He’s French. That’s his biggest problem. He’s French.” Well, from where we’re standing, there are more problems than just that, and Gordon’s about to walk headlong into them.

Sure, Michel’s arrogant (or as his assistant chef, Devon, is apt to say, “…he’s got an ego the size of France.”), but he’s also short-tempered and resistant. And not all too big on cleaning up his kitchen either. Oh, and did I mention he’s about $300,000 in debt? Yikes! Sounds like a job meant for SuperChef Ramsay!

Gordon arrives and can’t figure out how to even get into the restaurant. The doors are all locked. When he finally gets into one, there’s nobody — and I mean nobody — in the dining room. Gordon has to go into the kitchen and find the staff in order to get any attention.

Right away he’s not impressed. The decor is “funeral parlor,” in his words (too cluttered and frilly and fancy-schmancy to the rest of us), and the food is not to Gordon’s liking. He immediately goes to the kitchen for a face-off with Michel, where he right away gives us our…

 Quote of the Night:

“Don’t take this personally…I thought your food was crap.”

Michel isn’t interested in Chef Ramsay’s opinion, to which Gordon assesses, “[Michel's] so far up his own **ah-ooga!!** he can’t even breathe anymore.” 

So Gordon decides to beat Michel to work in the morning, to give the kitchen an inspection. What he finds is disgusting. Black, filthy oil traps, moldy rotten food sitting so long even the refrigerator itself has begun to mold. It’s so bad even Gordon has to race to the restroom to vomit. When Michel arrives, he tries to tell Gordon that the fridge had just been organized the day before. Gordon doesn’t believe Michel is serious about this change and doesn’t believe Michel is honest. Michel tries to defend himself by saying he’s worked with Thomas Keller and Gary Clauson, but Gordon doesn’t believe for a minute that those guys would be thrilled with the moldy state of that fridge. Again, Gordon questions whether or not Michel really wants his help. Again, Michel’s arrogance shines through, saying, “Yeah, I want help, but I want good help.”

Later, Gordon further angers Michel when he boards up the restaurant and hangs signs all around that say “Foreclosure” and “Closed for Business.” “I don’t see anything constructive here,” Michel complains. But Gordon’s made his point.

Gordon hits the kitchen next and creates new menu items — some specials for Secret Garden. It’s the weekend and the restaurant fills up. The specials are a hit, but unfortunately communication breaks down and the food backs up. Customers are angry and the wait staff is in tears. Finally, Jane, sick of catching all the yelling from both the customers in the dining room and Michel in the kitchen, walks out. Gordon blames the problem on communication, but still Michel defends, saying he sees nothing wrong with the communication in his restaurant.

Gordon’s design team works over the restaurant — tossing all the china cups and lace doilies and making the place more modern and spacious. Everyone loves it…except Michel. The new menu is a hit with everyone, too…except Michel. “It’s not The Secret Garden anymore,” he complains.

But despite Miche’s misgivings, the restaurant re-launches to a packed dining room, including local celebrities (Miss California) and dignitaries, and even a local food critic. Now the pressure’s really on Michel and he doesn’t like it. “If Gordon gets in my way I promise I’ll make him suffer,” he warns.

Bad news — the critic bursts into a fit of coughing when she gets her food. She says the tuna is overseasoned. Michel, of course, blames this on Gordon, and goes back to one of his old standbys that Gordon had eliminated from the menu.

Gordon sees this and has had enough. He shrugs off his chef uniform and dresses in street clothes and, after a good, old-fashioned, shouting brawl between him and Michel (and the rest of the restaurant…and everyone else in hearing distance), Gordon storms out of the restaurant. “I don’t want him in my kitchen,” Michel says, smugly.

After cooling off, however, Gordon returns and they manage to push out the dinner service (which is a success, although Michel won’t believe it until he’s heard it from every customer in the place).

After the dinner service, Michel gives Gordon an apology of sorts about his recalcitrance, and says he was wrong. He gives Jane a promotion to Manager, and says that, while he still hates Gordon, he’s happy.

“If we can’t be successful now then we’re all idiots,” Jane says.

Gordon says Michel learned the Cardinal Rule of the restaurant business: “You serve your customers, not yourself.”

Photo Courtesy: FOX

Topics: Kitchen Nightmares | 5 Comments »

Kitchen Nightmares: Who’s Hot and Who’s Flopped?

December 12, 2007 01:00:30 by Jennifer_Brown

 

With tonight being the season finale of FOX’s Kitchen Nightmares, it seems like a good time to look back and see if Gordon’s touch turned failing restaurant’s into gold.

Who’s Hot?:

The Mixing Bowl — a small restaurant in Belmore, NY, with big problems in management. This is the restaurant where Gordon tossed a slew of expensive “specials” signs into a chipper in the parking lot. Since Gordon’s visits, claims owner Billy Galetti, the staff has become a real team, and sales have gone up. “We received hundreds of emails and calls from all over the country,” he says.

The Olde Stone Mill — The gorgeous Tuckahoe, NY restaurant renovated by the hands of the owner himself, this restaurant had big problems when it came to food quality. This one’s still going strong, owner Dean Mazzio says, and is “finally living up to everyone’s expectations.”

Finn McCool’s — the West Hampton, NY Irish restaurant with the huggable owner, Buddy Mazzio, and the son-turned-chef (Brian) with some serious anger management issues. When Gordon left, it looked like a place where you’d want to hang your cap, grab a Guinness, and sing “Danny Boy.” Buddy calls business, post-Gordon, “white hot.”

Sebastian’s — “We are grateful for our experience with the Kitchen Nightmares Crew,” says Sebastian’s owner, Sebastian De Modica. This Burbank, CA pizza restaurant annoyed Gordon with its complicated menu, actors-on-the-make staff, and owner with his head in the clouds. Gordon’s menu-trimming must have hit the mark in sunny California.

Campania — Gordon took on Joe Cerniglia and his Fair Lawn, NJ restaurant, Campania in week 9 of the series. In a recent interview, Joe told us here at Reality TV Magazine that he feels “so lucky” to have gotten Gordon’s help. Campania is doing better than ever.

Who’s flopped?:

Lela’s — This Pomona, CA restaurant was plagued by way too many bills. Gordon’s help in the kitchen just wasn’t enough to save owner Lela from those debt collectors and Lela’s was forced to close its doors.

Seascape — Was this the sewage-smelling restaurant in Islip, NY? Since Gordon’s visit, owner Peter Matthews has sold the restaurant.

Catch the season finale of Kitchen Nightmares tonight 9PM ET, on FOX

Photo Courtesy: FOX

Topics: Kitchen Nightmares | 3 Comments »

Kitchen Nightmares: It’s a Secret Garden Season Finale

December 12, 2007 12:05:23 by Jennifer_Brown

 

It’s no secret that Gordon Ramsay has a tendency to say what’s on his mind. But this week, when Gordon tries to help suffering French chef, Michel, breathe some life back into his restaurant, Secret Garden, things turn into an all-out scream-a-thon, with Gordon walking out and leaving the restaurant high and dry. Does he come back to finish the job or will chef Michel be up a creek without a Ramsay?

Secret Garden in Moorpark, CA is the season finale of Kitchen Nightmares.

 

Kitchen Nightmares airs Wednesdays, 9PM ET on FOX.

Photo Courtesy: FOX

Topics: Kitchen Nightmares | 1 Comment »

Gordon & Tanna Ramsay Appear in Woman & Home Magazine

December 6, 2007 10:31:21 by Jennifer_Brown

He may be harsh, demanding, loud, and foul-mouthed, but that doesn’t keep his fans from finding Hell’s Kitchen and Kitchen Nightmares star, Gordon Ramsay, sexy and completely appealing. Some fans have a hard time deciding what they want to drool over more — his food or…just him.

But make no mistake about it, girls, Gordon is T-A-K-E-N, and in the December issue of Woman&Home magazine, readers will get an up-close-and-personal view into the marriage of Gordon and Tanna Ramsey.

Gordon and Tanna talk about their Christmas traditions, raising their children, shopping for undies (*grrrrowl*), how champagne for dessert keeps this busy couple’s marriage romantic and fresh, and more.

Kitchen Nightmares season finale will air Wednesday, December 12, 9PM ET, on Fox.

Source: WomanAndHome.com

Photo Courtesy: Fox

Topics: Hell's Kitchen, Kitchen Nightmares |