This Bistro is Bland
I thought Kitchen Nightmares was good tonight. There wasn't anything gross like old meat or a garbage can full of ancient refried beans, but I'm okay with that. Instead, it was all about helping a restaurant owner who took over a failing restaurant and maintained it at that status on purpose. How dumb is that?
It's hard to feel sorry for the owner, Tatiana, especially as her mom and sister put up their homes as collateral so they could all live off the profits the restaurant made. Trouble is, they averaged four customers a day, so it was nice to see Gordon Ramsay get the place up and running for them and get those family bonds healed in the process.
Hot and Cold Crap
Gordon heads over to Tatiana's Italian bistro restaurant in La Verne, California, just outside of L.A. It's pouring rain and, yay, he's wearing that black leather jacket that looks so good on him. Soon he's sitting down with Tatiana plus her mom and sister. There's a lot of family woes here since all three expected the restaurant to provide them with a living and it's not working out.
Tatiana was a waitress there before she bought the place. Gordon doesn't have much patience with her as she dumbly didn't want to change anything about Charlie's even though it was doing poorly. The mother and sister thought Tatiana knew what she was doing. They are actually surprised that Gordon doesn't like any of the food they serve him. He comments it's even heated up in the microwave unevenly -- some parts hot and others cold. Who would pay for that?
A Chef in His Own World
To make matters worse, the chef at Charlie's thinks it's quite fine if he just works slowly! Not only that, the guy can't even fry meatballs without them getting all crumbly. Ramsay says, "I don't think customers want to pay for chefs who work slowly!" The camera pans to a dining room full of customers Gordon managed to entice in there, with many people complaining about the wait for somethingh to eat.
Tatiana Turns Things Around
After Gordon gets on Tatiana to manage the chef and the rest of the staff, she does. Before, Tatiana's solution was to head to the restaurant's bar and drink through the work shift. Now, Tatiana is smiling and happy to be in proper control, it seems. Gordon Ramsay gets them a new chef and he teaches Tatiana to make a lasanga -- mmmm, I'm getting hungry. Tatiana screams "This is amazing!" at all the good things coming their way with the hopes of running a successful Italian bistro.
One More Hurdle
Of course, on the big night when the restaurant needs to really show its stuff, some things still go wrong. The communication in the kitchen still isn't quite right at first, so Tatiana has to step it up. She does and the customers comment how good the food is and Tatiana happily speaks with the pleased customers.
Gordan leaves as he tells the three now happy ladies that "the foundation is there, so run with it." The voiceover at the end of the show tells us Tatiana hired a permanent chef, the customers are still coming in and the restaurant's finances are back on track. Good for the three relatives!
How did you like Kitchen Nightmares tonight? Would you eat at Charlie's now?
