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Considering god is a hyper-masculine, violent, vengeful and gen-cidal being, the caricature surrounding Gordon Ramsay is pretty much similar to that. So he is god in a sense.
My favourite thing about Gordom Ramsey is that time he asked his kid what its like being the daughter of the best chef in the world and she replied "Well, Jamie Oliver isnt my father so"
I think the main appeal of Kitchen Nightmares is its wish-fulfilment factor: the fantasy of humiliating the Incompetent Authority. A lot of people have dealt with an authority (boss, parent, teacher etc.) they considered unjust and stupid, and wished they could tell them what an idiot he or she was, but they couldn't because that person had power over them. In kitchen Nightmares we see that hated Incompetent Authority on the screen in the character of the stupid arrogant owner or the head chef, and then Ramsay comes in and gives them a better bollocking any of us could ever give, and always stands up for the poor mistreated staff, and we feel so satisfied watching this.
So true! I’m a part-time waitress with the most incompetent and unprofessional boss you can imagine and sometimes when I watch Kitchen Nightmares I think about all the crap that Ramsay would tell him and it somehow makes me feel better.
I love this idea!!! I used to have reaccuring nightmares about the Michelin Man as a kid and as an adult got a keyring of the Michelin Man as a way of confronting my fears. Finding a life size Michelin Man covered in petrol infront of random restaurants would be a great way to beat the crap out of my fears!!!
One time Gordon Ramsay came to my restaurant for a Sunday brunch. We were all really nervous, but he seemed like he was in a good mood and just wanted a quick meal. When his order came back to the kitchen we were shocked to see that he wanted eighteen live trout in a bowl of sake, and our best hammer. The order ticket wasn't in the handwriting of Carol our waitress either, so we think he wrote it himself. Anyway we're a seafood restaurant so we happened to be able to accommodate him. None of us went up to see what he was doing at first because we started getting really busy, until we heard customers screaming and our head chef Ronald ran into the back telling us to grab a knife. Turns out Chef Ramsay was nailing the fish to his arms and legs and smacking them together spraying fish stuff all over our guests. I've never seen a man's jaw open so wide in my life as he vomited out Carol, who I guess he had eaten like a snake, and then he crab-walked up our concrete wall and onto the ceiling where he dropped an egg sac on the maître d' melting the flesh from his bones. Gordon Ramsay’s eyes had gone red by this point and there were flames licking up from where his hair used to be. He uttered in a voice that seemed to come from every direction at once: "WHERE IS THE LAMB SAUCE" and then he grew to the size of the room, crushing everyone who wasn't lucky enough to get out of the way. We had to close the restaurant after that, and now I know why they call it kitchen nightmares.
I think a really important thing to note about Ramsay is that he was a victim of fairly severe child abuse, and his shoutier shows tend to be older-I can't remember the specific interview where he talks about it, but he's been in therapy to deal with his anger and he's been working hard to let it go. It's then weird that it's this sorta ... locked-in part of his public persona. It's expected of him, but he acknowledges that it's toxic and it was hurting his life, and sometimes he's obligated to enact it on camera even though he's no longer comfortable with it. I'm not saying he's a perfect dude, but I feel like that's some really important info in understanding his whole deal. I think there's probably some really interesting analysis in a dude being obligated to re-enact trauma responses because it's part of his ***brand***
From what I’ve heard his brother is a drug addict (feel free to correct me if I am wrong, though). And if you watch both the UK and the US version of Kitchen Nightmares, you’ll notice that he was always more gentle towards smokers/stoners etc.
@@tatiananediastri7625 Ramsay has also spoken about his father being an alcoholic. This compounded his sense of being trapped between success and failure (through addiction, crime, etc.)
Weird I find his oldest videos to be least "shouty" like the UK version is so much more quiet and demure to me. The lack of sound affects helps too though.
this reminded me of a fanfic where gordon ramsay becomes the potions teacher at hogwarts in book 6 instead of horace slughorn called "Harry Potter and the Lack of Lamb Sauce ". it's over 350,000 words long and i cannot overstate how seriously this premise is played. it's actually quite good, tragically.
His "fail" rate is actually overblown. Many of the places closed didn't actually fail, they ran for a few years, got the profits up, then sold. That's the best case scenario for the places he goes to really. I mean 50% of all restaurants don't last a year, 50% of the ones that do don't make it to 5 years. They are so risky you can't get a loan from a bank for one. Seriously, that's why when one fails the owners lose everything, it's not because the loans they take out for the restaurant is attached to other things, like a house, because they can't use the restaurant as collateral. Hell a common way to sell a place is to have the previous owner give you the loan, basically you have to pay them a fee until it's paid off. You fail they take it back in full. So if the restaurant stayed open for a few years, made some money, then sold off, that's a success story.
Sometimes they would revert back to their old ways n close down just like that. Gordon offered advice a lot of em didn't follow through w. The downfall is that you're your own downfall.
no body You’re automatically perceiving that their downfall was because they didn’t listen to Ramsey’s advice when there are hundreds of factors that goes into a restaurant’s success that goes beyond “The food wasn’t as good”.
At least drag race is self-aware about it and has a lot of 4th-wall breaking and the contestants themselves talking about their edit during the show. It's a kind of meta-reality tv.
Until this video, I had no idea that Michelin Stars were LITERALLY invented by the company Michelin with the big funny tire man. Why is Tire Frosty standing next to the chefs on stage what is this world
.... because they come from hotel and restaurant service guide books printed by Michelin dating back to the early days of automobile travel. It makes sense: you sell tour guide books to automobile owners who are already buying your tires.
Next thing you're going to tell me is that Guiness started their world records business so that bartenders could settle trivia bets and mention their beer in the process or something...
I remember one restaurant in my town was a part of the whole “24 hour kitchen nightmares” show, where for an entire day Gordon Ramsey would completely do-over their business. The restaurant was pretty good after Ramsey had done his thing, they were even holding this huge premier night where everyone in the restaurant could watch the episode, but on the day of the airing it completely shut down because the owner couldn’t pay the rent
That's another *huge* factor - and increasingly so as real estate becomes the default dumping ground for Capital desperately seeking profit during its current stage - that isn't taken enough into account when discussing the "success/failure" of small businesses of all sorts, and restaurants in particular. And how that impacts the character of neighborhoods and cities as a whole.
To be fair, I don't think most restaurants call Gordon to be saved. It's also that the channel usually renovate their kitchen, and so they can sell the thing at a much higher price than without Gordon ^^
The UK version is heaps better, I don't want to see somebody burning pasta with the kind of music in the background you'd hear when orcs charge into battle.
@@9206156175 Unless it's Marco Pierre Marco asking "Where's Harry?!" I don't want the music. I want Laurel and Hardy music for Ramsay as he calls someone a donkey.
"I don't want to see somebody burning pasta with the kind of music in the background you'd hear when orcs charge into battle." How dare you! Get off my planet!!! (have never watched Gordon's shows, but I really would like burnt pasta mixed with like, Skyrim battle music or something. Epic food burning!
The fact that ramsey managed to save ANY of those restaurants is impressive. 50% of restaurants close in their first year, that number continues going up every year. Alot of these places are hundreds of thousands in debt before ramsey shows up, more than a few are just so far in the whole its to late to save them, even if ramsey was god. a 20% survival rate for the places he "saves" is probly better than most brand new places that arnt so deep in the whole.
@@rubman8937 They're almost all on the verge of going under before Ramsay gets involved in any way, however, so the comparison with first year restaurants probably isn't that far off. Both these restaurants and 1st year restaurants have under a year in most cases to establish a sound financial basis or they'll either go under. It's not surprising that only a small percentage of the restaurants on this and other similar shows have survived. Best case scenario for most of them is to use the free makeover plus the post-show publicity bump in revenue to quickly sell the place.
@@NIN2277 The kind of publicity thats really just the kiss of death, though. He does not run a business of saving restaurants, he runs a freakshow at a circus. Thats like, the whole point of the video.
They are indeed in debt but the fact Ramsay goes there, is giving them the chance to stack money or pay debt. If they can't survive they have at least a restaurant with Ramsay badge on it with new furniture to sell and make extra money
@@Lambda_Ovine i remember recognising it when i saw that episode myself. pisses me off when obvious post-effects are added in unnecessarily. it's like that generic puppy noise that they use whenever puppies are on screen even though i've got extensive experience with puppies (mum was a dog breeder) and i've never heard any puppy make a noise even similar to it.
I have a conspiracy theory: Michelin just calculates the optimum positions of restaurant locations to give stars to so as to ensure that patrons drive the furthest distance between meals and use the most tires.
Ironic, since the sponsor bit demonstrates the core cycle OF capitalism. Brands (the cheap wired earbuds) get too comfy. Comfy brands drop in quality. Another brand (RayCon) makes a better product. People start buying the better product. Brand 2 becomes the new Brand 1, repeat.
@@jackbennett6902 yeah products need to improve to make more money and thats how bettter technologies are made to make better products tbh capitalism is great
@@jonme225 "capitalism is great, just ignore the corpses we made along the way, also we need our own acab just to say fuck poor people, and no step on snek,."
ngl, the main reason I watch it is to see Gordon rip into dodgy business owners that exploit their staff. It lets me pretend that there is justice for the proletariat, and it comes in the form of a shouty Scottish man.
One quick thing from someone with a “hospitality” degree. Something like 95% of restaurants fail within 5 years. So a 20% success rate is actually very good. I still think you’re overall correct but I just wanted to mention it because those numbers matter
Firstly, there will be sampling bias while comparing all restaurant businesses and businesses which are doing good enough (in various metrics) to be on a TV Show. Also, as Jack here pointed out, they probably made the first 5 years without Gordon.
@@Tridd666 My assumption is that they are struggling, or just not getting the amount of buisness they want to get, so they get on the show for advertising. Or, in a more cynical view, get their 15 minutes of fame.
YEAH the Michelin star rating system was created by Michelin to encourage people to travel to these places to eat and drive and use more tires. Its lowkey messed up
So? That doesn't mean it isn't a legitimate guide. It's a very well respected guide by most of the greatest chefs and some chefs have even "given back" their stars because the standards that the michelin guide operates at are literally too high for them.
@@rayweaver8295 is just funny is not a price by something that is about... Ya know , food. I want a stars from others companies that has nothing to do with foods. "A restaurant with 2 Panasonic stars"
@@rayweaver8295 because he's a big tire man ! It's the food critic picked by the tire man. Is surreal . Why does the tire man opinion is important? What does the tire Man is looking after in his food. Is arbitrary. I want a restaurant with a IKEA stars. Is arbitrary. Means fucking nothing. Is just a company that can make some money giving a star to the right restaurant. Is arbitrary. Who's the food critic that decides what place deserves the star of the tire man? Can he be contracted for another company? Give a Gucci star. A Gucci star would be way more cool. but it lacks the tire man smile.
That stuff about Ramsey being a brand is spot on. He's the most celebrity of celebrity chefs. He's like the Boris Johnson of cooking, he's built an image of being unapologetically himself but you can see it's carefully crafted at the same time
He's like a brand and a meme at the same time. I mean, Jamie Oliver's a brand as well, but he has this wholesome image -- people don't criticize him overly much because of what a pleasant person he appears to be (and I assume he is, but I dunno, I've obviously never met him). Ramsay's a meme, a stock character, a prima donna, and a celebrity chef all rolled into one xD It's such an unusual combination. I dunno much about UK politics, but to me he's like the Uwe Boll of celebrity chefs. And like Uwe Boll, his actual products are really bad. I haven't eaten at any of his restaurants, but I've bought food products licensed under his name or und the Hell's Kitchen branding, and they were horrendously awful. One in particular was a sweet-and-sour glaze designed to give ribs a smokey umame flavor without having to actually smoke them. And it was FOOKEN DISGOOSTANG. Had to throw that shit in the trash. It tasted like if I drank balsamic vinegar and then threw up on the ribs. Then again maybe it's my unrefined plebeian taste buds, who knows.
@@nielsnielsen9013 Cool that you visited one of his restaurants! That doesn't sound too bad. I recall a very old episode of Anthony Bourdaine eating at one of Ramsay's restaurants before Ramsay become a celeb chef, and he served a strawberry parfait I think? It looked okay and Bourdaine really liked it. But I definitely can't recommend Ramsay's sauces collection lol I hope that the sauces weren't made after his own recipes and the production company simply slapped his face on it, but still, they were sadly disappointing.
There is a chef in German TV called Tim Mälzer and he has many shows. In his show Kitchen Impossible he often talks with other chefs about Michelin stars. A surprising amount of them started started rejecting those ratings and dropped the whole "french cuisine is the only valid cuisine" mentality. Most of them have taken inpiration from different cultures since then.
I think that's a generally mentality, it's definitely dodgy how French cuisine has a monopoly on fine dining. How do these chefs do after they drop that mentality?
Say what you will about Marco Pierre White, but he's been very clear that he's more happy in life and in his cooking after choosing not to focus on the stars anymore. The stars becomes an obsession, an entire lifestyle, and once you're finally at the top...there's nothing more besides being a well oiled machine that just keeps going and going.
@@Facelessify1 It's probably like any other external award/validation of what you do. It's fun to have occasionally, but it's really easy to get obsessed with that external validation as opposed to doing something that matches/approaches what you want it to be, regardless of what critics/authorities say. (Idk, I imagine it's similar to schools getting obsessed with grades and test scores, rather than students learning stuff.)
I highly recommend binging this show if you’re recovering from a surgery. I watched all of kitchen nightmares through a pain medication haze. Good times.
it absolutely is a "made-for-TV" personality. That, and he's said before he simply just doesn't suffer fools or people who bullshit him. If anyone spends 5 minutes watching his YT videos, you can tell straight away he's actually a pretty pleasant guy, and all this insults and yelling is manufactured for dramatic effect.
no, his angry chef personality IS real. it’s exaggerated for the shows, i’m sure, but it’s not some fabricated trait that he portrays 24/7. when it comes to cooking, he gives the direction and the tools necessary for people to succeed. all he wants is perfect execution. that’s for adults. it’s totally different for children, because they are at an impressionable stage where giving up is easy as hell after being discouraged. adults need to be pushed, to be challenged, to be humbled into being the best chefs. children need to be molded and shaped and encouraged into being good chefs.
Its made more obvious for alot of his shows but his angry chef personality is real, hes nice in master chef jr cause they are kids, That show is the outlier
The dude unironically whines about "the snowflake generation" on Hot Ones. If anything, I think "he's actually not a bad guy" is itself part of the brand that somehow keeps his abusive behavior from being seriously criticized, because it's presented as an act. And then we can't say anything about his more chud-adjacent views. And, even if it is an act, the man is very wealthy. He does not *need* to continue his media career, he could totally abandon the abusive persona entirely and condemn it and start openly criticizing those emulating it. He absolutely knows his show is reinforcing abusive behavior not only in kitchens but in businesses in general or even homes, because being vicious is presented as competence. He can still be held accountable for continuing to present this media, he does not need the money.
@@Helmic yes!!! that's exactly what I think too! I think it's also a part of being a toxic or abusive person, that you aren't aggressive 100% of the time, and then you use the time when you're nice as an argument to prove that you're not a bad person at all. But a calm moment with his family when he surprisingly doesn't yell at them (which should be a standard for a decent human being) doesn't erase all of the abuse he inflicted upon others, during his shows and during his restaurant work. Like the restaurant workers are human too and I don't believe that being straight up mean and insulting people is the only way (or a way at all) to help them cook better food. Adults can be sensitive too and everyone deserves compassion, and the whole idea of being an asshole = competence sucks :(
@@drfate7863 I think also the fact that the restaurant market isn't as saturated as in the USA contributes to the success factor. Unfortunately, survival means little when it comes to restaurant quality. The restaurant with the best food on the UK version of the show folded after trying to re-open twice. There's much more than just food involved. There's also price politics, location, competition, wages and many other factors to take into account, that influence the ROI. I'd say that most people dreaming of opening up a food business are delusional, especially in this day and age, when even many chains like Applebee's are going under. That said, I also got the feeling that on the UK show, nicer restaurants were chosen than on the US version. On Gordon's US shows -- Hotel Hell and Kitchen Nightmares -- there's a significantly higher disgust factor than on the UK show. Sometimes it's so sordid, I have to turn off because it's killing my appetite :I the UK show is much easier to stomach lol
Me but with Hells Kitchen when he booted off an Asian woman for cooking with Bok Choy (or some other Asian vegetable I can’t remember but specifically Asian)😑
@theredqveen sure, but they're not identical. If you tell me you're making Irish food but then bring me fish and chips I'm going to have a few questions for you
Same 😭. Though tbh I pay all the money in the world to Ramsey if he were to go yell at my past bosses. They ran a bakery that was nasty as hell and treated me like dirt
I would hit him. Hard. I'm not usually like that at all, but sorry if someone is screaming in my face like that I feel like I am either allowed immediate escape before I lose it, or if I can't, to do whatever I have to do shut down the threat. The authoritarianism of these sorts of shows disgusts me. I grew up with this kind of abuse and I would never tolerate it now. I believe it to be at the root of a lot of fascist thought.
@@chibi013 Some of the most satisfying of the episodes were the ones where the owner was an asshole that got his ass torn a new one by Gordon. Some of them were likely victims of manipulative editing, but there's a few examples (like Joe or Sebastian) that I can't see as being anything but accurate. Nobody's that good of an actor.
@@fpedrosa2076 yes! I try to give most of the owners the benefit of the doubt but as soon as they start yelling at their employees I'm like "oh yes, I hope this guy cries by the end"
Hm. Complementing that premise, I guess that authoritarian god image of Ramsay's is why probably my favorite of his shows are the MasterChef series, particularly the Junior one. Because in those he's less of a wrathful god and more a benevolent sky daddy helping you improve. New Testament Ramsay if you will.
PSA: The "siren's wail" sound effect is actually produced on a waterphone, an instrument with metallic rods that are bowed which attach to a resonance chamber with water inside that you can tilt in order to change the resonant frequency, thus creating the vibrato effect.
One thing that comes to my mind often when I watch Gordon Ramsey is also the idea of "tough love, no-nonsense, asshole expert", someone who is a complete jerk to those they're teaching, and who gets away with it because they're THAT good. And you're supposed to take their abuse and improve, and if you refuse to take the abuse then you're too weak/untalented/unworthy. You can see that narrative in fiction (Whiplash, for example) but also in real life plenty of times. Not only people let the power of their position and knowledge get to their head, but this is also often expressed as a cycle of abuse. Abusive teachers creating students that go on to become abusive in turn. Worthy of note that Ramsey's teacher, Marco Pierre White, was also known as angry and abusive, so the cycle repeats. My message to any students learning a new craft or skill, especially in a competitive field, is this: Abusiveness and knowledge don't have to go hand in hand. One can have one without the other. Try and get as much knowledge as you can from your teachers, that's what they're there for, but don't be afraid to ignore advice here and there or protect yourself from abuse if you're experiencing it. And if it becomes too much, and is affecting you negatively, back away. There is no shame in avoiding trauma, and more than one road to learning and perfecting one's craft. (Also, each situation is unique in its own way, and you shouldn't take a random internet person's advice as gospel. Pretty obvious, but felt I needed to say that.)
Gordon is mostly a jerk because he's not dealing with "employees" he's dealing with OWNERS who aren't used to being told they are wrong, aren't used to being told they are bad at their jobs. Honestly Gordon doesn't even work in kitchens anymore so the only employees he likely deals with are managers
One further factor worth taking into account, speaking as the child of a former restaurant manager (and trained sous-chef and health inspector), is that the restaurant business is volatile and difficult as a baseline in such a way that, even if one were to assume Ramsay's input to be incontrovertibly correct, many of the small restaurants which followed his advice would *still* have a high chance of failure through no fault of their own, yet the blame will wind up shifted to the owners by default within this authority-driven framing. I do not think Ramsay's own decisions are primarily responsible for all of those restaurant failures by any means, nor do I think that none of those failures were attributable to mismanagement or other issues on the part of the staff, but the way that the framing ignores not only Ramsay's own occasional lapses in judgement but those myriad outside factors which destroy even excellent restaurants is deeply problematic.
In the UK version they do bring stuff like that up, see here for example: th-cam.com/video/hegPFHhukvU/w-d-xo.html I view the US version as more of a trashy, guilty pleasure version of the UK one. I like to imagine the UK one is closer to how the show plays out in real life, but I'm not sure.
I also think part of the issue was that the producers would only choose the restaurants on their last legs for drama when in fact they should probably go to the newer companies that don't have debt on top of debt
@@ariwright206 I disagree. Choosing such restaurants would not only harm the narrative (no clear villain, lack of shock value, low stakes), but also from a more inspirational perspective. Managers who are facing similar problems might not understand the seriousness of their current plight and how bad it can get if they continue as is if they choose such restaurants. One could argue that such mangers could point to struggling restaurants and think to themselves "It's not so bad, at least we're not like those guys allowing that to happen", but I think the benefits outweigh the risks.
Thanks for saying this. I felt like the video was surprised that only 15 shops were still open, even though so many years have passed and many may have just gone out of the business with no one to 'blame'
I remember watching Supernanny as a kid, was that show actually teaching bad parenting or did the problems with the families resurface after the cameras were turned off
@@gwendolynstata3775 Doesn't Ramsey have a show where kids compete called Masterchef Junior? I've only seen it once and one of the kids got a cut or a burn but was told to keep going and I'm like 😬
The differences in the UK version and the US version is really a natural extension of your point about GR being a brand. He adapts to his audience and gives them what he knows they want and are used to. It's like MacDonald's selling (sometimes changing) different items in different countries/areas, appealing to local cultures/customs, negotiating sponsorship deals with local celebrities in order to boost sales globally.
I don't have it anymore, this was probably 7 years ago now. The prompt was "Watch a reality TV show and discuss conflicts with authority in it," and the core of my paper was that the drama of the show was generated by conflicting visions of the legalized authority of the restaurant vs Gordon's recognized authority of the field. It was also an early sociology class and I am far more critical of authorities now.
I seriously like Gordon Ramsay and think he is a very smart and talented person, but the vast majority of his fans are the same kinds of people that think Walter White was the good guy because he was badass.
Vast majority of his fans are the kind of people that would defend him no matter what he does, honestly. He could say some Jim Jones shit on camera and his fans would probably eat it up and defend him.
From working in restaurants from server to expo to bartender to manager, it’s strange to me how typical it is that chefs are just expected to have a bad temper and demand authority. It’s a high stress environment for sure but it seems that instead of taking that frustration out on the people they should be, they take it out on their peers or subordinates. When I was a manager I had some kid on salad cut part of his thumb off and I was trying to render first aid to him. After I had taken care of everything the other chef seriously looked at me, while I was still covered in this other guy’s blood and started to yell because he got to go home early.
People really try to act like its normal or necessary for people in the restaurant industry to act like that cause its "high stress" or whatever. I worked in the ER for four years, where we were generally very busy and overwhelmed and the stakes are literally life and death. We would NEVER scream or cuss at each other like how you see people on these shows acting.
Madison Sido the industry in general has very unhealthy habits and attitudes. In my experience the people are underpaid and over stressed and try to cope with that with drinking and/or substance abuse while also taking out that stress on other people around them. It’s only typical because it is expected and allowed otherwise they wouldn’t be able to sustain paying people shit/having people work for tips and piling on responsibilities. Along with the fact that sexual harassment is rampant and nobody does anything about it, they skirt regulations and break laws, so my theory is they allow us to be at each others throats to place the blame elsewhere, scapegoat wherever possible so we don’t hold them to a higher standard that they are capable of providing. Servers: know your rights! When I was a manager one of _my managers_ wanted me to illegally make a brand new server pay out of pocket for a mistake that she made (it was actually more complicated and wasn’t totally her fault.) She tried to publicly scold me in our manager log forum when I refused to do this and I kind of embarrassed her by refusing and sending a bunch of sources to laws stating that it was not only illegal in our state but also federally. She made the server pay anyway and it ended up being this whole thing that she did finally get slightly reprimanded for but they will try to fuck you over if you don’t know your rights.
I worked as a cook in a quick service restaurant. Once management basically told me that my coworkers just "are the way they are". They were rude, dismissive, and short tempered. Toxic environment.
@@MaddyBlu9724 Honestly, doing that in a high stress environment is likely to make it worse - increase the stress, increase the mistakes. People act like it's necessary so they can justify their own abusive behaviours.
I spent years in the restaurant business and worked at a lot of different places of varying levels of quality Restaurant people are quite often just as unhinged as the show portrays and usually on drugs (which they never discuss on the show to my recollection).
I think they had one episode where an owner used to be a drug addict. And that was about it really. Maybe there were two. But whenever it happened Gordon would bring up his brother
There's one episode where a kid was on meth so Gordon told him he couldn't work there Another where the guy clearly had a WoW addiction And 2 I can think of with alcoholics
As a person who grew up in a family owned restaurant, Kitchen Nightmares was cathartic. A lot of the things that Ramsey mentions that hurt a restaurant (long complicated menus, owners/managers unable to work with anyone, declined quality because of lack of funds/tiredness) ended up being things that hurt ours. Now that the business has been closed, watching it nowadays just brings back bad memories. I still enjoy it, but it's less surprising that these toxic environments didn't survive in the end Although, there was one Hotel Hell that actually just was people down on their luck and the hotel is still going! That was my favorite episode
This whole video reminds me so much of that Mitchell and Webb sketch parodying Kitchen Nightmares. "You are much better at cooking than me! That's why you've got a tv show, and I've got a failing restaurant! The only way this will help my restaurant is if you stay forever!"
Not to disagree wholly with this there are some things being glossed over. These are real restaurants that are failing. Sure Ramsay gives very predictable, and good advice, like clean the place, serve fresh food not convenience foods and don't use microwaves but 60 odd percent of restaurants close in their first year almost always because they don't do these things. I've scouted spaces for a chef friends new restaurant and I went into many closed restaurants with multiple microwaves, filth everywhere and freezers full of stuff you'd never want to pay money for. Second getting a menu consultant to overhaul a menu, something Ramsay does in almost every episode, is very expensive. That he also then trains the back of the house on that menu is simply gravy. He's not perfect nor is he god, and as a former restaurant professional I have many issues with his style and his food, but the voyeurism does give those who appear a chance at becoming successful. and at least in the short term many did.
If they can't be successful as a restaurant. Then we don't need more restaurants. The food industry is hard to break your way into, especially when you DONT have a reputation. Most businesses fail because they cant find the fine line between business marketing, and productivity. Just because you want to cook food, doesn't mean you were meant to or even SHOULD be successful. It's already a tough market as it is.
@Sherriff Cactus You know what Stars are awarded for in the US? Plate presentation. Any half assed place that wants to get out the smoke machine and tweezers can get a star. Places have done it. Stars are given out like freaking candy in Japan. Every nation's guide is independent and sets its own secret criteria. And the absolute best sushi in Japan, and everyone knows it, has zero. I've eaten in Ramsay's original place and no doubt it was good. Was it better than dozens of places with no stars. Hell no. Did it have a flamboyant loud mouth running it? Yes. Did that count for something in the English Guide? Apparently. That's why serious chefs aiming for a 3 star place are opening very small. It's not the nonsense about high standards etc. It's so that when the rules change they can change the operation on a dime. Losing a star from the flagship can cost the entire operation millions. BTW, I've worked at two starred restaurants. I've never run a place. I worked at restaurants not as a career but as a job. It let me make money while going to college and while interning, apparently intern means work 40 hours a week for nothing.
So I remember reading about that and no, it's not frozen food, it's pre-prepped and transported refrigerated. There's a difference between that and reheating like 3 months old deep frozen meatballs. That particular Guardian article is kinda slanted AND HOW DARE YOU QUESTION MY GOD
"Frozen food" can be used a bit too broadly, I've worked in many restaurants where it's expected to do some of the work a day before or the morning, freezing ribs and things like that for preparation the next day. Not fully made garbage en-mass food, but smart prepping by using the freezer as intended.
I work in reality TV, and everything you say here is so true. For example - the glossing over and avoidance of the effects of local racism on the black-owned business in Kitchen Nightmares. In our industry, it's generally understood that we don't bring up a problem in an episode that we can't solve by the end of the episode. You don't spend time focusing on something that never "pays off" in the episode - that's how you get so many shows that gloss over real issues because they're not "narratively fulfilling". This just allows shows to ignore the real issues that their characters face or that exist within the confines of the show itself. Just my thoughts.
Racism on black owned bussiness? If they are good and their products satisfy their customers they are going to succeed be they black, white, brown, red, yellow or whatever colour you can think of to divide mankind.
@@legoyoda3546 That is painfully naive and a total strawman. The comment didn't say "all black businesses fail" or that "only white businesses can be successful." Maybe take a minute and try reading the comment again and thinking about it for 1 minute? Also: a business becoming successful *despite* specific struggles, does not mean those struggles didn't happen, nor did they stop existing. Random example: If a black person ends up making more money than I do, but they went through a lot of racist attacks...does that somehow change the reality of the situation? Please don't confuse not seeing something with it not being there, when in reality you just aren't looking. How many restaurants owned by black people do you know about? How do you know how many have failed? Whatever helps you sleep at night is fine, but you can't just erase reality when convenient and I don't think you've actually done your research. Even if you want to say something is officially "worth it" that still doesn't magically erase the bad shit that happened. Again, naive.
@@sorryifoldcomment8596 If a restaurant is good and someone won't eat at it simply because the owner is black then that racist person is at a loss, not the owner, because not everyone is racist. Only extremists attack a restaurant because the owner is black, most people really don't give a shit about the colour the owner is, they care about the quality and the price of the food they're eating. And also, I don't know about any black-owned restaurant, because I live in a fully white country, I don't think there are even a thousand black people living here. (Bosnia and Herzegovina).
Gordon Ramsey also has a show where he's travelling the world, and experiencing food from a variety of cultures. I forget what the show's called, but I prefer it over Kitchen Nightmares, since the food is actually good, and Gordon Ramsey is way more chill.
He’s also wayyyy more chill and can get competitive time to time - which is fresh to see. He still has the spirit to learn, and I respect tbf about him.
I just want to point out at one point you talk about how "Gordon's success rate is about 20% on these resteraunts" and sort of present it alone and make the narrative that the show presents him as successful when he's not really. I want to point out most new restaraunts fail within their first 5 years, 80% actually. Arguably Gordon's 20% statistic with failing restaraunts is either pretty decent or what you'd expect. Otherwise neat video.
Ramsay in every other episode of Kitchen Nightmares: _"You can't speak to your staff like that."_ Also Ramsay: _speaks to every single person like that_
His communication skills on KN are trash. Instead of being even slightly tactful when dealing with problems, he has this hyperassertive in-your-face way of dealing with people that isn't sustainable or effective in a long-term practical sense when you apply it to the real world. It's this counterproductive way of dealing with problems where instead of deescalating the situation, it just makes it worse.
Genuinely, this show has conditioned me to associate that sirens wail sound effect with cockroaches and generally unhygienic, gross things. I freak out every time i hear it.
This is why I love Jack's channel. I never would've even considered thinking about Kitchen Nightmares from this perspective. Jack always has something interesting to talk and think about, and I really appreciate that.
I remember one time with Ramsey urged a restaurant to go back to it's roots, regional Indian food instead of more of a new age stuff. the owner commited tax fraud and the place was bought out
The interesting thing I noticed about his "hotel hell" series, and to a somewhat lesser extent "kitchen nightmares" is that the staff usually know exactly what is wrong with the place - at the very least what the CUSTOMERS would say the problem is, since they interact with them most directly. But they can't fix it because they don't have a say in how the business is run. Not that there aren't sometimes incompetent-seeming staff as well as incompetent-seeming owners, but it would be kind of neat to have someone (probably not Gordon; he's very hierarchical): "you know what - if you ran this like a coop, you collectively have the right skill sets to fix this".
I never trusted Michelin star ratings because it rarely rewards non-European cuisine. There is a wealth of flavors in Asia, Africa, and everywhere else but if it's not French food then it doesn't count to them.
All rewards seem to have some strange biases. Like the way the Oscars never rewarded comedy or comic book movies. It's not even about how good the product is anymore, it's about what it is, and that's just vanity.
Gordon: Well here's the problem, you're keeping raw ribs on top of the desserts and there are Beatles in the Lasagna. Owner: How DaRe YoU! Rusty Gate Hinge: SQUeeeeeeeeeeEEEEEEEEEeeeeeeeeeeK
Imagine if Gordon Ramsay was like "Right then come on mate" and the next scene had him using a megaphone to shout anti-racist talking points in the town, using the same sound effects and so on when challenged by racists. Just have Gordon run around calling racists donkeys and so on. Do that for a couple of scenes. Doesn't even need to actually save the restaurant. Just have that be the episode and Gordon go "Yeah, mate, this isn't my thing. I guess I can't save every restaurant. But i'll teach you how to cook and manage better and make this place absolutely fucking perfect, and then we'll open, and if they're still boycotting, that's their problem. Let's show the world through my show this restaurant can be great." Maybe even invite a bunch of chefs there for the opening instead and have them confirm it's at least edible and worth the price and so on.
Soy_wojak_shaking.gif This is so wholesome 100 big chungus moment! Edit: thanks for the gold, kind stranger! Edit 2: wow!!! 1000 updooterinos?? You guys are so kind omg!!!!!!
"[...] I love Kitchen Nightmares" Same, absolutely same. The British Version of Kitchen Nightmare made me actually want to start learning at least a little bit of cooking, and enjoying locally grown vegetables instead of industry crap. I even stopped smoking with the motivation of being able to taste the food better (sometimes it is the strangest things that get through an addiction). The American Version however, and Hell's Kitchen... they are a completely different story with different intentions. And yet I still watch them, it's like a guilty pleasure of sorts. Pretty much everything he does I kinda have to watch, despite it becoming more and more weird. And I'm generally not a big fan of how much competition is in the business of cooking. But I can't stop watching them either way.
Oh yeah, you hadn't heard that one yet? It's insane. Never believe any of those millionaires/billionaires that claim to be self made. A few may be genuine, but most have old money like that that got them started or propped them up entirely.
M.883 another thing that a lot of people don’t consider about billionaires: If you’re born rich you are around rich people who will “push your CV up” You know how to talk to rich people (you belong and act like it/confidence) You can get in meeting with the “right” people You know that if you fail you have a safety net (family) Even without a loan from dad, there is a whole psychology behind being raised in a comfortable/rich household that complicates stuff for people to “make it”. If you’re struggling to pay rent and have no saving and don’t know anyone with saving you will not “follow your dream” you’ll stfu and work
Is it only me or is it pretty naive to think Gordon was able to fix restaurants so deep in depth that they loose thousands of dollars each month within a week. Plus they often see staff that's not trusting each other and broken families and somehow want to convince us that Gordon fixed that in a week as well? Sorry but someone with a basic understanding of how the world works can see when a restaurant is already doomed before Gordon even gets there.
kitchen nightmares and even more so hell's kitchen are my favorite "turn your brain off" shows as well. i think an interesting layer to gordon's brand as the "shouty kitchen authority man" is actually his presentation on masterchef junior. bc i think a key part of what makes gordon endearing is seeing him not as someone who's solely out there to be domineering.....just look at how good and patient he is with kids! that means he only yells at the grown adults who deserve it in some way (they're lazy, arrogant, etc.) which really just. reinforces his brand as an authority to be looked up to.
Ramsay has said that he has a low tolerance for bullshitters. That's why he's so harsh on shows like Hell's Kitchen and Kitchen Nightmares but a lot nicer on Master Chef and Master Chef Jr.; On one he's working with a bunch of inexperienced people who are just learning, and on the other he's working with supposed "professionals" who should know better. And also yelling at kids is a pretty good way to get cancelled.
@@grahamkristensen9301 Not yelling at kids is like the baseline for human decency. You don't get a medal for doing shit that you're _supposed_ to do. I'm sure Ted Bundy held the door open for people sometimes and Jim Jones said "please" and "thank you" before. And no he's not harsh on people on HK cause they're all pROFesSIonALs (which they all aren't, one dude was literally a farmer and another dude was a goddamn electrician), he gets "pissed" because it's part of some stupid brand that he can't escape from because I guess he insisted on turning himself into a punchline and abandoned all integrity for ratings and money.
who has you in their basement forcing you to pump out the most inexplicably important content on this site? are you okay? blink twice if you’re not okay.
There is actually an interview done with one of the restaurants that were struggling and they highlight what the problems were with the show and why they did shut down after the episode had aired. It highlights the problems with the show, but the owner does say that she appreciated Gordon Ramsay and that the show was too positive and had too good an effect on her business.
I remember an episode of Kitchen Nightmares US where one of the conflicts was the restauranteurs' son didn't want to inherit the restaurant and wanted to get out of the family restaurant business entirely to seek other opportunities, and they essentially got Ramsay to lecture and browbeat him into inheriting the business. Felt really shitty and really encapsulates part of the "Gordon Ramsay = God" narrative, in that he's deciding this person's fate, saying "you WILL do this" and deviance from it is unacceptable.
Was that the Burger Kitchen one? Where the dad basically stole his son’s inheritance to buy a restaurant and browbeat him into giving more money? Because if so, WTF, Ramsey?
"It's my go-to show whenever I want to watch something without having to think about it too much." -Proceeds to create a 20+ minute analysis of the show
2010-2017: *watches kitchen nightmares on lunch breaks 2017-2019:*watches lefty video essayists like Jack Saint on lunch breaks June 30th 2020:........
@@flatP_ I'll take the mess that is the US over the authoritarian nanny state that arrests you for butter knives and has a surveillance state worse than China.
Short summary of how almost every Kitchen Nightmares goes: 1. Gordon arrives, hates everything, dirty kitchen, yells at owner etc. 2. Horrible dinner service, dishes get sent back. 3. *Emotional scene* Owners reveal they're broke/in debt, tears shed. 4. Gordon renovates, implements expensive menu, leaves. 5. Usually restaurant closes, or ditches Gordon's menu and survives.
The McDonald’s by me is pretty good. It really depends on what you order, though. A basic burger tastes fine, but the patty is so thin a breeze could take it away. Big Mac’s are all bread and sauce and no meat. I don’t understand why those are their signature burger, they’re awful. Quarter pounders, however, are the perfect size and meat to bun ratio. They’re flavorful, they’re filling, they’re the best burgers that restaurant has and they’re my go to whenever I go there. Now, the tough question is: are quarter pounders better than a Dave’s hot and juicy?
So, you're telling me that people see any success a restaurant has as a sign of Ramsey's expertise, and dismiss any failure as "not following Ramsey's instructions close enough." Are you sure Ramsey is not god?
well since he is successful af, maybe just maybe if you don't bury yourself in the dirt and actually do what the most successful chef in the world tells you, you'll have a chance
"...Therefore if they succeed, we can say that Gordon did his job and they successfully followed his advice. If they shut down, that was on them. They must've not followed what Gordon told them to do" Hmmm, I can see the God comparison now!
The takeaway I got from a lot of those episodes were that the restaurants were doomed to fail because they're either 3 days from being shut down by the local health department, the management can't run a business, or the food just plain sucked... and that's before Gordon showed up.
One thing I found kind of troubling watching this was the way the show appears to have handled the issue of the restaurant whose owner claimed racism was a factor in his business struggling. It *isn't* necessarily that they didn't address that factor when making changes to the restaurant -- like you said, they couldn't. They can only address what they can control, and they can't control other people's prejudices. BUT, what gets me is if "solving racism is above our pay grade, we are merely restaurateurs" was the only reason to not address it, they could just as easily have edited out the parts where the owners bring that up out of the episode. If the factor wasn't addressed in the changes, it didn't need to be brought up in the edit. But it was. By including footage of the owner bringing the issue up and then visibly blowing it off, the show presents "structural racism affected my ability to be successful" (which may or may not be true in this particular case, but certainly is often true for many people of color) as an excuse from someone who doesn't want to take personal responsibility. This wasn't a value neutral "I don't know enough about this issue to do anything about it" edit.
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i'm never looking at gordon ramsay's face again
*put on an episode of hell's kitchen*
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I’m one of the first 500 comments ❤️
Considering god is a hyper-masculine, violent, vengeful and gen-cidal being, the caricature surrounding Gordon Ramsay is pretty much similar to that. So he is god in a sense.
My favourite thing about Gordom Ramsey is that time he asked his kid what its like being the daughter of the best chef in the world and she replied "Well, Jamie Oliver isnt my father so"
Damnnnnn.
It's BURNED!
just as savage as the man himself 😂😂😂 ain't nobody gonna be picking on gordon ramsays kids
i wannnnna seeeee thaaaat cliiiip
So refreshing to see a taste of his own medicine given to him
"Gordon Ramsay is not God"
Opening with those brave, hard hitting, and controversial statements as always I see.
*hides my Gordon Ramsay shrine*
"How can you say something so controversial, and yet so true?"
[citation needed]
It's a clever opening. It sounds obviously true, but he describes why it's important to remember
Oh, this'll wind up the Church of Gordon Ramsay...
I think the main appeal of Kitchen Nightmares is its wish-fulfilment factor: the fantasy of humiliating the Incompetent Authority. A lot of people have dealt with an authority (boss, parent, teacher etc.) they considered unjust and stupid, and wished they could tell them what an idiot he or she was, but they couldn't because that person had power over them. In kitchen Nightmares we see that hated Incompetent Authority on the screen in the character of the stupid arrogant owner or the head chef, and then Ramsay comes in and gives them a better bollocking any of us could ever give, and always stands up for the poor mistreated staff, and we feel so satisfied watching this.
So true! I’m a part-time waitress with the most incompetent and unprofessional boss you can imagine and sometimes when I watch Kitchen Nightmares I think about all the crap that Ramsay would tell him and it somehow makes me feel better.
Oh yeah, it's cathartic to have your boss get yelled at by a Bigger Boss.
That's a great explanation!
@@DS-it5iq I think you should ask him to do that..he'd probably be happy to help
Yeah, that’s a big reason I like it so much
I think every Michelin star restaurant should be required to display a life sized Michelin Man in the entrance, slathered in gasoline.
That's highly erotic, there'd be countless cases of public indecency if this was implemented
Michelin gasoline
I love this idea!!! I used to have reaccuring nightmares about the Michelin Man as a kid and as an adult got a keyring of the Michelin Man as a way of confronting my fears. Finding a life size Michelin Man covered in petrol infront of random restaurants would be a great way to beat the crap out of my fears!!!
I want what Jeff's on
He has a name...
It's Bibendum
"Gordon Ramsey is not God."
Okay, then why did he speak to me in my dreams and appear on a piece of toast I made?
“One man’s God is another man’s brand name product.”
He is God, just as sure as you are the honorable general Patton.
@@robbuelens damn straight
You are high
Checkmate, atheists.
One time Gordon Ramsay came to my restaurant for a Sunday brunch. We were all really nervous, but he seemed like he was in a good mood and just wanted a quick meal. When his order came back to the kitchen we were shocked to see that he wanted eighteen live trout in a bowl of sake, and our best hammer. The order ticket wasn't in the handwriting of Carol our waitress either, so we think he wrote it himself. Anyway we're a seafood restaurant so we happened to be able to accommodate him. None of us went up to see what he was doing at first because we started getting really busy, until we heard customers screaming and our head chef Ronald ran into the back telling us to grab a knife. Turns out Chef Ramsay was nailing the fish to his arms and legs and smacking them together spraying fish stuff all over our guests. I've never seen a man's jaw open so wide in my life as he vomited out Carol, who I guess he had eaten like a snake, and then he crab-walked up our concrete wall and onto the ceiling where he dropped an egg sac on the maître d' melting the flesh from his bones. Gordon Ramsay’s eyes had gone red by this point and there were flames licking up from where his hair used to be. He uttered in a voice that seemed to come from every direction at once: "WHERE IS THE LAMB SAUCE" and then he grew to the size of the room, crushing everyone who wasn't lucky enough to get out of the way. We had to close the restaurant after that, and now I know why they call it kitchen nightmares.
you had us in the first half not gonna lie
Lmao
Quality Shitpost
NOW THIS! THIS IS AN UNDERRATED COMMENT!
Damn man dropped my speight out of my pocket on this one
I think a really important thing to note about Ramsay is that he was a victim of fairly severe child abuse, and his shoutier shows tend to be older-I can't remember the specific interview where he talks about it, but he's been in therapy to deal with his anger and he's been working hard to let it go. It's then weird that it's this sorta ... locked-in part of his public persona. It's expected of him, but he acknowledges that it's toxic and it was hurting his life, and sometimes he's obligated to enact it on camera even though he's no longer comfortable with it. I'm not saying he's a perfect dude, but I feel like that's some really important info in understanding his whole deal. I think there's probably some really interesting analysis in a dude being obligated to re-enact trauma responses because it's part of his ***brand***
From what I’ve heard his brother is a drug addict (feel free to correct me if I am wrong, though). And if you watch both the UK and the US version of Kitchen Nightmares, you’ll notice that he was always more gentle towards smokers/stoners etc.
@@tatiananediastri7625 Ramsay has also spoken about his father being an alcoholic. This compounded his sense of being trapped between success and failure (through addiction, crime, etc.)
This is probably my favorite comment on this video. You just gave Jack another fantastic video idea with that last sentence.
Weird I find his oldest videos to be least "shouty" like the UK version is so much more quiet and demure to me. The lack of sound affects helps too though.
Some chef to Gordon - "why did you take up cooking?"
Gordon - "my mum and dad's messy divorce"
this reminded me of a fanfic where gordon ramsay becomes the potions teacher at hogwarts in book 6 instead of horace slughorn called "Harry Potter and the Lack of Lamb Sauce ". it's over 350,000 words long and i cannot overstate how seriously this premise is played. it's actually quite good, tragically.
Ao3 or LiveJournal?
Please give us more info please.
@@user-doostvq not OP but I think it's AO3
@@user-doostvq found on ao3 fellow degenerate
On the flip side, I once read a crackfic where the dragons from dragontales were the contestants on hell's kitchen
His "fail" rate is actually overblown. Many of the places closed didn't actually fail, they ran for a few years, got the profits up, then sold. That's the best case scenario for the places he goes to really. I mean 50% of all restaurants don't last a year, 50% of the ones that do don't make it to 5 years. They are so risky you can't get a loan from a bank for one. Seriously, that's why when one fails the owners lose everything, it's not because the loans they take out for the restaurant is attached to other things, like a house, because they can't use the restaurant as collateral. Hell a common way to sell a place is to have the previous owner give you the loan, basically you have to pay them a fee until it's paid off. You fail they take it back in full. So if the restaurant stayed open for a few years, made some money, then sold off, that's a success story.
Sometimes they would revert back to their old ways n close down just like that. Gordon offered advice a lot of em didn't follow through w. The downfall is that you're your own downfall.
restaurants fail 100% to 60% is good deal for me
no body You’re automatically perceiving that their downfall was because they didn’t listen to Ramsey’s advice when there are hundreds of factors that goes into a restaurant’s success that goes beyond “The food wasn’t as good”.
@@corydk4834 nah I read an article about it. It was pretty obvious too when you look at the owners.
@@corydk4834 I think there's definitely some like that
Like Amy's Baking Company
Drag Race is the absolute king of sketchy editing but the sound effects on Kitchen Nightmares are unmatched
That's why I only watch the UK versions. They come off more real and Ramsey is actually helping the people rather than yelling at them
@@srslydoatm9251 I mean, I've seen the UK version, it's only marginally better
Actually Johnny Test has worse sound effects, but it is a cartoon lmao.
At least drag race is self-aware about it and has a lot of 4th-wall breaking and the contestants themselves talking about their edit during the show. It's a kind of meta-reality tv.
they're so funny ahsgwgwggaah
Until this video, I had no idea that Michelin Stars were LITERALLY invented by the company Michelin with the big funny tire man. Why is Tire Frosty standing next to the chefs on stage what is this world
.... because they come from hotel and restaurant service guide books printed by Michelin dating back to the early days of automobile travel. It makes sense: you sell tour guide books to automobile owners who are already buying your tires.
Next thing you're going to tell me is that Guiness started their world records business so that bartenders could settle trivia bets and mention their beer in the process or something...
@brandon roberts cooking tires doesn't sound very environmentally friendly...
@@Spottedleaf14 Or healthy.
@@nebufabu Michelin and Guiness are people's names, it's not that far fetched to assume they were made by someone unrelated to the companies.
"Gordon Ramsay is not a God" oh yeah, then how come you can't spell Gordon without G-O-D?
Check mate atheists
You can spell N-O G-O-D out of Gordon too.
My god, he found the loophole.
Now i slap like on the comment.
Bantabury I’m sorry but you misspelled “On God”
@@killjoyer you misinterpreted it, its "On Gordon"
I remember one restaurant in my town was a part of the whole “24 hour kitchen nightmares” show, where for an entire day Gordon Ramsey would completely do-over their business. The restaurant was pretty good after Ramsey had done his thing, they were even holding this huge premier night where everyone in the restaurant could watch the episode, but on the day of the airing it completely shut down because the owner couldn’t pay the rent
Jesus Christ! What happened to them?
That's another *huge* factor - and increasingly so as real estate becomes the default dumping ground for Capital desperately seeking profit during its current stage - that isn't taken enough into account when discussing the "success/failure" of small businesses of all sorts, and restaurants in particular. And how that impacts the character of neighborhoods and cities as a whole.
To be fair, I don't think most restaurants call Gordon to be saved. It's also that the channel usually renovate their kitchen, and so they can sell the thing at a much higher price than without Gordon ^^
@@krankarvolund7771 does he actually pay for all of the new decoration and tools and stuff?
@@partyshrimps the show does, yeah. getting chosen is like winning a lottery, its just free money.
"...the brand of Gordon Ramsay"
Gordon Brandsay
Shut up, brand - YOU DONKEY!
Brandon Gordsay
you have awakened Hugh Brandity himself, i see
Hugh Brandity
Gordbrand Brandsaybrand
The UK version is heaps better, I don't want to see somebody burning pasta with the kind of music in the background you'd hear when orcs charge into battle.
That is absolutely what I want. What are you talking about?
@@9206156175 Unless it's Marco Pierre Marco asking "Where's Harry?!" I don't want the music.
I want Laurel and Hardy music for Ramsay as he calls someone a donkey.
"I don't want to see somebody burning pasta with the kind of music in the background you'd hear when orcs charge into battle." How dare you! Get off my planet!!! (have never watched Gordon's shows, but I really would like burnt pasta mixed with like, Skyrim battle music or something. Epic food burning!
The U.S version gave us the greatest moments even if it's cheesy & over the top, it outshines the U.K version by a mile.
Also on the UK version Gordon sometimes actually likes the food!
The fact that ramsey managed to save ANY of those restaurants is impressive. 50% of restaurants close in their first year, that number continues going up every year. Alot of these places are hundreds of thousands in debt before ramsey shows up, more than a few are just so far in the whole its to late to save them, even if ramsey was god. a 20% survival rate for the places he "saves" is probly better than most brand new places that arnt so deep in the whole.
These restaurants are not first year startups though, generally.
@@rubman8937 They're almost all on the verge of going under before Ramsay gets involved in any way, however, so the comparison with first year restaurants probably isn't that far off. Both these restaurants and 1st year restaurants have under a year in most cases to establish a sound financial basis or they'll either go under. It's not surprising that only a small percentage of the restaurants on this and other similar shows have survived. Best case scenario for most of them is to use the free makeover plus the post-show publicity bump in revenue to quickly sell the place.
@@NIN2277 The kind of publicity thats really just the kiss of death, though.
He does not run a business of saving restaurants, he runs a freakshow at a circus. Thats like, the whole point of the video.
@@rubman8937 not bad publicity if they changed.... If they don't that is on them
They are indeed in debt but the fact Ramsay goes there, is giving them the chance to stack money or pay debt. If they can't survive they have at least a restaurant with Ramsay badge on it with new furniture to sell and make extra money
"The right thing for me, is to get out of here"
*Generic creaky door sound*
@uwau Wait, that's the sound the used in the actual show? Jack didn't edit it in?
@@Lambda_Ovine i remember recognising it when i saw that episode myself. pisses me off when obvious post-effects are added in unnecessarily. it's like that generic puppy noise that they use whenever puppies are on screen even though i've got extensive experience with puppies (mum was a dog breeder) and i've never heard any puppy make a noise even similar to it.
uwau It’s from a videogame?
crowd cheering.mp4
@@austincde th-cam.com/video/ZJ5xC-0TYWI/w-d-xo.html
Dude, now I really want to see Gordon Ramsay fix systemic racism in local neighborhoods.
"Get along!!! Kumbay-" *Gordon Ramsay was stabbed to death by a racist karen.*
DONKEY!
WHERES THE SOLIDARITYYYYYY???!!!!
I like watching kitchen nightmares because “ha ha, funny British man yell at stupid people”
Yeah, and it’s enjoyable the 1736638292nd time
He’s Scottish
@@RC.- Scotland is a part of great britain
@@connoromalley4004 you are right but many people in Britain don't like being called British. not sure what Gordan Ramsay prefers though.
@@weeg106 okay that makes sense
WHO WOULD WIN:
johnny test whip sound effect
kitchen nightmares siren sound effect
Drag race shade sound effect
i like johnny test whip sound but kitchen nightmares siren is def funnier imo
kushpakk same here brah me and my boy Johnny Testis on that meth game now 👍
@@Daipnemon THE TRUTH
Generic tension music
I have a conspiracy theory: Michelin just calculates the optimum positions of restaurant locations to give stars to so as to ensure that patrons drive the furthest distance between meals and use the most tires.
That wasn't far from the truth when the guide first started actually...
Michelin Truthers unite!
There is a reason Japan has hundreds but China, India, Thailand, Brazil, Vietnam combined still can’t match japans rate.
"This is the bit where I talk about capitalism..."
*Siren's wail*
Ironic, since the sponsor bit demonstrates the core cycle OF capitalism.
Brands (the cheap wired earbuds) get too comfy.
Comfy brands drop in quality.
Another brand (RayCon) makes a better product.
People start buying the better product.
Brand 2 becomes the new Brand 1, repeat.
@@jackbennett6902 yeah products need to improve to make more money and thats how bettter technologies are made to make better products tbh capitalism is great
@@jonme225 "capitalism is great, just ignore the corpses we made along the way, also we need our own acab just to say fuck poor people, and no step on snek,."
@A incorrect answer to a incorrect question Good job comrade, no gulag for you
Yet
*Mechanical box on a telephone pole begins making loud sound*
ngl, the main reason I watch it is to see Gordon rip into dodgy business owners that exploit their staff. It lets me pretend that there is justice for the proletariat, and it comes in the form of a shouty Scottish man.
In all honesty, shouty Scottish men accomplish more than college pretend commies
@@M50A1 what about shouty Scottish commies in 30s Aberdeen
Oh, is that the archetype the Twelfth Doctor's based on?
He doesn't sound Scottish to me he sounds English
@@oliverwilson11 he was born in Scotland but raised in England
"It's voyeuristic, and often exploits the deep personal issues of real-world people for cheap drama." That's a good summary of almost all reality TV.
Which kind of makes these analysis meaningless at times ngl
One quick thing from someone with a “hospitality” degree. Something like 95% of restaurants fail within 5 years. So a 20% success rate is actually very good. I still think you’re overall correct but I just wanted to mention it because those numbers matter
He's not staring those business though... They're pre-existing. Most probably made it their first five years without him
@@jackgude3969 then why are they on the show
Firstly, there will be sampling bias while comparing all restaurant businesses and businesses which are doing good enough (in various metrics) to be on a TV Show. Also, as Jack here pointed out, they probably made the first 5 years without Gordon.
@@Tridd666 My assumption is that they are struggling, or just not getting the amount of buisness they want to get, so they get on the show for advertising. Or, in a more cynical view, get their 15 minutes of fame.
Mind you, most of these owners were trash.
I didn’t realize that the Michelin star awards were ACTUALLY from the tire people. Jesus Christ.
YEAH the Michelin star rating system was created by Michelin to encourage people to travel to these places to eat and drive and use more tires. Its lowkey messed up
So? That doesn't mean it isn't a legitimate guide. It's a very well respected guide by most of the greatest chefs and some chefs have even "given back" their stars because the standards that the michelin guide operates at are literally too high for them.
@@rayweaver8295 is just funny is not a price by something that is about... Ya know , food. I want a stars from others companies that has nothing to do with foods. "A restaurant with 2 Panasonic stars"
@@lanni5 Why does it matter what the company is as long as the individuals that are tasting the food and critiquing it are legitimate?
@@rayweaver8295 because he's a big tire man ! It's the food critic picked by the tire man. Is surreal . Why does the tire man opinion is important? What does the tire Man is looking after in his food.
Is arbitrary.
I want a restaurant with a IKEA stars.
Is arbitrary.
Means fucking nothing.
Is just a company that can make some money giving a star to the right restaurant.
Is arbitrary.
Who's the food critic that decides what place deserves the star of the tire man?
Can he be contracted for another company? Give a Gucci star.
A Gucci star would be way more cool. but it lacks the tire man smile.
"Gordon ramsay is not god."
Every 13 year old watching hell's kitchen: Impossible
As a 13 year old this is indeed true
Cries in 13 yo
@@eagletgriff **cries in 14 yo**
how dare you call me out
*im in this comment and i don’t like it*
That stuff about Ramsey being a brand is spot on. He's the most celebrity of celebrity chefs. He's like the Boris Johnson of cooking, he's built an image of being unapologetically himself but you can see it's carefully crafted at the same time
If Boris did his hair up, the resemblance would be uncanny
He's like a brand and a meme at the same time. I mean, Jamie Oliver's a brand as well, but he has this wholesome image -- people don't criticize him overly much because of what a pleasant person he appears to be (and I assume he is, but I dunno, I've obviously never met him).
Ramsay's a meme, a stock character, a prima donna, and a celebrity chef all rolled into one xD It's such an unusual combination. I dunno much about UK politics, but to me he's like the Uwe Boll of celebrity chefs. And like Uwe Boll, his actual products are really bad. I haven't eaten at any of his restaurants, but I've bought food products licensed under his name or und the Hell's Kitchen branding, and they were horrendously awful. One in particular was a sweet-and-sour glaze designed to give ribs a smokey umame flavor without having to actually smoke them. And it was FOOKEN DISGOOSTANG. Had to throw that shit in the trash. It tasted like if I drank balsamic vinegar and then threw up on the ribs. Then again maybe it's my unrefined plebeian taste buds, who knows.
@@hermionestranger4964 The restaurant i was at was quite average, old-school french cooking made from british perspective.
@@nielsnielsen9013 Cool that you visited one of his restaurants! That doesn't sound too bad. I recall a very old episode of Anthony Bourdaine eating at one of Ramsay's restaurants before Ramsay become a celeb chef, and he served a strawberry parfait I think? It looked okay and Bourdaine really liked it. But I definitely can't recommend Ramsay's sauces collection lol
I hope that the sauces weren't made after his own recipes and the production company simply slapped his face on it, but still, they were sadly disappointing.
BJ yeah
There is a chef in German TV called Tim Mälzer and he has many shows. In his show Kitchen Impossible he often talks with other chefs about Michelin stars. A surprising amount of them started started rejecting those ratings and dropped the whole "french cuisine is the only valid cuisine" mentality. Most of them have taken inpiration from different cultures since then.
I think that's a generally mentality, it's definitely dodgy how French cuisine has a monopoly on fine dining. How do these chefs do after they drop that mentality?
Say what you will about Marco Pierre White, but he's been very clear that he's more happy in life and in his cooking after choosing not to focus on the stars anymore. The stars becomes an obsession, an entire lifestyle, and once you're finally at the top...there's nothing more besides being a well oiled machine that just keeps going and going.
@@Facelessify1 It's probably like any other external award/validation of what you do. It's fun to have occasionally, but it's really easy to get obsessed with that external validation as opposed to doing something that matches/approaches what you want it to be, regardless of what critics/authorities say. (Idk, I imagine it's similar to schools getting obsessed with grades and test scores, rather than students learning stuff.)
Great!
@Arnór Róbertsson nique la france!
I highly recommend binging this show if you’re recovering from a surgery. I watched all of kitchen nightmares through a pain medication haze. Good times.
Ha
Tf?
indeed, binging Hell’s Kitchen bored in the hospital is the best
I did the same. It’s a good time
Ramsey in most shows: >:(
Ramsey in master chef jr: :)
Obviously his angry chef personality is not real, but it's funny
it absolutely is a "made-for-TV" personality. That, and he's said before he simply just doesn't suffer fools or people who bullshit him. If anyone spends 5 minutes watching his YT videos, you can tell straight away he's actually a pretty pleasant guy, and all this insults and yelling is manufactured for dramatic effect.
no, his angry chef personality IS real. it’s exaggerated for the shows, i’m sure, but it’s not some fabricated trait that he portrays 24/7. when it comes to cooking, he gives the direction and the tools necessary for people to succeed. all he wants is perfect execution. that’s for adults.
it’s totally different for children, because they are at an impressionable stage where giving up is easy as hell after being discouraged.
adults need to be pushed, to be challenged, to be humbled into being the best chefs. children need to be molded and shaped and encouraged into being good chefs.
Its made more obvious for alot of his shows but his angry chef personality is real, hes nice in master chef jr cause they are kids, That show is the outlier
The dude unironically whines about "the snowflake generation" on Hot Ones. If anything, I think "he's actually not a bad guy" is itself part of the brand that somehow keeps his abusive behavior from being seriously criticized, because it's presented as an act. And then we can't say anything about his more chud-adjacent views.
And, even if it is an act, the man is very wealthy. He does not *need* to continue his media career, he could totally abandon the abusive persona entirely and condemn it and start openly criticizing those emulating it. He absolutely knows his show is reinforcing abusive behavior not only in kitchens but in businesses in general or even homes, because being vicious is presented as competence. He can still be held accountable for continuing to present this media, he does not need the money.
@@Helmic yes!!! that's exactly what I think too! I think it's also a part of being a toxic or abusive person, that you aren't aggressive 100% of the time, and then you use the time when you're nice as an argument to prove that you're not a bad person at all. But a calm moment with his family when he surprisingly doesn't yell at them (which should be a standard for a decent human being) doesn't erase all of the abuse he inflicted upon others, during his shows and during his restaurant work. Like the restaurant workers are human too and I don't believe that being straight up mean and insulting people is the only way (or a way at all) to help them cook better food. Adults can be sensitive too and everyone deserves compassion, and the whole idea of being an asshole = competence sucks :(
I would actually be interested in seen the survival rates of the resturants in the British show compared to those in the US show.
They were far higher but that’s because he selected better restaurants with a higher chance of succeeding long term.
@@drfate7863 I think also the fact that the restaurant market isn't as saturated as in the USA contributes to the success factor. Unfortunately, survival means little when it comes to restaurant quality. The restaurant with the best food on the UK version of the show folded after trying to re-open twice. There's much more than just food involved. There's also price politics, location, competition, wages and many other factors to take into account, that influence the ROI. I'd say that most people dreaming of opening up a food business are delusional, especially in this day and age, when even many chains like Applebee's are going under.
That said, I also got the feeling that on the UK show, nicer restaurants were chosen than on the US version. On Gordon's US shows -- Hotel Hell and Kitchen Nightmares -- there's a significantly higher disgust factor than on the UK show. Sometimes it's so sordid, I have to turn off because it's killing my appetite :I the UK show is much easier to stomach lol
Hermione Stranger Feel like that was an intentional move on the producers’ part, since Americans are usually accustomed to eating shit anyway
There's a website dedicated to it
@@tomgilfeather5878 "There's a website dedicated to it." Do you know this website? Is there a link? You've given us very little to work with.
I'll never get over that episode of Kitchen Nightmares where he redid an Irish pub's menu with English food
That’s some John Taffer shit
Me but with Hells Kitchen when he booted off an Asian woman for cooking with Bok Choy (or some other Asian vegetable I can’t remember but specifically Asian)😑
yikes
you know that Irish and English food have a lot of crossover right
@theredqveen sure, but they're not identical. If you tell me you're making Irish food but then bring me fish and chips I'm going to have a few questions for you
If someone yelled at me like gordon Ramsey yells at his employees, I would cry and leave and cry
i would cry and leave and set fire to his car and cry
Same 😭. Though tbh I pay all the money in the world to Ramsey if he were to go yell at my past bosses. They ran a bakery that was nasty as hell and treated me like dirt
I would hit him. Hard. I'm not usually like that at all, but sorry if someone is screaming in my face like that I feel like I am either allowed immediate escape before I lose it, or if I can't, to do whatever I have to do shut down the threat. The authoritarianism of these sorts of shows disgusts me. I grew up with this kind of abuse and I would never tolerate it now. I believe it to be at the root of a lot of fascist thought.
@@chibi013 Some of the most satisfying of the episodes were the ones where the owner was an asshole that got his ass torn a new one by Gordon. Some of them were likely victims of manipulative editing, but there's a few examples (like Joe or Sebastian) that I can't see as being anything but accurate. Nobody's that good of an actor.
@@fpedrosa2076 yes! I try to give most of the owners the benefit of the doubt but as soon as they start yelling at their employees I'm like "oh yes, I hope this guy cries by the end"
Hm. Complementing that premise, I guess that authoritarian god image of Ramsay's is why probably my favorite of his shows are the MasterChef series, particularly the Junior one. Because in those he's less of a wrathful god and more a benevolent sky daddy helping you improve. New Testament Ramsay if you will.
"Sky Daddy"...had me screaming...
@@a1t3rmusic literally ;)
I smirked at ‘sky daddy’, I lost it at ‘New Testament Ramsay’
Oh my Gordon! LOL
I want to print this comment and frame it on my fucking wall oh my god
PSA: The "siren's wail" sound effect is actually produced on a waterphone, an instrument with metallic rods that are bowed which attach to a resonance chamber with water inside that you can tilt in order to change the resonant frequency, thus creating the vibrato effect.
One thing that comes to my mind often when I watch Gordon Ramsey is also the idea of "tough love, no-nonsense, asshole expert", someone who is a complete jerk to those they're teaching, and who gets away with it because they're THAT good. And you're supposed to take their abuse and improve, and if you refuse to take the abuse then you're too weak/untalented/unworthy.
You can see that narrative in fiction (Whiplash, for example) but also in real life plenty of times. Not only people let the power of their position and knowledge get to their head, but this is also often expressed as a cycle of abuse. Abusive teachers creating students that go on to become abusive in turn. Worthy of note that Ramsey's teacher, Marco Pierre White, was also known as angry and abusive, so the cycle repeats.
My message to any students learning a new craft or skill, especially in a competitive field, is this:
Abusiveness and knowledge don't have to go hand in hand. One can have one without the other. Try and get as much knowledge as you can from your teachers, that's what they're there for, but don't be afraid to ignore advice here and there or protect yourself from abuse if you're experiencing it. And if it becomes too much, and is affecting you negatively, back away. There is no shame in avoiding trauma, and more than one road to learning and perfecting one's craft.
(Also, each situation is unique in its own way, and you shouldn't take a random internet person's advice as gospel. Pretty obvious, but felt I needed to say that.)
Gordon is mostly a jerk because he's not dealing with "employees" he's dealing with OWNERS who aren't used to being told they are wrong, aren't used to being told they are bad at their jobs.
Honestly Gordon doesn't even work in kitchens anymore so the only employees he likely deals with are managers
@@mitchellhorton9382 does that make abusing them acceptable?
@@Sam-th4jl Definitely not...but it at least explains some things...not much but some things.
@@mitchellhorton9382 in Hell's Kitchen, he's abusive to his own students
As someone working their way through academia, where this type of shit is also way too commonplace, thanks for writing this.
"Gordon Ramsay is good at marketing himself"
The possibility that he's the one running the Kitchen Nightmares YT channel never seemed so realistic.
One further factor worth taking into account, speaking as the child of a former restaurant manager (and trained sous-chef and health inspector), is that the restaurant business is volatile and difficult as a baseline in such a way that, even if one were to assume Ramsay's input to be incontrovertibly correct, many of the small restaurants which followed his advice would *still* have a high chance of failure through no fault of their own, yet the blame will wind up shifted to the owners by default within this authority-driven framing. I do not think Ramsay's own decisions are primarily responsible for all of those restaurant failures by any means, nor do I think that none of those failures were attributable to mismanagement or other issues on the part of the staff, but the way that the framing ignores not only Ramsay's own occasional lapses in judgement but those myriad outside factors which destroy even excellent restaurants is deeply problematic.
In the UK version they do bring stuff like that up, see here for example:
th-cam.com/video/hegPFHhukvU/w-d-xo.html
I view the US version as more of a trashy, guilty pleasure version of the UK one. I like to imagine the UK one is closer to how the show plays out in real life, but I'm not sure.
I also think part of the issue was that the producers would only choose the restaurants on their last legs for drama when in fact they should probably go to the newer companies that don't have debt on top of debt
@@ariwright206 I disagree. Choosing such restaurants would not only harm the narrative (no clear villain, lack of shock value, low stakes), but also from a more inspirational perspective. Managers who are facing similar problems might not understand the seriousness of their current plight and how bad it can get if they continue as is if they choose such restaurants. One could argue that such mangers could point to struggling restaurants and think to themselves "It's not so bad, at least we're not like those guys allowing that to happen", but I think the benefits outweigh the risks.
Thanks for saying this. I felt like the video was surprised that only 15 shops were still open, even though so many years have passed and many may have just gone out of the business with no one to 'blame'
FURIOUS Gordon Ramsay sets fire to my head
"looked a bit raw" he states
You can make religion out of it
Angelika Skoroszyn b-but I thought Gordon Ramsay wasn’t god?
@@FirstnameLastname-zq4rt Don't worry. We'll make him one yet.
Could you imagine if the waterphone sound effect just followed him around in real life and wasn't edited in
Madokami :y
Ramsay wanted that third star so badly he accidentally turned himself into a constellation
Constellation? That's the funniest shit I have ever heard
Galaxy brain: Kitchen Nightmares is just Supernanny for eateries.
I remember watching Supernanny as a kid, was that show actually teaching bad parenting or did the problems with the families resurface after the cameras were turned off
At least Kitchen Nightmares doesn't abuse kids.
@@gwendolynstata3775 Gordon does abuse adults though
@@alanbareiro6806 imagine a kid that was on Supernanny grows up to be a chef, then this asshole shows up because your boss is bad with money
@@gwendolynstata3775 Doesn't Ramsey have a show where kids compete called Masterchef Junior? I've only seen it once and one of the kids got a cut or a burn but was told to keep going and I'm like 😬
The differences in the UK version and the US version is really a natural extension of your point about GR being a brand. He adapts to his audience and gives them what he knows they want and are used to. It's like MacDonald's selling (sometimes changing) different items in different countries/areas, appealing to local cultures/customs, negotiating sponsorship deals with local celebrities in order to boost sales globally.
I wrote a paper for my sociology class focusing on the confrontations between authority figures displayed on Kitchen Nightmares
That actually sounds incredibly interesting and I’d be really interested in reading that
I don't have it anymore, this was probably 7 years ago now. The prompt was "Watch a reality TV show and discuss conflicts with authority in it," and the core of my paper was that the drama of the show was generated by conflicting visions of the legalized authority of the restaurant vs Gordon's recognized authority of the field. It was also an early sociology class and I am far more critical of authorities now.
Capitalism: *exists*
Jack Saint: Ah yes, my next script.
Why [children’s film] secretly promotes [some sort of bigotry]
raycon is the new raid: shadow legends tho
@@FrenchToast663 raycons at least work though right? raid shadow legends isnt even a game lmfao
@@byrnetdown6076 its a top-down, low graphic movie
Bad comment
"Is it Nino?"
It is Nino, it's always Nino.
I seriously like Gordon Ramsay and think he is a very smart and talented person, but the vast majority of his fans are the same kinds of people that think Walter White was the good guy because he was badass.
Walter White was bad guy, but that doesn’t mean he was bad guy
he is very sweet in the uk series
Vast majority of his fans are the kind of people that would defend him no matter what he does, honestly. He could say some Jim Jones shit on camera and his fans would probably eat it up and defend him.
Lolll no, go read what Kenji Lopez has to say about this a-hole
@@vishnu2407 who?
From working in restaurants from server to expo to bartender to manager, it’s strange to me how typical it is that chefs are just expected to have a bad temper and demand authority. It’s a high stress environment for sure but it seems that instead of taking that frustration out on the people they should be, they take it out on their peers or subordinates.
When I was a manager I had some kid on salad cut part of his thumb off and I was trying to render first aid to him. After I had taken care of everything the other chef seriously looked at me, while I was still covered in this other guy’s blood and started to yell because he got to go home early.
People really try to act like its normal or necessary for people in the restaurant industry to act like that cause its "high stress" or whatever. I worked in the ER for four years, where we were generally very busy and overwhelmed and the stakes are literally life and death. We would NEVER scream or cuss at each other like how you see people on these shows acting.
Madison Sido the industry in general has very unhealthy habits and attitudes. In my experience the people are underpaid and over stressed and try to cope with that with drinking and/or substance abuse while also taking out that stress on other people around them. It’s only typical because it is expected and allowed otherwise they wouldn’t be able to sustain paying people shit/having people work for tips and piling on responsibilities. Along with the fact that sexual harassment is rampant and nobody does anything about it, they skirt regulations and break laws, so my theory is they allow us to be at each others throats to place the blame elsewhere, scapegoat wherever possible so we don’t hold them to a higher standard that they are capable of providing.
Servers: know your rights! When I was a manager one of _my managers_ wanted me to illegally make a brand new server pay out of pocket for a mistake that she made (it was actually more complicated and wasn’t totally her fault.) She tried to publicly scold me in our manager log forum when I refused to do this and I kind of embarrassed her by refusing and sending a bunch of sources to laws stating that it was not only illegal in our state but also federally.
She made the server pay anyway and it ended up being this whole thing that she did finally get slightly reprimanded for but they will try to fuck you over if you don’t know your rights.
I worked as a cook in a quick service restaurant. Once management basically told me that my coworkers just "are the way they are". They were rude, dismissive, and short tempered. Toxic environment.
@@MaddyBlu9724
Honestly, doing that in a high stress environment is likely to make it worse - increase the stress, increase the mistakes. People act like it's necessary so they can justify their own abusive behaviours.
@@MaddyBlu9724 Exactly! Abusive behaviour is not conducive to perfection or good work.
"Is this the lazy owner who doesn't care enough? Is it the shouting owner who mistreated his staff? Is it *NINOOOOOO* ?!?!?!" LMAO 😂
Hahaha - I saw this as it played in the video 🤣🤣
It's Jack Saint. The man who can crush me like a grape, with his body.
No he cant. I can tell by his fingers.
@@troyareyes Perhaps with his feet like how they make wine the old fashioned way? Ingesting toe fungus coincidentally gives nightmares. Probably.
...K-kinky?
Time to post a photo of my arm!
Don't forget he's also eight-foot tall.
I spent years in the restaurant business and worked at a lot of different places of varying levels of quality
Restaurant people are quite often just as unhinged as the show portrays and usually on drugs (which they never discuss on the show to my recollection).
I think they had one episode where an owner used to be a drug addict.
And that was about it really. Maybe there were two. But whenever it happened Gordon would bring up his brother
It’s brought up once or twice, since Gordon’s brother suffered with a drug addiction. But not often and not really with the severity it requires.
There's one episode where a kid was on meth so Gordon told him he couldn't work there
Another where the guy clearly had a WoW addiction
And 2 I can think of with alcoholics
@@noraunhappy I'm curious if it never comes up or if that's something Gordon tells them not to put in the show
Coke and chefs is an iconic combination.
As a person who grew up in a family owned restaurant, Kitchen Nightmares was cathartic. A lot of the things that Ramsey mentions that hurt a restaurant (long complicated menus, owners/managers unable to work with anyone, declined quality because of lack of funds/tiredness) ended up being things that hurt ours. Now that the business has been closed, watching it nowadays just brings back bad memories. I still enjoy it, but it's less surprising that these toxic environments didn't survive in the end
Although, there was one Hotel Hell that actually just was people down on their luck and the hotel is still going! That was my favorite episode
"Gordon Ramsay can never fail, he can only be failed"
I see what you did there
This whole video reminds me so much of that Mitchell and Webb sketch parodying Kitchen Nightmares.
"You are much better at cooking than me! That's why you've got a tv show, and I've got a failing restaurant! The only way this will help my restaurant is if you stay forever!"
Not to disagree wholly with this there are some things being glossed over.
These are real restaurants that are failing. Sure Ramsay gives very predictable, and good advice, like clean the place, serve fresh food not convenience foods and don't use microwaves but 60 odd percent of restaurants close in their first year almost always because they don't do these things. I've scouted spaces for a chef friends new restaurant and I went into many closed restaurants with multiple microwaves, filth everywhere and freezers full of stuff you'd never want to pay money for.
Second getting a menu consultant to overhaul a menu, something Ramsay does in almost every episode, is very expensive. That he also then trains the back of the house on that menu is simply gravy.
He's not perfect nor is he god, and as a former restaurant professional I have many issues with his style and his food, but the voyeurism does give those who appear a chance at becoming successful. and at least in the short term many did.
If they can't be successful as a restaurant. Then we don't need more restaurants. The food industry is hard to break your way into, especially when you DONT have a reputation. Most businesses fail because they cant find the fine line between business marketing, and productivity. Just because you want to cook food, doesn't mean you were meant to or even SHOULD be successful. It's already a tough market as it is.
People shouldn't assume because they have a good idea, that it will work.
We used to have a microwave that was used exclusively for regulars to reheat their drink they had forgotten about during jam sessions and such. Lol
@Sherriff Cactus You know what Stars are awarded for in the US? Plate presentation. Any half assed place that wants to get out the smoke machine and tweezers can get a star. Places have done it.
Stars are given out like freaking candy in Japan. Every nation's guide is independent and sets its own secret criteria. And the absolute best sushi in Japan, and everyone knows it, has zero.
I've eaten in Ramsay's original place and no doubt it was good. Was it better than dozens of places with no stars. Hell no. Did it have a flamboyant loud mouth running it? Yes. Did that count for something in the English Guide? Apparently.
That's why serious chefs aiming for a 3 star place are opening very small. It's not the nonsense about high standards etc. It's so that when the rules change they can change the operation on a dime. Losing a star from the flagship can cost the entire operation millions.
BTW, I've worked at two starred restaurants. I've never run a place. I worked at restaurants not as a career but as a job. It let me make money while going to college and while interning, apparently intern means work 40 hours a week for nothing.
Finding out Ramsey uses frozen food in his restaurants hurt, but I can see now what a pedestal I've put him on.
Ramsay sadly looks in a mirror.
"D- d- donkey" he says, a single tear in his eye.
Dang, I didn't know that either.
So I remember reading about that and no, it's not frozen food, it's pre-prepped and transported refrigerated. There's a difference between that and reheating like 3 months old deep frozen meatballs. That particular Guardian article is kinda slanted AND HOW DARE YOU QUESTION MY GOD
@@SeruKgoeszomg I'm sure in other circumstances a cook like Ramsay would consider that a terrible thing to do.
"Frozen food" can be used a bit too broadly, I've worked in many restaurants where it's expected to do some of the work a day before or the morning, freezing ribs and things like that for preparation the next day.
Not fully made garbage en-mass food, but smart prepping by using the freezer as intended.
I work in reality TV, and everything you say here is so true. For example - the glossing over and avoidance of the effects of local racism on the black-owned business in Kitchen Nightmares. In our industry, it's generally understood that we don't bring up a problem in an episode that we can't solve by the end of the episode. You don't spend time focusing on something that never "pays off" in the episode - that's how you get so many shows that gloss over real issues because they're not "narratively fulfilling". This just allows shows to ignore the real issues that their characters face or that exist within the confines of the show itself. Just my thoughts.
Suspicious Ned Flanders are you insinuating that that doesn’t exist?
@Suspicious Ned Flanders bruh, you didn't have to reveal your ignorance and prejudice this hard
Racism on black owned bussiness? If they are good and their products satisfy their customers they are going to succeed be they black, white, brown, red, yellow or whatever colour you can think of to divide mankind.
@@legoyoda3546 That is painfully naive and a total strawman. The comment didn't say "all black businesses fail" or that "only white businesses can be successful." Maybe take a minute and try reading the comment again and thinking about it for 1 minute?
Also: a business becoming successful *despite* specific struggles, does not mean those struggles didn't happen, nor did they stop existing. Random example: If a black person ends up making more money than I do, but they went through a lot of racist attacks...does that somehow change the reality of the situation?
Please don't confuse not seeing something with it not being there, when in reality you just aren't looking. How many restaurants owned by black people do you know about? How do you know how many have failed? Whatever helps you sleep at night is fine, but you can't just erase reality when convenient and I don't think you've actually done your research. Even if you want to say something is officially "worth it" that still doesn't magically erase the bad shit that happened. Again, naive.
@@sorryifoldcomment8596 If a restaurant is good and someone won't eat at it simply because the owner is black then that racist person is at a loss, not the owner, because not everyone is racist. Only extremists attack a restaurant because the owner is black, most people really don't give a shit about the colour the owner is, they care about the quality and the price of the food they're eating. And also, I don't know about any black-owned restaurant, because I live in a fully white country, I don't think there are even a thousand black people living here. (Bosnia and Herzegovina).
The Kitchen Nightmares “Siren Wail” sound sums up 2020 so far.
Also the generic tension music
Violin.wav
Siren head
Gordon Ramsey also has a show where he's travelling the world, and experiencing food from a variety of cultures.
I forget what the show's called, but I prefer it over Kitchen Nightmares, since the food is actually good, and Gordon Ramsey is way more chill.
And that episode where he rescued sharks
Is it Uncharted?
Probably - the f word
He’s also wayyyy more chill and can get competitive time to time - which is fresh to see. He still has the spirit to learn, and I respect tbf about him.
@@meia.a lol
I just want to point out at one point you talk about how "Gordon's success rate is about 20% on these resteraunts" and sort of present it alone and make the narrative that the show presents him as successful when he's not really. I want to point out most new restaraunts fail within their first 5 years, 80% actually. Arguably Gordon's 20% statistic with failing restaraunts is either pretty decent or what you'd expect.
Otherwise neat video.
Ramsay in every other episode of Kitchen Nightmares: _"You can't speak to your staff like that."_
Also Ramsay: _speaks to every single person like that_
His communication skills on KN are trash. Instead of being even slightly tactful when dealing with problems, he has this hyperassertive in-your-face way of dealing with people that isn't sustainable or effective in a long-term practical sense when you apply it to the real world. It's this counterproductive way of dealing with problems where instead of deescalating the situation, it just makes it worse.
Genuinely, this show has conditioned me to associate that sirens wail sound effect with cockroaches and generally unhygienic, gross things. I freak out every time i hear it.
This is why I love Jack's channel. I never would've even considered thinking about Kitchen Nightmares from this perspective. Jack always has something interesting to talk and think about, and I really appreciate that.
I remember one time with Ramsey urged a restaurant to go back to it's roots, regional Indian food instead of more of a new age stuff.
the owner commited tax fraud and the place was bought out
The ideology of LAMB SAUCE
also doot angel thesis cool
Personally I thought this analysis was a little *raAAAAAAAAAAW*
*sniffs*
*snorts the lamb sauce*
Gordon Ramsay: *takes a bite of food*
*DEAFENING VIOLIN SCREECH*
The interesting thing I noticed about his "hotel hell" series, and to a somewhat lesser extent "kitchen nightmares" is that the staff usually know exactly what is wrong with the place - at the very least what the CUSTOMERS would say the problem is, since they interact with them most directly. But they can't fix it because they don't have a say in how the business is run.
Not that there aren't sometimes incompetent-seeming staff as well as incompetent-seeming owners, but it would be kind of neat to have someone (probably not Gordon; he's very hierarchical): "you know what - if you ran this like a coop, you collectively have the right skill sets to fix this".
I never trusted Michelin star ratings because it rarely rewards non-European cuisine. There is a wealth of flavors in Asia, Africa, and everywhere else but if it's not French food then it doesn't count to them.
i think there's a food stall in my country that got a michelin star, i'm in singapore
All rewards seem to have some strange biases. Like the way the Oscars never rewarded comedy or comic book movies. It's not even about how good the product is anymore, it's about what it is, and that's just vanity.
@@alex-vd4vm SG best G
"Gordon Ramsay is not God"
I mean, putting peas and mushrooms in a Carbonara isn't enough to prove the absence of any god?
...he did WHAT?
@@IndieGinge oh yes my frienderino he said It was a Carbonara made in Cornwall you know the Place where they did not want him?
And lo, he went from "good chef tho" to "dead to me."
I refuse to believe this. My god is a perfect god.
Gordon: Well here's the problem, you're keeping raw ribs on top of the desserts and there are Beatles in the Lasagna.
Owner: How DaRe YoU!
Rusty Gate Hinge: SQUeeeeeeeeeeEEEEEEEEEeeeeeeeeeeK
> *Beatles* in the lasagna
I'm thinking of a very tiny Paul McCartney playing the piano while standing knee-deep in tomato sauce.
@@shockedkirby6368 probably Yellow Submarine with the cheese around him...
Imagine if Gordon Ramsay was like "Right then come on mate" and the next scene had him using a megaphone to shout anti-racist talking points in the town, using the same sound effects and so on when challenged by racists. Just have Gordon run around calling racists donkeys and so on. Do that for a couple of scenes.
Doesn't even need to actually save the restaurant. Just have that be the episode and Gordon go "Yeah, mate, this isn't my thing. I guess I can't save every restaurant. But i'll teach you how to cook and manage better and make this place absolutely fucking perfect, and then we'll open, and if they're still boycotting, that's their problem. Let's show the world through my show this restaurant can be great."
Maybe even invite a bunch of chefs there for the opening instead and have them confirm it's at least edible and worth the price and so on.
I would watch this.
Imagine if the episode had Gordon Ramsay ending racism all by himself
That would be awesome. 10/10 would watch.
Fox right now: WRITE THAT DOWN! WRITE IT DOWN!!!!!
Soy_wojak_shaking.gif
This is so wholesome 100 big chungus moment!
Edit: thanks for the gold, kind stranger!
Edit 2: wow!!! 1000 updooterinos?? You guys are so kind omg!!!!!!
"[...] I love Kitchen Nightmares"
Same, absolutely same. The British Version of Kitchen Nightmare made me actually want to start learning at least a little bit of cooking, and enjoying locally grown vegetables instead of industry crap. I even stopped smoking with the motivation of being able to taste the food better (sometimes it is the strangest things that get through an addiction).
The American Version however, and Hell's Kitchen... they are a completely different story with different intentions. And yet I still watch them, it's like a guilty pleasure of sorts. Pretty much everything he does I kinda have to watch, despite it becoming more and more weird. And I'm generally not a big fan of how much competition is in the business of cooking. But I can't stop watching them either way.
“Kitchen nightmares is the peak of junk food television”
I take it that you have never seen any shows on TLC
Wait-a-minute; did he actually say his father gave him a "small" loan of a million dollars?
That had me dying...
Small compared to what those million/billionaires are used to...
Yep. But apparently he's "self-made"! Vomit inducing isn't it. 😒
Oh yeah, you hadn't heard that one yet? It's insane. Never believe any of those millionaires/billionaires that claim to be self made. A few may be genuine, but most have old money like that that got them started or propped them up entirely.
M.883 another thing that a lot of people don’t consider about billionaires:
If you’re born rich you are around rich people who will “push your CV up”
You know how to talk to rich people (you belong and act like it/confidence)
You can get in meeting with the “right” people
You know that if you fail you have a safety net (family)
Even without a loan from dad, there is a whole psychology behind being raised in a comfortable/rich household that complicates stuff for people to “make it”. If you’re struggling to pay rent and have no saving and don’t know anyone with saving you will not “follow your dream” you’ll stfu and work
Is it only me or is it pretty naive to think Gordon was able to fix restaurants so deep in depth that they loose thousands of dollars each month within a week. Plus they often see staff that's not trusting each other and broken families and somehow want to convince us that Gordon fixed that in a week as well? Sorry but someone with a basic understanding of how the world works can see when a restaurant is already doomed before Gordon even gets there.
100% of the restaurants he goes to would have failed if he didn't go.
@ty qwer
That was the Glass House, one of his biggest success stories.
Haha true i mean they probably get a few crazies in the show intentionally for drama but again failing businesses tend to have that effect on people
I love GRKK-USA and never considered the sheer artifice in every episode. I’ll watch it with fresh eyes now!
kitchen nightmares and even more so hell's kitchen are my favorite "turn your brain off" shows as well. i think an interesting layer to gordon's brand as the "shouty kitchen authority man" is actually his presentation on masterchef junior. bc i think a key part of what makes gordon endearing is seeing him not as someone who's solely out there to be domineering.....just look at how good and patient he is with kids! that means he only yells at the grown adults who deserve it in some way (they're lazy, arrogant, etc.) which really just. reinforces his brand as an authority to be looked up to.
Ramsay has said that he has a low tolerance for bullshitters. That's why he's so harsh on shows like Hell's Kitchen and Kitchen Nightmares but a lot nicer on Master Chef and Master Chef Jr.; On one he's working with a bunch of inexperienced people who are just learning, and on the other he's working with supposed "professionals" who should know better. And also yelling at kids is a pretty good way to get cancelled.
@@grahamkristensen9301 Fair enough on his part. Don't take shit, simple as that
@@grahamkristensen9301 Not yelling at kids is like the baseline for human decency. You don't get a medal for doing shit that you're _supposed_ to do. I'm sure Ted Bundy held the door open for people sometimes and Jim Jones said "please" and "thank you" before. And no he's not harsh on people on HK cause they're all pROFesSIonALs (which they all aren't, one dude was literally a farmer and another dude was a goddamn electrician), he gets "pissed" because it's part of some stupid brand that he can't escape from because I guess he insisted on turning himself into a punchline and abandoned all integrity for ratings and money.
who has you in their basement forcing you to pump out the most inexplicably important content on this site? are you okay? blink twice if you’re not okay.
Literally did a little happy dance when I saw this in my recommendations.
“Gordon Ramsey is canonically God” is one of the strongest openings to a video essay I’ve ever seen in my entire life.
I only have one thing to say...
Hello, my name's NinooOoOOooO
WHAT
WAS
THAT?!
IS HE ACTUALLY LIKE THAT WITHOUT CAMERAS???
I WOULD SPIT MY FOOD AND PISS MYSELF XD
@@Ramsey276one Lmaooo I know right
There is actually an interview done with one of the restaurants that were struggling and they highlight what the problems were with the show and why they did shut down after the episode had aired. It highlights the problems with the show, but the owner does say that she appreciated Gordon Ramsay and that the show was too positive and had too good an effect on her business.
He's not God, but he certainly knows how to run a business
The capitalistic equivalent of!
TZerot0 Of what?
@@marzarothIV of god
I remember an episode of Kitchen Nightmares US where one of the conflicts was the restauranteurs' son didn't want to inherit the restaurant and wanted to get out of the family restaurant business entirely to seek other opportunities, and they essentially got Ramsay to lecture and browbeat him into inheriting the business. Felt really shitty and really encapsulates part of the "Gordon Ramsay = God" narrative, in that he's deciding this person's fate, saying "you WILL do this" and deviance from it is unacceptable.
God I thought I was the only one who hated that moment
I remember that, it was awful.
anyone remember which one exactly?
That episode was actually insane. That guy's dad was just so awful.
Was that the Burger Kitchen one? Where the dad basically stole his son’s inheritance to buy a restaurant and browbeat him into giving more money?
Because if so, WTF, Ramsey?
"WHAT ARE YOU?"
''a stupid sandwich, chef''
I love this.
Sabra Moraldi yikes either all the memes are wrong or its “an idiot sandwich, chef” 🤦♀️
It's literally "idiot sandwich". What are you 7 or Canadian?
@@hambone.fakenamington yeah no, it looks like i'm the idiot sandwich. I'm not editing the comment, i deserve all the shame i'll get about this.
Sabra Moraldi the idiot sandwich is within us all 🥪
"It's my go-to show whenever I want to watch something without having to think about it too much."
-Proceeds to create a 20+ minute analysis of the show
It’s not that long to be honest
2010-2017: *watches kitchen nightmares on lunch breaks
2017-2019:*watches lefty video essayists like Jack Saint on lunch breaks
June 30th 2020:........
the ingredients are finally coming together... the recipe for kitchen leftism is complete...
Now it's time to listen to Bernie Sanders speeches on lunch breaks
Every now and then I also get convergences like this. It always feels special.
That siren wail sound is pretty much used in all American reality TV shows.
**S I R E N W A I L**
i always assumed that the michelin star thing was separate from michelin tires lol
Nope
It's to sell more tires because people travel further for good restaurants, thus using up more tyres
maurits Wow that’s kinda smart
British Kitchen Nightmare > American Kitchen Nightmare
This is not a controversial statement.
noooooooooo the UK KN is so eerie....
britain > america
this is not a controversial statement
Taylor Haynes why? Because the editing doesn't make it sound like everything is exploding
Adam Snee if I have to hear that goddamn knife sound effect ones more time someone will be stabbed
@@flatP_ I'll take the mess that is the US over the authoritarian nanny state that arrests you for butter knives and has a surveillance state worse than China.
Short summary of how almost every Kitchen Nightmares goes:
1. Gordon arrives, hates everything, dirty kitchen, yells at owner etc.
2. Horrible dinner service, dishes get sent back.
3. *Emotional scene* Owners reveal they're broke/in debt, tears shed.
4. Gordon renovates, implements expensive menu, leaves.
5. Usually restaurant closes, or ditches Gordon's menu and survives.
And back to square one. Nothing changes.
"McDonald's burgers taste great" is the most controversial opinion you have ever had.
Depends on the McDonald's because mine taste like shite
Where's the controversy though
The McDonald’s by me is pretty good. It really depends on what you order, though. A basic burger tastes fine, but the patty is so thin a breeze could take it away. Big Mac’s are all bread and sauce and no meat. I don’t understand why those are their signature burger, they’re awful. Quarter pounders, however, are the perfect size and meat to bun ratio. They’re flavorful, they’re filling, they’re the best burgers that restaurant has and they’re my go to whenever I go there.
Now, the tough question is: are quarter pounders better than a Dave’s hot and juicy?
So, you're telling me that people see any success a restaurant has as a sign of Ramsey's expertise, and dismiss any failure as "not following Ramsey's instructions close enough." Are you sure Ramsey is not god?
well since he is successful af, maybe just maybe if you don't bury yourself in the dirt and actually do what the most successful chef in the world tells you, you'll have a chance
"...Therefore if they succeed, we can say that Gordon did his job and they successfully followed his advice. If they shut down, that was on them. They must've not followed what Gordon told them to do"
Hmmm, I can see the God comparison now!
"I wonder what the tone of this one's going to be"
*Cruel Angel's Thesis bike horn cover plays*
"Ah"
You are not immune to Gordon Ramsay
The takeaway I got from a lot of those episodes were that the restaurants were doomed to fail because they're either 3 days from being shut down by the local health department, the management can't run a business, or the food just plain sucked... and that's before Gordon showed up.
if Gordon Ramsey is not God then explain why I have an altar to his greatness in my room and pray to him every night?
Check-mate, lefty.
One thing I found kind of troubling watching this was the way the show appears to have handled the issue of the restaurant whose owner claimed racism was a factor in his business struggling. It *isn't* necessarily that they didn't address that factor when making changes to the restaurant -- like you said, they couldn't. They can only address what they can control, and they can't control other people's prejudices.
BUT, what gets me is if "solving racism is above our pay grade, we are merely restaurateurs" was the only reason to not address it, they could just as easily have edited out the parts where the owners bring that up out of the episode. If the factor wasn't addressed in the changes, it didn't need to be brought up in the edit.
But it was.
By including footage of the owner bringing the issue up and then visibly blowing it off, the show presents "structural racism affected my ability to be successful" (which may or may not be true in this particular case, but certainly is often true for many people of color) as an excuse from someone who doesn't want to take personal responsibility.
This wasn't a value neutral "I don't know enough about this issue to do anything about it" edit.
Good comment
I'm like 95% sure they left that comment in for the drama.