For the last few weeks, the American version of Kitchen Nightmares has been on TV here. It's basically the same thing as Gordon Ramsay's British show, but of course Americanized... like bits about him 'almost' about to get into fist fights with uptight Long Islanders... and how every single woman on the show seems to think he is 'oh so handsome'. I never really liked Gordon Ramsay, but really started appreciating him for his talent ever since seeing the British version of the show on BBC America many months ago.
Brilliance is attractive. He is a very, very smart man when it comes to his craft. And not just the cooking. The whole array of things that comes with being a restauranteur. He obviously is in the right field, and loves what he does. So I have come to really like him. And yes, there is something sexy about him.
The premise of the show is that Gordon visits a restaurant in financial trouble; customers don't come in, management is shit, chefs and/or owners are too set in their ways, to the point of even being abusive to their work colleagues. And then, Gordon saves them all.
As a foodie, however, I really like the food aspect of the show. Gordon Ramsay is a cook first, restauranteur second. When he comes to sample the dishes the restaurant cooks, he usually asks for crab cakes, if they are on the menu, and always asks if the crab is fresh. More often than not, the wait staff tells him it is, and more often than not, they are lying or don't know that the crab is not fresh -- that most of the food items in the restaurant are not freshly made. This show has really opened my eyes to the restaurant business. I already knew that obviously chain restaurants didn't make things fresh for the most part. But, I never thought that individual restaurants did that... And I still have the optimistic view, or hope, that restaurants do serve up freshly made food...
One comment on the show really hit close to home. When Gordon had a bite of some really bad lobster ravioli in a restaurant in Long Island, he sent it back. He said it tasted like it was frozen. The waiter brought back the ravioli to the chef and told him what Chef Ramsay said. The chef said, 'Yeah, of course, it's from Restaurant Depot.' Now, I know about Restaurant Depot. My dad always talks about it because he goes there for kitchen supplies being a utensil hoarder, that of course is genetic; the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. When I asked him after seeing the show if they sell frozen food, he said, 'Yeah, that is where all restaurants get their food'. I was shocked! I mean, I'd like to believe that at least posh restaurants in Manhattan make their own food, but I have fully realized that everybody else is just buying already prepared food, heating it up, and serving it to customers. I don't know about you, but that pisses me off. My father is fully convinced that EVERY restaurant on the face of this Earth uses already prepared food. I think that's going a bit overboard, but I think it would surprise the majority of us how much food is really not made by our favorite restaurants.
Some un-fresh food for thought! :)
