Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares

I enjoy Gordon Ramsay's Hell's Kitchen. Thursdays on FOX. But not quite as much as Bravo's Top Chef. The Chef's on Top Chef are mostly all high caliber. On Hell's Kitchen a lot of the supposed chefs seemed to have been picked for entertainment value.

Gordon Ramsay has another show on FOX that is now in its second season, that being Kitchen Nightmares. The Kitchen Nightmares are so nightmarish that I'm now a bit queasy about restaurant eating.

I look for signs of danger. One thing I've learned from Kitchen Nightmares is if you can spot signs of neglect totally visible, like broken signs, dying plants, walls in need of paint, signs of a roof leak, structural damage, messy restrooms, well, if the restaurant cares so little about what the customer can see the chances are the hidden stuff, like the kitchen, is a disgusting, unsanitary, dangerous mess.

A restaurant in trouble contacts Kitchen Nightmares. If they are deemed worthy of helping, Chef Ramsay shows up, orders a few things off the menu, gags, inspects the kitchen, is appalled, watches a dinner service, is even more appalled. He then figures out what needs to be fixed, has a talk with the problem people, gets mad a lot, spewing a lot of bleeped profanity.

Sometimes what Ramsay finds in the kitchen is so shockingly bad that he shuts down the restaurant, telling people to stop eating, that the food is dangerous. The last time I saw him do this he put up "crime scene" tape to block off the kitchen. That was amusing.

After a lot of drama, overnight, Ramsay's team transforms the restaurant and comes up with a new menu. The next morning the restaurant owners and crew are in shock at the changes. Usually they are happy. They learn the new menu. A Ramsey-planned event, like a Farmer's Market, whips up enthusiasm so people will want to try out the new and improved restaurant.

The dinner service in the new and improved restaurant starts off rough. And then it all comes together, usually, and we get a happy ending, usually. Most times the owners are very grateful. Every once in awhile they are clueless ungrateful jerks.

It's a very entertaining and sometimes sort of educational show. Kitchen Nightmares is one of Durango TV's favorites.