The Quad

Issue date: 9/24/07 Section: Entertainment

Gordon Ramsey has become a well-known celebrity chef here in America. Imported from the United Kingdom (he is Scottish by descent), Chef Ramsey made his first appearance on American television in May 2005, when his show "Hell's Kitchen" premiered on the Fox network. The show is a rather interesting cooking reality show. Somewhat similar to the Food Network's "Iron Chef America," "Hell's Kitchen" pits chefs against one another in a no-holds-bar competition for the final prize of being head chef at a multi-million dollar restaurant in Las Vegas.

"Hell's Kitchen" has proven extremely popular in America; however, it may not be for the boot-camp style of competition that takes place, but more for Ramsey's pugnacious disposition. His short temper and interesting combinations of profane words have helped to make "Chef Ramsey" a household name.

Since Ramsey's popularity seems to be well established, Fox thought it necessary to import another of his British television shows to America. "Kitchen Nightmares" is very different from "Hell's Kitchen" in that Ramsey does not employ the boot-camp approach that is synonymous with the latter show. Part of Ramsey's appeal is that he is very much a drill sergeant for aspiring chefs; in "Kitchen Nightmares," he takes a much more subtle approach. While still demeaning at points and using an extreme amount of foul language, Ramsey is somewhat more endearing in "Kitchen Nightmares," most likely because he becomes much more invested in these endeavors. In the end, this show is less entertaining than "Hell's Kitchen," but still a high-quality cooking reality show.

The premise behind "Kitchen Nightmares" is pretty straightforward. Throughout the season, Ramsey will travel to various cities and towns throughout the country in an attempt to take once prominent restaurants in their respective areas and attempt to revitalize them. In doing this, Ramsey will perform various tasks such as reformatting the menu, changing the style of the restaurant, refurbishing the kitchen and even ordering management to fire members of the staff whom he deems detrimental to the restaurants survival. It is very intriguing to see how these once dive restaurants become high-class establishments. Ramsey shows that any restaurant can be brought back from the brink of death with some care.

In the first episode, Ramsey tries to revitalize Peter's Italian Restaurant in Babylon, N.Y. What he finds when he first arrives is sub-par cooking, rotten food in the walk-in refrigerator, a leaking ceiling and a kitchen with only one working oven. Ramsey must also deal with the continuous arguing of the family.

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