[bluesy music]
- I'm in woodland park, new jersey.
I've heard that the restaurant I'm visiting
Is in real trouble.
- Anybody need another drink?
Everybody's good?
- Ok, well, I'll take that back.
- This family-run gastropub only
Opened six months ago and is already
In danger of shutting down.
- I'm steve.
- And I'm sandi.
- And we are the owners of bask46.
♪ ♪
Hey, how are you guys doing?
- We've been together 20--
- 25 years, 1998. - Yeah.
So we have three kids.
And for the past 20 years, steve managed
The other bars that we have.
- And we made money.
It was a great thing.
And we saved up.
- And now, 20 years later, here we are opening up bask46.
- The biggest restaurant we ever had.
- It was close to perfect as you
Can possibly get something.
Steve is a big personality.
He can be a lot of fun.
- [scatting] - [chuckles]
- But when he comes in and he sees something wrong--
- How's it taste?
- It's not great.
- --He takes it personal.
- Oh, my god, they didn't like anything.
We've been successful in other ventures that we had.
This business is taking us to the cleaners.
The steak, the french fries.
The pizza was too soggy.
I've maxed out my credit cards.
My investments are blown away.
I put over a million dollars into this place.
I don't want to go bankrupt.
I don't want to do that.
Look at the meat.
- I mean, it's a little pink.
Stop breaking my [bleep] balls.
- But I need you to step up.
- You shut up.
- My biggest problem is my chef in the kitchen, chef bobby.
[tense music]
I've known bobby for at least ten years.
He's friends with my family.
I hired him thinking he's going to take
The weight off my shoulders.
I think he hired more people in the kitchen
So he ain't got to work.
- That's it, if these fries ain't [bleep] crispy,
I'm going to kick your [bleep] ass today.
- Chef bobby is the kitchen nightmare.
- When you [bleep] kitchen, don't even talk.
I'm bobby.
Not only am I the chef, but I'm the "culinary gangster."
How you doin'?
I need a nacho. You got a nacho?
Let's go.
I'm not formally trained.
But I am from the school of hard knocks.
[bell dinging] take this food out.
[bleep] work faster.
- You want to hear what I have nightmares about?
[bell dinging]
The bell-- ding, ding, ding, ding all night long.
[bell dinging]
The usual.
- Dude, one of these is supposed to be shrimp.
I'm going to kick your [bleep] ass today.
I don't handle criticism well, but I certainly
Won't handle criticism from someone that don't know
What they're talking about.
- I found this in the garbage.
This is a waste. Who pays for it?
I pay for it.
- Steve cries about money no matter what.
I'm doing the best I can.
- You got to do better.
- You got to be [bleep] kidding me.
What I think needs to be fixed is outside this door,
Out of my kitchen.
So--
- I haven't seen my dad struggle, you know, this much.
He hasn't had a payroll this big before.
So he struggles with that.
I'm kind of worried about what's going to happen.
- I'm going upstairs.
Everything's at stake here.
I get so stressed looking at what's going
On that I just want to go to my so-called office--
In the attic.
- Yeah.
- There's been a lot of stress on steve and sandi.
I would say, knowing them both very well,
Steve is spinning out of control from all the stress.
It has affected his health.
- Steve ended up in the hospital in a diabetic coma.
He was unresponsive.
It was terrifying.
[dramatic music]
- I don't know what I'm doing wrong,
But everything's at stake here.
I have a family. I have three kids.
I put everything I have into here.
And I want to make everybody proud.
- If it doesn't change, it's going to kill him.
♪ ♪
- I'm going crazy.
Chef ramsay, help me.
Please, help me.
[dramatic music]
- This place is a death trap.
I can't help you if you can't help yourself.
Rot has set in.
Smell it! Shut it down!
[dramatic music]
- I'm in woodland park, new jersey.
And honestly, every 200 feet, there's another restaurant
In this neighborhood.
So in order to stand out, you've got to be special.
Now, at bask46, it's a family run restaurant
That clearly has issues.
And I'm about to find out why.
♪ ♪
- Hi. - Good morning.
How are you? - How are you?
- You good? Oh, it's great.
- Chef ramsay, here he is in my restaurant.
- Just one? - Thank you so much.
- Of course I want to impress him.
- All hands on deck.
Gordon ramsay's here.
If he doesn't love my food, then you know what?
He could kiss my ass.
- Contemporary.
Spacious.
There's a lot of potential here.
So no menus?
- No, just the qr code, yeah.
We don't have menus.
- Right, "this qr code does not exist."
- Oh.
Um, we could go to the bask website,
And it should show up.
- [chuckles] I'm here for lunch--
- I know.
- --Not an it meeting.
- [chuckles] I'm sorry, yeah.
- Thank you so much.
Not the best of starts.
What a nightmare.
- Ok, next up is a skirt steak, medium rare, filet mignon,
Medium rare.
- Watch the temperatures on them.
Every steak was messed up yesterday.
- Because you're aggravating the [bleep] out of me!
- A lot of shouting going on in the kitchen.
- I don't know if you realize I'm the one
With the [bleep] knife. - Stop the [bleep].
- Can we do our job?
- Yeah, then turn around and do it.
[jazzy music]
♪ ♪
- Hello, welcome to bask46.
- Thank you so much.
- My name is laurie, and I'll be taking care of you today.
- Tell me about bask46.
It's a husband and wife team, right?
Steve and sandi.
- Yin and yang.
I've known steve and sandi 18 years.
- Right. - Steve is intense.
Sandi is calm. She's my best friend.
- Right.
And how is steve and the chef's relationship?
- Awful. - Oh, wow.
- They don't always see eye to eye.
- No.
- They definitely need some help.
Do you want a water?
- Yes, please.
Let's go for the loaded baked mac and cheese, please.
That's made with a signature cheese sauce.
Is it good?
- It is good, yeah.
Everything is homemade.
- Right.
- Wings, what are the wings like?
- We have spicy barbecue.
We have the traditional buffalo.
- And all homemade sauces, right?
- Yes. - Yeah.
- Is that a cheesesteak egg roll?
- Cheesesteak egg roll. - Like a philly steak?
- Yeah, but more, like, ground up.
- Right. Let's go for that.
- Yeah.
- Let's do the tacos, as well.
- I'll put those in. - Ok, great.
Thank you. - You're welcome.
- Perfect, thank you.
- Look how much food guests are taking to go.
That is not a good sign in any restaurant.
Takeaway boxes mean the portion sizes are too big.
They're literally throwing food out of the door.
- All right, so I need a mac and cheese loaded.
That's for chef ramsay.
He's visiting our establishment.
Good [bleep] luck.
[bell dings]
- Here are the cheesesteak egg rolls.
- Oh, la, la. - Here you go.
- Thank you. - What the [bleep] that?
What's with the moldy antenna? What is that thing?
- Just decoration. - A decoration.
- Want me to take it? - Give that back to the chef.
- Ok.
- So loaded mac and cheese.
- Oh.
Oh, [bleep].
This is the wings.
Give all the antennas back to the chef.
- I will take it.
- Tell him to start saving [bleep] money.
- Hey, laur?
- Yeah?
- Who's telling you to put these back over here?
- Gordon ramsay.
He said don't use them.
- Ok.
Oh, I can't wait to meet him.
[chuckles]
Can't [bleep] wait.
[light music]
- That's terrible.
This country prides itself on a great mac and cheese.
If you got a loaded mac and cheese,
Then make it exceptional.
Onions are raw.
The flavor is terrible.
And they're saying it's a signature cheese sauce,
So it must be homemade.
But it tastes like someone's just got incredibly lazy.
So more signature sauces.
And these things are like a disaster.
- Can I take this stuff away now?
- Yes, thanks, darling.
These wings, way overcooked.
Are they all breaded in-house?
- I don't know how they're cut and prepared.
- They're completely different sizes, so that one's going
To cook way before that one.
But it feels like it's just all dumped in there.
- Bobby, this was returned from gordon.
Kind of questioned the size of the chicken,
How they're different sizes and they would
Cook at different speeds.
- I don't produce the chickens.
Really gonna talk about the [bleep] size of a wing?
- I'm just the messenger.
- He insulted me. I'm doing this 30 years.
You know, don't hide behind the dining room.
What am I going to do with this [bleep] thing?
Come to me and give me the review man to man.
- Now, cheesesteak egg roll, wow.
That's weird.
This chef back there is obsessed with these drizzles
Of this cheese sauce.
And the cheese sauce tastes processed.
It doesn't even taste fresh.
So not good.
- Tell him I hope he chokes on his [bleep] taco.
- Here are your tacos, gordon--
- Oh, thank you.
- --Garnished by chef bobby.
- Chef bobby, uh, [bleep].
- [chuckles] keep those.
- It's just so loaded.
Everything's just so heavy and greasy.
And you think of a taco, it's like a three-bite wonder,
And it's gone.
The size of those things. - Overwhelming.
- Way overwhelming.
- Ok.
Bobby, the tacos came back from gordon.
Too much in them.
They should be a three-bite wonder.
- Three-bite wonder?
- I think so.
- No one complains about the size of my tacos.
Obviously, he's probably got a small package,
And that upsets him.
So he wants to take it out on my tacos.
- He's saying it should be a three-bite wonder.
So what we're going to do is make it a three-bite wonder.
How's that?
This is for chef ramsay.
Thank you. - This is it?
This--it's everything?
- That's his, yes.
- All right, here we go, chicken tacos.
Said you wanted the three-bite wonder,
That's what I was told.
- Wow, who, uh-- is someone taking the [bleep]?
- I don't know.
This is the chef.
- You can take them back.
- Bob, he said just take them back.
He don't want them.
- He's sending [bleep] back and then giving these messages.
Well, here's my message. - Who's this for?
- Mr. Ramsay.
- Ok.
- Take it, and shove it up your [bleep].
- What is that thing?
- That would be bobby's business card.
- Bobby, uh--
- Fortunato, otherwise known as "culinary gangster."
- Right.
There's a spelling mistake.
Bobby "unfortunato."
- [chuckles] I'll point it out to him.
- Yeah, tell him.
- I will.
- I've never seen such a new restaurant in disarray
As much as this. There's no energy.
There's no excitement.
You can't even get a menu.
But the biggest problem starts behind that kitchen door.
- Bobby thought there might be a spelling mistake
On your business card--
Bobby "unfortunato."
- Gordon needs to understand if he gets in my face,
There could be a problem.
Seriously?
[bleep].
- [bleep].
- I'm at bask46 in new jersey.
I've tasted the food.
And now I want to meet the owners.
- How are you doing, sir? - Hey.
- How's everything? Steve. - Oh, steve. Gordon.
Good to meet you.
Hey, sandi. - Hi, how are you?
- Very well, thank you. How are you?
- Nice to meet you.
I just thought we'd catch up quickly.
First of all, when I came in, I couldn't even
Get hold of a menu.
- Because we haven't finalized our menu yet.
- The chef changes his mind every minute.
- This business is six months old.
How on earth did we find ourselves in this situation?
- We know how to do small size.
Small size, it's more manageable.
We took on a big project.
And it's just getting too far out.
- I thought we were getting to the next level doing this.
We have three kids at home, a daughter in college.
I-- I wasn't prepared for this.
I thought this was going to be a home run.
- So what are we losing per month?
- I think $15,000, $15,000 to $20,000.
- Oh, [bleep].
This business is hemorrhaging money from somewhere.
- Yes. Yes.
The kitchen's sucking me dry.
- I mean, how many staff have you got?
What's the head count?
- There's five on the line itself.
That's a lot-- four plus bobby.
- What does the exec chef cost a year?
What are you paying him a year?
- 100,000.
- Holy [bleep].
- Yeah.
- 100 grand.
- Yeah.
I'll go to my office upstairs and just
Sit there and just be like, "oh, my god, this is crazy."
- You can't dig your head in the sand
And walk away from it.
- I feel like it's out of my control.
I can't fire him.
I have too much time and money invested in him.
So what am I going to do?
I feel like I'm trapped now keeping bobby.
- What have you spent on the place?
- It's-- ugh--
- Too much.
- It's over a million dollars.
- Oh, my god.
- Yeah.
- We don't even get paid.
- What does bobby hold?
How much power does he have in that kitchen?
Who purchases? Who--
- He does. - He does all the purchasing.
- He does all that? - Yeah.
- Steve, you're pouring money in,
But no one's tracking where that money is going.
It sounds like you're putting a lot of trust in the wrong guy.
Sandi, you're open seven days a week or six days a week?
- Seven. - [bleep].
- I miss being able to just go and be with my kids
And spending time with my kids.
So it's a little tough.
- There's some real basic flaws here.
- I've fallen off, I know I have.
- We've just [bleep] opened.
[dramatic music]
Right, let's have a chat at the back.
I need to meet the chef and senior staff
Of this restaurant--
So you're the manager? - Yeah.
- --To find out what's going on.
- Bobby, we need you.
- Gordon nit-picked everything that I sent him.
That's my food.
You're [bleep] with the "culinary gangster."
Be careful how you approach me.
♪ ♪
- Ah, the gangster.
Ok, I-- I don't know where to start.
But just on the arrival, the qr code.
The poor kids at the reception explained
To me that the qr code doesn't work, has never worked.
Go to the website.
It's embarrassing.
Let's talk about the food.
You're the executive chef, right?
- I am.
- So why were you [bleep] round with me with the tacos?
- You ordered them.
- You cut one up and sent it back out to me
Like a smart-ass having a joke.
And you just throw so much [bleep] on there,
Because you're charging a fortune for them.
How many customers walked out with boxes, laurie?
- A majority of our customers.
- Every customer today.
- Yes.
- Has anyone ever sat down and thought about portion size?
People are taking away more food than they're eating.
♪ ♪
So I'm told that everything's homemade.
Everything's got authenticity.
The mac and cheese was loaded with cheese sauce.
- Right.
- That's your special sauce, your signature.
Do you buy the cheese sauce in?
♪ ♪
- Well, it's maybe partially homemade.
You can't--
- Partially.
- I add to it.
I mix it with cheez whiz.
♪ ♪
- So your speciality is bought-in cheese sauce
And then you add cheez whiz?
- Yes.
- Are you joking with me right now?
- No.
- I run 75 restaurants across the globe.
No one buys in a cheese sauce.
Now, I want to see how the business functions.
What's your labor cost?
What's your food margins?
- I don't know.
- Executive chef, you have no idea?
- I've asked for information so I can put it all together.
- Who'd you ask the information off?
- Ownership.
- Well, this is ridiculous.
We're spiraling out of control.
We're losing money hand over fist.
And yet no one wants to be accountable
For their own actions.
As owners, you need to take responsibility.
The chef needs to be accountable for what
He's cooking.
But the owners also need to set and raise the bar.
They're just blaming each other and all fumbling around,
But no one being honest.
- I requested those numbers, and I
Haven't received them yet.
So I don't know where I can make the adjustments.
- Don't shy away from responsibility.
- If someone gave me a free reign of a menu,
I'd make sure my purchases and my labor, everything's
On point.
It's a chef's dream.
- But it isn't my restaurant.
I do what he asks for.
- Don't throw this on me, the whole thing on me.
That's why I hired you.
You said you can come in and do this whole thing.
- And I made the menu.
- You did whatever you wanted. - Right.
- Yeah, so what are you talking about?
Why is it my fault?
- You sat over here crying the blues how you're [bleep]
A million dollars in debt.
- He just said it's a chef's dream.
Is that your dream, to make me bankrupt?
- This restaurant's called bask46.
And the only thing we're basking in
Is a restaurant full of [bleep].
♪ ♪
This is a new restaurant.
There's a million dollars been sunk
Into these tables and chairs.
So get your team ready for dinner service.
And just show me how this place functions.
♪ ♪
[rock music]
- I've come to new jersey to visit bask46.
I've met the team.
Now I want to see the restaurant in action.
- Let's do it the way we always do it.
I'm taking the shirt off.
I'm getting dirty.
I'm the [bleep] "culinary gangster."
- Hi, how are you?
Two people?
- Here we go, first table.
- This is gordon ramsay.
I want to make him happy tonight.
So I'm hoping for the best.
- So we don't have menus right now.
So if you just go on the bask website--
- With customers arriving for dinner,
It's my chance to see what the problems are.
- Order up.
- Garlic filet.
- What have we done with the qr codes?
- They're still not working.
So we're redirecting again to the website.
- [bleep] hell.
- Ok, let's go, ready.
One nacho.
I need that medium burger right now.
One wing.
[bell dings]
- Oh, boy.
Hi, guys. Good evening.
I just want to see how we function here.
- No problem. All right, let's go.
Cheeseburger, medium rare, american.
Filet mignon, medium well.
Sautéed asparagus.
[bell dings]
Order up, one nacho.
- The cheese sauce is disgusting.
What a [bleep] show.
- Is there a problem with the nachos?
- They're pretty soggy underneath.
- I can definitely take the plate
Back and relay it to the chef.
Bobby, a customer made a suggestion.
It's a little soggy.
- Tell them to open their own [bleep] restaurant.
- Bobby thinks his food is great.
And he doesn't take criticism lightly.
- Don't you have something to do?
- I'm watching you. I'm watching you waste my food.
- You're aggravating the [bleep] out of us.
- It's frustrating, embarrassing, everything.
- I'll try a bread.
- Hello, how are we?
How is the world tour?
- We got a raw potato in it.
- A raw potato?
That should not be in there.
It smells.
- Please, it's rotten.
- Thank you. - Sorry about that.
My apologies. - Thank you.
♪ ♪
- Bobby, can we get a fresh world tour?
- Why?
- There was an unidentified object in it.
- Tell her to identify my nuts.
- How are you guys making out?
- Are you [bleep] kidding me?
Dude, it's bleeding.
It's still mooing.
That's ridiculous.
- Yeah, you're right.
[bleep] fix it.
- Bobby and steve just shout and scream at each other.
And yelling in front of your team
Like that, that's not getting them anywhere.
Steve is not managing his staff.
His staff are managing him.
I've never seen anything like it.
- We're trying to work things out.
- Is his attitude always like that?
- Yes, I've been dealing with this for a while.
- I don't know what to say.
There's no coordination.
It's just one man running around like a pig in [bleep].
Can I see you upstairs in the office for two minutes?
Yeah?
- I'm stressed out enough as it is.
I want things to be perfect.
I need--I need to calm down.
- What the [bleep] is this I'm going...
Is this it?
This is the office?
- This is it.
- You go up the ladder?
- This is what we have to work with.
- This office up here represents
The entire restaurant underneath it.
It's a mess. What is this with bobby?
He's earning more money than you
And your wife put together. - Yes, he is.
- 100 grand.
- And that kills me.
[bell dings]
- The salary for an exec chef in this area--
- Uh-huh?
- 70 grand, tops.
But he's not even delivering 50%
Of what you're paying him for.
You're in for a million-plus setting this thing up.
What have you got tucked away in reserve?
- I got nothing tucked away.
[bleep].
- The problems are obvious, and you need to start facing them,
Because you're failing your family,
And you're failing yourself.
Why is sandi in here so much?
- She's been staying home for the last 20 years.
So now this place opened and she wanted to be part of it.
But now she's working 60 hours a week.
I get upset at that because I feel bad for my kids.
We do need to find time with our family.
So I'm trying to figure this all out.
And I think we need to figure them out
Sooner than later because I think it's going
To snowball and get worse.
- Let me ask you this.
If you walked into somebody else's restaurant
That functions like this, what's the first thing
You'd tell them?
- Get rid of your chef.
Get rid of him.
He's the one draining you.
- So you've got two choices.
We get this guy on our side, or you get rid of him.
Take some time and think about that.
Understood?
- Understood.
- Thank you.
Watch your head.
- Got to get out of here.
An office, my ass.
It's an attic.
- I just can't keep living like this.
It's just-- I want to be happy, and it's-- it's not
Working out.
And I want it.
I want it to work out because this isn't me.
♪ ♪
- Steve needs to get his head out of his ass.
And bobby needs to commit.
If bobby can't commit, $100,000-a-year salary,
He needs to go.
- Oh-- oh, the bugger.
- Uh, bobby, what are these?
- Those are chicken fingers.
- You don't wrap them? They just stay there?
- They stay like that, yes.
- It's a bit disorganized in here, huh?
- You know, I mean, that's just-- you know?
- [bleep]. What's that?
- Those are the wings.
- But, I mean, you cook them from frozen?
- If we're busy and we have to cook them from frozen, we do.
Ice cream.
Oh, [bleep] sake.
Come on.
- That's the first time that it's ever happened.
- [bleep].
Look at the [bleep] volume in here.
[bleep] that.
[bleep].
What the [bleep] is going on here?
[bleep].
What the hell?
What is it in that bag?
Steve.
- Yeah?
- Look at this.
Just smell that slime down there.
- I don't want to smell it.
- I cannot believe this.
This is where your money's going, right here.
- Things are just starting to go bad.
I didn't even want to watch what was going on.
- Hey, bobby!
Come here!
- I'm being called.
Really? I'm swamped.
I want to throw one of my knives at him.
- When was the last time everything came out
And this thing was cleaned?
- I clean the floor.
- Have you seen these?
Come here. Come here.
- Those are fresh wings.
They just came in.
- They can't be fresh.
It's [bleep] slimy.
The minute it comes in, you take them
Out of the [bleep] plastic.
- I wasn't aware of that. - You get them drained.
- That's something I didn't know then.
- This is your [bleep] kitchen!
This does not make sense!
24 packets of [bleep] avocado,
And a whole box going [bleep] rotten.
- I don't have the staff to do all this work.
- Oh, come on, bobby.
There's five people behind the [bleep] line.
Come on, steve.
[bleep] hell.
- What the [bleep] else is he going to find in there?
- Thousands of dollars of inventory here!
Thousands!
This place is [bleep]!
When was the last time this was empty?
- Probably four to six days ago.
- Four to six days ago.
You [bleep] served me that.
- God.
[bleep].
- You're supposed to be the executive chef.
First of all, there's [bleep] executive in the way
You conduct a kitchen.
I wouldn't pay you 50 grand a year, let alone 100.
And you wonder why you're wasting so much money.
There's thousands-- thousands of dollars
Of [bleep] inventory [bleep] through our hands.
Shut the [bleep] line down now.
♪ ♪
And get the guests out of here.
Their night is over.
Shut it down!
- Get them all out. Everyone's got to go.
Close their checks.
Get them out.
- At bask46 in new jersey--
- He's kicking everybody out.
- --Whoa.
- --I've had to shut down the restaurant
Due to the kitchen's lack of hygiene standards.
The [bleep] is that thing?
- Guys, I'm sorry, everyone's got to go.
- Aw!
- Everyone's got to go.
- I wasn't expecting gordon to rip apart
The walk-in box like he did.
And yeah, it killed me, you know?
I'm still, uh, trying to keep my composure right now.
[tense music]
- Guys, that was rough.
- I knew what to expect when chef gordon came here.
I just didn't expect all that he found wrong.
♪ ♪
- Guys, turn around, please.
Let's just get real, shall we, just for--
Just for two minutes.
Tonight was a mess.
I came in here to turn this business around.
But if anybody has a problem with that,
The door's there.
♪ ♪
I can't start to help you guys if you're not
Prepared to help yourselves.
And, steve, it begins with you.
You can't run upstairs, disappearing into the attic
Whenever there's a problem.
You need to own it.
You need to be front and center.
Bobby, the most expensive member of staff in here,
You need to bring it.
And you need to be the example for the other guys.
It's been a free-for-all.
It's time to put pen to paper
And set up systems of structure.
And the standards go up to the next level.
I want a show of hands who's in.
And if that hand is not up,
Then just get the [bleep] out of here.
[dramatic music]
♪ ♪
Hands up who's staying.
♪ ♪
I'm going to devise a new menu.
I'm going to spruce up the place.
I want a new attitude.
And I want everyone on the same page.
Fall back in love with what we're doing.
Get this place cleaned up, and then get some sleep,
Because you're going to need it.
I need you for 30 seconds outside.
♪ ♪
I need you to stop [bleep] around.
I need you on it like never before.
- Heard. - We're in the [bleep].
Now, we may be down, but we're not [bleep] out.
And there's one thing you need to do.
You need [bleep] apologize to steve.
- Will do. - Got it?
- Got it.
- It's not me paying the bills.
But if I was, your ass would be out of here.
And I tell you that because you're the one
Who has to do the rethinking.
And I swear to god, you come back a [bleep] new man.
You're taking the [bleep] out of him.
And you're not giving your all.
Is that clear?
- Clear.
Thank you, chef.
I'm not going to fail, fall, falter.
It's going to make me stronger.
And I'm going to fight as hard as I can.
♪ ♪
- I'm embarrassed.
I didn't think I would be this embarrassed,
But I'm embarrassed.
♪ ♪
[somber music]
♪ ♪
- What?
- I apologize.
And I'm willing to, uh, do what it takes to rebound from that.
♪ ♪
- And this is my life, dude.
- Mm-hmm.
- So this is an opportunity.
And we got to step up and do this thing, ok?
- Mm-hmm.
- Can we get this going?
- I got your back.
You got my word.
- All right, I'm going to take it in, all right?
I'm going to take it in.
This is going to be a good thing, ok?
- Yeah.
- Bobby got it handed to him, and he needed it.
He needs a wake-up call, and I think he got it tonight.
All right? Ok.
All right, I'll see you later.
- Yeah. - All right.
- I wasn't predicting all this to happen and to go this way,
You know?
Tomorrow is a new day.
You know, I'm the jersey version of rocky balboa.
I'm willing to go one more round.
[dramatic music]
- Last night, I closed bask46 and called out chef bobby.
Now, while my team renovate the restaurant,
I've decided to visit steve and sandi
At home to face the hard facts about their situation.
I thought I'd just come in and catch
Up with you both, especially on the back of last night.
What a beautiful spot, by the way.
How are you feeling this morning?
- Sad and frustrated that all that was going on
And we weren't aware.
It was upsetting.
- That negativity is pulling you down.
You don't really want to be there, do you?
- Not that much, no.
- We need to separate the family from the business,
Because the business is bringing the family down.
It's not healthy.
You know that.
- I do.
I did this for my family, the house, the things
We have here in the yard.
And I don't get to spend time much anymore with the
Family here, and I bring home, you know--
To vent to her about what's happening at the restaurant.
I don't want to do that.
- You've built a beautiful restaurant.
- Thank you.
- But it's dysfunctional.
You've got an overpaid chef that
Has let you down incredibly.
And he needs to fight for his role now.
He needs to show you that he's worth 100 grand.
If this business goes down,
You've got a million dollars at stake,
The family home up for grabs, and that's it.
- Ok.
- You need to know every corner of your business.
- Yes.
- You need to know everything that they spend.
You need to be a boss.
- I guess it's a wake-up call for me to start
Be more on top of my business.
- Now, I'll see you back at the restaurant.
I've got a couple of things I'd like to show you
Both-- new additions that will really
Transform your business.
Tonight we're relaunching.
I need you to show confidence.
- And I'm ready. I'm ready to go.
You got me a little excited now.
- It's nice to see you smiling.
- Thank you. [chuckles]
- I know that I have to make changes.
I'm going to make the bad things good.
I have to step up and be a boss.
♪ ♪
[upbeat music]
- Back at the restaurant, my team have finished
Renovating both inside--
♪ ♪
And out.
♪ ♪
- Oh, my goodness.
- Hey, sandi. - Hi!
- You good, darling?
- I'm very good, thank you. - Good.
Stevie, come over.
- What did you do here?
- Well, first of all, nice to see you both.
- [chuckles]
- Funny you're both smiling.
It makes me happy, let me tell you.
Listen, first impressions are crucial, right?
When I first came here, I almost walked by the place.
We've livened up this patio, making an area for guests
To eat that will also attract customers passing by.
- It's beautiful.
This is awesome.
- Let me show you some more surprises inside.
Ready? - Let's go.
We're ready.
- Come on. Please, come on in.
♪ ♪
- What is this? [chuckles]
- This is tonight's menu we're going to relaunch with.
Yes, it's small.
But it's dynamic.
- It looks phenomenal.
It's beautiful.
- And boom, there's the brand-new menu,
All laid out on the table.
The food is unbelievable.
- Where's bobby?
Bobby?
Speed up a bit.
Come on, you're not that [bleep] old.
- [chuckles]
- Right.
First of all, when I first arrived,
I didn't even get a menu.
It was a disaster, ok?
Let me just go through this menu quickly,
And I'll give you an insight.
Before, you had huge portions and were buying in things that
Should be homemade, wasting money on stock,
And customers taking away overloaded portions.
Now, do you know what I see?
Proper portion control because smaller portions will mean
Less waste and more profit.
So delicious wings, straightforward, simple,
Beautifully marinated.
Sliders-- great little idea for sharing.
Mac and cheese done one way, the correct way.
And the tacos.
But look, they're not overloaded--
Clean, simple appetizer.
The bookings for tonight have gone through the roof.
There's over 75 guests, including vips.
So the heat's on.
I'm not [bleep] around.
Bobby, you'll never send another person
Your ridiculous business card ever again.
Just send them some good food.
Is that clear?
- Yes, chef.
- Thank you very much. - All right, dig in.
Get familiar with it.
Let's get this thing rolling, yes?
- Yes.
- That is so good.
I can't.
- The burger is delicious.
- It's, like, crunchy, has all the texture.
- I'm smiling.
I'm a little happy tonight.
I'm getting ready now.
We got about another half hour.
And we're ready to serve some dinner.
- I think these are my favorite.
- Feeling good.
Feeling good.
- Steve, I said to you I was nervous about the level
Of family involved in this business now.
We need to sort of keep this separate.
I personally think that sandi should take the night off
And spend the night with the kids
That she's always wanted to do.
- I think I can do this.
♪ ♪
Well, listen, take the night off.
Go home with the kids, ok?
- I will.
- Do your thing.
- It's so nice that I'm going to be going home and spending
Some time with my kids.
I do like being here with the hustle and bustle,
Just not six days a week.
[cheers and applause]
- So go home and do your thing, ok?
Bye, enjoy. - Bye, everybody!
- Bye!
- Bye, sandi!
[upbeat music]
- There we go.
- It's time to reopen the doors of bask46--
First two tables are sat. - Let's do it.
- --And show the new and improved
Menu to our illustrious guest list--
- Hello, mayors.
[together] how are you?
- Welcome, everyone, to bask46.
- --Which includes local pillars of the community--
The mayor's just arrived, as well, yes?
- This looks great.
- --And the women's national soccer team.
- Ladies, how we doing?
- It's going to be great.
This is going to be a great relaunch.
It's going to put bask46 as the new destination
Place in jersey.
- Get rid of those first nerves early.
Make the mistakes, just don't send them.
- Thank you, chef.
- Every dish that's going to walk out of here
Tonight, I promise you, is going to be mastered.
And there's not going to be an unhappy soul in this place.
- First order on.
Call it out, please. Let's go.
- All right, we got blackened shrimp taco.
- Nice.
Good.
Order up, one wing, one sliders,
One blackened shrimp taco.
- Great.
- Those tacos look great.
- Thank you.
- The way this kitchen is functioning is night and day.
- Thank you.
- Early start, but keep it going, please, yes?
- Yes, chef.
- Ok.
Wow, great atmosphere, honestly.
The buzz in here is off the charts.
And more importantly, customers are loving the food.
- The customers seem to love the new menu tonight.
Bobby, you need me?
- We got an order of wings. Let's go.
Thank you.
- And it might be the first time
I walked into that kitchen not feeling like I was
Going to get my head torn off.
- We got a brick chicken.
We got the two ribeyes.
We got a shrimp taco working and an order of sliders.
Ok, I got a big order here-- six shrimp tacos all day,
All right?
- Six--
- Seven.
Seven all day.
Ah, [bleep] my life.
Slammed right now.
[bleep] me.
And I just-- you don't understand.
It's just a lot.
Rapido, rapido, rapido.
I'm doing everything I can.
- Bobby? - Yes, chef?
- I've been standing here for the last two minutes.
It's just-- there's nothing going on here.
- Did you guys get your food?
- No, not yet.
- Bobby, he got a little flustered.
And there was more than one hiccup.
There was more than two hiccups.
There was a lot.
And I don't want to let down gordon.
I don't want to let him down.
Bear with us, please. - Another order.
Come on, man.
Really?
We're so [bleep] behind, it's crazy.
- What are you waiting for?
- Really?
11!
11 steaks all day.
[bleep].
- Middle of dinner service.
Honestly, we had a good start.
The problem now, the wheels are falling off.
And bobby's reverting back to his old ways,
Banging food out.
And sadly, he's not communicating.
He's just shut down.
- Get this food out of my kitchen.
- What do you think?
How are the wings?
- I don't think the wing's good.
- We'll check it out.
- Sure. - Thank you.
- Bobby, one second.
Just check this out.
Is this ok?
- Show me them.
They're pink.
They're bloody.
For [bleep] sake.
- I'm just so [bleep] done.
I'm, like, literally this close of [bleep]
Throwing in the towel.
- [bleep] hell.
Raw [bleep] chicken.
- At bask46, it's opening night with the new menu.
- I'm going to get the ribeye.
♪ ♪
But in the kitchen, chef bobby is having problems.
- Chipotle chicken tacos.
I didn't even see that.
Let's go with that now.
We got to go with that.
- Bobby, just draw a breath.
We're rushing, and then now we're
Starting to lose control.
We'll get faster as we get set.
Don't go fast too soon.
Let's go, bobby.
- I'm the captain of this ship.
And I promise you, I haven't given up yet.
Ok, next up, we got a fried chicken sandwich.
Good, go.
- We got this. - I got this.
- You got this.
- I'm picking up the slack. I got this.
- You got this. - Order up.
I got one wing, one sliders, one blackened shrimp taco.
- Let's do it.
- You got the wings, right?
There's your ticket, go.
Good, good, good.
[upbeat music]
- That was good?
- Bobby, how are you feeling?
- I feel ok.
- Let's talk about the positives.
We got in the weeds.
- I did.
- But we got back on track.
I mean, you did something tonight that I
Never expected you to do.
You held on.
- It was a little stressful, but I think
I hopefully made it happen.
- They loved the food.
- Yes, chef.
I did the best I could.
- But you're on the clock, you know that?
- Yes, chef.
- You need to prove you're worth your salary.
Can you do it?
- I can do it.
- Tough week.
- Very.
- Thanks for hanging in there.
- My pleasure. Thank you, chef.
- Good night. - Good night.
- And get rid of those [bleep] business cards.
- [laughs]
- Steve?
What a night. What a night.
Customers loving the food.
Small, powerful menu, combined with a great atmosphere.
The place is buzzing.
By and large, tonight was a success.
And asking your dear wife to take time out tonight
And spend time with the kids was one of the smartest
Moves you've made. You know that?
- I'm glad she wasn't here, yeah.
- I want you to succeed. - Thank you.
- You got a lot riding on this place.
The restaurant is beautiful.
The problem is, the engine room is not functioning.
You need to give him a 30-day window in order
To prove himself, a, he should be paid 100 grand a year
And, more importantly, he holds the title of your head chef
In this business.
- Ok.
- I'm leaving you an infrastructure
To get this thing right.
A million-plus sunk into this place, it's got to work.
- Thank you.
- I wish you the very best.
- Thank you.
Thank you.
- Good night, and good luck.
- Thank you.
I have a big decision to make--
30 days, talk to bobby.
If he's not on track, he's going to have to go.
- I need mac and cheese.
You have mac and cheese?
- Bask46 is going to be a successful business.
And I got this.
- Honestly, what a night.
When I first arrived at bask46,
It was a complete mess outside.
I discovered a dysfunctional chef
That was overpaid and seriously under-delivering
And on top of that an owner that
Really had lost his passion.
Now that we've given them a system
To succeed, my only worry is, if they slip back in
To their old, disgusting habits, I promise you,
They'll never be basking in glory.
[sighs] gangster chef, my ass.
♪ ♪
Two months later--
- Bye, everybody.
- --Sandi has taken some much-deserved
Time off from the restaurant.
- I'm going for a cigarette.
- Steve says that bobby, the "culinary gangster,"
Never showed up for work the next day,
And according to his social media,
Has retired from the restaurant industry.
However, steve and bask46 are now
Thriving with new systems, a new menu, and the kitchen
Running smoothly.
Next time on "kitchen nightmares"--
This place looks bleak.
- Inside is very dark.
It's gloomy.
It looks like a high school cafeteria.
- You found a hair on the cheese?
- Yeah.
- We're going to get [bleep] shut down.
- I know we're a little bit in debt,
But I don't really how much.
- A quarter of a million dollars.
- Oh, my god.
- [bleep], man.
You don't know you're ass from your elbow.
What happened?
- I cut my-- my finger.
- It's like you don't understand.
You're not listening. - I don't understand?
- You're not listening!
- You're [bleep] deluded!
Do you think I'm lying?
- Well-- - or are you going to listen?