It's been a year
since Chef Ramsay crisscrossed the country
trying to save restaurants in trouble.
Get it together, Marcelo.
I want the nightmare to be over.
They may have asked for his help,
But that didn't stop them from fighting with Gordon...
Adele, what do you think?
- I don't like it. - And each other...
Control. Listen, I can't control everything!
Every step of the way.
I need your smile. I'll be right out.
Now, one year later,
Chef Ramsay is back asking the tough questions.
Do you still hate me?
Is business going well?
Is there any possibility that you may get back together?
Get ready for a night of surprises...
Oh.
As Chef Ramsay finds out
What happened to... Disgusting.
The restaurants he tried to save.
First we'll return to Mojito's in Brooklyn...
Do it, do it, do it now!
Owned by a former couple who were at war with each other.
Mojito's destroy our lives.
And we'll check in on the Junction,
formerly known as Flamangos, in rural New Jersey.
We know!
Shut your mouth already!
Run by a stubborn owner
completely resistant to change.
I hate him. You hate him?
How can you be positive about something you hate?
And lastly, we'll get updated
on Bazzini's in Ridgewood, New Jersey.
This is where Paul, the owner, fought with his staff...
Why do you have to make it so difficult for?
What the you want from me?
And did little to impress Chef Ramsay.
Whether you like it or not, you have given up.
Tonight we will see it all.
Kata!
Who is living the dream,
and who turned their kitchen back into a nightmare?
Oh, come on.
Do you think I'm gonna change now?
Last year, my team and I worked tirelessly
across the country turning restaurants around.
Tonight we'll let you in on how they're doing.
Before that, let's take a look back
at what happened when I first arrived at Mojito.
Brooklyn is a hip, trendy,
diverse borough of New York.
It's the perfect place for a Cuban restaurant,
unless that restaurant happens to be called Mojito...
Run by a divorced couple at war with each other.
Get the rice. You're right there. Yes, we are on it.
Marcelo, why don't you listen to me?
Kata runs the front of the restaurant.
Marcelo runs the kitchen.
Kata!
But they spend most
of their time running their mouths.
Let me finish my way in my way.
Do it, do it, do it now!
What a mess.
Seven years in the business
and all they have to show for it
was a failed marriage and a huge mountain of debt.
Zero.
Mojito's destroy our lives.
Sorry.
When I first walked in,
I knew straightaway I had my work cut out.
Real interesting decor, yeah.
It's almost like a sort of garage sale
gone wrong.
The toxic relationship between Kata and Marcelo...
Thank you very much.
Poisoned everything at Mojito, even the food.
These are so salty.
You'd need six mojitos
before you start eating six spoons of that.
You're right.
They're disgusting.
Excuse me. Let me take this back.
Marcelo, the beans-- salty as hell.
Throw it out!
Get it together, Marcelo. Control!
Listen, I can't control everything!
Take a spoon, and you taste everything.
I'm gonna taste, but listen--
No, they're salty. throw them out.
Exchange them for new ones.
Instead of arguing, do it, do it, do it.
Bitch.
Let me just tell you something-- lunch was a disaster.
I could hear a lot of shouting. Is that normal?
That's all we hear every day...
Every single day.
Kata's always pushing me. Checking your performance.
You're not my boss.
Maybe they were really nervous.
So when I came back for dinner service...
Hi. How are you? I kept an open mind.
Unfortunately, things were no different.
It actually got worse.
Who made this? You guys should know better.
How can you allow food to come out like that nasty?
Negative. Negative.
It was, like, soggy. No, not crispy.
It was soggy. It's supposed to be nicer.
Honestly, after all that fighting,
I was getting a headache.
So I decided to go downstairs
and take a good look around in storage.
What I found was absolutely shocking.
That is what you call dry chicken.
There must be thousands and thousands of dollars' worth
of food here.
After the last unhappy customer left...
We'll never come here again.
I then decided to call a meeting
and really give them a big wake-up call.
I've never seen
such waste in my entire life.
There's seven of these...
Down there.
Seven.
This is rapidly shutting down
the restaurant.
Mojito was a mess,
and nothing was gonna change until Kata
and Marcelo really put their differences aside.
The next morning, I pulled them each aside
to have a real heart-to-heart with them.
The restaurant's suffering on the back
of both of you constantly hurting each other.
And it's so sad.
It's embarrassing.
Do you think it's time that one of you
says good-bye to the business?
I think it would be very healthy.
How important is the business for you?
It's everything for me.
The person that I was married to,
that person doesn't exist anymore.
He's gone.
And I have to move on.
So I'm taking it on my business,
because that's all I have left.
Whatever it takes, I'll go to the end
until I feel there is nothing else
that I can do.
I'm committed. Okay.
Thank you. Come here.
Stand strong.
Finally there was hope for the future.
With that in mind, my team and I spent all night
renovating Mojito's.
Welcome to Mojito's. The new Mojito's, yes?
Doesn't it feel twice as big?
Hello, Cuba.
This is amazing.
First thing that's gone missing
are the 500 bottles
that were stopping all that natural light.
Oh, that's beautiful. Take a look
at where your bottles have gone.
Kata, what do you think?
This is amazing.
Today is the beginning
of a new chapter inside Mojito's.
Come here. Thank you.
You little firecracker.
Then I unveiled
the new menu.
Look at the difference in the portion size.
It's a lot less, but, visually, it's beautiful.
For relaunch night, Kata and Marcelo decided
to work the front of the house together...
Follow me this way, guys.
And leave the kitchen to Eduardo.
Are you convinced you can do it? Yeah.
Cuban sandwich, okay.
What came back? This plate because
they order a Cuban sandwich.
Not the pork? Not the pork.
Look at me now.
You've got to call out the orders.
Eduardo was getting flustered.
Orders were coming back to the kitchen.
Guys, F5 is missing a Cuban.
Bloody hell.
The new Mojito was starting to look a lot like the old one.
Then Marcelo...
I have to do something.
Jumped straight back into the kitchen and took charge.
We concentrating now.
Pescado marinero, ropa vieja,
arroz con pollo, white meat only,
churrasco pork.
Brilliant. Thank you.
My buddy.
Kata and me are working together well again.
How is everything here? Delicious.
They loved everything.
Yeah, baby. Yeah.
Tonight wasn't perfect.
But I did see one thing
that I haven't witnessed,
and that was teamwork.
Well done.
It feels great to see Marcelo smile.
It just...
Sort of right in my heart.
I need you to continue.
You are the half of that.
I'm gonna do everything that it takes
to make it work.
You guys work well together.
Tonight proved that.
Don't stop. You'd be mad to.
Come here, my darling.
Ay yi yi.
Great scene.
I'm back at Mojito
in Brooklyn, New York City.
Now, if you came here last year,
you would be served dreadful food by bickering owners.
We made a lot of changes
and brought the owners finally together.
I'm just hoping it paid off.
We're about to find out.
Up next...
Have the ex-lovers patched up their differences...
Is she treating you like a partner,
not like you're her bitch?
Or are they driving Mojito's back into bankruptcy?
I don't care.
Then Flamangos was Chef Ramsay's toughest assignment.
- That's not cooking. - That's dog.
Remember the outbursts...
Shut your mouth already!
The fire?
How can you be positive about something you hate?
Hate, hate.
Now get ready for round two
of Gordon versus Adele.
Oh, my God!
It's the rematch,
Coming up on...
Mojito, a Cuban restaurant in Brooklyn,
was run by a former couple
who seemed more interested in feuding...
Listen, I can't control everything!
Than the restaurant.
Go out here. I'm not going out.
Go out here. Go out of my kitchen now.
It was a big challenge,
but Chef Ramsay revamped the restaurant
and unified Kata and Marcelo.
Now, one year later,
is Mojito's enjoying peace and prosperity,
or is it back to its old bickering ways?
Last time I was at Mojito,
The food was dreadful,
and the business was going down the tubes.
Nothing was going to change unless Kata and Marcelo
stopped all their fighting.
It took a lot of tears,
but they finally became an amazing team.
I just hope they've kept it up.
Hello. Kata, how are you?
Good to see you. How are you?
Very well. How are you?
Welcome back to Mojito. We're wonderful.
Sounds great. Atmosphere is up.
Seeing Gordon was like seeing an old friend.
He has a very special place in my heart
and Mojito's heart.
Silly question, because it looks busy,
but how is business? business is great.
Um, where shall we sit?
Here. Okay, great.
Great, great, great.
Good to see you.
My God, I forgot how glamorous you were.
Yeah.
Now, it's working together professionally? Yes.
Who's in control? Who's wearing the trousers--
you or him?
We both do. It's a give and take, you know.
Now we're really partners, and we're really working out...
Brilliant. And respecting each other
and respecting each other's work and commitment.
And we're really committed to make it work.
Business is up by how much?
30%. That's brilliant.
Business has gotten a lot better.
We paid off half of our debt.
So it looks a lot better.
Six months, we are estimated to be out of debt, debt-free.
I mean, that's amazing. Yes.
Marcelo-- where is he?
He's in the kitchen.
I'm so excited to come back. You know that?
All right. I'll go and surprise him.
Okay. Nice to see you. Thank you.
Chef, hello.
Seor! Good to see you.
Me too, my man. You look great. You look happy.
Yes. Not just 'cause I'm here.
You're like this on a daily basis--
motivated, fired up, and ready to go, yeah?
Your relationship with Kata is on a professional front.
In the professional way, I'm more relaxed.
Is she treating you like a partner,
not like you're her bitch?
Just serve the rice. Serve the rice.
Marcelo, why don't you listen to me?
She's showing you respect?
Purchasing.
There must be thousands and thousands of dollars' worth
of food here.
Are you buying the stuff now?
- Yeah. - Where is it?
Want to check? Yeah, I want to have a check.
Yeah, please. After you.
How clean this is down here.
My God.
Now, these fridges are full.
I was kind of afraid because I have my fridge
with a lot of stock.
But this is because my business is coming up a lot.
Listen, not just the labels,
the dates, the plastic wrap.
Everything's so well organized.
Brilliant. Brilliant. Brilliant.
Last time I came down here, it was in a mess.
Right, I'm hungry. What do you recommend for lunch?
I'm gonna surprise you.
I like your surprises.
How was your visit downstairs?
Brilliant. Clean down there.
Impressive, right? The good news is,
he sounds like he's got his passion back, and he seems
a lot more relaxed-- less, uh--
less aggressive and jumpy? yeah.
We work on that.
Okay. Wow. Camarones tropicales.
That's, like, the kind of flavors that I like to eat.
Fantastic.
That's delicious.
What happens when an argument takes place,
and you're not happy with Marcelo,
and he's not happy with you, and you want to let it go?
We call our peacemaker, which is my mom.
She works hand-to-hand with Marcelo.
Mami. This is your mom?
Nice to meet you. Likewise.
How are you? My goodness me. Sit down, please.
That's my mom.
Wow, wow, wow. So this has been
the secret success behind Mojito?
Yes.
Does she understand the level of your stubbornness?
She does. Yeah.
I don't need to translate that.
I don't know why Gordon said I'm stubborn.
If I want to scream, I can do it.
I'm the boss here.
Remember who I am.
Here he is.
Oh, food is here. Sit down.
I want to talk to you.
This time, I'm really, really nervous,
because I know
he's a really, really high standard.
Delicious food, by the way.
I mean, really delicious.
He liked it.
He really enjoyed the food, so great.
Here's the thing-- to get rid of your debts
by 50% in the first 12 months of training
in amongst a recession is extraordinary.
99% of a breakdown in relationships
is always financially related.
With the pressure gone,
is there any possibility that you may get back together?
Gordon, he tries. He plays our relationship therapist.
You look so happy together.
When Gordon Ramsay come here, we feel like, uh...
But the heart and the feelings
are completely different ways.
What went wrong when you got back together?
Last time I came,
what was the worst moment?
When things were, like, out of control.
Salty as hell.
Throw it out!
My worst moment is when you come with a lot
of chicken and avocado.
You've got enough food down there
to serve a banquet of 5,000.
I'm very proud of you both. You deserve more.
So just continue.
One step at a time, you know?
Yes. Good to see all three of you.
Wonderful.
If Ramsay didn't come to Mojito,
we'd probably be out of business.
Take care. It was our pleasure.
We didn't have a clear vision. Thank you.
The most value I learn from Ramsay
is I would recover the passion for my job.
Thank you. Ciao.
I'm so proud of these two.
Honestly, they managed to turn around a dying business
in the middle of a recession.
They're out of debt,
and they've managed to move on from the past.
Right now the future for Mojito's
looks very, very bright indeed.
Great news.
Coming up...
We go back to Whitehouse Station, New Jersey,
where Adele, the owner, battled with her staff...
Stop bugging me!
And disagreed with Chef Ramsay.
Adele, what do you think? I don't like it.
Now, one year later...
- Oh! - Has she embraced the changes?
Are you nicer to your staff now?
Am I nicer to you?
Or is this kitchen nightmare
still spinning out of control?
And later, remember Paul from Bazzini's? I'm miserable.
I don't want to get out of bed in the morning.
You'll be shocked to see what happens
when Gordon returns. Oh, no.
That's all coming up on...
Whitehouse Station, New Jersey,
is a quiet commuter town one hour outside Manhattan.
Everything was just so damn quiet and peaceful...
That is, until you got near Flamangos.
We have big problems here.
Girls!
There was the owner, Adele,
who was dead set in her ways.
Shut your mouth already!
This was a family affair.
Adele and her husband, Bill,
had run successful restaurants in the past.
But they opened this one
so they could work with their daughter Cheryl.
Chop-chop.
My first stop on this trip
was to Bill and Adele's farmhouse.
Yoo-hoo!
Hello. Hello.
Now, do you just pop over for a slice of cake?
No. I live here. You live here.
Yes.
How old are you? I'm 42 years old.
Same age as me.
I left mum 24 years ago.
What are you still doing here?
I haven't had a paycheck in two years.
Right.
I have to live home.
It's pretty shocking for a 42-year-old lady
to still be living at home.
Wow.
But even more shocking...
Wow.
Was the decor.
Oh, my God. It's like a zoo in here.
Well, it is tropical.
Who designed it?
My daughter decorated it.
How drunk was she when she put the final sketches together?
I could see we had plenty of problems to fix at Flamangos,
and I was really hoping the food wasn't one of them.
Fat chance.
What is that thing? Use a roof tile.
We're eating it from the tile?
You'll love this.
The toughest filet mignon I've ever tasted
in my entire life.
I was pissed off.
I went straight to the kitchen to confront the chef, Bryan.
Straight up, would you eat it?
No.
You sent it to me.
That's not cooking.
That's dog.
That night I observed dinner service,
and it became so obvious
as to why this restaurant was failing--
bad food...
Slow service...
And a very stubborn owner who treated her customers
and her staff like dogs.
Shut your mouth already!
Absolute crazy.
And then there was poor Bill.
Here I go.
You got a 70-year-old man going round
and round the dining room.
He shouldn't be doing this at this pace.
From what I saw at dinner service,
I knew they had to do something
they'd never done before--
have a staff meeting.
Well, Isabelle,
you're an excellent server,
but you don't frickin' listen!
I know what the I'm doing.
You don't know when to shut up.
The next morning,
I wanted Bill to get back in touch
with something that really made him successful in the past.
What is your favorite dish to cook?
My meat loaf.
Tonight you're going to cook that.
I would never order meat loaf out--never.
Ay yi yi yi yi.
Adele, the owner, was fighting me
every step of the way.
That night the customers really loved Bill's special.
But the dishes from the old menu bombed.
Adele, they want to speak with you.
Okay, complaints, what are they?
It's dry. Dry. So you don't want it.
Dry and overdone.
Okay. Bastard.
The amazing thing is
Even though the restaurant was going under,
everyone was still clinging on to the old ways.
That's when I knew I'd have to do something
really drastic.
Everybody, stand up,
grab a chair from the dining room, and follow me.
Let's go.
- Oh, hold on. - No!
What do you mean "No"?
That's Willy, my alligator.
Trust me. I need him.
I want that alligator.
Oh, my God.
Adele, the only way I know
When I leave
that the tropics aren't gonna creep back in
is to burn them.
Ah!
Look at that.
Anyone for cooked alligator?
It's all right, Mom.
Sometimes it's hard to say good-bye to the past.
You know that?
It's all right, baby.
That night my team and I went to work
Making one of the most drastic changes
ever in the history of Kitchen Nightmares.
Welcome to the...
Junction.
Look at the size of this place!
Oh, my God!
Adele, what do you think? I don't like it.
You don't like it? I hate blue.
Unbelievable.
This was, beyond any shadow of a doubt,
one of the most stubborn owners I've ever worked with.
I hate it.
How can you be positive about something you hate?
Ugly.
Hate, hate, hate.
I didn't think it could get any worse.
But then Adele was always full of surprises.
What do you think of the menu?
I mean, this is very limited.
I'm trying so hard to help here. Yeah.
You have to embrace change,
because if you're not gonna embrace change,
do yourself a favor,
shut the shop and retire.
Then I unveiled the new dishes,
and everyone was so excited,
except for the one woman I called madam grumpy.
Tastes like a fish.
Ugh.
It was relaunch night,
And I was really praying
Adele's negativity wouldn't rub off
on the rest of her staff.
I need your smile. I'll be right out.
Good. First customers are here.
This looks like a place that'd be fun to come to every day.
Really?
It's open. It's, um, inviting.
Where is madam grumpy? Where is she?
I caught her arguing with customers
Who liked the changes.
It's nice and bright. It's too bright.
Already you don't believe in it.
Your negativity's
gonna rub off on your staff,
it's gonna rub off on your daughter,
and the customers will be feeling it.
I don't know.
I need to get out of here.
Unbelievable.
Relaunch night was about to go up in flames,
so I turned to Bill for some help.
She's our first point of contact.
Yeah. Do me a favor
and just ask her to put a smile on that face.
Okay, I will do that.
How you doing? Okay?
I'm scared. I'm so nervous.
Don't be scared.
Smile. Smile.
There you go.
Do you like Bill's meat loaf?
Yes. Oh, yeah. Good.
Is she lightening up? Yes.
I told you, she's a pain in the ass.
She is. Yeah, but you didn't tell me on what scale
of a pain in the ass she is out of 10. oh, she's 11. 11.
Oh, good.
This is wonderful. Thank you.
Everybody's happy.
A big thank you to the queen.
I'm serious.
I will be back,
and I'll take great pleasure
in witnessing the success.
And by the time I get back, madam,
I want you moved out of that house.
Yes?
Promise me. I promise.
Okay, good.
I'm back at the Junction in Whitehouse Station, New Jersey.
This restaurant was known for three things--
bad food, wacky decor, and an owner,
the most stubborn this side of the Mississippi.
We made a lot of changes,
and I'm dying to find out if they're successful.
Up next, sparks fly...
Oh, my God!
When Gordon and Adele face off again.
You have not changed one little bit.
Then we are going back to Bazzini's,
where a burnt-out owner took his frustration out
on his staff...
So let me demo a chicken milanese
for the 400th time.
Don't push it, Paul.
And infuriated Chef Ramsay.
We need to cook!
Now, a year later, we're about to find out
if Bazzini's has gone boom or bust,
Revisited returns.
The old Flamangos combined
a really bad concept...
Oh, my God. It's like a zoo in here.
With terrible food.
Excuse me.
And one of the most stubborn owners
Chef Ramsay has ever met.
Shut your mouth already!
It took a little fighting and a big fire
to get this restaurant on track.
It's all right, baby.
Now, one year later,
is the Junction cooking,
or has it gone up in flames?
Last time I was here,
Adele, the owner, fought me every step of the way.
The rotten food, the wacky decor--
she didn't want to change a thing.
Finally she accepted it.
I'm back now to see if they've changed this place
into a big success.
Hello, princess.
Oh, my God.
How are you? How are you?
Good. How are you?
Oh, my God.
He's actually brave enough to come back here to see us.
You look great.
And are you married? No.
You're not married?
Still single. Oh, sugar, seriously.
You were supposed to help me.
I don't know if I've got mates that brave.
Where are you staying? Still at home
with mom and dad. oh, come on.
Nearly moving out? On the verge of?
Yes, on the verge of. I promise.
And by the time I get back, madam,
I want you moved out of that house.
Yes?
Promise me. I promise.
Okay. Oh, I lied a little, but what are you gonna do?
Where's the queen? The queen is in the kitchen.
Well... Hello.
Look who's here.
How are you?
Oh, I'm hanging in there.
Oh, my God.
First of all, it's great to see you.
Really good to see you. You sure?
Seriously. Do you feel the same way?
I love you.
You what?
You see this smile?
Okay. Good. Good, good, good.
Now, the most important question for me--
I've been thinking about it all the way up here--
do you still hate me?
I never hated you.
He says it's gonna work.
How stupid can he be?
Are you nicer to your staff now?
You don't frickin' listen!
Isabelle, am I nicer to you?
How are you?
Don't get her nervous, please.
Oh, goodness me.
Is she nicer to you? Yes or no?
Um, yes, she is a lot better.
She's getting a lot better.
After I saw how I did come off harsh,
I tried to soften my approach to people.
Now, where's Bryan, the chef? Where is he?
He's working in a bagel shop now.
Oh, is he? Yes.
Why? He didn't like the way we ran our kitchen,
and we didn't like the way he ran it.
How's business?
It's different.
Because we went
from a higher end to a-a...
more affordable menu.
So you bring in different people.
Why are you smiling?
You haven't changed, have you, huh?
I did. You have not changed one little bit.
Hey, I'm 70 years old.
Do you think I'm gonna change now?
No.
Call me stubborn, a hardhead,
I don't know,
but I feel Gordon put us on the right path
by going more casual.
Are you still making desserts? Yes.
Good. Fantastic. Are they going well? Very well. Yeah.
Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant, brilliant.
Are you happier? I'm ecstatic.
What makes you happy?
When I see my restaurant full.
Okay, good.
Can we go have a bite to eat together?
Let's go. So good to see you.
How nice is this?
This is wonderful. This is amazing.
Listen to the buzz...
The atmosphere.
If this was still Flamangos,
where would it be now?
Closed.
Business has been very good.
We're doing double the business--
big difference from when it was Flamangos.
What are we going to have? Can I start you off with something to drink?
Sex on the beach.
Sex on--
Sex on the beach? What's that?
You never had sex on the beach?
I did in Florida when I proposed to my wife.
Yeah. But I wasn't drinking.
This is different.
Of course my mother, with her sense of humor,
had to order sex on the beach.
Whilst I was here,
we had some good times, and we had some bad times.
What was the best time for you?
I guess when you walked in the door.
You really mean that? Yeah.
What was the worst time for you?
When you call me madam grumpy.
What about the bonfire? How could I forget about that?
The tropics are going.
Look at that.
It was very important.
I think the older you get,
The harder it is to adapt to change.
Gordon changed all three of us
into having to think differently about business.
Junction burger for you, sir.
Oh, my God. Look at the size of that.
Thank you, darling.
Your meat loaf--
or Bill's meat loaf, I should say.
Do you mind if I have a little taste?
That's you.
Go right ahead. Good?
Wow.
It's absolutely delicious.
Beautiful. Really good.
Um, Cheryl,
you're charismatic.
You've got beautiful eyes.
You've got scary nails. You're very pretty.
Why can't you date men?
You know what a Guido is?
A Guido. Yeah. That's what she's looking for.
The guy of my dreams will come up to me and say,
"Hey, how you doin'? My name's Tony.
Are you single?"
I've got a long journey home.
And I'd love to take out and buy one of those pies
to take back to my children.
There's apple crumb. Apple crumb.
Or pumple. Pumple?
Pumple. Where did that name come from?
Oh,.
Pumple? What--
too many sex on the beach cocktails.
Pumple? What's pumple? It's pumpkin and apple.
You know we want to be different.
Honestly--yeah, you're definitely different.
You, my sir, you deserve to be knighted,
honestly.
That was right on.
I tell her all the time, "I should get a medal
being with you all this time."
Stay there. I've got a little surprise for you, okay?
Just a little present from me.
Oh, boy. First of all...
Is a guy gonna come out of there?
My apologies. It's not a guy.
Okay?
But something that can bring back memories.
Here we are, my darling.
Uh-oh.
No way.
Oh, yes.
Oh, my God.
Not an alligator.
Willy's back! Willy's back!
Oh, my God.
I can't believe Gordon brought Willy the alligator back!
Willy's back.
No!
What do you mean "No"?
That's Willy, my alligator.
Trust me.
Being Gordon burned Willy,
our alligator,
it was very nice that he replaced it
with a new Willy.
Maybe we'll name the new alligator
Willy the second
or maybe gordy.
Okay. Thank you very much.
Good to see you.
He wanted to make sure that we're successful,
so Cheryl can live a good life...
With her new husband and grandchildren.
Take care, babe. Oh.
The main thing that I learned from Gordon
coming in is that we had to make the change,
or else that's the end of the restaurant.
Bye. No, don't cry. Come on.
We definitely wouldn't have still been here
if this was Flamangos-- absolutely.
We needed Gordon to come in and save the day,
and he definitely did that for us.
And we can't thank him enough.
Wow.
She's still a firecracker.
But for me, the good news is Adele
has embraced changes.
And it looks like the Junction is back on track big-time.
All she has to do now
is get that 43-year-old daughter out of the house.
My God.
Still living at home.
Coming up, he was one of the most distraught
And burnt-out owners Chef Ramsay has ever dealt with.
I'm miserable.
Paul Bazzini was a man of many excuses.
Paul, you haven't changed enough to convince me
that this can turn around.
Now, a year later, Chef Ramsay is back.
And he can't believe what he finds.
You won't either.
That's coming up on...
One of my biggest challenges last year
was in Ridgewood, New Jersey.
It was a great little town, very affluent,
just half an hour outside New York City--
lots of restaurants everywhere doing really well,
but not Bazzini's.
Here's your salad.
What salads? What table?
I'm confused. I'm confused.
The biggest problem was the owner, Paul.
This needs to be heated up. These are perfect.
He just didn't give a damn anymore.
Yeah. So I heard.
Paul was an angry man.
Always somebody, always somebody,
always somebody.
Ugh.
His wife, Leslie, just couldn't get through to him.
You're, like, dead.
I want the nightmare to be over.
And his talented pastry chef, Sharyn,
Couldn't stand him.
If he were a woman,
he would have PMS 24-7, okay?
I showed up the first day ready and excited
for some lunch.
No. No lunch? That's ridiculous.
Call me.
An hour later, he finally rang.
I'm starving. How are you?
Hi. Welcome to Bazzini's.
The first thing that struck me...
Oof.
The dining room was falling apart.
God, they're grimy.
Entree comes with sound effects.
Little did I know,
the sound effects were the best part.
Pretty bland.
That's not normal for a chicken to be so hard.
Fettuccini--bland.
Chicken-- "Why is it so dry?"
That's.
Ugh.
What a mess.
Any desserts? Certainly.
Sharyn, our dessert chef, makes everything.
Gordon's eating your carrot cake right now
as we speak.
Oy vey.
Hey.
Bloody hell.
You scared me.
Don't come around the corner like that.
Sharyn.
That is delicious. That's made with passion. Awesome.
You make love to that carrot cake, don't you?
Well, I'm getting divorced, so it's the cake or, uh...
I'll go for the cake.
I went to the back to talk to Paul about my rotten lunch,
and I was amazed.
He just didn't seem to care.
Paul, it tasted bland,
and it looked atrocious.
Honestly, it was disgusting.
Seriously. I mean, you may laugh, but it's not funny.
Paul had no passion and no soul.
And that night's dinner service proved it again.
That's cold. Oh, come on.
Almighty.
So let me demo
a chicken milanese for the 400th time,
Which is nothing more than chicken and salad,
and my 12-year-old can do it.
Don't push it, Paul.
When I don't put it high enough,
you yell at me that it's not freakin' high enough.
Why do you have to make it so difficult for?
Why can't-- I'm not.
No. I'm watching.
Well, what's with the sarcasm?
I can't help it if you tell me to do it one way,
Then you change it!
What the do you want from me?
Changing it right!
Well, you told me the first time!
Me.
His wife could see it.
Paul, please don't start with excuse.
That's not gonna help.
His customers could see it.
Get my food now!
Everyone but Paul could see
he was the reason Bazzini's was going belly-up.
Whether you like it or not, you have given up.
You think I'm happy? I'm miserable.
I don't want to get out of bed in the morning.
I want to stay in bed.
Okay, listen,
I'm committed to helping you,
and I'm not leaving this place until it's set.
We are gonna work at this together
at turning this around.
The next day, I made Paul do something
He should've done from the start--
open Bazzini's for lunch.
Ladies,
both of you running
the front of house.
I got a kick watching Sharyn try to waitress.
Ugh.
Is everything okay?
Oh, yes, I'm sorry.
Ugh. God help me.
With my help, Paul was doing a little better.
You got four vegetarian. I got five normal, yes?
Four vegetarian on the way. Excellent.
And the customers seemed happy for a change.
Oh, my gosh. This is so good.
This is, like, the best pasta.
That's it. The board is clear.
Feeling as though we were moving in the right direction,
That night my team and I gave Bazzini's
a much-needed face-lift.
- Look at this. - The tables are gorgeous.
I love these tchotchkes.
Gone is the lemon pound cake on the walls.
It looks modern. It looks great.
The color is contemporary.
Thank you again.
Oh, good, my darling. I'm glad you're happy.
Love the menu.
From 27 dishes down to 15.
It's fresh.
Char-grilled calamari with fresh chili and arugula.
The main entrees--
bistecca, fresh caponata with white beans.
Pasta today is gonna be tagliatelle
of mussels and clams.
Paul, is that menu manageable?
Yeah.
I invited some big local dignitaries
For relaunch night...
Let's see what this new menu
offers us.
And I prayed for the best.
These tables are very important.
I need a second to think.
Oh, come on.
Al, you got to-- come on, I need help.
I need for you to get in the game with me.
Please, I can't do it all alone.
One quality that all great chefs have
is the ability to work under pressure.
Paul can't handle pressure.
I need some help. I need someone to move tickets.
I can't do everything myself.
I need some communication.
Let's just cook! For God sakes.
Come on, Paul. Paul!
I'm doing 400 things at once.
And then things went from bad to worse.
Bloody hell. Where's Al? Where's my sous chef?
Al. Where is Al?
I don't know.
Al!
It was a disaster.
The sous chef, Al, had disappeared.
Listen to me.
Al may be gone, but the customers need feeding.
Let's support one another.
All right, take a deep breath.
I'm glad to help.
Sharyn and I rolled up our sleeves...
Good girl, Sharyn.
Thank you, chef. Good girl.
And really worked hard
to help save "Paul's" relaunch night.
The food is fantastic.
Worth the wait.
The night was a success.
But let's be honest, I wasn't gonna be there every night
to bail Paul's ass out of trouble.
Honestly, Paul,
you haven't changed enough
to convince me
that this
can turn around.
I know that it starts and stops with me.
And I know that I have to be the leader.
I take responsibility for that.
You say all the right things always.
But now it's time to do the right things.
I'm back in Ridgewood, New Jersey, to visit Bazzini's,
where last year I had to work
with one of the most defensive chefs
I've ever, ever worked with.
Now, we made a lot of changes,
but I always wondered if it'd stick.
And we're about to find out.
Coming up, Chef Ramsay is back,
But where is Paul?
Listen, I'm standing outside Bazzini's.
Why aren't you open for lunch?
Shocking answers
Revisited continues.
A successful restaurant
should have great food...
That's not normal for a chicken to be so hard.
Convenient hours...
Monday through Thursday, 5:00 till 9:30.
And great staff morale.
I can't help it
if you tell me to do it one way,
then you change it!
What the do you want from me?
Bazzini's was 0 for 3,
Because chef/owner Paul had given up.
Yeah. So I heard.
It was a difficult journey. But Chef Ramsay gave Paul
all the tools to succeed.
Now, one year later,
is Bazzini's still on the right path?
When I arrived at Bazzini's last year,
Chef Paul gave me excuse after excuse,
and I left him all the tools to succeed.
Now it's time to find out what he did with them.
Oh, no.
That's the one thing I told him to do
is stay open for lunch.
And that...
is not open.
I know one person that will tell me
exactly what's going on.
Hello?
- Sharyn, Gordon Ramsay. - Holy.
Get out of here. You're full of it.
Listen, I'm standing outside Bazzini's.
Why aren't you open for lunch?
Closed for lunch, breakfast, supper.
It's closed, dude.
What? Closed for good?
Ridiculous.
Listen, where are you?
Waldwick, New Jersey. Okay.
I was shocked that Gordon called me on the phone.
Okay, I'm gonna come over.
But, you know, I always said
from the day he left Bazzini's,
"One of these days, my phone's gonna ring,
and it's gonna be Gordon Ramsay on the other end."
So, you see, you never know.
What the hell? How are you?
When I first saw Gordon,
I was thrilled that he came to visit.
He looked really hot.
And what happened?
It closed, like, after the show aired.
It never had a lunch service, never.
From the day I was that fabulous waitress...
Ugh.
Is everything okay?
Oh, yes, I'm sorry.
I was late one day, and he got all pissy
and throwing all over the place
and being nasty, and I just got pissed off, and I said,
"I'm out of here." I just couldn't work there.
After everything that you did for him? Right.
Listen, I don't wish anybody badly.
But I-I was really good to him,
and he wasn't nice to me. what a shame.
Um, so Bazzini's is closed.
Finito. It's gone.
What are you doing now? Okay.
So I'm baking. Check it out.
Cran-apple.
What do you think?
The truth. Come on, Gordon.
It's delicious.
Is business going well?
Yeah. I'm baking like a mad woman.
Day and night, that's all I do--bake.
Okay, go back a bit.
Go back 12 months when we first arrived at Bazzini's.
Mm-hmm. Best moment?
When you told me my carrot cake was the best.
You make love to that carrot cake, don't you?
Well, I'm getting divorced, so it's the cake or, uh...
I'll go for the cake.
And the worst was that stupid fight
in the kitchen.
What the do you want from me?
Changing it right!
Well, you told me the first time!
me.
He threw you under the bus, didn't he?
He did, but I wasn't going-- no way.
If you tried to throw me under the bus,
I wouldn't stand for it.
So I wouldn't stand for it from him either.
Well, you have something unique,
and that's you and those cakes. Thank you.
Look after it. Thank you.
Take care, babe. You're awesome.
Good to see you. Take care.
I was thrilled, really genuinely thrilled.
He's awesome.
Take care.
Take care, darling. Love you.
You too.
Sharyn, Sharyn, Sharyn-- you got to love her.
This year the restaurant business
has had one of the toughest years in decades.
And I'm so happy that the Junction and Mojito
are thriving.
Good night.