Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares: Complete UK Series 1
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DVD details
Actor: Gordon RamsayBrand: Acorn
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language)
Format: Color, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.66:1
Running Time: 387 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2009-03-03
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Acorn Media
DVD Reviews of Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares: Complete UK Series 1
DVD Review: A happy surprise
Summary: 4 Stars
I originally picked this up in a local entertainment store, mistakenly thinking it was the US version. However, the UK version proved to be an extremely pleasant surprise and I'm glad I purchased it.
Chef Ramsay is well-known to most television viewers on both sides of the pond by now, so a quick rundown of his "bedside manner" in these kitchens will suffice. Be prepared for lots of f-bombs and healthy doses of criticism on restaurants, their managers, and staff, that really need it. Ramsay doesn't pull punches and his honesty is refreshing; that his assessments are almost always accurate provide a credibility that viewers can appreciate.
The four restaurants Ramsay visits are the Bonaparte's, a fine dining venue; The Glass House, a tourist-area restaurant with lots of competition; The Walnut Tree Inn, a restaurant with a Michelin star and a unique history and place as a local dining institution; and Moore Place, located next a golf course, and whose menu is deep-fat-frying focused horror straight out of the 1970s.
Although the unique culture of each restaurant is interesting, the editors did a fantastic job by making Ramsay's interactions with management, staff, and the locals as the dramatic element of the series. You can see that Gordon really cares about seeing these institutions become successful, and it makes for extremely compelling viewing. The payoff at the end of seeing proprietors and staff realize what they are capable of being in providing quality food and great service is especially gratifying, even if they are not always successful at maintaining that momentum over the long run (as the "Revisited" episodes show)
As an American, I found the operation of the restaurants portrayed here to be particularly fascinating, especially since these places seem to rely quite a bit on local markets to get their ingredients, as opposed to a corporate supplier here in the US like Sysco to bring them via semi-truck every other day. I can imagine it takes a great deal of forethought and creativity to prepare a menu based on the availability of local ingredients, and gave me a greater appreciation for how difficult it is to keep a restaurant successfully running regardless of its location.
I knocked off a star because I would have liked to see some more special features on the DVD set, such as deleted scenes.
If you enjoy travel shows, food-related television, and/or Gordon Ramsay's bombastic personality, pick up this DVD set.
Description of Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares: Complete UK Series 1
The star chef saves failing restaurants from culinary hell
Go behind the scenes at struggling restaurants with Gordon Ramsay, Britain?s most celebrated gourmet. One of the world?s top chefs (with 12 Michelin stars to his name) and three-time winner of a Catey award (the British hospitality industry?s highest honor), Ramsay knows restaurants top to bottom. And he needs every bit of his expertise to rescue these real-life culinary and commercial disasters in just one week.
Foul-tasting food, chaotic kitchens, misguided menus -- Ramsay confronts them all, along with incompetent cooks, boneheaded servers, and painfully obstinate owners. He handles staffers with his profanity-filled, in-your-face style that suffers no fools and spares no egos. Also includes four episodes of Kitchen Nightmares Revisited, in which Ramsay returns to these restaurants on the brink to see whether his shock treatment worked. After just a few episodes of this International Emmy®-winning reality series, you?ll never dine out quite the same again.
DVD FEATURES INCLUDE production notes and biography of Gordon Ramsay.
Ramsay?s Kitchen Nightmares shares the same sense of tension as cooking contest shows, Iron Chef or Top Chef, but somehow this series beats them all, if you?re looking for something more than a straight view of the chopping block. Whereas the aforementioned programs portray a chef?s extreme duress from the chef?s point of view, Gordon Ramsay offers the best of both worlds by offering an outsider?s business perspective while tying his apron on a few minutes per episode to teach his audience how to cook. The premise of the show is simple: a master chef studded with Michelin stars visits struggling restaurants to business consult and jump start their menus. Scenes alternate between his meetings with the restaurant owners, Ramsay teaching the kitchen members how to cook decent food, and Ramsay in his hotel, venting about his clients? low competency levels. Started in Britain in 2004 and picked up by Fox television in 2007, this first season of Ramsay?s Kitchen Nightmares takes place in small town England and Wales. As such, one will learn more than ever thought possible about lamb shank, mushy peas, haddock, Yorkshire puddings, and other hearty foods indicative of that culture. The series opens with a nightmarish glimpse into a filthy kitchen at Bonapartes Restaurant in Silsden, England. Ramsay tries to slap the lazy chef into shape, with sad results. Episode two, "The Glass House," is slightly less disturbing on a hygienic level but exemplifies how structural problems amongst employees can drag a business into the mud. "The Walnut Tree Inn," set in Llandewi Skirrid, South Wales, and "Moore Place," set on a golf course in Esher, England, focus on how tradition can choke out customers who crave new, innovative menus. These two episodes feel especially indicative of the British Isles, as the restaurateurs struggle with how to maintain their reputation while rejuvenating notions of how people want to eat. In "Moore Place," for example, Ramsay recommends Americanizing the menu, to break from the local pub competition. It?s a brilliant business strategy, and it works. Ramsay?s Kitchen Nightmares also works because of follow-up episodes titled Ramsay?s Kitchen Nightmares Revisited, in which he tests how long-lasting his suggestions are. If one is interested in not only a straight cooking show, but also in the many facets of running a restaurant, this program is highly educational and fun to watch. --Trinie Dalton
Stills from Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares (Click for larger image)
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