It has been ten years since we last heard Gordon Ramsay laying into members of the public about the state of the food they are serving up.
And after a decade away, it has been announced that the chef is back with another series of his Kitchen Nightmares.
The new series will be aired on Fox and will see Ramsay visiting restaurants and ‘helping them’ make their businesses better by telling them - somewhat aggressively - exactly what they are doing wrong. The show will be set in America, where Ramsay is on a mission to improve the dining experience in a number of restaurants picked by production teams to have a bit of expert guidance.
Speaking to Variety magazine, Ramsay said: “This year on ‘Kitchen Nightmares’ for me is a big one. I stopped doing the show over 10 years ago and it means a lot for me personally to bring this show back. The time felt right. After the pandemic, Americans were eating out more than ever while restaurants were also still struggling. Over the last three years, the industry has seen some of the most difficult times in history across the food and drink hospitality sector. So for me, it really upsets me when I travel the world and see so many restaurants that have closed through no fault of their own.
“Most importantly, I love a challenge. Each and every restaurant is different, and each and every family is different. In many cases, it’s the family that needs fixing before the restaurant. It seemed like the perfect time to dig deeper and see what was really happening behind the curtain. And trust me, there was a lot — just ask my stomach.”
But as the show prepares to premiere on Monday next week, we take a look at some of the best and funniest moments of previous years:
1. The moment when Gordon Ramsay compared a worker to a rhino stomping about
During this one episode of Kitchen Nightmares, the chef brought with him an employee from one of his own restaurants in New York City to help polish up a maître d’ who was struggling after Ramsay’s rather brutal feedback.
The chef gave his impersonation of the maître d’, which was basically running back and forth with his head held down and his shoulders slouched forward. Ramsay then told him: "Every time I see you, you're running around like a baby f***ing rhinoceros trying to have a s***."
The poor man looked slightly shocked at the reference, but as usual, Ramsay’s fiery temper won and he said it - exactly - as he was thinking.
2. The moment when even Gordon Ramsay was lost for words
This moment was shocking because it is not often that we see the temper-fuelled expert lost for words, but that is exactly what we got on this one episode with the most argumentative family the show has ever seen.
In a move to try and clear the air and make some headway for moving towards the future, Ramsay asked all of those working in the family-run restaurant to take a seat, and join in on what he believed would be a civilised conversation.
But no. The whole episode turned to absolute bedlam when all of the family members fought to have their voices heard, louder and louder, leaving Ramsay sat in the middle of them all, just shaking his head in disbelief.
3. The moment when the restaurant owner was arrested
Yep, you read that one right. In one mad episode of the kitchen favourite one of the restaurant owners that Ramsay had gone to instil some words of advice and encouragement, was actually arrested. On camera.
But all was not as it seemed - for the entire event was set up by Ramsay to shock the owner into taking action against staff who he felt were taking him for a ride.
A police officer slapped handcuffs onto the owner's wrists as Ramsay explained the owner's crime: too much picking up after everyone and allowing his staff to slack off without consequences.
He said: "You're not touching anything tonight. You're going to tell them exactly what you want them to do. Run your business vocally."
4. The moment when even the chef didn’t like his own food
Ramsay has no issue whatsoever telling people what he does and does not like, but that does not mean that chefs have to believe him.
In one episode he made a chef try his own weird and wonderful creations, with a blindfold on and didn’t tell him it was his own food.
First up was the revolting-sounding ‘chocolate-and-prawn smoothie’ based on the restaurant's signature dish. One blindfolded chef didn't even want to give it a second taste. "The thing's f***ing horrible," he said. The second blended concoction contained chicken and banana based off another menu item. Again, the reaction was disgust. After that, the blindfolds came off and extreme embarrassment ensued.
5. The moment when Gordon Ramsay told a chef his food tasted of alien sperm
This one is self-explanatory, but certainly was not an insult any of the viewers had heard before.
Ramsay, trying to figure out what exactly was in one owner's duck accompaniment, exclaimed, "What the f*** did you put in that sauce? It's like some f***ing sci-fi sperm!
6. The moment when a busboy pretended to be manager and got caught
On one episode of Kitchen Nightmares, just as Ramsay sat down to enjoy a meal, an employee walked up to him to have a chat and talk about their roles on the floor.
He told the chef he was the general manager but as soon as the questioning began about the day-to-day running of the restaurant, it became very clear very quickly that a lie had been told. Awkward.
7. The moment of disbelief when the seafood restaurant owner didn’t like fish
Gordon Ramsay’s face said it all on this one. He couldn’t quite believe his ears that a man running a seafood restaurant wouldn’t eat what he actually sold.
The 60-year-old man running the seafood restaurant had "an aversion to fish" based on an experience he had when he was 5 years old. Apparently, a fish bone lodged itself in his throat, and he never forgave it.
8. The moment a restaurant owner fought back
In this episode, this owner — who's also the head chef — has enough of being told he is wrong for cooking everything in the microwave and shouts: “Get out. f*** off. Get out of my line.”
Ramsay shouts back while the owner’s mum listens embarrassed from outside.
9. The moment Gordon Ramsay was sent sick after trying food
This episode featured a British restaurant in Silsden, England called Bonapartes which had a signature dish of scallops with black pudding sauce. Ramsay ordered them but the scallops were off, and Ramsay ran out the back door ready to vomit while the kitchen workers stared in horror.
10. The moment when creepy crawlies also paid a visit
In this episode, things kicked off very quickly when Ramsay walked into a live cockroach scuttling across the floor - and it did not get better after that introduction.
Ramsay then ordered an entire inspection of the kitchen and wanted everything pulled out only to find an infestation of cockroaches and rat droppings everywhere.
