It's been more than 15 years since Gordon Ramsay headed to Liverpool to try and get a Woolton restaurant back on its feet.
The UK stint of Gordon Ramsey's Kitchen Nightmares, where the celebrity chef tries to help pubs and restaurants thrive, lasted a few seasons before it moved stateside. First airing on Channel 4 in 2004, Gordon headed to Morgans in Woolton back in 2006 and was tasked with turning the restaurant's fortunes around.
Working with mother Sandy Morgan and daughters Helen and Laura, he also gets stuck into the kitchen with head chef Phil and assistant chef Emma. There's little doubt this reality TV show only offers a small glimpse into just one week at the restaurant, but what we do see is emotions run high and what it takes to troubleshoot the business.
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"How many women does it take to run a restaurant badly? - Three if it’s called Morgans," is how Gordon opened the show. He said: "I'm grappling with girl power to save this restaurant. There’s going to be handbags at dawn with mum and sibling rivalry is driving me demented."
Early on, we learn that with no customers and £100,000 of debt, the family might lose everything in six months. The restaurant was first an antiques shop, also owned by Sandy, before being transformed into Morgans three years prior.
Gordon arrives in Woolton by cab, describing it as "one of the city's most affluent and exclusive suburbs." He said: "This is a typical sort of footballers wives hangout. There must be a great catchment for ladies who lunch especially with all these amazing houses."
The scene cuts to inside the restaurant, which boasts red walls and dark wood tables, with sisters Helen and Laura cleaning and preparing. Meeting the family, it is then revealed to Gordon that all three of them are the managers of the restaurant.
Gordon compliments the decor as "beautiful," but whilst observing the menu is puzzled by what is on offer. He said: "Apricots in a cream mashed potato with Lincolnshire sausage and vanilla and whisky sauce served with a fillet of beef.
"This isn't the sort of menu that ladies who lunch want. Even I don't know what kind of menu this is."
Ordering two starters and two main courses, Gordon is unimpressed by the pan fried prawns which he described as "hard disgusting bullets" and the sausage dish which is "like something out of a Jurassic Park."
But, he was however impressed with the sticky toffee pudding dessert created by Emma - a dish disliked by head chef Phil. He said: "It’s the first time this evening I'm glad to be here. This is nice, light, not too sticky. The person who made that doesn’t put f***ing apricots and mashed potatoes together and vanilla and whisky."
Gordon enters the kitchen to discuss the food, but ends up getting into a heated discussion with Paul. When asked what he was thinking putting apricots inside mash, Phil replies: "You know what right, I actually took the recipe from the Good Food Magazine."
The two have an argument, Gordon saying he is being constructive and Phil just has a bad attitude and Phil feeling disrespected. The team then hear the sticky toffee pudding was "the saving grace of the three courses," which sees everyone laugh and Phil walk out in frustration.
The next day, Gordon visits Sandy’s home and discovers her account books are "completely haywire" and that there is no clear record of the restaurant’s income. He later meets Phil at the kitchen and discovers he has no formal training and isn’t paid for preparation time.
Things also take a turn when two hours before service, Gordon and Sandy have to take a trip to a nearby Tesco to stock up on supplies. A dinner service begins, burnt food is sent out to customers and Phil struggles to concentrate, whilst Sandy is helping with the dishes and a customers request for gravy is forgotten.
After service, Sandy said she'd had "no complaints all night" and whilst she can see what's going on she can't deal with everything on her own. Helen described the night as "diabolical," with Gordon hailing her the most honest of the group.
Helen said: "My sister wants to do it and I want to do it and at the moment we’re sharing it between each other and I think what we need is a kick up the backside and we all need to realise this is it, we need to pull together."
In need of a "radical shake-up," Gordon reassigns roles making Sandy host and Laura the assistant manager, which sees her react badly and walk off when Helen is made the general manager.
After visiting a local market for produce and giving tips in the kitchen, the restaurant reopens for Sunday lunchtime, but is met with hiccups when Laura and Sandy aren't there and Helen has to come in on her day off. Emma is donned "the dark horse" for her contributions in the kitchen and guests are impressed with the food.
For the relaunch, Gordon has the idea to create local famous faces to "create a stir." He said: "Around here, it’s littered with WAGs, actresses and actors. Hollyoaks is filmed around the corner and its the perfect opportunity to get some really good publicity for the restaurant."
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Celebrity guest included Hollyoaks stars Sarah Dunn and Jennifer Biddall, as well as Michael Owen's wife Louise and Sheree Murphy. In between courses, Sandy begins to sell her antiques in a mini auction.
In the episode, she said: "He's actually defined everyone’s role and that’s it now. We’re all going to stick to it and life should be a lot better."
Despite one order going missing, Morgans appears to be a well oiled ship and the celebrity guests said they would return again. Sandy's auction also saw £500 made in 15 minutes.
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But when Gordon returned a month later, Phil had left to work at a restaurant on the Albert Dock and Emma was promoted to head chef. Now making a profit, the restaurant thrived, the books were computerised and Gordon was also impressed with Emma's braised beef which she added to the menu.
In December that year, the ECHO reported how the restaurant was under police protection over fears it could be targeted by robbers. It said Morgans was enjoying huge popularity since its appearance on Kitchen Nightmares, but police feared the television exposure had also made it "attractive to criminals."
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But ultimately, the rescue mission for Morgans was short-lived and is said to have been sold in 2007. The business later became Oddfellow restaurant and is now French restaurant Caveau.
Many of the early Noughties shows are available on 4OD. If you're at all curious at what other UK businesses came in for the same treatment.
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