Kitchen Nightmares

Top Chef is over, and I’m not feeling withdrawal symptoms. That’s because FOX will be showing the fourth installment of Kitchen Nightmares starring Gordon Ramsay. This momentous event occurs every Wednesday at 9 PM EST.

In this reality based show, our shouting chef Gordo fixes ailing restaurants, and the results are riveting. Before tasting the food in one of these godawful restaurants, Gordo says this little prayer: "May the lord above not poison me." When he viewed a vegetable samosa at Dillon's, Gordo's reaction was priceless: "It looks like a dehydrated turd." Hah!

However, not everyone is as enamored of the new series as moi. Reality TV Calendar disses the American version of this BBC show, saying,

Watching this week's FOX show, I felt a little underestimated as a viewer. FOX assumes that people are tuning in only for the temper tantrums and that we want to see the exact same things several times in an episode. And considering the general audience - American triple-bacon-extra-cheesy-burger-eaters - they are probably right from a marketing standpoint. I'm not sure that most Americans really care about the business aspects of the show - they really are only there to see Ramsay bite off the heads of lazy managers, unambitious chefs and neglectful owners.

The author has a point. I think this show could survive without the “Dumbing Down for America" touches. Regardless of the FOX producers shenanigans, Gordo demonstrates the following qualities as he makes over restaurants that are on the brink of closing:

• He has taste in decorating interiors
  
• He has moxie
• He knows the restaurant business, including customer preferences
  
• He knows food
• He has a no nonsense management style in the kitchen
• He can and will fire bad employees

I adore this show. In the first episode, Gordo slaps “Peter,” of Peter’s Restaurant down, telling the overgrown, self-important bully to grow up, stop wasting precious resources (like taking money out of the till) and “work” for a living. In the second episode, which I found difficult to watch because of the roaches and filthy restaurant conditions, Gordo actually saved diners’ lives. Well, he potentially saved diners’ lives. The only reason Dillon's, the Indian/American restaurant in question, was allowed to serve food to unsuspecting diners was because the New York City Department of Health failed to do its job. And that scares the pants off me considering how often I've eaten in NYC.

I did not pay as much attention to the third installment of this show (The Mixing Bowl) because as I was watching it, I was preparing for Top Chef the Finale. FOX is playing it smart, however, – you can view the episodes you missed on their site for free. Yes, dahlings, FREE. That is a word that warms the cockles of my thrifty Dutch heart.

So, as you wait to watch the Top Chef reunion and to see who won Fan Fave, turn your dial to FOX and watch our bleeping, foul-mouthed Gordo in action. It's worth an hour of your time.

Click here to watch the videos of the previous three Kitchen Nightmare episodes.