60 miles from Cleveland is the rural farming community of Norwalk, Ohio. It's here where Joe Nagy, after losing his job in food sales, bought a livestock ranch and decided to open Mill Street Bistro. How you guys doing? I was trained and worked for many old school chefs that were...
Europeans. Just hit it with that wine right there. I always visualized having that place of my own.
The word fine dining is obnoxious. Get a doily on his plate, please. If you can't back it up.
Guys, verbiage, okay? Bruschetta, Cristini's, you know what that is? Okay. But I know that I have what it takes to do it.
This is their big moment at the bistro. Joey is in denial. This is not a fine dining restaurant.
Who do you think you're talking to? This is the finest of the finest. What he tells us every day is he is the best fucking restaurant from New York to LA. I would put this restaurant up against anyone because the passion.
Really, we are mediocre at best. What is this? It's kind of gross.
I don't know. Isn't that wonderful? Food here is exceptional.
We didn't get this elk from UPS. It comes from our ranch. It's fresh, sustainable, and local.
We really are from farm to pork. That's why our food is the best by far. He's always playing up the quality of the food. We made that sauce from scratch.
And I know most of our stuff is frozen. There are corners that are cut. For example, the steaks come from a wholesale food club. Looks good, looks good.
It turned. They start smelling. I'm like, I would not eat that. Hey, Joe.
I'm eating right now. I didn't know. You came out with it before.
Excuse me. When I think about Joe, I think of an arrogant, selfish jerk. Quit asking all these ar- arbitrary questions to these customers.
Get the ice, cool it down. He talks down to people. Is there enough bread for dinner right now?
Or do you want me to do that part of the thinking too? It's always somebody else's fault. It's your responsibility that the bread doesn't taste stale.
He makes it very unbearable to even be here. The way you treat me is disrespectful, crude. Then you need to find another place to work.
I come to win. I didn't come to fuck up. I don't think Joe can see pep.
past his ego. I know that Tommy and me are handsome guys. Don't come back here and stare at us. Joe doesn't realize his actions affect our livelihood.
What is this? That one, the owner was very condescending. The owner was rude. Business is super slow, and the big reason people don't come in is because of Joe.
I've never had a piece of meat come back in here in 10 years. He's the one who needs to change his way of thinking. Don't come around and start a.
Or we're not going to survive. Is the Mill Street Bistro a kitchen nightmare? By no means. We're not a kitchen nightmare when it comes to cleanliness, functionality. Are we a kitchen nightmare because we have no asses in the seats?
Yes. Yes. Before Chef Ramsay visits Mill Street Bistro, Joe wants Gordon to check out his farm so we can show him first hand the livestock that supplies the restaurant. Joe, Chef Ramsay, how are you? Good to see you.
Pleased to meet you. What a gorgeous place. Yeah, just a small little working ranch.
Let me show you around. Please. How long have you had the farm?
Eight years. How long have you had the restaurant? Five years.
I want Chef Ramsay to critique my restaurant and say, you got something, Joe. That's what I'm looking for. Look at these beauties here.
Gorgeous. You're going to try all these animals at the restaurant. This is all the things I've learned in Europe, in New York, and the places I work as a table side culinary chef. I see you work as a chef.
I am self-taught by old school Europeans, master chefs that had a liking to me because of my passion. I was in the food distribution business. As a salesman?
Salesman and a consultant for all the large Well, things changed, so I opened up a restaurant. And what type of restaurant is it? I like to say fine dining.
Fine dining. And is the restaurant making money? No. Why?
Because we have to get more asses in the seats, and we have to get people to take us serious. I think some people are finding me pretentious. Really? They're finding me arrogant.
Uh-huh. I'm not arrogant. I'm a passion-loving person. Right.
I'm a passion-loving person. I'm a passion-loving person. Let's just kind of swing over here.
The buffalo, they should be in the next several weeks having calves. This is my buddy here. Your buddy?
Yeah. Oh, goats. Hey, come here, Skinny.
What's his name? His name's Skinny? Skinny. Yeah, he's very affectionate. He just really wants to be loved, you know.
Are we going to slaughter him? No. No. Oh. You know, I always tell Skinny, I said, you're the only one that's not going to get whacked around here.
You know what I mean? Everybody else is up for... Wow.
Debate. You know, but he's like my dog, and I take him for rides. He's not your pet.
It's a kid. Yeah. He just loves to be around me. He's close to you, isn't he?
Yeah. He's an affectionate guy. You were about to kiss him then, weren't you?
No, I don't kiss him. I can tell you guys are close. Yeah, we're close. Very close. Maybe a little too close.
Hey. Hey. Hey.
Hey, don't you dare. Yeah. Hey.
Hey. Stop. Stop. See, he's jealous. Me and you talking.
I'll be two minutes, skinny, OK? You grab a glass of wine, and you pull over here, and he comes over, and he's just licking your hand, and you're just sitting there going, it's worth it. So you have a glass of wine with him as well? I think things get a little strange when you have this relationship.
With farm animals. Look at this place. You run this single-handedly?
You and Skinny? Me and Skinny. When was the last time you had a day off? Never.
Never? Joe, come on. The things that I'm doing, it's pretty incredible, even to my standards. What excites me is when I see a man this motivated to put all this effort into food in your local bistro.
Yeah. I'm dying to taste some of that passion. Let's do it. OK. I'll see you back at the restaurant.
Thanks for coming out. Thank you. Tell Skinny we're just friends.
Farm-to-table restaurants have a strong appeal with Chef Ramsay. After being impressed by Joe's farm, he's quite anxious to try the food. Hello. Good afternoon.
What a gorgeous place. Yes, thank you. Look at this.
Ready to sit? That's stunning. Yeah, fair.
Follow me, please. Excellent. Oh, why is the fire on?
95 degrees. That is just for aesthetics. It is actually not putting out heat. But it can if you need. So that's not really a fire.
So turn it off. You could. It's 95 degrees outside, so I just thought, when it's that hot.
Agreed. When it's that hot outside, do you want to walk in and see a fire? Right, where would you like me to sit?
Right over here. Thank you, my darling. You are welcome. I'm just out of interest.
Yes. What's the name tag for? We've always had this since we opened. But we're not a chain, are we? We are not.
No. Could you take it off? Of course.
Please. Yay. We are not little lobs.
I'm fine without it. Um, what's wrong with this fine dining bistro? Um, the business is lacking.
Why do you think that is? It would be Joe and the way he treats the guests. Treats the guests? Out on the floor, yes.
I agree. If they have a complaint. He goes and, what, victimizes the customer? It has happened, yes.
I've seen it happen. Wow. And he's trained with some of the best chefs in Europe. I've heard that story, yes.
Seriously? Wow. I mean, things are starting to unravel. Um, OK.
Anyway. I'd like to talk to you about this. I'd like to see as much as I can so I can get up to speed with this fine dining and cheese strike.
Any specials? The features we have this evening, we have house made bruschetta for an appetizer. Specials? Features.
We are told to use features as our descriptive word for what we have available that is not on the menu. I feel like I'm going to see a movie. What restaurant says features?
Who does that? So do you have any features? Yes, our features this evening, elk medallions served over a grilled portabella mushroom cast.
Let's go for the elk feature. OK. All right. What else? The catch of the day, we are offering a trio of our Ohio raised flugel.
We have perch and largemouth bass. Let's go for that. Local, love it. Scallops on crout. OK.
The vegetarian ravioli primavera. Onion soup, please. OK. Oyster Rockefeller. Porcini scallops, I've got to go for.
OK. Is that a quesadilla? It is a quesadilla. It's not.
Fine dining or bistro. Well, let's go a little bit Mexican, shall we? OK.
I know they have an elk quesadilla. Lots of elk, but not quesadilla. Is that a taco? That is the price.
New York strip, 26. Filet mignon, 29. Yes. They must be some of the most expensive prices locally, right? Correct, yes. Wow.
I think we're done, darling. Nice to meet you. You as well. The good news is, at least it's farm to table. So I've got something to cling onto.
All right. He wants a French onion soup. Do his quesadilla, start getting that prepped.
We do things with passion. with passion, with integrity. I need 10 raviolis, please. The food here at the bistro is the freshest, hands down.
How are you, sir? That is on the badge. Bill.
Yes. I know your name now. You can take it off.
Thank you. Excellent. Come on over. Good to meet you.
Good to have you. You as well. It's a pleasure. Likewise.
What's the first thing wrong with this place? Well, we make no effort whatsoever to Market to the locals. Really? Apparently, yes.
I think Joe believes the restaurant's a little above the local area. Seriously? I think that's probably a problem. I thought it was pricey, but I mean, 16,000 locals on your doorstep, why would you ignore them?
Arrogance. Wow. So how do you rate it in terms of the food on a scale of 1 to 10?
Let's call a meeting with the badges. Say hello and give me your badge. Let's go.
Turn your badge in. You're a wanted man. Down. Excellent.
Thank you. Next. First name?
Rebecca. Rebecca. Excellent.
Madam, wonderful. Come here, you. Hello. Name tag. Down.
Fire's off. Badges are down. Excellent. Would this be my French onion?
Yes, ma'am. I can hear him now. It's almost over.
You're so supposed to be so goddamn bloody. Oh, yeah. All right, so we have the French onion soup to start.
Sure. Thank you, my darling. And who made the soup?
Joe makes the soup. Joe, wow. Thank you.
The cheese is barely melted. Cheese. Normally it should be a little more packed with onions.
So much fat on top of it. Greasy. This is going to GR.
Amy's up. Oh. What is that? Oyster's Rockefeller. OK, great.
May I take that? Thanks, darling. Yeah, it was really greasy on top.
OK, I'll let him know. Greasy and watery and short of cheese and onions. OK.
What happened here? That is a parsley-infused oil. And he squirts that on top?
Around the rim. Jesus. Right. I'll check on you in a moment. Thanks, darling.
Wow. Joe, Chef Ramsay said that it was greasy, had a lack of onions, and not enough cheese. Not enough cheese?
Not enough cheese. Hmm. Let me go talk to this guy. All right.
Chef, would you like us to prepare another French onion? Joe, it takes about four hours to caramelize the onions. I'd like to move on.
Want to move? OK, sure. And I'd like to continue tasting. Sure. OK.
Let's do that then. Have you had an opportunity to taste the oysters Rockefeller? What's that? Is that a bechamel on top?
What is that on there? What have you put there? Just the hollandaise.
Hollandaise, because it's all broken. But I had to spit that out, because it's bitter. That normally comes when oysters are frozen. What's the oil around the outside that's like? We just put a little bit of our olive oil.
It was just more of a garnish. That should not have been. Can you see my rim? But I don't see anything on the oysters.
Well, I got it in there, in there, there. Well, we're not dousing the plate in oil. I'm not here to argue.
I'm just telling you. Yeah, I can make you another one of these if you want to just keep on moving. Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
Let's move. Let's keep moving. Let's keep moving. I got you. OK, I'll take these away.
Excellent. When it comes to Chef Ramsay, I'm not intimidated, because I know a lot of chefs. I've cooked and been all round. I used to rock a fella with. That's funny, man.
Oh, we'll have a look. Oh, we'll have a look. Please put that down. That looks, ooh, why is it on a rack? Oh, this is just so we can show our.
Who makes the cake? They come from Cleveland. And this is like a procession, a funeral for the cake.
Walk past the girl and throw some flowers at her as you walk past. Walk past. OK.
Ready? This is what you do when people are dead. Do you have anything to?
Yeah. A long rest of the cake. God. Come on.
Bum, bum, ba-dum. What you should be doing is, look, you should have that turned around. You carry the front of the.
OK. OK. OK.
OK. OK. But you've got it from here.
Here we go. Here we go. Here we go.
Excellent. Thank you. Thank you.
What in the bloody hell? They're putting carrots on a puff pastry. Why would you do that? This would be your scallop en croûte.
Thank you, darling. Are these the local carrots? Micro carrots.
Oh, micro carrots. Yeah. From chefs?
From the local farm. Do you not think you should let it grow a bit? Well, I don't think they're there to be really eaten. They're more for a garnish. Oh.
That's a good one. Oh, so I was. Just to add some color. OK.
But I would like to explain what we're spending on micro carrots. Yeah. Can we go through this after?
Whatever you want to do. You are here. Right.
As our guest. Can I give those back to you, Joe? I don't personally want them myself, but you can take them back to the kitchen. Oh.
No, I personally didn't want them. Thank you, Amy. I have staff here that'll take care of that. You don't hand me raw food in my dining room.
Man, that fucking pissed me off, man. We don't need them to bust our balls over if there's little petite carrots that go there. Those same carrots go to the White House.
Those same carrots go to the Five Seasons. They go global, okay? Who would care if a fucking garnish, micro-garnished carrot was on as a garnish? You're gonna hand the owner the little petite carrots?
Because he knows. He's in the wrong place. Now that Chef Ramsay is beginning to question the cuisine.
Can I give those back to you? Joe is beginning to show his true colors. I don't personally want them.
Scalpeled croutons. Sorry Amy, these things are, they're like rubber bullets. It's so firm. And look at this, the pastry's raw.
That is a common complaint. Gooey, slimy, gross. Let me take a look. I'll just rip this right out of your way. Will you show that to him?
I sure will. Yeah? Thank you, my darling.
You're welcome. Wow. Uncrude my ass.
Joseph, firm, chewy, rubber, bullet. It's disgusting. Apparently, there's nothing that he likes. OK, cut.
Set it down. We said we'd talk about it at the end. OK. Puff pastry is about as flaky as you can fucking get right here.
Well, it still looks a little doughy to me. Wow. The El Quesadilla. Ah.
Is that the, uh? The queso cheese. Aye, aye, aye, aye, aye.
Thank you, then. You're welcome. Enjoy. Thank you. My god.
Chewy, tough, and if there's one thing that should never go in a quesadilla, it's elk. I got one thing to say to this quesadilla, adios. Wow.
The vegetarian ravioli. Oh, jeez, I've spotted some more of that oil again. Yes.
Oh, jeez. It is the dish I least like serving. Wow. Thanks, darling.
You're welcome. Thanks, Patrick, for looking at it. It's gross. Wow. That is a joke.
I mean, it's ice cold. Let's get one thing right. Farm to table is not. Farm to garbage can is disgusting. Amy, will you show him that?
It's ice cold. I certainly won't. No? Thanks, darling. So these are ice cold.
They were hot when they went out. It took me 10 seconds to get from here to there. I guess we could cook them until they're totally piping hot. I think they should be. Not cold.
Yeah, that's how we do it, man. Right on. Wow, catch of the day. Catch of the day.
Oh, jeez. We have the sea bass, the perch, and the bluegill. One thing I did need to ask you, temperature preference for your elk medallion.
I'd like to go mid-rare, please. All right. Thank you, Madalena. You're welcome. Jesus.
Fish is dry, almost like it's been freezer-burnt. And that one there, grease. Put your fork in there. It's full of grease. Amy, rescue me.
Rubbery. And this one here, the purge you got there is full of grease. Very greasy.
I don't know why you do a trio all the same with the same bread. I agree. I agree.
But the biggest disappointment is nothing tastes fresh. A catch of the day means fresh. But to me, they all taste frozen.
OK. Thanks, darling. OK.
Tom, it all tastes frozen. It does not taste fresh at all. Amy, set that down right now.
Take this out. Okay. This food's got to get out.
Right. What's wrong? He said it all tastes frozen.
And it should have been done. and different bread crumbs. This is how they fucking do it in Ohio.
If you did it any other way, they wouldn't eat it in Ohio. Ah, please. Elk medallions on a grilled portobello mushroom.
Wow. And oh, these are not for eating. Thank you, medallion.
You're welcome. It's tough as old boots. This is incredible.
Would you mind? I would not. Yeah, please.
That is dreadful. I can't even chew it. I'm so sorry. That's not edible. Would you like to know how much we charge for that?
This one? $35. $35?
Yes, Chef. Wow. Will you ask them to taste that?
Okay, I'll be back. Thank you. Wow. He would like you to taste the elk. Very tough, chewy, the main item in the dish.
He's dead wrong, that's aged elk. Elk is gonna have a bite, it's gonna have a chew. It's characteristic of it, it's never gonna change. That is a tender piece of elk.
Chef Ramsay does not know the bite of an elk and I would like to go to his restaurant where he has elk. That fucking elk is tender, it's delicious. What I'm trying to accomplish is from farm to fork. This is how these items eat.
I was surprised that he didn't get that. I'm going to challenge him. I'm going to say, you know what? At my expense, I'm going to go to your fucking restaurant and you make me elk.
And you show me how to make it. Joe said you are dead wrong. Dead wrong. Dead wrong.
He had two pieces. He said, and I quote, that is a tender piece of albacore. Wow.
If you honestly thought that was tender, they can eat my running shoes, you know. Thanks for all your insight. OK. Tell everyone to get ready for dinner.
I'll be back. OK. Thank you very much.
Thank you, darling. And I'll talk to Joe after, yeah? OK.
I'm going out for some fresh air. OK. I'll let him know. In fact, I'm going out. Is there a local cafe nearby, or?
Uh, berries up. Berries. Yep. That's it. The dinky.
I've heard of berries. See you. I saw that on Main Street.
Thank you, Diane. Correct. Wow.
Chef Ramsay said he is going to get something to eat, get some air, and he will be back for dinner. I wonder where he's going to go get something to eat that's so great. I'm going to go to a restaurant to get some food.
You motherfucker. He's going to leave and go get something to eat? Good luck.
Go find something better. Chef Ramsay has returned to Mill Street Bistro after a walk around town and a quick bite. Where's Joe?
He is ready to give his verdict on the food to Joe, and the staff couldn't be more excited to witness it. I just want to talk about lunch. Yeah. It's going to be entertaining.
Your thoughts on my lunch? My thoughts on your lunch? Yeah, an insight, yeah.
I've never had anybody in my career critique my items that told me every one of them was a piece of shit and they had to go down the street to eat. Wow. That was uncalled for.
Oh my God. Can I just give you an insight to my life? Sure, since you've asked me, now you can go ahead. That's very kind of you. I wasn't impressed with anything.
I didn't take second or third mouth from any dish. Let's start off with the scallops en croute. The pastry was raw, rubbery scallops, bland.
OK. Next course, oyster Rockefeller. Yeah, oyster disaster.
Okay. Catch of the day. Out of those three fish, which one was fresh? He's not going to answer me.
He'll just be BS. How many of those catch of the day? I'll answer you. You think your fish is fresh? Did you just fucking say fresh fish?
On the board, it says fresh. Catch of the day. What does catch of the day mean? Fresh fish. Catch of the frozen freezer?
We have fresh fish. No, we don't. No, we do not. The Lake Erie perch was fresh.
They were all IQF frozen. IQF, sorry. Individually quickly frozen.
Right. When did that come off the boat? Four days ago.
So you haven't got any in your freezer? Pardon? You haven't got any in your freezer.
Fresh fish? Have you got it in your freezer? Yeah.
Thank you. What does catch of the day mean, Joe? It means what is fresh, local to the region at the time. Not frozen. You're trying to pull the wool over your customer's eyes.
If it's not fresh, don't call it fresh. Catch of the day. Go to the next thing. We got it.
You're not answering a straight question with a straight answer, and you're deflecting it. No, I'm not deflecting everything. I'm telling you. I'm frozen fish. I'm frozen oysters.
You're deflecting everything. You made your point. Next course, elk quesadilla. Dry, rubbery, disgusting elk that should go nowhere near a quesadilla.
I'm OK with that. What were you thinking putting that in a quesadilla? What was I thinking? Yeah, just. Yeah, I got the balls to make what I feel that might work.
My next course, elk medallions. There was nothing wrong with that elk. Chewy, bland, raw in the middle. You wanted a medium rare. Oh, paying $35 for it, I thought I deserved that.
Excuse me, so if I got the medium, would they have tasted better? They would have been better. And more consistently cooked.
I have been eating elk for 30 years. Do you have it on your menu? Seasonally.
You explain to me what the game season is. So it's when game is at its absolute best. This is back in Scotland? No, no, no. New York.
New York. Yeah, New York. Let me tell you something. You're not a chef.
Stop pretending to be one. Did I tell you I was a chef? You told me you trained with the best chefs in Europe.
I didn't fucking tell you that. I'm self-taught by old school Europeans. Master chefs that had a liking to me.
Who is the chef here? It's my kitchen. I'm the chef. You just told me you're not. But now you are.
I'm not a certified chef like yourself. No, I know that. But who cooks?
I do. Right. So you're the head chef. You write the menus.
You dictate the special features. Correct. Let me tell you something. You're not a fine dining bistro.
You're a small man with a fake bistro. You're shooting way above your station. You've totally misjudged your market. Because all these pretentious ideas that you think are going to work are screwed. What are you referring to?
Here we go. Make it easy for you. I speak English too.
OK. Store-bought chocolate cake, garnished with fake flours. You don't even cook.
You just prance around behind the line, throwing raw bits of carrots on top of raw paper. I've never come across a bistro anywhere in the world with names like that. In the world? In the world. In the world?
We'll research that. You are so fucking arrogant, you don't even listen to your customers, let alone your staff. You have a gifted young group of servers that told me more problems and issues in the first 20 minutes of meeting them than you have done all fucking day.
Yeah. Yeah. Now it's funny.
Yeah. From a fake fireplace to fake garnish, you want me to blow fucking smoke up up your phony ass. I don't want you to blow smoke up my phony ass. It was petite micro carrots that was a garnish.
It's not just about the carrots. Carrots is just a fucking example of 20 things that have gone wrong. You're busting my balls. Because you're in fucking denial.
You want me to just come in and change your carrots and make some fresh fucking chocolate cake for you? Yeah! I'm lost for words. I don't know what to say.
Do you know what we could do? For me? Impress me with your dinner service.
Show me how you function. Chef. You want to see what comes back?
Our elk does not come back. I'm deeply sorry your feelings are hurt. My fucking feelings ain't hurt.
Oh, you can't hurt my feelings You're ignoring my advice. No, I'm not going up against me. No, I'm not. Yes, you are. I'm ignoring your advice.
I feel like Christmas has come early. Defensive, ignorant, and in complete denial. And guess what?
If I'm all that, you're my twin. What? Yeah, because I've been called you here many a times. So let's get over the bullshit. I can cook, John.
When you have the arrogance to stand in front of me and charge your locals $35 fucking for entrees that are inedible, have a look at yourself, man. People seem to enjoy it. Bullshit.
Bullshit. That didn't go so well. After clashing with Chef Ramsay over the quality of his food, owner Joe is truly not understanding Gordon's point of view.
I know more about fucking elk and buffalo and beef than he'll ever know. Gordon Ramsay didn't get it. They're saying that I'm shortchanging people and that that was fraud.
Come on, let's cook our rotten fucking food that he wouldn't have if he was in a county jail. Give me a fucking break, Chef Ramsay. Well he just slammed my restaurant like it's never been. He does not know what I know about lake fish.
He does not know what I know about buffalo. And I'm supposed to take this that my food is garbage and I'm a fraud? I don't give a shit what he says. How many times did you have Elle come back since you've been here, Becks?
Jen, Kaylee, Bill, speak up. I think every one of you, you need to get your shit together. That's what this is about.
We've got customers out here. So, I appreciate what you're doing. I honestly appreciate each and every one of you, what you're doing, okay?
Let's get to dinner, Sherbis. Right this way, folks. My apologies of how much you heard.
This is some of the finest fucking elk you can get. Or Chef Ramsay called it garbage. The worst shit in the world.
We're supposed to wait to serve it when the grass is a certain height back over in Spalton. My name's Bill. I'll be taking care of you tonight. I'll have the bistro shots.
All right. I'll have the New York Strat medium. Medium?
Tom, can I check the cream of asparagus? Is it pure vegetarian? Listen, leave the kitchen.
Go over the other side. Joe gets mad if anybody's saying anything to the kitchen. You know, he says, you need to be in there.
You need to be quick. You need response to get the fuck out of the kitchen. We went over this at the beginning of the shift.
So, it's a bit quiet. You're not allowed to talk? What does quiet mean? Neighbors complaining?
No, there's supposed to be any unnecessary battering. So, no chatter. Right.
It's hard to communicate. Who put that up there? I put that up. So, we got a job to do.
We're trying to focus. Mediocre as we are, people just, you know, if they want to talk about something, just take it out there. You okay? You okay?
Oh, I'm fine. Jesus Christ, don't shout. Oh, I'm sorry. Let's change.
Are you okay? I really can't talk. Are you okay? Yeah, thanks. Let me know.
Give me a sign. Yeah, I got a porcini scallop, a perch, a pork chop, and a strip. Oh, well, that might be my chicken radicchio, then.
It's like you're guessing. What table number is this? You don't have to ask how long.
Yeah, he has not said what table number. It's coming up. Here, let's get these out.
Boom, boom, boom. We should be OK after that. Even though there are very few words exchanged between the front of house and the kitchen, food is still being delivered at a reasonable pace. Porta Chini scallops. Unfortunately, the food is missing the mark with many of the customers.
It's kind of gross. It just doesn't taste good. The sauce is potent.
Let me get it out of your way. Is there something else we could get for you? No.
Sorry about that. This was sent back. She said it doesn't taste good.
What's wrong with it? She did not like it. She said it doesn't taste right.
It's strong. Huh? It's strong, huh? Very strong.
Have a taste. I think what she did is she got a bite of rosemary. Oh, god, Joe. Is she complaining she got a branch of rosemary in her teeth?
No, she's not. I think it's overpowering the fish. I think it's overpowering the fish.
Doesn't work, and it's too strong. He didn't mention anything about rosemary. Come on.
Man. Hey, we're past that. Well, then you cook.
OK, cook then. Fuck me. Try to cook then.
Passion. Passion fruit, mate. That's the closest you'll get to passion. You got a pebble in your ravioli. Rock.
Natural rock. Yeah. Oh, yeah, that's a rock.
I will take this. Oh, my god. What is it?
This was in my lady's ravioli. What is it? Like, a rock. Wow. Huh?
Wow. Joe, ladies, what in ravioli? Like a rock in there. One table number, please, Amy.
That doesn't happen here, but it happened now. Man. All right, what else can we fuck up here?
He is being so critical and so brutal. Tommy, we're going to make all the bad food that we make for everybody. Wow. Oh, my god. Ay, ay, ay.
That's it. I can't do anymore. I can cook, let me tell you.
But I ain't going to do this. It's dinner service at Mill Street Bistro. And in spite of multiple dishes being returned to the kitchen. Joe, ladies, brought in ravioli.
Like a rock in there. All right, what else can we fuck up here? Joe remains in denial. Tommy, we're going to make all the bad food that we make for everybody.
Oh, my god. That chef, wow. I don't care. Hello? Ah, Teresa, how are you?
As part of his research, Chef Ramsay had reached out to a former employee, and her return phone call could not have happened at a better time. Thanks so much for coming down. You good?
It's nice to meet you. Likewise. Good to see you too.
I have just some things I wanted to share with you and tell you. Let's go stand over here. Wow, wow, wow.
Take me from the start, will you, please? Give me some background. You quit recently. How long ago? A month ago.
I was hired for Garmage and prep. And then what happened? I ended up being Garmage, prep, dishes, cleaning.
I did my own prep list. We have no head chef. So I'm in there busting my ass.
You just have someone always to... Put his frustrations onto a scapegoat and so he's I had only me to do it. And I would come in every day and it was just, this is wrong, that's wrong.
And telling me how horrible, you know, I was being pretty much. And I just couldn't take it anymore. I'm doing much better now. I'm not crying when I go home. I'm not stressing out before I go to work.
The reason I quit is I have too much pride. You're right. No.
I took some pictures. This is the stuff that was here. That's meat in a baggie.
What's it do in a bag? Blood. It's to be served.
To be served? That's the chef garden vegetables. Wow.
That's the black grilled pork chops. Oh, my god. What is it with this guy? He preaches farm to table. All I've seen is frozen to table.
The steaks he buys, he goes to a store and buys the tenderloins and stuff, and he cuts them up. Why is he pretending? Why is he playing at it? Why is he kidding himself on trying to pull the wool over the customer's eyes?
He just... It's a cheapskate. He wants to make money.
The locals in this area, he thinks he's... He calls them hillbillies. Seriously? Dreadful. He needs to know that what he's doing is wrong.
He needs to get his stuff together in there. I don't see how you're going to do it. Well, listen, I appreciate you coming down. Yes, and it was nice to meet you.
Likewise. All right, thank you. On the heels of getting more disturbing information from an insider, Chef Ramsay knows he needs to do a deeper investigation, and it begins in the storage room.
Ah, my God. Half frozen, bloodstained, a sack. It's not even frozen, it's half soft, half frozen.
Where's that from? No date. Wow, what a mess. My God. Frozen food that's been frozen since...
It was in 2009, three years ago, used by 2010. Frozen blue cheese. Why would you freeze blue cheese? Farm to table, it's not. What is that? It's like frozen AstroTurf.
What is that? Ah, bingo. There they are, my little Rockefellers, full of water. Wow.
Lesson number one, never, ever freeze an oyster. The worst thing you can ever do to a... Wow. Frozen shrimp from farm to freezer to defrost.
Shrimp of the day. He's showing off his farm to table. Blown smoke up my ass about how fresh everything is. And look, I've got a big one. A freezer full of frozen oysters, mussels, to frozen cheeses.
Why would you put blue cheese in a freezer? Why? Why, why, why?
Why would you freeze any oyster? Wow. What a fake. I need two chips on. Gotcha, gotcha.
Joe, I get upset when I see fakery from a frozen ravioli, a frozen perch, frozen oysters, and when you deny it, That makes me mad. Well, let's talk about that. Because you're making up stories. I'm not making up stories. That's how fucking deluded you are.
No, I'm not deluded. We have fresh stuff, OK? I'm struggling here to stay in this building right now. I swear to God.
Gordon, I got to cook right now. Yeah, I was going to tell you. I wish you would. I'm standing here watching a dead man walking. Joe, I need a regular French onion soup.
Onion soup. All right, the onion soup's ready. Are they raw onions in there? What's that?
Why did you put raw onions in there? I didn't know. Why are we doing this to each other?
Is this a wind up? Look at me, putting raw onions in a soup. I don't know if you're just fucking around. I'm lost, Joe. Why are you doing this?
You said earlier that it needed more onions, OK? We responded by putting the onions in there so they had more of a bite to it. It's raw.
What's the matter with you? We send that out there, it's gonna come straight back. What do you want to hear?
That I've taken off Joe. Take the menu off the menu. 86 it. Save whatever little reputation you got left. Man!
Surely you got a bit more respect than that. I'm trying to reason with you, Joe. I get it.
Fine. I get it. Fine. But I am not here to show an idiot you can't put fucking raw onions in an onion soup.
I can't teach you that. That's called common sense. That in your tiny mind is not common. Pardon? Come here, you.
Should we put raw onions in a caramelized onion soup? Tell him! No.
Thank you. You've got talented staff to tell you that. Ask your chef.
What's that you're doing to me on purpose? His verbal bullshit is just a bunch of bullshit. But his physical stance in your way... He is ridiculous.
So what he needs to do is get out of the kitchen. We can talk about it. Yeah, some other time. We're busy.
Joe, do you want me out of here? Tell me the truth. If you want me out of here, I'm gonna leave. And now, the dramatic conclusion of Mill Street Bistro.
I'm struggling here to stay in this building right now. I swear to God. Gordon, I gotta cook right now. Yeah, I was gonna cook.
I wish you would. Joe, I need a regular French onion soup. Onion soup. All right, the onion soup's ready.
Are they raw onions in there? What's that? Did you put raw onions in there?
I didn't know. Why are we doing this to each other? Is this a wind up? Look at me, putting raw onions in a soup.
I don't know if you're just fucking around. I'm lost, Joe. Why are you doing this?
You said earlier that it needed more onions. We responded by putting the onions in there so they had more of a bite to it. It's raw.
What's the matter with you? We send that out there, it's going to come straight back. What do you want to hear?
Take it off, Joe. Take the menu off the menu. 86 it.
Save whatever little reputation you got left. Man. Surely you've got a bit more respect than that.
I'm trying to reason with you, Joe. I get it. Fine. I get it.
Fine. But I am not here to show an idiot you can't put raw onions in an onion soup. I can't teach you that.
That's called common sense. That in your tiny mind is not common. Come here, you. Should we put raw onions in a caramelized onion soup?
Tell him. No. Thank you. You've got talented staff to tell you that. Ask your chef.
It's like you're doing it to me on purpose. Joe, do you want me out of here? Tell me the truth.
You want me out of here, I'm gonna leave. I don't want you out of here. So why are you fucking around like this? I'm not fucking around like that. You want a battle?
No, no, no. Okay? When I told you the constructive criticism, you got incredibly upset, and you wanted a Band-Aid. You need surgery.
Everything I said today, you went up against. Well, you said it. in a way that anybody would challenge you. What? The way you said it.
You're a dictator, Joe. Your staff can't talk to you. There's not one person in this building that you pay that will ever criticize you, because you'll cut them down big time. You're awesome. Oh, Joe.
Do you usually go to restaurants and rip them apart like that? That's what's pissing me off. Joe, it's not working.
You've built up this level of fucking fine dining pretentiousness that is not biting with the locals. You are so far removed from what a bistro should be. Okay, so you don't want to hear what our elk sales are and how many people come back for it and everything else. You can't, no. See, there you go.
No, but you can't. There you go. The elk, the elk was inevitable.
Inedible. It's not just the elk, though, Joe. Do you understand?
I've got bigger and more important things to focus on than elk. I got to start off at the bottom. And right now, he won't listen. And that's what's making my life a fucking nightmare.
But when you sit there and you went off about every fucking thing in there in front of everybody. You were defensive. I wasn't defensive.
I was respectful to you until you went off on me. All right, Ops, I'm here to help you. You can fucking help me. Well, then stop being in fucking denial. You're so tight and so bound up with the ambition, you're not seeing the reality of the heart of the problem.
I agree with that statement. That statement I agree with. That I am so bound up that I'm not seen.
I agree with that. But don't tell me that I'm not doing it because I'm fucking lazy. I want people to come in here and say, man, Joe, you're really doing something. Good, but it's not working currently, Joe.
Right, I agree. But you're not telling yourself enough of it. Because your staff are shit scared to tell you. I am telling myself it, but we're in this group. I got blind dates.
But I do want to make it better. I want this restaurant to be a quality restaurant for everybody, not just Joe Nagy. For these people in here that stuck with me and did put it up with my personality. That's what I'm asking you, man.
Help me. I'm asking. That's the most sincere and the most honest I've heard since I've been here. Shit day.
Tomorrow, we're still going to be here. Start a fresh day. I don't want to do that, Chef. We draw a line in the stand.
Let's draw a line in the sand. Good night. Good night. With Joe finally admitting to Chef Ramsay that he has lost sight of some of the problems... Take a seat.
I want you to watch something. Chef Ramsay begins the day with a plan. To show this owner... some of the issues he doesn't even realize he has. Tough day yesterday.
That was a hard one. Yeah. And I wanted to talk to you guys without Joe around because I need to hear the good, the bad, the ugly.
And I'm talking about Skinny the goat. Yeah. Who's going to start? There's no formalities here.
This is wide open. You shouldn't be scared of Joe. Because I've got your back.
Help me. Amy. I think Joe is at fault for the lack of business. Because of the way he berates the staff in front of the customers, it turns...
off and turns people away. He needs to control his temper. He was cussing at me right here in front of the door and then dragged me into the kitchen and started screaming at me even louder.
So I might as well have been sitting right out here. And I mean, everybody witnessed it. And my table was so disgusted, they just wanted their check to leave. And they left me a note, you know, telling me to keep my chin up and that I did a great job and everything I was supposed to do.
And I had left that note to Joe and he would tell me, don't let that get to your head when people tell you you're doing great because there's always mistakes being made. It was to the point where... I ended up having to go into the back because I started crying.
And I didn't, you know, I just didn't want to be, like, I don't know. I mean, and we have Joe constantly saying, well, you're doing this wrong, you're doing this wrong. We all get flustered and, you know. And I let it get to me. Yeah.
Kaylee, that's terrible. It is. Moving forward.
Why does he think his food is good? That's my main thing, because there's stuff that's been questionable. And he's like, oh, that's OK. Oh, that's OK.
We can serve that. And I just wanted to say, no, we can't serve that. But in his mind, it's OK. How'd you rate the food out of 10? Two of being generous.
He loves to hear the praise, but he will certainly go up against anybody that has anything negative to say. The guy that was sitting there across from you while you were having lunch, he said he would send it back, but he doesn't want to listen to Joe yell at him. If they see Joe's VOC, they're going outside they'll go somewhere else because they don't want to be bothered at their table.
He'll talk and talk and talk to the table the entire time they're here about himself. Joe feels that this is his house and these are his dining guests and they want to hear all about him. Which is nothing worse than when you're trying to eat dinner.
And then we're told to give him a minute when it's our table we're trying to service them and trying to do what we He yelled at me saying, when I am with the table, we are in a meeting. Seriously? Rebecca, what's he holding a meeting over? What's he talking about?
Himself. Himself. Himself.
How'd you get him to do that? I don't know. How do you get through to Joe? How do you get the message across to him?
We don't. We get told what to do. We've had meetings. We have meetings all the time. But it's usually him telling us what we've done wrong.
Directing us to what we should and shouldn't do. We've all been ridiculed. We've all been belittled.
We've all been screamed at and cussed at. And we're doing everything wrong. It's hard.
It's hard, because we want to see this restaurant succeed. But there's just times when you can't take it, the stress. I mean.
How many of you have thought about quitting at any one time? All I ever want to tell Joe is just to back off, not to ridicule every single thing. We're a lot more productive if we don't have all the extra chaos. And stop blaming us for his inadequacies.
You screwed it up. Quit yelling at me. Joe doesn't want to take responsibility for himself.
He would tell me there's always these things. My dad would want to choke Joe out due to the way he's talking. Yeah, he needs to back off. It's not right.
In order to get through to Joe... We've all been screamed at and cussed at. Wow.
Share friend. Ramsay has asked the staff to talk about some of the problems at Mill Street Bistro. My dad wanted to choke Joe out. What?
Due to the way he was talking to me. And most of them point the finger at the owner. He needs to back off.
Oh, my God. Well, I do have a confession to make. Joe has been listening.
I hope that he takes it well. I hope he understands the negativity he's brought on your shoulders. I'll be back in a second.
Don't move. Here we go. Oh, God. I'm sorry. Scared?
Well, gotta go find a new job. Follow me. Guys?
I was sitting upstairs listening, and I gotta say that what has happened here, ultimately... It is my responsibility and my fault. I don't think that I'm a bad person in heart, but I'm tough.
Maybe a little bit too tough for this business. I need to soften up. We've got a lot of work.
A lot of things need to change. And if that means that I need to change, and you need to change, and we all need to change, we're going to do it. Joe immediately went to we need to change.
He cannot take responsibility for his own actions. This is not going to work unless you are 100% behind changing. Because everything that this restaurant stands for today is you.
yet it's been propped up by your team. Are you 100% committed to change? I'm 100% committed to change whatever needs to be changed to make this restaurant to find its potential. Then so am I. Okay?
Do I think that he took it all in? No. Do I think he's going to change? No.
Do I think this is even going to help at all? No. One second. With Joe now seemingly ready to change, Chef Ramsay is ready to illustrate how Joe's overpriced menu is alienating the locals in this small town.
One of the things I've heard over and over again is that Your place is not inviting enough for your average local. Too pretentious and too expensive. It's way out of their comfort zone. If a young couple want to come in here to eat, they're going to walk out of here spending minimum $100. That is a lot of money.
Yeah. It is. A lot of money.
They could spend $100 here and put it in that cash register, or they could go to a local grocery store and get this. Let's just have a look at it. Mm, delicious ribeye. Choice.
Amazing corn. Wow, fresh tomatoes, yeah? And some salads, cheddar, pork chops, potatoes.
Ooh, some ground. I mean, that's a lot of food, right? That's a lot of food.
All came to $89.73. Oh, sorry. Look, bottle of wine as well. That's why I spent my last $11 on.
Just a little bottle of wine. What I'm trying to say is for $89.73, they've got minimum five good evening in with some bloody good food. That's what you're going up against. Why would you come out?
That's a very good question. Joe, people today want value. And when you pitch that you're the most expensive Nobody can touch you.
You've already shot yourself in the foot. Agreed. We're expensive.
We're too expensive. Chef's correct. It was a point well taken, and I'm always willing to learn more. Time to move forward.
And I mean move forward a big way. We're going to cook some specials. It's going to go on tonight's menu, and it's a small step in the right direction. OK? When was the last time you had a burger on the menu?
We've never. Never. And as a bistro, why would you not have a burger on the regular menu?
Chef, when I did talk to the staff, they didn't want a $10 burger. They don't want to sell it. Not the staff.
Right, but that they were. Customers. Right. So the staff didn't want a $10 burger.
Right, they felt that like, you know. Is this for the guys? No, no.
Come with me. You cook my burgers. Gotcha.
Where's the team? Right. I asked Joe, when was the last time we had a burger on the menu? He said, the staff don't want to sell a $10 burger. Is that right?
No. No. No.
You're not anti-selling a burger? No. Every time I smell BS, I'm going to go for you. Let's go. Can I interject something?
I'm busy. After that, toast the buns? Yeah? Yep.
Nice. What's that? Looks like walleye. Exactly that.
Congratulations. By the way, it's fresh. We serve fresh walleye.
So when you knew I was coming here, you gave me a trio of frozen fish of the day. Why wouldn't you get me the freshest, local, number one Fish. You're right, Chef. This is local to the area.
We should serve it more. Local to the area, it's the number one already available fish. I hate to say it, but Chef Ramsay is correct.
With the walleye, I want to serve a little corn cake. Cheerful, right? Easy to do, yeah? Green beans, seasoned with some fresh chives. Give that little bit of freshness to it.
If you're going to use herbs, then cook with the herbs. Don't garnish with the herbs. Don't garnish. No, cook with them.
We're a bistro, unintimidating. Exciting food served at cheap prices with some real good flavor, right? That's the secret of a bistro. The burgers. How to present a burger.
We'll start off with a strong base, some lettuce to protect the bun. That's it. From there, caramelized onions. So it's a rich roasted onion with aged balsamic vinegar. How long for the burgers, please?
Good. Down, please. Thank you. Nice.
Protect. And then we'll start with the sauce. and protect.
From there, touch more lettuce. And then I've got a sort of Thousand Island special sauce to give that sort of zesty, yeah, hot. And that's to the cheese, yeah.
Toasted bun. I can look at my burger and identify what I'm eating. See what I mean? Yes. Through there.
A nice handful of fries on the burger. Two specials. Let's go.
So tonight's specials, local. Fresh, delicious walleye. And there we have a classic burger. Dig in.
That looks awesome, Chef. How appetizing do those burgers look? Delicious.
I'm not big on burgers, but I'm going to give him his accolades. That was a very good example of how we need to recreate the bistro. Oh, my goodness.
Is that not amazing? Chef Ramsay is using tonight's dinner service to test the new specials. He is hoping to confirm what he believes is the new menu.
direction for Mill Street Bistro. Nice. Psst.
You're allowed to talk. Good evening. How are we doing tonight?
Good. Well, we'll take you to your table. I'd like to introduce tonight's specials. We have the burger.
We also have our walleye. I want to get the burger. How's the walleye? OK, here we go.
All right, so we got a bistro burger, beating well, and a catch, and another bistro medium. You got that? Onions, everything on there.
What's that? The onions on the bottom. This goes on top of that?
Lettuce, onions, burger, lettuce, sauce. Pardon me? Lettuce, onions, burger.
Lettuce, sauce, bun top. Thank you. Such a sauce. Lettuce, onions, burger, lettuce, sauce. Can you just reiterate how to build this with me?
Show me again one more time? Absolutely, definitely. Yep, first lettuce, that's it. On the bottom, white onion jam, remember?
Touch of onion jam on there. Burger on top. OK. That's it, lettuce and sauce. What table number?
This is going to be 24. Watch, watch, watch, watch. Watch. With Chef Ramsay's guidance, the kitchen manages to get the burgers and other entrees ready for the customers.
You both have the walleye? It's really good. I really like this. Next after that, Joe, what is it? Go.
What tick is that? Burger, walleye, where does that go? That is. Table 50? 50. Thank you.
Who's 50, please? Wait. My appetizer haven't went out yet.
Oh, you're kidding me. Oh, come on, guys. My entrees were out before my appetizer was up because Joe stabbed the ticket without serving my appetizers. Joe, two seconds, please.
Joe. Joe, what are we doing? Why do we sell that, then, if we haven't sent the appetizer? Look at me.
Joe, please. Joe. Joe, I'm talking to you.
Joe. No answer. I'm going to get the pizza.
Nobody's talking. No one's saying anything. I'm hoping one of these are mine for 53. What are we waiting on that table, Amy?
This fish is not going with this. None of these fishes are going with this ticket. Guys, none of these fishes are going with the ticket you just sent. There is just absolutely no communication coming out of that kitchen. And Joe is just completely shutting down.
Joe, what do you want me to do? You want to stop? Are we here?
No, not stop, but talk. I'd like you to step up and man up a little bit. We're going to man up. We're trying to get this here.
What's it for? It is for this table. Tommy's doing the saute.
He's doing the saute right here. Talk to your staff. You talk to me.
Where's the ticket for this? Just take a fucking sign up there saying, Quiet! Don't say anything! Where's the ticket for this?
Help your servers! I just gave the servers the tickets. So this here!
For that table, correct. Can we complete this table though? Yeah, he's on that side.
Help him there! I'm helping him, I got the other-You know I'm just screwing him! Alright. The kitchen was chaotic when Joe was in it. Tom can't work.
Nobody can work. It's just insane. This is carnage. It is.
We haven't got our entrees yet. How long have those young guests been waiting for that burger? The order went in right around 6 o'clock.
An hour and a half. Uh-huh. Burgers.
Shh. You got one, two, three, Joe, can we try to save this? Four, can we bounce back, please, Joe? We're just waiting on, what do you need over here? We need an elk case.
That's really what I need. Okay, why don't you finish what you were doing. Okay, I'll do the quesadilla. Hey, what's up?
We make this crap. I haven't got the appetite, Joe. I know, because you wouldn't come over here and say, you know, don't get it that crispy or don't do that with it.
I mean, that's what I'm saying. What the fuck are you on? What the fuck are you on?
I won't come over there and say, get that a bit crispy. An elk quesadilla, you want confirmation that it's a fucking good dish? When are you going to pull your head out, you fucking asshole? For a man that stands there and boasts about his fucking farm and his goats, and you want me to talk about this?
Seriously? Wake up, Joe. You are joking, aren't you? Are we making these two, are these, you know what I'm saying?
I know you don't like the dish. It's disgusting, Joe. So you wouldn't give me any input on it? Get rid of it. You want me to get rid of it right fucking now?
I would. I would. Get rid of the fucking thing.
We don't have it. Oh, here we go. No, we don't have it.
Here we go. We don't have it. Here we fucking go.
Make yourself clear. Stop asking such ridiculous questions. Come over here and tell me it's crispy.
Are you that stupid? So don't fucking serve the thing, right? Whose restaurant is it?
It's my restaurant. I'm asking for fucking. I'm being responsible. I'm asking for fucking help.
Then wake up. You wake up. Idiot. Fucking come in here and help me instead of running your job.
It's dinner service at Mill Street Bistro. You want me to get rid of it right fucking now? I was.
I was. And Joe is once again picking a fight with Chef Ramsay. Get rid of the fucking thing.
We don't have it. And a frustrated Chef Ramsay is ready to explode. Stop asking such ridiculous questions.
Are you that stupid? So don't fucking serve the thing, right? Whose restaurant is it?
It's my restaurant. Then I'm asking for fucking help. I'm fucking responsible.
I'm asking for fucking help. Then wake up. You wake up.
Idiot. Fucking come in here and help me instead of running your jaw. You shouldn't even be in the kitchen. Get out. Get out.
You put it all together. Let's finish it. Let's finish it. Fuck off, then.
Fuck off. Yeah, and take that shit with you. That's right.
We're stopping an El Quesadilla breaking news in Mexico. Get out. I'm asking. Get out.
Now we got rid of the fucking floor. Unbelievable. I'm fucking real. This is the worst food in Ohio, I guess he's telling us.
This guy got his head up his ass. He's saying that I'm a fraud and that my elk is terrible. Nobody likes it. And he knows everything about any food on the planet, but he doesn't have an elk farm, OK? There's a difference between passion and asshole-ism.
And he's the one who's the one who's He's got a double dose of asshole-ism. With Joe out of the kitchen, Chef Ramsay and sous chef Tom complete the remaining dishes in a timely manner. Let's finish strong, shall we? Yes. I just need to finish that off and I'm done.
Kip's ready. Literally one minute away. Next to that, what have we got? That should be it. Order up, please.
Thanks, dear. Appreciate it. Thank you. You're welcome. We were face to face.
I said, you're a fucking narcissistic fucking asshole. I said, you got 750 chefs that do your thinking. I said, you need them. Because you're so full of yourself. I said, I'd love to see you, you know, fucking do what I do.
Chef Ramsay doesn't have the balls, the power, or the authority to kick me out of my kitchen. You would have to roll your tape back. I said, you got 750 chefs that do your thinking. Because he didn't kick me out of my kitchen. Get out!
I walked out. Sorry, you got two seconds, please. OK. Joe, you are making my life a misery.
I've been in hundreds, and I mean hundreds, of kitchens. Across this country. Chef, can I interject one thing? Tommy, he prepared a lot of those items. And I'm not blaming him.
Joe. But I should have stopped him. Joe. Stop looking for a way out to justify... I'm not, I'm not, I'm not looking for a way out.
Stop. I'm not gonna argue, Joe. I'm not going back there. Enough is enough. You are running the business into the ground.
And I'm gonna tell you something really important and I want you to listen. You cannot be in that kitchen. It's done. Apron off.
I don't want any chef jacket anywhere near your chest. Got it? Yes, sir. OK. I was angry, but as it sunk in, I realized it's not about me.
It's about taking the restaurant to its potential. I want to man up to this, and I want to correct it. I'm going to get help. Okay, sure. I'll see you in the morning.
Thank you. Come in with a smile. I will. Good night. Refusing to give up on Joe and the restaurant, Chef Ramsay stays up late designing a new menu for the Mill Street Bistro.
Now he's ready to unveil it. Welcome. Come in, Wow. Oh my god.
Hi. It looks so good. Joe, you already had a stunning restaurant.
The big revamp was this, Bistro Cooking. It just looks wonderful. It looks right.
This is impressive. Take a copy of the menu. Yay. Yeah?
Perfect. Right, starting off with a crispy duck leg, confit, light, fragrant, served with pear butter, frizz egg bacon, and shallot vinaigrette. Next to that, a brick chicken, confit peewee potatoes, black kale, and a really nice fragrant time jus. Seasonal fish.
You may get the perch, the whiting, walleye, the simple, delicious red wine vinaigrette, a local dish that is in demand, Mill Street burger, big hit last night, substantial, full of flavor. It's a good one. And from a classic burger to elk sausage burger.
Slightly gamey, a little bit more lean. Next to that, Joe, especially for you, I've usually cooked elk chili. Really delicious way of highlighting the flavor and that little touch of gaminess. It's different from what I was doing, but you'll sell more elk doing a chili and a burger than you would do all year serving loins, serving chops.
Correct. I agree with that. It looks appetizing. It does not look pretentious that we had. I am speechless.
I am so proud to have this and not even have served it yet. I'm incredibly proud. Good. Something I need to tell you all. I came to the consensus with Joe.
There's no way on earth from this day on that he can continue to be in that kitchen. I agree. It's the reality. I'm not a certified chef. And we need a true chef.
I came up with. with one very talented young man that's going to make a huge impact on your kitchen and really help kickstart this business off. He's the partner and the executive chef at one of the best restaurants in Cleveland, the Greenhouse Tavern. Oh, my. Love it there.
You love it there. I do. Say good morning to Brian Goodman. Chef.
All right. Oh, nice. The secret to success, if you can put it in a nutshell, what would it be at the Greenhouse Tavern? The secret to success, truthfully, is local, fresh ingredients. And it's all about having that knowledge in your head.
Like, be confident with what you're doing, because that's what we're going to be in the kitchen tonight. Confident. Now, he's going to set up your kitchen. He's going to shortlist an interview to getting a chef here once he's gone. You have a real chef that knows what he's doing.
There's no better. Brian, we're really going to look forward to your direction. Good. All right. Anyone hungry?
Yes. Yeah, we're going to dig in. Oh, wow.
That is really good. And he's great. That's a very good way to utilize grilled cheese. The food is really good.
is amazing. Now it's not just Joe's food, but it's a food that everybody can relate with. I think that we are going to go above and beyond if Joe keeps his butt where it's at.
That is really good. I'm impressed with the food that I just tasted. We have french fries. It's awesome. That is awesome.
Who would have thought? Armed with a new targeted menu and a new consulting chef... Does it matter which way these go, Amy? Fat to the right.
Fat to the right. Fat to the right. I like that. Joe and his staff prepare for relaunch.
You ready to go? Yeah. Meanwhile, Chef Ramsay is spending some time with the local community in Norwalk. He is there to support the Relay for Life Walk.
Ladies and gentlemen, good morning. I'm in town working on Kitchen Nightmares at the local bistro and on behalf of Chef Ramsay. Joe Nagy, we're going to make a donation this morning to the American Cancer Society to support this Relay for Life.
All of us here are connected in some way to this dreadful disease, and we need to continue to fight to eradicate cancer globally. In addition, Chef Ramsay invites the participants to tonight's relaunch at Mill Street Bistro. Thanks, Chef.
Thank you. Do you have a little meeting with the team? Sure.
Come over. OK, big one tonight, let me tell you. We've got to nail this, absolutely 100%. Be vocal. OK, Brian's going to be vocal.
Talk to him, communicate. It's very important when you guys come back there, do not be afraid. to tell me what you're missing or what you need. It's communication that's up.
Our owner, he's there to support everybody and to do whatever they want. Whatever you need, ask him. If you need something, if you're in the weeds, verbalize it to me, and I will get it taken care of.
Good luck. Thank you. Thank you. Let's go.
Hi. How are you this evening? This way?
What can I get for you? I'd like the French onion, too, please. All right. I'm going to do the seasonal fish, please. I will bring that right up.
All right. You're welcome. Here we go. One fritter, one beet, one duck, and a poutine. Going in the mouth.
We're going on a sloppy joe and a chicken. Fired. Food's looking amazing.
Thank you, Chef. Keep it going. So fritter, beet salad, two poutine. Two poutines.
Beet salad. Bring it. Brian's taking control. He calls out the orders, and we call the orders back. And it's totally different from what we're doing night and day.
Where is this going? We are going to table 33 with all these guys. With Chef Brian running the kitchen.
Table 12 here. Thank you. Food makes its way out to the dining room quickly. Aha, we have some food.
Just going. Very good. It's like perfect. And as the guests enjoy the brand new food. You need anything from me?
Not at this moment in time. The servers are enjoying a brand new Joe. Let me take that.
I'll go do the waters for you. I know what you need with water. It is very nice to see Joe doing something productive. If there's any wines that you can't do, especially the house sellers, let me do those. I'm not sure if it's because he doesn't want to get yelled at anymore, how he doesn't want to be told he's doing anything wrong.
But right now, he is. He's being great. Joe, how does it feel to hear a kitchen communicate like that?
How does that make you feel? Makes me feel proud. So keep it going, yeah?
OK. All right. What do we got here in the window that needs to go? Fish in a pot pie to 21, sir.
I'll take these two out right now. We're a little bit early with your food. Oh, looking good.
OK, enjoy. Do you have a 21 up there, Brian? 21?
It already ran. I sent it with Joe. Wait, wait, wait, wait. What's that?
They don't have their food. 21, OK? Joe.
Yes? When you took out that pot pie and the walleye, where'd you take it to? 21. No, you didn't. They don't have their food. Let's check, let's check.
21 is the one that was right by the fireplace. That's 21. For him to mess up was kind of entertaining. I think we have this back.
Oh, you're taking it away. Because, you know, he screams and yells at us for making these small... little mistakes, well, he took the wrong table, the wrong food. Whoa, sir, where are you going with that? This went to the wrong place.
OK. Did it actually sit on the table physically? So the person saw, somebody saw this fish? No, no, no.
Not the customer that is getting it. But did it sit in front of anyone? Yes.
OK, we're going to need to drop a new fish for sure. Oh my god. Who dropped it at that table in the first place? I brought it there.
The only time food comes back is when you serve food to the wrong table. It's the only mistake tonight. So chef, we're going to do a new fish.
Thank you. It will be up in moments. That was a very good example of me getting it in the way. And I have to be aware of that because I am a hard worker.
but just need to work a little bit smarter. Service, please. Okay, Brian. All right, here we go. 21, this is the bass here, and then this is compliments for the mistake.
Very good. Brought you a complimentary poutine. Thank you.
Thank you. This is the bass. And the pot pie.
Thank you. Okay. All right, what do we think so far? It's incredible.
Phenomenal. I could just eat this up. I think the Milsiter Bistro finally has a chance to make it.
Oh, that's got nice taste. Oh. I need a pot pie. I'm flying to New York on my final ticket. But Joe needs to understand that he needs to change, or the restaurant's not going to run.
Thanks again. Appreciate your business. Right, first off, Joe, if there's one night I didn't want you to send anything to the wrong table, it was tonight.
However, we recovered and we bounced back. What an amazing atmosphere in this restaurant tonight, yes? Yes. That's what a good neighborhood bistro should say. sound like seven nights a week.
It was fun. Joe, you have a stunning restaurant, a stunning team. Let them do it.
Yes, it's been a hard week for all of you, because you have a.. a very, very stubborn owner here, right? It makes sense.
Yes. And if this restaurant is going to succeed, each and every one of you are going to give me a promise that when Joe starts to step backwards into his old comfort zone, you need to stand up to him. Yeah? It was well taken and understood. I promise that I won't go into the kitchen, OK?
Stay here one second. I want to share something. Please take one. Pass them along. This morning, I took part in the American Cancer Society Relay for Life Walk.
Hi. Yay! Hi. And on behalf of Mill Street Bistro, I made a donation to this fabulous charity. Unknown to you, those locals that were at that event this morning, supporters, survivors of cancer, those were your diner's tonight.
And I'm sorry for not telling you before service. I'm sorry. I wanted anyone to think that it was a doom and gloom. I wanted the vibrance.
No one was looking for sympathy. They were looking for a great time, and you delivered brilliantly well. I'm really proud.
Thank you, all of you, for a great evening. Would you mind if I just have 30 seconds with Joe, please? Thank you.
Oh, right. Aye, aye, aye. I really meant what I said to your staff. You start cutting corners, going back to your old ways.
Honestly, it's going to fail. You delivered. Well, it was rough.
It's over to you. Didn't have to be that rough, let me tell you, because you are.. You're a stubborn man.
Well, it didn't have to be. But you got to remember what we were talking about me. Joe Nagy. OK. I can't wait to come back.
Good. And the last place I want to see you is in the kitchen. Understood. Good. Thanks, Chef.
Man, you're hard work. That's what you signed up for. Good night.
Good night. Say bye to Skinny for me. I will. I listened to Chef Ramsay hard as it was. And this is all wonderful.
But the reality is we don't have a crystal ball. Who knows what the future holds at the Mill Street Bistro? I'm sorry.
Joe Nagy has given me a nagging headache. This has to be one of the most frustrating kitchen nightmares ever. We made a lot of improvements this week, but I still have my doubts about Joe.
Can he really step up and embrace... Can race change or is it just all talk and... Oh boy, can that man talk? And In the months that followed...
Good to see you again. Joe has kept the majority of Chef Ramsay's menu. I am actually going to do the buffalo softy Joe's.
And business has been steady. I love it. There have been some staffing changes.
Jen, Kaylee, Tommy, and Rebecca are gone. But Amy, Bill, and Mike remain at the restaurant. I'm going to turn this down a way bunch.
There is one promise that has already been broken. These are done. Joe is back as head chef. That's how we do it, man. And the future of Mill Street Bistro is questionable.