The Fish and Anchor - Kitchen Nightmares Update - Open or Closed?

In this Kitchen Nightmares episode, Gordon Ramsay visits The Fish and Anchor in Lampeter, West Wales.

The Fish and Anchor is owned by Mike Ciminera and his wife Caron.

They used to own a fish and chip shop.

After Mike won £700,000 on the football pools they upgraded their business to a restaurant.

The restaurant is a bright blue sports bar that is full of memorabilia.

Mike has lots of cook books as he likes to try new recipes including Gordon Ramsay’s.

One of the main problems of the restaurant is that Mike and Caron argue.

It is known that the arguments have gotten so bad that they have been arrested.

They also argue with customers and their business has suffered.

Gordon arrives as the restaurant.

It is an unmissable blue building at the end of a narrow road.

He meets the couple and Gordon spots one of his recipes on the menu board.

Gordon notices the menu is a mish mash of different cuisines from various places.

He orders the minestrone soup, one of his own monkfish recipes and a chicken korma.

Gordon is served a minestrone soup first but Caron is hanging over him.

The soup is chunky and weird looking.

Gordon’s monk fish recipe is up next.

He likes how the fish was roasted but the shallots are raw.

The chicken koma is messy and the spinach looks like welsh snot.

Gordon is honest with the feedback, telling Mike that he is not a chef.

He thinks that he should not cook what he is not trained to cook.

Gordon asks about how his meal was cooked.

He discovers that Mike used a jar of Uncle Bens curry sauce for the korma.

Concerned with the reputation of the restaurant Gordon uses Google to search for the restaurant.

Suspiciously he finds many positive reviews about the restaurant.

He confronts Mike about these reviews.

Eventually he confesses that he wrote the fake reviews of the restaurant,

These include one from someone in Afghanistan.

Gordon arrives to observe a dinner service.

Mike is in the kitchen whilst Caron runs the front of house.

Mike struggles to cook the huge menu.

The food takes a very long time to leave the kitchen as he cooks one dish at a time.

Two hours into the service and customers are snacking on bread and other bar snacks.

Caron and Mike soon find something to argue about and Gordon has to bear witness to it all.

A frustrated customer comes into the kitchen to ask where his food is.

He is told to leave and not to come back with many swear words.

A few minutes later another customer comes in and swears.

He is also asked to leave by Caron with Mike escorting the customer off the premises.

Gordon cannot believe the service he has just seen.

One of the waitresses tells him that this is how the service usually goes.

At the end of service, half of the customers didn't get their food.

Caron and Mike disappear out the back of the restaurant.

Gordon gives feedback that the menu is too much for them.

Mike only cooks one table at a time and the couple are too argumentative.

Gordon comes in the next morning to tackle Mike’s safety net of the cook books.

The books are all donated to the local charity shop.

Gordon discovers Mike's Italian heritage.

His Grandmother was Italian and he loved to cook with her.

Mike is taken to a local farm to pick tomatoes so he can embrace using fresh ingredients.

They take the produce back to the restaurant.

Mike cooks his Grandmothers meatball recipe.

Gordon teaches him some tricks to serving a full restaurant all at once.

They remove the Tikka Masala dish from the menu.

Gordon reminds Mike to call his wife by name and show affection to her.

Gordon invites a local rugby team come in for the dinner service.

They try the meatball special dish and are impressed with it.

Mike is finding his bearing in the kitchen.

The restaurant fills up with other diners.

Caron is found taking a smoke break at the busiest point of the service.

The service takes a turn for the worse when Caron messes up an order.

One diner doesn't get their dish whilst others on the table are eating theirs.

Caron argues with Gordon and he asks her to quieten down as the customers can hear.

She continues to shout at him, Mike then joins in and argues with Caron outside.

Mike has to shout to get the message across.

Gordon tells her later that she needs to calm down and watch her anger.

Somehow, he is able to give her advice and Mike has to still calm her down after the service.

The next day Gordon goes into town to talk to locals who tell him that the atmosphere is bad.

The reputation is that the owners are volatile.

It is well known that there are arguments at the restaurant.

Gordon meets with the couple in their home.

He cautions them on how they need to keep their private life private.

Gordon tries his best to act as a marriage counsellor.

Gordon plans to make the restaurant into an Italian restaurant.

He has created a new simple Italian menu with 6 starters and 6 mains.

Gordon has teamed up with a local catering college.

A catering student will be assisting Mike in the kitchen.

Gordon demonstrates the new dishes and that the emphasis is on quick meals.

Gordon's next challenge is Caron, who he describes as a welsh dragon.

He invites some fake customers to test the customer service.

The waitresses shine but Caron struggles.

She finally smiles and is more friendly at the end.

They revamp the dining room and remove the sports memorabilia.

The ghastly blue walls are repainted to a more neutral colour.

The staff cannot believe how it looks with fresh, white walls and white tablecloths.

They ride into town on a tractor to promote the restaurant.

Mike is handing out samples of his homemade meatballs.

It is the first Italian restaurant in the community and the locals seem excited.

Gordon introduces a punching bag in the backyard.

It is for the couple for whenever they feel frustrated in the restaurant.

On relaunch night, Gordon presents Mike with a Chefs jacket for the service.

Mike takes control of the kitchen as soon as the night starts.

Great food goes out to compliments from the customers.

The servers are doing well and Caron is charming the customers.

The restaurant gets to capacity.

Mike goes quiet and he is nervous with all the orders stacking up.

The ticket times go up and there is a backlog of orders.

Waitress Mena slips on the floor and is knocked unconscious.

The staff are shaken and the evening service is stopped whilst she is taken to hospital.

What Happened Next at The Fish and Anchor?

Gordon revisits a month later.

Mena was in hospital overnight and has recovered from her accident.

As he approaches he sees the building has been repainted, much to his delight.

The building is now white and not the bright blue it was on his first visit.

The menu is still Italian food and business has doubled.

They are starting to break even.

Gordon takes a flick through the reservation book and calls a few customers.

They say that they loved the atmosphere and food and didn't see any fighting.

Gordon observes a dinner service.

He sees that Mike has gained control of the kitchen and has mastered his menu.

He tells Caron that there is a big change in the both of them.

He presents Mike with a blank Fish and Anchor cook book.

It is for him to write down his recipes to replace all the cook books he once had.

The Fish and Anchor closed in 2008.

It was listed for sale at £295,000, it was sold in 2009.

Previous customers say that things had started slipping again.

The reputation didn't fully recover.

It appears that the Fish and Anchor reopened but under new ownership.

In 2012, it appears that Mike was looking into moving back to Italy.

Mike posted on a forum enquiring about available properties and businesses for sale in Italy.

The Fish and Anchor aired on December 04 2007, the episode was filmed in October 2007 and is Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares UK season 5 episode 6.

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