In this Kitchen Nightmares episode, Gordon Ramsay visits Trobiano’s in Great Neck, New York.
Trobiano's is an Italian restaurant.
It is owned by Anthony Trobiano and his girlfriend Tiffany's parents Joe and Pat.
The restaurant has been open just three years.
It is struggling amidst competition from other Italian restaurants.
Anthony is a trained chef who attended culinary school.
He works as executive chef in the kitchen.
Pat works at the restaurant as a hostess and his girlfriend Tiffany is a server.
Trobiano’s took off in the beginning.
Anthony admits the quality dropped and they couldn’t keep up to demand.
Joe and Pat are tired of putting money in the business.
They are over stretched and $500,000 in debt.
They all work at the restaurant every day.
They argue constantly and are beginning to resent each other.
Gordon arrives at the restaurant.
He isn't impressed with the large notices he mistakes for a ‘For Sale’ sign.
Instead this is advertising a cheap Early Bird special.
The price of the special is so low that it is cheaper than fast food.
Anthony had the idea for the early bird special.
The special is barely keeping the restaurant afloat.
They sit down to talk about the problems.
Gordon discovers that Anthony has never worked in an Italian restaurant.
He says that he knows everything he needs.
Gordon questions whether he is arrogant, both Tiffany and her parents nod in agreement.
The family say it’s hard working together.
The restaurant has become known for their low priced meals.
The restaurant gets packed by 4.30 pm by the elderly for the early bird special.
Gordon arrives early to sample the menu.
He comments that he is the youngest diner in the restaurant.
Gordon notes the restaurant is just as old and drab as the clientele.
He asks about a salad which he is told is chopped.
This is possibly because it is easier to eat for the older diners.
He orders an egg plant tower and chicken wrapped shrimp.
He is recommended Salmon with spaghetti bolognese.
The egg plant tower is ghastly, cold and tasteless as the mozzarella isn't home made
He talks to an older female customer.
He finds out she had some eggplant parmesan in a takeaway box.
She won’t be back the next day and will eat the leftovers.
The chicken and shrimp come next.
The shrimp is hard and he is confused as to why shrimp is wrapped in chicken.
The salmon and pasta arrives and the salmon is dry.
He doesn’t want a replacement and there is far too much spaghetti.
Many diners ask for takeaway containers and leave with large portions of food.
At 7pm, all the early birds have left.
Their dinner service is extremely quiet.
Gordon uses the opportunity to talk to the staff about his feedback about his meal.
Gordon tells them they are essentially serving double entrées.
This is why they are losing so much money.
Finally, he tells Anthony that the food he tasted was horrible.
Anthony is defensive.
Gordon tells him he is supposed to taste every meal before it leaves the kitchen.
Gordon leaves then decides to return to do a kitchen inspection that night.
He finds the kitchen is filthy with dirt in and under the equipment, on the floor.
There are also plates stored close to the floor.
He finds mouse droppings behind some of the equipment.
Gordon shows them the state of the kitchen and Anthony insists they clean everyday.
He presses Anthony about the cleaning regime.
He tells him that the staff are meant to do it and he doesn't do any cleaning.
Anthony follows him outside.
He tells him he is committed to change and doesn’t want to be a failure.
Gordon tells him he has had it too easy and he needs to be humble.
Going back in, he gets everyone including Anthony to do a deep clean of the kitchen overnight.
The next day, Gordon takes them to farm to milk a cow.
He plans to teach them how to make fresh mozzarella.
They all have fun as a family and return to the restaurant.
They start the process of making mozarella.
Gordon shows them with just 45 minutes a day they can make their own fresh mozzarella.
For the evening service, the early bird special is cancelled.
Pasta and mozzarella specials are introduced to the menu.
The restaurant soon gets packed for dinner.
The specials are flying out of the kitchen.
Anthony is stressed that now the whole menu is available to the dining room.
He still doesn’t taste the dishes before they leave the kitchen.
The customers are sending food back that came from the main menu.
An hour into service and some customers haven’t received their food yet.
Food is left on the stove and the smoke alarm goes off to the applause of the customers.
The night ends as a disaster.
Gordon lets Anthony know his biggest failing is not tasting his food before sending it out.
The relaunch is the next day and they would need to do much better.
Gordon’s team worked all night to redecorate the restaurant.
The next morning the staff are shown a warmer restaurant.
There are Italian pictures on the wall and a new mozzarella bar.
The menu has been condensed.
It has been replaced with authentic dishes with smaller portions.
The staff sample the food and love the new dishes.
On relaunch night, the editor of Bon Appetit Magazine Barbara Fairchild is joining them for dinner.
The mozzarella bar is off to a great start.
Customers are saying they might fill up on the appetisers.
In the kitchen, Anthony is reminded often to taste his food.
However, he can’t read the orders on the tickets and his staff have to rewrite them.
Joe is keeping an eye out for the VIP while all this is going on.
A dish is sent back as the food is cold in the middle.
The Bon Appetit table comes in and orders almost everything on the menu.
The pressure is on and Anthony remembers to taste the food.
There is a great response from the Bon Appetit table.
They happily pass their plates around amongst themselves.
The relaunch is a success.
Gordon takes Anthony aside and gives him a ring to propose to Tiffany.
He does so in front of all the staff and customers and she accepts.
It is not the last of the surprises.
Gordon has arranged for them to get married there and then.
Tiffany and Anthony get changed into wedding attire.
The wedding is conducted with everyone in the restaurant in attendance.
What Happened Next at Trobiano's?
Trobiano's closed in October 2008.
Anthony became a Chef at Speranza Food Studio, which closed in 2011.
He is currently Executive Chef at Cirella's Restaurant and Bar in New York.
Anthony and Tiffany are still married.
They have three children together.
Trobiano's aired on September 25 2008, the episode was filmed in February 2008 and is Kitchen Nightmares season 2 episode 3.
Read About More Kitchen Nightmares
Previous episode - Giuseppi's
Next episode - Black Pearl
Should have paid them taxes.
ReplyDeleteNah, the restaurant was trash anyway.
DeleteRestaurants have the highest rate of failure any business in the country
Deletein the end, gordon leaves u a blueprint to success, if they fail, its all them, not gordons blue print
DeleteEverything that Chef Ramsey seems to touch closes it's doors.
ReplyDeleteOh please, most of those restaurant would have closed anyway, 100 of thousand of dollars in debt, give me a break. You have to be extremely successful afetrwards to be able to succeed for years on end.
Deleteit was seized because they didn't pay taxes...please tell me how that is ramsey's fault.
DeleteMany of these restaurants are really beyond saving. Think about it: the number one most common trait among the restaurants Chef Ramsey goes to? Extreme, absurd arrogance among one or more members of management. Most of these people don't want him to fix their restaurants, they want him to come in and say "the food is lovely, you've got something truly unique here, it's just the location/economy/bully critics that are keeping you down". Is it any surprise that once the cameras are off and the Brit is out the door, they go back to their old ways? These restaurants were chosen specifically because they were so far gone. One week is enough to initiate changes, but if the owners don't want to change there's nothing he can do. Moreover, most of these places are BURIED in debt. They don't just need to start being profitable, they need to start raking in cash just to make ends meet.
DeleteIt's rarely his fault, most of these places were doomed when the producers picked them out.
Some of the places, 10-15%, are open and doing well, or were sold as succesful restaurants with great turnover even though they are in debt.
DeleteGiven the state they are (probably) in when Ramsey does visit them, I'd say that is a decent result.
"Oh please, most of those restaurant would have closed anyway"
DeleteThen WHAT is the POINT of this show?!
If most of the restaurants he "helps" are beyond saving, then the only purpose of this show is to stroke Ramsey's enormous ego (esp. since every episode has him playing Dr. Phil....what a crock!), while making the mouth-breathers at home hoot and holler when Gordon does his once-every-episode phony "walk-out".
And I gotta tell you, I'm getting really disgusted with his condecending and hateful attitude towards old people. Any time the clientele is made up of elderly people we get his snotty snarky comments, which, I'm sure are making the mouth-breathers in their double-wides hoot with glee, but just makes me want to punch him in the face. Gordon, you WILL be that old some day, and I just hope I can be there to make snotty comments about YOU when it happens.
So, lets review.
Either:
a) Gordon Ramsay is really awful in his job of "saving" troubled eating establishments, or...
b) this show exists for the sole purpose of stroking and feeding his gargantuan ego (and making the mouth-breathers at home hoot like a Jerry Springer audience)
Take your pick.
"Then WHAT is the POINT of this show?!"
DeleteThe point of the show is to give them a CHANCE to bring things around. The "help" you want is for Ramsay to pay their bills/taxes/debts for them so they can get out of whatever hole they dug themselves into.
Again, it is NOT his fault they didn't pay their taxes. It's completely stupid to assume that a makeover and a new menu can pay taxes immediately. That was their responsibility. The point of the show is simply to help them get THEMSELVES out of the rut they're in by TEACHING THEM what they're doing wrong. He's basically just handing them starter kits so they can help themselves.
Yes, that includes getting arrogant people back down to earth so they can get it into their thick heads that their food is bad, that they don't clean, that they charge money for bad food customers don't deserve.
Ramsay isn't a restaurant saving Messiah. These owners need to do things for themselves, if they failed to pay their own taxes that is their fault and not his. The point of the show to help them get back up from zero and for us to see that process. It's obvious during every ending that whatever happens in the long run is up to THE OWNERS. Not Ramsay.
Your choices are dumb and biased and you are obviously close-minded, choosing to hate instead of freaking UNDERSTANDING that not everything has to be handed to you on a silver platter. That's entitlement.
The more you know.
The point of the show as is the point of any show on TV is entertainment.
DeleteThat place was disgusting! They didn't pay their taxes, that's not Ramsey's fault.
ReplyDeleteHope he at least manages to repay his inlaws
ReplyDeleteThis is one of my favorite episodes of the show. Gordon with the elderly ladies was comedy gold. It's also nice to see the sweeter side of Chef Ramsay...you do see that, despite the gruff exterior, he really is a pussycat.
ReplyDeleteI can't believe after all that,and they decide not to pay their taxes!
ReplyDeleteIt's a shame what financial debt does to people by forcing them to
make extremely bad decisions! But, obviously there's an explanation why this happened but the real story probably won't make it to the press because it's a "reality show" fluffy news story and there's a lot of them to go around!
Wonderful episode. I had tears watching the wedding.
ReplyDeleteI thought the wedding was Ramsay's way of getting back at him for wasting his girlfriend's family's wealth (not that they didn't ask for it investing in this kid). Now he couldn't run away, at least not as easily, from all the damage he had done with his laziness and ineptitude!
ReplyDeleteIt was diabolical. It was brilliant. I loved it!
trobiano's was in my hometown. strangely, i've passed it several times but didn't know it existed till kitchen nightmares
ReplyDeletebeen watching all the episodes and keeping up with each restaurant so far out of 31 restaurants only 5 of them are still open. that is 6-7% of making it work.
ReplyDelete5÷31 is 16-17%, actually.
DeleteTaxes are owed on income (Profit) so given that the restaurant was losing money it should not have owed any income taxes. So the only kind of tax I can think of causing trouble is the restaurant not paying the sales tax that they collect from customers.
ReplyDeleteYou're forgetting Property Taxes. Which are astronomical in the area this restaurant was located.
DeleteI do not know if they owned the building, but I do believe the in-laws purchased the space they were in. If they owned the property the restaurant was in, then they still would have had to pay real estate taxes, regardless of whether or not they made a profit on the business held within that commercial property or not. Of course, land and anything on it still has value in the govt.'s eyes, no matter how the business on the inside of it is doing. Typically, government seizures occur like this quickly when a large amount of real estate taxes go unpaid, and a lien was placed on the property itself. Income taxes can lead to seizures of property, but it tends to take many more years of not paying on them to cause that. So I think it's unlikely that the seizure occurred due to a lack of income taxes being paid.
DeleteAlso, the owners could have income from other sources that they didn't pay taxes on- such as a retirement check every month from a pension or annuity- the in-laws worked for years. The in-laws could have neglected to pay their real estate taxes on their own home, in order to pour money into this business. Any number of events could have been behind this seizure of assets. And they were over a half-million dollars in debt, in this episode's case. (I just re-watched it on BBC America.) That's a tremendous amount of debt for a small, family-run business, especially when they only owned one restaurant.
GR sane and logical. These so called "CHEFS" on this show are absolutely deluded, fun to watch though.
ReplyDeleteThe guy never worked in an Italian restaurant before going in business and asking money from is in law. That just show the short sighting of the guy in conducting business.
ReplyDeleteI thought this was one of the worst decor changes ever on KN.
ReplyDelete^^^^ I agree with the above comment re the decor - much prefer clean white table linen (which they had - replaced with burgundy? wtf?) - the green carpet was hideous - which that had gone.
ReplyDeleteI hoped this one was going to succeed. I felt bad for Joe and Pet because they didn't have to put all of their trust and confidence in Anthony but they chose to give the kid a shot. being half a million dollars in debt and behind on taxes unfortunately is not a recipe for a successful restaurant. I am happy they are still married and I hope they find success in the future.
ReplyDeleteGordon gave Anthony the ring and the most important thing is Anthony and his wife’s marriage with 3 kids! Sure the restaurant failed but the marriage was a total success! This kitchen nightmare was a real life dream!
ReplyDelete