In this Kitchen Nightmares episode, Gordon Ramsay visit's Hannah and Mason's in Cranbury, New Jersey.
Hannah and Mason's is a French style bistro.
It is owned by Chris Posner and Brian Kelly.
The restaurant is only open three evenings a week.
This is because Brian doesn't like working at night time.
Cranbury is only an hour outside Manhattan but it seems worlds apart.
The pair previously worked as Chef's in the restaurant under the former owner.
Three years ago they decided to buy it when the owners decided to sell.
Chris does everything including ordering food, managing the staff and cooks.
Brian is lazy and does as little as possible.
Even the restaurant servers aren’t afraid to call Brian lazy.
Brian describes himself as laid back and doubts he will ever be able to change that.
Brian doesn’t feel they are losing out on any business by only opening three days.
But the staff are finding their paychecks bouncing and they are losing out on tips.
Gordon arrives at the restaurant.
He notices that the awning at the front of the restaurant is missing a N and reads Hannah and Maso's.
Gordon sits down to order food.
He orders a baked onion soup, quiche and lamb lollipop.
The soup tastes like dish water with greasy onion.
There is a thick layer of cheese and bread and very little liquid.
The quiche is runny as if someone forgot to put it in the fridge.
The lamb lollipops are under cooked.
Brian’s reaction of his criticism of the food is to not believe him.
He doesn't think it is as bad as Gordon’s initial assessment.
Chris is scared of Gordon’s reaction.
The 23-year-old restaurant manager says that Chris is afraid of anyone giving his food a bad review.
Gordon heads into the kitchen and meets the owners.
They tell him that they are only open three nights a week.
Gordon is shocked that they are closed more than they are open.
Brian admits that he doesn't want to own a restaurant and doesn't have new ideas.
He says that he is a different person to Chris when asked why he lacks passion.
Gordon returns for Valentine’s Day evening service.
This is a night when all restaurants are usually busy.
He quickly notices the dessert display with old desserts, some as old as a week.
The quality of the food isn't checked as rotten lettuce nearly leaves the kitchen.
Gordon questions the cook about this.
He tells him he hasn't washed the lettuce as it comes in pre-washed.
Gordon notices that a dessert is missing from the display tray.
It appears to have made it out to a customer.
Concerned at this, Gordon checks the storage and walk-in.
He finds mouldy food and raw and cooked chicken together in the same tray.
Due to what he finds he is forced to shut the kitchen down.
The staff are devastated to have to close.
The customers are forced to look elsewhere to eat on Valentine’s Day.
Gordon speaks to the owners and once again lays into Brian.
He had left Chris to speak to all of the customers after the kitchen was closed.
The staff are forced to clean up the mess rather than serving meals and bringing in money.
Gordon goes for a drive to see what is in the area.
He notices the large number of local farms that are close to the restaurant.
He returns with a bushel of fresh apples.
Brian has an attitude so he teaches Chris a dish using the local apples.
Brian threatens to leave if Gordon shouts at him again.
Brian’s attempt to run the kitchen are slow and unenthusiastic.
Gordon asks Chris to lead the kitchen.
Brian leaves the kitchen before returning after a pep talk from Gordon.
Despite a slow start, things pick up eventually.
Meals reach the customers, who seem pleased with the quality.
Overnight, the restaurant is given a makeover.
A new deli counter has been added to sell local produce.
Even the missing ‘n’ on the front sign is painted in to create a better first impression.
Chris is not happy and is nervous and negative about the new direction of the restaurant.
Brian is energised and eager to make it work!
Gordon organizes a farmer’s market to coincide with the relaunch of the restaurant.
Even a town crier is brought in to hype up the excitement around the restaurant.
Chris gets enthusiastic about the local farmer’s.
He is happy being able to use more local produce for the business.
For relaunch night, Gordon tells them they need to flip tables.
Due to the size of the restaurant they need this to make more money.
The customers love the new food.
It isn't long before the orders are backed up.
In order to flip tables they need to get the food out quickly.
They run out of mashed potatoes.
Chris wants to give them a substitute.
Gordon steps in and calls him lazy for not even beginning to cook some more.
He gives in and starts preparing some more mashed potatoes.
Chris manages to pick up the speed over time and two dinner seatings are completed.
The staff admit that Chris does not deal well with change.
They expect him to get used to the new style of food and service.
The relaunch overall is a success.
Chris admits he will need time to get used to the changes.
He wants to commit to making it work.
As Ramsay tells them, he can’t give them the heart to make the restaurant work, that has to come from within.
What Happened Next at Hannah and Mason's?
Hannah and Mason's closed in February 2010.
Chris claimed this was due to less customers.
He also said that the state of the economy led to the decline of the catering side of the business.
Chris thought that Gordon's new menu alienated their loyal customers.
He still claims that he does not know where the container or raw and cooked chicken came from.
Chris believes it was planted for the show.
A few months after filming they returned to the previous menu and changed the decor.
Chris said that the airing of the episode did not bring in more customers as he had hoped.
After filming Chris was teaching part time at the local college and looking after his children.
Chris is currently Associate Research Chef at Pinnacle Foods Corporation.
It is rumoured that Brian Kelly was chef at The Lamp Post in Jersey City, NJ in 2010.
Hannah and Mason's aired on November 06 2008, the episode was filmed in February 2008 and is Kitchen Nightmares season 2 episode 6.
Read About More Kitchen Nightmares
Previous episode - Luigi's D'Italia
Next episode - The Greek at the Harbor
Oh boy. lets recap what Ramsey teaches:
ReplyDelete- listen to your customer
- step forward as a owner/chef
- be passionate about food
soo it is not his fault, you could have changed everything according to your/customer taste... but you havent. his way is just one day... and thats what to learn
I totally agree, Chef Ramsey is not responsible for this or any other restaurant's closing. He brings all his tools to teach current owners how to suceed. Some take his advice and shine, some revert to their old habits and fail miserably others call on Chef Ramsey too late in the game. Let's face it Chef Ramsey is a world renown chef, but he is not a magician. I watched this particular episode of Hannah's Kitchen Nightmare show, and I must say Chef Ramsey should have left this alone. I've never seen such lack of enthusiasm and lack of respect/safety for customers as these two owners. Chef Ramsey did everything within his power to make this restaurant a success. Unfortunately, all his efforts went to deaf ears and that is why this restaurant closed. I do not know how Zagat reviews restaurants, but perhaps they should see this episode again, perhaps they'll stop blaming CHEF RAMSEY.
ReplyDeleteThey are picking the restaurants with a high rate of failure because it makes for great TV. More than 80% of the restaurants close down in the end. After fixing up the place, menu, freshness and hygiene standards, you can only blame the staff, and that they make up excuses only confirms that argument.
DeleteWhat is with these owners blaming anything and everything except for their own short comings? Sounds like Chris needs to grow some balls.
ReplyDeleteYuck! I'm watching the episode! Perhaps serving rotten food and dessert that was for display only may be the reason! Your nasty/arrogant attitude didn't help either!
ReplyDeleteI watched this episode yesterday and thought it interesting that at the end of the show there was no footnote to let us know if the restaurant succeeded. Obviously it did not. I am a huge fan of the program and of Chef Ramsey but I'm not so sure he's always right. Chris seemed certain that the changes that were made would not work. Brian was attacked for his personality, and Chef Ramsey does seem overly critical at times. Has he ever liked anything in the restaurants he's visited? Rarely. It's entertainment but it doesn't always ring true. The programs are a bit predictable. There's always a villain and the hero is always Gordon Ramsey. I love the program but wish it were more real.
ReplyDeleteIt was doomed from the very beginning! The show is scripted, like many reality t.v shows, but the scene where they get salad from a bucket was just enough to say these people have given up ages ago. They were tired of having a restaurant, didn't want to even open 5 nights a week, and the thought of change was just so daunting they couldn't accept it. Sad for the staff though, they seemed they cared about the restaurant than the owners did...
ReplyDeleteThe owners admitted, in a newspaper interview, that they did the show solely for the publicity, and that they never intended to adhere to any of Ramsay's changes.
ReplyDeleteThese two owners are a joke, as seen on TV. Don't know what they are like in real life but if they are as out of touch with doing business with customers as they appear to be, no wonder this place closed down. Remember their quote, "we are closed more than we are open." That is no recipe for success
ReplyDeleteOf course Mr. "Scared of Change" went right back to the old menu. Gordon shouldn't have bothered with these two stooges...they have no business running a restaurant. I think it is interesting they blame Gordon for their closing, but never tried his changes. I don't like math...but that will never add up. If they did the show for publicity, they must have never watched a single episode, since the show is designed to bring all the dirty laundry out to air. (And yes, Gordon does like dishes or parts of dishes in the US version...from what I have seen, it tends to be the homemade desserts.)
ReplyDeleteOf course all these FAILING restaurants are mostly all closing. They are run by idiots who have no clue about basic sanitary and many did not even have chefs who are actually tasting what they cook...Gordon Ramsay as absolutely nothing to prove and they should all be happy to have had a chance they did not even deserve in the first place...
ReplyDeleteI worked here. we didnt close because of ramsay, it closed to several reasons. including the economy, people having families and priorities changing.
ReplyDeleteYou served a stale & rotting desert to a guest and when questioned, that brain dead ogre mumbled some remarks with a blank stare like it was normal practice. How could Gordon (after eating there) simply let that slide? It was an obvious alarm to other lackadaisical behavior occurring. Rarely do the workers care more than the owners. I do think Chris honestly cared but he had been baby'ing the brain dead ogre for so long he started to feel apathy. Whatever passion Chris began with, well Brian gradually rotted it. What was Brian's job to begin with? The true definition of wasted oxygen. This was certainty the most Lazy restaurant I've seen on the series. Hopefully the staff saw the writing on the wall as soon as they switched back to the old menu and started looking for new jobs.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteLove how dopey the owners was in this episode. Brian seemed completely lethargic and Chris didn't have the drive to run a successful enterprise. I wonder how people like this get around in life, let alone get the balls to think they can run their own business.
ReplyDeleteIt's also funny as hell seeing how they've made posts on this very site, defending themselves, complaining about things like Gordon's choice of color on the walls. OMG! Those hospital white walls you had weren't better, you idiots...
"He returned to the previous menu but that did not stop the restaurant closing"
ReplyDelete"A post on the Zagat page blames Gordons new menu for the closure"
So easy to blame it on someone else, even when the truth stares at you in the face.
Wow. Just watched the episode...it was obvious that place was never going to be successful....
ReplyDeleteAnd LMAO @ an above post's "Man child" reference. Amen. Exactly.
Recently watched this episode and like many others, wasn't surprised they closed. Insanity is doing the same thing and expecting a different result and many of these owners seem not to get that one important point. There's one common thread with all the closed restaurants...they all reverted back to the "old" menu. Yeah, the same one that caused them to circle the drain in the first place. You just gotta shake your head.
ReplyDeleteThere is a clear reason most of these restaurants were at the brink of closing. They initially don't know what the hell they are doing before Chef Ramsey even gets there. They close after his help because they are so used to failing. There is nothing they can do because they aren't passionate about their food, keeping or earning money. They don't respect their money makers and they don't appreciate what people do for them.
ReplyDeleteI grew up 1 town over from Cranbury, and I have never ever heard of this restaurant. That just shows how little the community knew of its existance. Sad :(
ReplyDeleteNot really sure if they were really that stupid or were just playing the part at the behest of the show's producers.
ReplyDeleteI knew this place would be closed, and Chris would blame it all on Ramsay the moment he said "Chef Ramsay changed everything, and it's not going to work." Hmmm. Self fulfilling prophesy? It's a shame so many restaurants on Kitchen Nightmares close after the effort Chef Ramsay puts into them. You can try, but you can't win them all. Either way, I'm addicted to this show.
ReplyDeleteHow can they possibly blame Chef Ramsay for them closing? He went in to help them and Brian refused to show passion, enthusiasm, and willing to take control. Im watching it rite now and Brian i figured would be the one to really sink them.
ReplyDeleteHow can he blame Chef Ramsay if he went back to his original menu?
ReplyDeleteAlso that article where Chris commented on has just a crazy cluster of contradictions (in the comments at least). It's worth trying to read at least.