In this Kitchen Nightmares episode, Gordon Ramsay visits Yanni’s Greek Restaurant in Phinney Ridge in Seattle, Washington.
Yanni's is a family run restaurant.
It is currently owned by Peter Augustio as of 2007 but was previously owned by his father.
The restaurant originally opened in 1984.
Peter is strong headed and controlling.
He doesn’t want to listen to anyone and is constantly yelling at everyone.
His daughter Alyse is like her father and frequently butts heads with him.
Tariya, his other daughter, is emotional and cries often.
Initially the business was a success but the customers are dwindling.
They are in debt and the bills aren’t being paid.
Before arriving at the restaurant, Peter asks to meet Gordon at a coffee shop.
He tells him the origins of the restaurant and that he is losing $8-10,000 a month.
Peter tells Gordon that his family all work there as the staff to cut costs.
He believes that they have no dedication so he has to oversee them.
Gordon arrives at the restaurant and is greeted by Karen and daughters Alyse and Tariya.
They sit down to talk about the problems at Yanni's.
Tariya gets teary eyed about her parents struggle to make the restaurant a success.
Karen explains it has been bad at the restaurant for a couple of years.
They say the decor and food are outdated but their complaints have been ignored.
They paint a different picture to what Peter says that they have been vocal.
They are shouted down and claim that all he said was false.
Peter gets defensive and says he wants them to step up.
They are adamant he's not giving them room to grow or listening to them and an argument breaks out.
Gordon sits down to eat and there are more than 6 pages and 9 specials on the menu, far too many.
He has never seen a pumpkin hummus and immediately orders it along with moussaka and the house gyro.
The recipe is Peter’s own recipe and he has Karen taste it with him.
They both find it is too garlicky and it tastes horrible.
Alyse believes the moussaka is the best food on the menu.
Gordon thinks it has sweet meat, bitter undercooked eggplant and is greasy.
Tariya breaks down in the kitchen at each food rejection.
Gordon tells her he is only there to help them.
The house gyro looks like a mess with too much sauce.
Karen admits she has had it before and hated it.
Overall, Gordon finds the decor and food dated.
Gordon confronts Peter and Alyse about the food quality and taste.
They are very defensive of the food.
Gordon arrives to observe how the kitchen operates during dinner service.
The kitchen is chaotic with Peter and Alyse clashing.
Peter is barking orders and Alyse is shouting back at him.
Food is sent back to the kitchen with complaints.
Peter gets angry throwing the meal away and takes it out on Karen.
Tariya is upset once more about the issues during the service.
Gordon inspects the storage and finds there are no dates or labels on packages.
The produce is old and sticky and raw meat is kept next to cooked meat.
He finds a padlocked fridge filled with cooked chicken.
There is also mouldy boiled beef and spoilt chicken that has gone rancid.
Gordon confronts them and Alyse insists they are not using it to cook.
Regardless it is kept in their storage next to other food they are using.
Peter gets upset and says he can't babysit his staff.
He blames them for not cleaning out the fridges.
Gordon shuts down the kitchen and restaurant because of the safety concerns he has.
Karen and Tariya have the uncomfortable jobs to telling customers that the dinner service is over.
They give them free drinks to compensate.
The next day, Peter says it was embarrassing to end the service.
He thinks it was not as bad as Gordon made it out to be.
Peter refuses to see how hazardous it is and admit it is in a horrible state.
He insists he wouldn’t intentionally serve that food to customers and again blames his staff.
Alyse also says it wasn’t her responsibility and Gordon gets frustrated with them, threatening to leave.
Karen makes them see that they should accept things are that bad.
She says that they don’t have the right processes in place and they should move forward.
Peter finally accepts they need help to be able to turn the restaurant around.
Gordon also addresses Peter’s negativity and asks him to be supportive and complimentary to her efforts.
The first assignment he gives the family is to cut the dishes that aren’t selling from the menu.
At first Peter refuses on most items but in the end agrees to cut the menu from 64 items down to 21 items.
Gordon works on revamping the menu while his team gives the dining room a makeover.
There is new decor, colours, tables, chairs and china from Niagra China.
Tariya has tears of joy this time around upon the reveal of the new restaurant.
They also have a new POS Lavu system from Zephyr hardware for orders that will be sent directly to the kitchen.
It also reports on how dishes are performing in the restaurant by keeping records of orders.
Gordon spends some time in the kitchen teaching them how to cook the new, modern menu items.
On relaunch night, Peter and Alyse start clashing and Peter is reminded they need to work together.
The customers love the new food and say they will come back to the restaurant.
What Happened Next at Yanni's?
In the weeks that follow, Peter adapts to the changes made by Gordon.
Peter and Alyse continue to work well together in the kitchen.
Tariya is smiling rather than crying.
The menu changes didn't go down well with some of their loyal customers.
They added some old favourites alongside Gordon's menu.
Yelp reviews since the episode was filmed are mostly positive.
There are some negative comments on service and differing open hours.
Planning on visiting the restaurant? Check out their website for opening hours and information.
Yanni’s Greek Restaurant was aired on 15 March 2013, the episode was filmed in November-December 2012 and is Kitchen Nightmares season 6 episode 12
Read About More Kitchen Nightmares
Previous episode - Mill Street Bistro
Next episode - Prohibition Grille
Y'know, I think this is another reason why a lot of these restaurants shut down. They listen to their 'regulars', so they quickly backtrack into selling their old stuff again.
ReplyDeleteNews flash: Your regulars were leading you into bankruptcy.
Well, it depends. If adding a few dishes from their old menu can let them keep their old customer base in addition to the new one, it *might* be worth it. Especially if they adapt them to work with the new menu.
DeleteWe shouldn't forget that there are plenty of people that just love the crappy food they find in certain restaurants, not everyone has GR's palate. If they're willing to pay for it - why not take advantage of that?
In general, you're right, that seems to be the case quite often, that was already a huge problem we could see in Kitchen Nightmares UK.
I think the restaurant business is like every business. You find out what sells and sell it for a profit. I am sure that GR's menu is not the be all and end all and very likely needs some changes if not many to suit the particular area in which the restaurant is. The key is to keep a good track of what sells and what doesn't and if you are making a profit on it. If an old item sells well enough and you make a profit then why not sell it. The danger is keeping too many items many of which don't sell but you have to try to stock for them resulting in wasted spoiled food or selling frozen foods. I agree that if people simply revert everything back to the way it was, when they obviously needed some change then they are doomed to fail, but I do hate the constant posts that somehow the only possible thing that could work is GR's menu. Hopefully the places learn how to understand menus and food selling and costing than just taking a given menu and hoping it works.
Deleteexcellent comment; if the regulars were making them money then listen to them. I know ugly hole in the wall restaurants that serve amazing food and they are packed to the rafters.
DeleteIf you have good food, they usually will come. If you are not making money, listening to your regulars will make you broke.
what's important is they keep the practice GR taught them especially in the aspects of standard, cleanliness, and health protocols. Face it, the main reason their foods were bad in the past is because of their bad ingredients caused by their negligent practices and lack of standard. Spoiled, frozen, and contaminated ingredients will always result to unpalatable dishes regardless of the recipe and seasonings.
DeleteI couldn't stop laughing at that crying girl, she was hilarious. CRYING GIRL FOR PRESIDENT 2016!!
ReplyDeleteI do have to make a comment here. It seems a common thread among the places that have closed are the backtracking into the old menu. Again, if it was sooooo good, why didn't you have customers? There's generally a good reason a restaurant closes, and most times, it's crappy food.
ReplyDeletehttp://socialcapitalreview.org/seattle-kitchen-nightmares-family-now-faces-greater-test/
ReplyDeleteAlyse had a drug history.
I get that Tariya is super emotional, but Alyse comes off as super nasty. Barking "stop crying" through gritted teeth isn't going to make her sister stop crying.
ReplyDeleteShe's stressed out of her mind... Has nothing to do with being emotional. You can tell after few seconds that it's not really the cinnamon, the garlic etc. that makes her cry, it's the stress of a failing business and failing family really. And their only response to that is "stop crying". Glad to hear they are still going, hope they are doing well.
DeleteOh my lord, these daughters cry just by having wind blown on their face. Gordon can just say hi and Tariya starts bawling.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad they are still open to this day. It shows that the show actually helped them and they listened.
ReplyDelete