Entertainment
10 Times Gordon Ramsay Was Disgusted By The Fridge
Gordon Ramsay is a Michelin Star chef, he has seen it all. He has been in the food business for well over 20 years. And has managed to carve out an awesome career. So, it’s safe to say he has seen it all. However, now his career in television has taken him around the world. He is attempting to help other people and their establishments thrive. But mostly he has seen some downright nasty AF things. More specifically, he has seen some nasty AF refrigerators. He usually isn’t phased about anything, but some of these refrigerators have made him literally throw up the nasty food he just ate at that very establishment. Now, let’s get candid, Ramsay is pretty down to earth. He doesn’t come off as high brow or rude and on these shows, he really seems like he wants to help these people. He wants to save their businesses. But, he also isn’t a miracle worker. There is only so much that he can do and no matter what, he always tries his hardest. But, some places need to be shut down permanently. As for the restaurant owners, they should be banned from owning another business.
10. Handlebar Restaurant
The fridge at Handlebar restaurant was atrocious. Even Gordon Ramsay had no clue where to begin helping chef Melissa and the owner. Ramsay combs through the fridge finding everything from clams so moldy that they aren’t even clams anymore. All the way to dirt caked onto the back of the fridge. Simply breeding its own form of life. There are pounds of black grease on the stove and in the crevasses of every part of the stove. The duo tried to convince Ramsay that not only do they clean their fridge regularly, but also that it had been cleaned as recently as the week before. He ended up ordering the owner and the chef to clean the entire fridge out. But not before they tried to appeal to Ramsay’s soft side. They wanted credit for keeping the fridge as clean as it was currently. Which, let’s be honest, that sounds completely insane. They were in complete denial that their entire kitchen was overrun by filth. Also, molded food and to top it off they didn’t even use fresh vegetables. All the owner was worried about was receiving credit for what he had already done. He should be more worried about food poisoning and a lawsuit.
9. Fiesta Sunrise
The staff of Fiesta Sunrise have a lot of problems. They fight constantly, no one really knew who the boss is, and they are all in denial about the individual parts they played in running a horrific restaurant. The owner Vic was kind of cheapo. He used menus from an old restaurant he had and just covered the old name with some paper glued on that said the new name. But of course, nothing as worse than the kitchen. The tour of the kitchen started off on the wrong foot right away. The kitchen staff had doubles and triples of almost everything. And no one had an idea which one was the freshest one. Even the most basic and easiest food to use on anything, peppers were molded to the point where they weren’t even green anymore. Ramsay couldn’t even identify some of the food that had gone bad. The beef had oxidized. The fish was so old it dried up and solidified, and the chicken was green and slimy. There were jugs of solidified food that customers were CURRENTLY eating. In addition to cursing the dog crap out of the owner, he shut down the restaurant.
8. Jacks Waterfront Restaurant
Jack’s Waterfront Restaurant may take the top spot for most inauthentic food. From the get-go, Ramsay noticed that a lot of food was being sent back to the kitchen. Being a chef, he obviously knew this was not normal behavior. So, the next day he spent his time searching what looked like a well put together kitchen. But, of course, he found some horrific discoveries. The tuna was dyed pink to look fresher, a grey mushroom risotto that was STUCK to the tray and quite frankly looked moldy. Scott the owner claimed he didn’t know what was going on. To his defense, he did look quite shocked. The chicken wasn’t even pink and plump, and it looked like it was sitting in a cream sauce. In actuality, it had just molded in its own chicken juice. To make matters worse locals are catching fish right outside their door. They clearly have the opportunity to actually have fresh fish every day. The scum and dirt and grit were probably healthier to eat than the actual food. No one wanted to take the blame for anything because who wants to be on television admitting that this monstrosity is their fault?
7. Oceana
The episode that featured Oceana restaurant was called one of the most explosive Kitchen Nightmares of the year. Mainly because the co-owners, two brothers had horrible tempers. However, their food was disgusting, undercooked, overcooked, completely raw and usually frozen food. For a seafood restaurant in New Orleans, that’s just a joke. The establishment is full of rats which the owners are very nonchalant about. We haven’t even exposed the kitchen yet. Milky crabs in a warmer when they should be in a fridge. Gumbo that has curdled and is bubbling and rancid shrimp. Those were just some of the disgusting things in the fridge. This place was so bad that Ramsay actually threw up, and it takes a lot for that to happen. The entire fridge had to be considered tainted because of the mixture of food gone bad. There were roach traps and mouse traps all over the place that hadn’t been cleaned out. Essentially the entire restaurant had to be shut down which cost a loss of money they already didn’t have. Ramsay had to bring in emergency exterminators. The kitchen had black, sticky grease almost everywhere. Ultimately, the kitchen staff admitted that they have never had a top to bottom clean in the kitchen.
6. Lela’s Restaurant
The temperature of Lela’s walk-in fridge in the kitchen was 51 degrees Fahrenheit AKA it’s not even cold. We are already not off to a good start with this restaurant. In addition the “Executive Chef” being loud, fighting with waitresses and making up nasty AF recipes like a chocolate mint lamb. The staff is constantly eating the food to the point where it runs out and can’t be served to actual paying customers. The meat is rotten, the blood has congealed, and the smell is vile. Nothing in the entire restaurant was freshly made like the owner claimed. The audacity of the owner to call her restaurant fine dining is downright offensive. Basically, all of the food had to be thrown away and Ramsay had to re-adjust the temperature in the fridge. All this sounds insane because there is an Executive Chef that is supposedly running this kitchen. The owner is clueless to the fact that the chef is doing things his way like using powdered mashed potatoes. To top it off, one of the staff was caught stealing a lot of food and wine from the restaurant after he left before his shift was done. This restaurant is a complete joke.
5. Capri
Grime on the beer shafts, owners who stick their fingers in the pots and sleep in their cars. This place is disgusting and to be honest, we hope it’s closed down by now. Capri’s is an Italian restaurant and the owners didn’t know that putting hot, sealed tomato sauce in the fridge can make it go sour. Ramsay was literally praying for the customers as they lifted the forks to their mouths. No one has even mentioned if the owners are trained chefs or have any kind of experience in the restaurant business. They admitted that they bought the place because they used to love eating there and now could eat for free. Ramsay stopped the owners from serving lethally contaminated and spoiled chicken. In addition, there were pounds of food in the fridge like eggplant parmesan that was just rotten to the core. These brothers are disgusting. We normally don’t comment on people’s looks. However, these guys just looked filthy, like they shouldn’t be near a kitchen. They burp out loud in the kitchen over people’s food and they never wear gloves. We didn’t see a hand wash at any time. Everything they took out of the fridge to serve had either gone bad or was undercook and couldn’t just be re-warmed.
4. Casa Roma Restaurant and Cocktails
This episode started off with Chef Ramsay having to get rid of a chef who was bringing nothing but toxic energy to an already struggling restaurant. After that business was done, he was able to have a proper look around the kitchen. Needless to say, he didn’t like what he saw. Rotten avocados, open buckets of tomato sauce, roast beef that looked like it has been there for years. That wasn’t it, it actually got worse. “Fresh” Parma ham that was not only caked in mold, but it was stuck to Ramsay’s hand. Even the lemons were molded and falling apart. This was another kitchen that made Ramsay throw up and basically lose his mind with anger. Keep in mind we have only just mentioned what was in the fridge. The rest of the kitchen was no better. It was messy and had a foul smell every time a new door opened. It was like the kitchen staff didn’t clean up at the end of every shift. Some of the things shown in the fridge we couldn’t even identify that’s how you know you have gone way too far. There was even an entire slab of what looked to be lasagna that we just know they would try and sell later that day if Ramsay hadn’t stepped in.
3. Chappy’s
At Chappy’s even the jarred mayo had gone bad. In fact, Chef Ramsay thought it was mustard because of the pale-yellow color it was sporting. The expiration date was 2010 and this episode aired in 2013 WTF! There was raw beef and cooked beef side by side in the fridge. Old cakes that fell apart as soon they were touched. Ramsay has seen a lot but Chappy’s kitchen really threw him for a loop. The shrimp was so old it was both slimy and stuck together who knew that was even a thing? At one point he thought there was a piece of shrimp hanging down in the back of the fridge. However, when he looked closer it was mold just growing and hanging down from the racks. Upon further investigation, he realized the ENTIRE fridge was molded. When he confronted head chef and co-owner Chappy, all he could say was “something must have spilled”. The fact that these people think they can fool Gordon Ramsay into believing that their nastiness is a mistake is a complete joke. Even the freaking potatoes were flattened out from just straight up decomposing. Yet, Chappy told Ramsay that they were “fresh potatoes”. The food stands, and storage trays were even molded.
2. The Seascape Restaurant & Taproom
Chef Ramsay was able to use a spatula and clean the dirt and caked on oil off of the walls in the kitchen. Now, that says a lot about this establishment. But, it wasn’t just on the walls, it was on the floors, under the prep tables, and even on the actual stove. Ramsay referred to it as “larva” and a “health hazard”. The pesto he had for lunch just the day before was molding. It looked like a tapenade before he took a spoonful out and revealed that the dark top layer was actually molded. Ramsay took time out of his inspection to 1. Scold the nasty AF chef. And 2. Make the owners aware of just how ridiculous their 95 grade from the health board inspection was. The chef’s excuse for his nasty kitchen “I’m just not a throwaway person”. In fact, he was so adamant about not admitting that he was wrong that when he was confronted with a piece of sour pork he said it was his for his own meals. Ramsay told him not to eat it but he said, “it’s only sour on the outside” and surprise he had already been eating it. Another restaurant so contaminated it had to be closed down for a few days.
1. Murphy’s Historic Hotel
The name historic is perfect for this hotel. Not only does the entire place look old and not in a fashionable way. It also has an owner who knows absolutely nothing about owning a hotel. But like every other place on this list, the kitchen was the worst part. Chef Ramsay went into the walk-in fridge and found that literally, EVERYTHING in there had mold on it. Literally everything. Which is shocking because the restaurant part of the hotel is currently serving a huge dinner service. The fridge was so moldy that even the containers and lids were growing their own mold. The mold was growing from inside to the outside. He was able to slap together tortillas and cough from all the mold coming off of them. When confronted, the head chef and his staff, of course, claimed that they clean the fridge top to bottom weekly. We will give it to the owner he genuinely looked as shocked as Ramsay initially was. Ultimately, very quickly the head chef began to back peddle saying things like, “oh yeah, I need to toss that”. Even the freaking Thai chili marinade had black mold in and around the container. To make matters worse one of the owners said that a lot of the sauces had been there from a chef “back in 2006 or 2007”. Oh, and one of the 3 owners is so delusional he gave himself employee of the month.