Ramsay’s
Kitchen Nightmares: Momma Cherri’s Soul Food Shack And More
“How
do you turn a promising eatery
that just doesn’t
cut it into a popular and
financially-sound first-class restaurant?
Enter Gordon Ramsay with his tough,
no-nonsense solution — in Ramsay’s
Kitchen Nightmares: Momma Cherri’s
Soul Food Shack And More...”
CONTROVERSIAL AND VOLATILE he may be, but celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay
(Hell's Kitchen, The F Word) has a great
track record of turning around restaurants in trouble. This man really knows
his stuff and — despite his liberal sprinkling of that four-letter
word in his delivery — he gets his point across perfectly in Ramsay's
Kitchen Nightmares, the highly-rated and popular Channel Four reality
series. And Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares: Momma Cherri's
Soul Food Shack And More is now available on DVD.
Bringing his vast kitchen expertise to failing restaurants all over the world,
Gordon doesn't mince his words. Where criticism is due, he dishes it out unflinchingly.
Where praise is due, he is full of encouragement. And Momma Cherri's Soul Food
Shack in Brighton — one of his most famous success stories — was in
desperate need of the Ramsay touch.
Momma Cherri is a larger than life character who was banished by Gordon to front
of house — where she blossomed — to leave her talented and charming
chef Brian in charge of the kitchen. Her Soul Food Shack had oodles of potential
but too many empty tables and Gordon Ramsay was just the guy to motivate Cherrita
and her uninspired team. The uniqueness of both Momma Cherri and her delicious
home cooking is a plus; but her pricing was wrong, the food pre-prepared rather
than freshly-cooked and her budgeting wide of the mark.
Gordon helped her recognise her strengths and encouraged her and the staff to
interact as professionals. When the restaurant was empty, Gordon took Momma
Cherri out onto the Brighton seafront to cook food to promote her American Soul
Food. Now Gordon calls her
"a soul food evangelist" and Cherrita has become "the hostess with the mostest".
Gordon says that three key business factors need to work in close harmony: one
third staff costs; one third food costs and one third gross profit. You cannot
complete a recipe for success when you have an imbalance. He advised her to
"Cherri-pick the best" and before long she turning customers away. But will
she heed Gordon's advice in the long term?
Also included on the DVD are the infamous Ramsay overhauls of La Riviera, a
fine dining restaurant at Inverness; La Parra de Burriana, an ex-pat restaurant
on Spain's Costa del Sol; and then we're back to rural Lancashire for The Fenwick
Arms.
The very accomplished and notorious chef is himself one of culinary Britain's
most popular and successful stories. Coming from humble soccer beginnings to
heading up a multi-national restaurant empire, Gordon Ramsay has ventures in
London, New York, Paris, Florida and Los Angeles.
• Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares: Momma Cherri's
Soul Food Shack And More is, courtesy
of Acorn Media UK, now available on DVD (released 9 June, 2008) with a RRP of
£19.99.
Catalogue Number: AV9664 | Running Time: 196 minutes Approx on two discs |
Certificate: 15 (contains strong language).
