Kitchen Nightmares 5x12

1. Tonight, on "Kitchen Nightmares Revisited,"

2. Chef Ramsay is back in Baltimore,

3. Philadelphia, and New Jersey.

4. Holy crap!

5. Where he checks in on some of his biggest challenges

6. he has ever faced. - Smell it!

7. Oh!

8. They were the most disgusting—

9. How!

10. —dysfunctional—

11. 86 the french fries.

12. —and most distraught restaurants in "Kitchen

13. Nightmares" history.

14. It ain't your fault. It's my fault!

15. First, we return to Cafe Hon in Hampton, Maryland.

16. Could I have everybody's attention?

17. The owner was caught in a nasty battle

18. with the community.

19. I was afraid for my life.

20. What? Death threats?

21. And her staff was ready to revolt.

22. You're a rude bitch.

23. Then we visit Chiarella's in Philadelphia.

24. Put it up! Let's go!

25. Where the family business

26. was so bad that one owner had completely lost his confidence.

27. I stay in bed because I'm afraid to get up.

28. While his wife had completely lost her patience.

29. Well, right now, I'm getting mad.

30. And lastly, Chef Ramsey travels to Montclair,

31. New Jersey, to get an update on Leone's.

32. Under no circumstances can

33. we continue to serve food.

34. I'm sad to say that we're closing

35. down Leone's for the night.

36. Where a lazy owner—

37. The major problem here is there is no manager—

38. nobody in control of this restaurant.

39. It's hard for me to really show passion.

40. Was ruining the restaurant that his mother

41. had worked so hard to build.

42. We've already drowned.

43. Get ready for a night of surprising updates.

44. - Oh! - Can I talk about that?

45. As we find out who stayed on the road to success

46. and who veered off, turning the restaurant back

47. into a nightmare.

48. Oh, I'm pissed off.

49. What is that?

50. You're serving rotten food!

51. - You could possibly kill them. - Then wake up!

52. You wake up!

53. Shut the place down!

54. Get out of here!

55. That is amazing!

56. I can't take any more!

57. Thank you, Chef.

58. As soon as I leave a restaurant,

59. I'm always wondering whether they stuck to the plan.

60. And I know you do also.

61. Tonight, I'm going to show you three restaurants I visited

62. last year, and you're going to be

63. surprised at what I found out.

64. First up, Cafe Hon in Baltimore.

65. Hampton, Maryland, a suburb of Baltimore.

66. When I first arrived, I visited a local radio station

67. to find out the restaurant owner, Denise Whiting,

68. was at war with the community.

69. She had trademarked the term "Hon," which is

70. a cultural icon in Baltimore.

71. She was threatening businesses with lawsuits.

72. With lawsuits?

73. I mean, it went that far?

74. She demanded legal fees from somebody

75. that was making tourist stuff with just the word "Hon" on it.

76. After finding out what I was in for—

77. I mean, she's almost become the anti-Hon.

78. Yes.

79. It was time to go to Cafe Hon

80. and actually meet the owner.

81. All right, I want everybody's attention.

82. Could I have everybody's attention?

83. But before I made it inside,

84. I was faced with a giant, and I mean a giant pink flamingo.

85. Holy mackerel.

86. Wow, wow, wow, wow, wow.

87. I had hoped that the restaurant wasn't on its last leg as well.

88. I desperately needed to hear Denise's side of the story.

89. The problem is I federally registered the "Hon"

90. as a— as a trademark.

91. People scream at me from across the street, just

92. horrible things.

93. It's got that bad?

94. I mean, I was afraid for my life.

95. Did you not sue anyone?

96. - I never sued anybody. - You didn't sue anybody?

97. No.

98. Did you threaten to sue anybody?

99. No.

100. But Denise wasn't telling me the truth.

101. I've done my homework before I got here.

102. I did—

103. I— you know what?

104. See, you're not being fair now.

105. After setting her straight, the next step for me

106. was to taste the food.

107. Then I met my lovely server, Amanda.

108. Amanda, I love the hair. Thank you.

109. Beautiful.

110. And oh boy, her hair was "honderful."

111. Wow.

112. Look at you.

113. They sure do love their hairspray in Baltimore.

114. This batter's soggy.

115. Couldn't even stick to the fish.

116. Sadly, the food was atrocious.

117. It's like a flamingo turd just landed on my plate.

118. Just dreadful.

119. And then these stone cold shrimp—

120. horrible.

121. He said the shrimp tasted like they had, like,

122. a weird aftertaste to it, like it almost

123. tasted like the refrigerator. - Really?

124. I don't— I don't understand.

125. This is perfect.

126. Perfect?

127. Trust me, they were far from perfect.

128. And I could tell already I was going to have

129. my hands full with Denise.

130. That night at dinner service—

131. This is asparagus, all right?

132. I'm tired of seeing the asparagus

133. different kinds of ways.

134. You cut off the ends—

135. Oh, my god.

136. —and you blanch them.

137. I could not believe

138. how Denise ran her restaurant.

139. Any turkey on the board?

140. 86 the turkey.

141. She was 86ing the whole fricking menu.

142. 86 the biscuits, you guys.

143. Item—

144. - 86 the pot pie. - After item—

145. 86 the catfish.

146. After item.

147. 86 the french fries.

148. I thought she was going to 86 me next.

149. DENISE WHITING: 86 the steak.

150. We don't have steak.

151. Oh, my God.

152. I'm dying.

153. That was a disaster.

154. How could you let it go this far?

155. After seeing how bad a leader Denise was,

156. I decided to talk to her staff about her behavior.

157. She goes up to the girls and tells them they're stupid,

158. or she gets up to my face, tell her to fix her hair.

159. She focuses on a lot of the superficial things.

160. She micro-manages.

161. It was clear

162. that her very loyal staff were deeply affected by her actions.

163. It was time to confront Denise.

164. Denise, you, um—

165. you're a rude bitch.

166. Ouch.

167. And I'm tired of it.

168. Denise, you're the negative in the restaurant.

169. People don't like you.

170. They did not hold back,

171. but that is exactly what Denise needed to hear.

172. I'm sorry that I've been a bit overbearing.

173. To lose this business would be for me to lose my soul.

174. And I can only say that this is the beginning of a new day.

175. Denise's apology was

176. a step in the right direction.

177. But the bigger issue was her relationship

178. with her community.

179. So I hatched a plan.

180. I've put together a select group of people

181. that I'd like you to hear from.

182. - OK. - OK?

183. Please, jump in the car.

184. Headsets on.

185. Denise was forced to listen.

186. She pushes everyone around.

187. She's focused on Denise Whiting.

188. And if you don't like it, you're going to be sorry.

189. What would it take for this community

190. to embrace Cafe Hon again?

191. She has to walk away from the trademark.

192. She has to abandon it.

193. She has to abandon it?

194. All claim to it, say it was a mistake, she does not own it.

195. Denise had a big decision to make.

196. Give up the Hon trademark, or lose your restaurant.

197. Would she do the right thing?

198. I am so sorry for the animosity, and the hatred,

199. and everything that trademarking a word—

200. just a word— has done.

201. Please forgive me.

202. That must have taken a lot of courage to say that,

203. but you never said you were going

204. to give the trademark back.

205. Yes.

206. Wow.

207. This is amazing.

208. That's— that's actually—

209. That's kind of stunning.

210. After getting Denise's commitment

211. to change, we were ready to relaunch

212. Cafe Hon with a new decor—

213. Oh, my God.

214. A new menu—

215. Mm, that's delicious.

216. Really good.

217. And an owner with a new attitude.

218. Great job.

219. You're doing awesome.

220. John, thank you.

221. Dottie, beautiful.

222. Cafe Hon was well on its way

223. to becoming a fixture in the community once again.

224. These are fantastic.

225. I've been given a great gift and an amazing opportunity.

226. And I will be forever grateful.

227. Last year, if you wanted to see an angry owner at war

228. with the community, then trust me, Cafe Hun in Baltimore

229. was guaranteed fireworks.

230. Personally, I felt like I was negotiating a treaty as

231. opposed to fixing a restaurant.

232. I'm now back to find out, is there peace?

233. Coming up— has Denise

234. repaired her relationship with her staff and her community?

235. Have we got good news?

236. Bad news?

237. She wasn't sincere when she apologized.

238. Oh, no.

239. Or has she gone back to being

240. the tyrant of Baltimore?

241. You know, we've have some issues.

242. And that's not a surprise to anybody.

243. I'm on my way to meet Reagan and Jojo.

244. They're DJs at the local radio station.

245. These guys really do have their fingers

246. on the pulse in the community.

247. And they're going to give me an update

248. to find out how the locals have responded since Denise Whiting

249. gave up that trademark "hon," and what's really

250. happening in that restaurant.

251. Baltimore's mix, 106.5 It's Jojo and Reagan

252. in the "Mix Morning Show."

253. And we've got a special guest this morning.

254. As you may have been reading in the papers,

255. Gordon Ramsay's back in town. Yeah.

256. We're going to see what Baltimore thinks about Cafe Hon

257. now. - Hi, guys.

258. Welcome back to Baltimore.

259. Thank you so much. Likewise.

260. Good to see you guys. - Good to see you again.

261. I'm so happy to be back.

262. Now, the word on the street.

263. Cafe Hon— have we got good news?

264. Bad news?

265. In between?

266. Good news.

267. Good news?

268. The good news is there's— there's not a lot of news—

269. OK.

270. —which is really good for Denise.

271. So it's not people just violently angry at her anymore.

272. Right.

273. Great.

274. There are still people who say she wasn't

275. sincere when she apologized.

276. Right.

277. There are still people who say, oh, she

278. didn't give up the trademark.

279. She did give up the trademark.

280. We know that for a fact.

281. 100%.

282. So there are people that just aren't going to be won over,

283. but I think the majority of people have come around.

284. Things are back to normal in that neighborhood,

285. and everything's going OK.

286. And just as importantly, the restaurant.

287. And has anyone been?

288. Any feedback?

289. My wife and I were there a couple of days ago.

290. Oh, good.

291. We had the crab cake.

292. We had the chicken pot pie.

293. It was good. - Right.

294. I saw Denise.

295. There was a resurgence in her that I hadn't seen.

296. That was nice to see.

297. Yeah, good.

298. So are you going to head over and talk to her?

299. Yep. Good to see you both.

300. Good to see you.

301. Chef Gordon Ramsay, thanks for joining us this morning

302. on the Jojo and Reagan show. - Excellent.

303. Good to see you both.

304. Absolutely

305. That pink flamingo—

306. they haven't got rid of that.

307. Look at you two.

308. Welcome back, Gordon.

309. Nice to see you well.

310. How are you, my darling?

311. I'm great.

312. Ah.

313. Whoa, dear.

314. Thank you.

315. First of all, this place is heaving.

316. It's wonderful.

317. Let's get together somewhere quieter.

318. OK.

319. Let's go over there to the bar, shall we?

320. It'll be.

321. Wow.

322. That is crazy in there.

323. And you look great, by the way. - Thank you.

324. I brought you a little present.

325. - Can I open it? - Please.

326. I'm dying to see what you think.

327. I thought, because you kept the big one on the outside—

328. — I would bring you something a little more intimate.

329. Thank you.

330. It's good to see you, darling.

331. It just seemed so special.

332. Made me think he was thinking about me,

333. other than when he's here.

334. How are you, personally?

335. Wonderful.

336. - Don't get upset. - I know.

337. Come on.

338. I know.

339. I'm just so grateful.

340. Last time, you cried for a different reason.

341. I have people scream at me from across the street, just

342. horrible things.

343. It's got that bad?

344. I mean, I was afraid for my life.

345. This time, you know—

346. It's a happy cry.

347. It's a happy cry.

348. I felt like, for a whole year and a half,

349. I couldn't be part of the community.

350. Sure.

351. And as soon as we did the relaunch,

352. I went right to a community meeting that Monday.

353. And then I just started getting more involved in the community.

354. Which is music to my ears.

355. You know, it's like the restaurant is one thing, but—

356. I know. Come here.

357. Come here. Come here.

358. Come here, you.

359. Honestly.

360. As soon as I rejoined the community,

361. I really felt like the weight of the world

362. had been lifted off my shoulders,

363. and I could be me again.

364. Business in general—

365. since I last saw you.

366. Where are we?

367. Since the relaunch, business picked up about 20%.

368. Good.

369. We're still working to regain people's trust

370. and get them coming back again.

371. But we've gotten a lot of new people in the door,

372. and people that said, oh, we stopped coming,

373. and now we're coming again.

374. Good.

375. The food, the service, how are you feeling there?

376. I've been kind of overseeing things a little bit more.

377. But— Oh, no.

378. I've been really good.

379. Because remember last time, it was interference.

380. It was just negative.

381. Oh, come on. Really?

382. What's this, Dottie?

383. Why is it sitting there?

384. Is this for something?

385. - Listen, you look great. - Thank you.

386. The restaurant sounds amazing.

387. And I'd like you to do something special for me now.

388. Go and cook me a special.

389. I'm dying to taste the food. - OK.

390. Brilliant. Surprise me.

391. OK.

392. How are you, my darling?

393. Hi!

394. Oh, good to see you.

395. Let's sit down and have a catch up.

396. How are you, my darling?

397. Hi.

398. You look great.

399. Good to see you.

400. Hair looks amazing.

401. Thanks, for the compliment, Chef Ramsay.

402. I'm dying to ask, how has she been?

403. - She's better. - A lot better.

404. - Yeah. - This is real?

405. It's the truth.

406. Good.

407. And she's not coming in, nitpicking?

408. - No, she's not picking at all. - Bitch-festing?

409. No.

410. Giving asparagus lessons in the middle of service?

411. No, she actually—

412. Could I have everybody's attention?

413. This is asparagus, all right?

414. You cut off the ends—

415. Oh, my God.

416. —and you blanch them.

417. That almost happened again, I'll have you know.

418. Oh, you're kidding me.

419. No, but she walked away, Gordon.

420. She walked away. - She did.

421. She walked away? - She walked away.

422. Is she still 86ing things?

423. 86 the turkey.

424. 86 the French fries.

425. 86 the catfish.

426. - No. - No.

427. No.

428. Now, it's not like that.

429. Now they don't have a reason to hate her.

430. Yes, it is a lot easier for us. - Good.

431. How much has she changed? - A lot.

432. Yes.

433. Is she supporting you more?

434. She is.

435. And she's also staying home more.

436. She cooked for us.

437. She waited on us. Good.

438. She's great.

439. The manager got invited home for dinner?

440. Yeah. Yes.

441. Wow. - To her house.

442. To her house?

443. Denise is a lot easier to talk to.

444. She is more receptive to our comments.

445. She's turned it around, she really has.

446. And what is that?

447. It's a guacamole burger.

448. A guacamole burger, nice.

449. Look at that.

450. They love the burgers.

451. - Wow. - I love it.

452. That's delicious.

453. Is it good?

454. I get the opportunity to cook for Chef

455. Ramsay, and he really likes it.

456. It makes me feel really good.

457. Ladies and gentlemen, I'm so pleased to see the delight

458. on Denise Whiting's face.

459. The fact that not only is she a part of the community again,

460. but you, as the locals, feel part of this restaurant

461. as well.

462. Thank you.

463. I'd like to introduce a very special guest.

464. Give a warm welcome, please.

465. Baltimore City councilman, Nick Mosby.

466. Sir?

467. Good to see you. Thank you.

468. Thank you.

469. On this day, I would like to present you

470. with an official Baltimore City resolution in recognition

471. of your selfless dedication and continued

472. support to the community and the city of Baltimore.

473. Nick, thank you so much.

474. Thank you.

475. I appreciate the recognition, really and truly.

476. And I know that, you know, we've had some issues.

477. And I really appreciate the fact that I've

478. been given a second chance.

479. Because not everybody gets a second chance in this lifetime.

480. And I am very grateful to have had the opportunity

481. to work with Gordon Ramsay.

482. And I feel like you've given me my life

483. back and my restaurant back.

484. And I— I will be forever grateful to you.

485. Thank you.

486. Wonderful, my darling.

487. Nick, you're a star.

488. I really appreciate it.

489. Thank you.

490. Well done, darling.

491. I feel like I've earned

492. the right to be happy again.

493. I might be crying right now, but I'm really happy inside.

494. I'm very proud of what you're doing.

495. - Thank you. - Yeah, well done.

496. - Thank you. - Take care.

497. Good to see you, OK? Best wishes.

498. - Thank you. - Bye-bye.

499. Bye, guys.

500. Bye.

501. Let me tell you what really happened here.

502. This was a PR nightmare that became a PR miracle.

503. And if only Denise can always remember

504. to be part of the solution and not the problem, then trust me,

505. Cafe Hon has a very, very bright future in Baltimore.

506. That is the biggest flamingo I've

507. ever seen in my entire life.

508. What a monster.

509. Next, Chef Ramsay returns to Philly,

510. where Tommy DeFino was a broken man, completely depressed.

511. I stay in bed because I'm afraid to get up.

512. I'm afraid who's going to come in,

513. who's going to shut my gas off.

514. Has Tommy remained the confident man

515. that Chef Ramsay built up?

516. Has Tommy personally made any changes?

517. Or has he let Chiarella's fall apart?

518. Come on, look.

519. That wasn't me.

520. Find out next when "Kitchen

521. Nightmares Revisited" returns.

522. South Philadelphia,

523. home to Chiarella's, owned by husband and wife, Tommy

524. and Dina DeFino.

525. Shortly after meeting the couple—

526. But what's missing from the restaurant?

527. We don't know what's missing.

528. Customers.

529. I think our food is better than the area's

530. food around here.

531. It's quality, it's fresh.

532. Right.

533. And I stand behind our food.

534. I could tell they were

535. really in love with their food.

536. So what's wrong with the restaurant?

537. I don't agree with the way he runs the kitchen.

538. There's not enough business.

539. It's just—

540. That's not the issue.

541. And his wife was so frustrated

542. with him and their business.

543. The issue is you can't better your business the way

544. you're running it.

545. We'll try.

546. Right away, I

547. could tell this man was broken.

548. But now, I wanted to get to tasting this amazing food.

549. Thank you.

550. - Thank you. - Wow.

551. There's so much veal on here.

552. Veal cutlet Johnny, veal Parmesan,

553. veal cutlet with roasted peppers,

554. veal scallopini, veal , veal,

555. veal Sinatra.

556. Why not add a veal Madonna or a veal Bacchelli?

557. I mean, come on.

558. While waiting for my lunch, I decided

559. to have a little walk around.

560. What's that?

561. You're kidding me.

562. And what did I discover?

563. A full-blown gym.

564. Man.

565. What is this guy doing?

566. Tommy?

567. He's in your office.

568. Oh, God.

569. You work out in here?

570. Yeah.

571. So what's this?

572. That wasn't me.

573. That wasn't me.

574. There's holes in the wall.

575. He's punched some holes in the walls.

576. He'll say it wasn't him. It was.

577. - That wasn't me. - Man.

578. That wasn't me.

579. And that on the wall there?

580. That's my golf course.

581. Not only was it

582. a gym, it was a driving range as well.

583. Fore!

584. OK.

585. Back to the food.

586. Veal Sinatra.

587. Thank you, darling.

588. Man, that's dreadful.

589. Mm-hm.

590. It's just chewy.

591. Uh-huh.

592. Let's get one thing straight.

593. The food was not good.

594. That's ghastly.

595. What a disgusting combination.

596. It's like someone's thrown up on my plate.

597. Tommy and Dina failed to see that.

598. I still stand by it.

599. I still stand by our food.

600. I still stand by my food.

601. The food was disgusting.

602. No, I— I disagree with that.

603. Well, that's your opinion. - Come on.

604. Uh, hello?

605. Can somebody say "denial?"

606. You listen— - No.

607. I'm not in denial.

608. You are going to have to get your head out your ass.

609. And it went downhill from there.

610. It's just all swimming in oil, and you

611. weren't going to say anything?

612. Hey, Tommy?

613. Throughout dinner, Tommy avoided the problems.

614. All right.

615. Um, I think you need to go back in the back

616. and check on your cooks.

617. You can go back there and just—

618. He literally

619. ran away from the problems.

620. Right now, I'm getting mad.

621. And Dina

622. had no choice but to step in.

623. Put it up!

624. Let's go!

625. I don't know what you guys are doing!

626. Give me table 10, and give me the pasta special.

627. My God.

628. Dysfunctional owners, and a dysfunctional kitchen.

629. I knew, if there was any hope of saving Tommy,

630. I needed the help of his family.

631. Hello?

632. The double Ds, Dina and Denay.

633. I came by here this morning to talk about Tommy.

634. We need to get him back.

635. Hey, good morning.

636. Ah.

637. Take a seat.

638. Listen, I love you.

639. I know you love me, babe.

640. I want you back.

641. I want me back, too.

642. I'm not the same person I was.

643. My whole life, I've been—

644. You have to get that person.

645. You gotta reach inside, Tommy, and pull it out.

646. We want you to be happy.

647. We love you.

648. We can make great changes.

649. But unless you're back—

650. It ain't gonna work. I know.

651. OK?

652. I want to fight, yeah.

653. OK, good.

654. Dina and Dinay were able to build up

655. his confidence.

656. And finally, we were getting somewhere.

657. Tommy was ready for change.

658. The next day, we relaunched Chiarella's.

659. Come on. Come on.

660. Let's go tonight, guys. Let's go.

661. Come on.

662. It was now up

663. to Tommy to prove to everyone he can run his restaurant.

664. How are we looking here?

665. How are we looking here?

666. Coming right now, table 20.

667. Follow me, table 20.

668. Here we go.

669. And he did just that.

670. We're good in here. We're good in here.

671. We're good in here. - Nice.

672. Nice. Good, good, good.

673. Lasagna, baby.

674. Good job tonight.

675. Great job.

676. I'm the boss.

677. Last year, when I came to Chiarella's in South Philly,

678. I met a husband and wife team that

679. were about to literally give up on their own restaurant.

680. And let me tell you, things couldn't have got any worse.

681. We had a phenomenal week and made some unbelievable changes.

682. We're about to find out if any of them are lasting.

683. Coming up—

684. Ow!

685. Has the rebuilding of Chiarella's destroyed

686. the marriage?

687. How's the relationship between you and Tommy?

688. And later, it's an unexpected revisit

689. not to be missed.

690. Why is he lying to me?

691. Oh, I'm pissed off.

692. It's great to be back in South Philly.

693. I'm on my way to Chiarella's, an Italian restaurant

694. run by Tommy and Dina DeFino.

695. Now, last time I was here, Tommy was so depressed.

696. And Dina, she was just a nervous wreck.

697. We made some substantial changes,

698. not just to the restaurant, but to the owners as well.

699. I'm back to check in.

700. And hopefully, they've kept up their momentum.

701. Hello?

702. Hello.

703. Wow.

704. How are you?

705. - Wonderful. - Good to see you.

706. Wonderful. Good to see you.

707. - Are you well? - Yeah.

708. You well?

709. Look at this place.

710. Yeah, it's bumping. - Atmosphere is amazing.

711. How have you been?

712. - Good. - Yeah?

713. - Yeah. - You're quiet.

714. You seem calm.

715. Last time I saw you, you were a nervous wreck.

716. And it was almost like you hated being here.

717. Yeah.

718. It was very stressful.

719. How has the business been?

720. - 20% better. - Wow.

721. So 20% up, which is great.

722. Use the positive.

723. How do we take it to another level?

724. How do you get out 40%?

725. Um, I think a liquor license.

726. That's what we're working on.

727. - Oh, you've been saving? - Yeah.

728. Just imagine what the business could do if it did

729. have that liquor license.

730. We're getting there.

731. Once we get that liquor license, we'll be able to be

732. open later, have a happy hour.

733. We'll be, like, set.

734. Um, how's the relationship between you and Tommy?

735. I don't agree with the way he runs the kitchen.

736. You can't better your business the way you're running it.

737. I didn't think she felt like that.

738. On a scale of 1 to 10?

739. 10. Seriously?

740. 10, seriously.

741. Good.

742. And his confidence is back?

743. Yeah, thank God.

744. Where is he?

745. I think he's down this way.

746. Once we changed in here—

747. Let me get it.

748. Tommy transitioned into a new person.

749. All right, buddy.

750. Table five.

751. We need five and six.

752. Make the salads up, all right?

753. Tommy?

754. How many soups?

755. Hey, chef.

756. - Good to see you. - Ow!

757. Good to see you. Come, let's go and chat.

758. Come here. How are you?

759. Down to the office.

760. What's this?

761. Yeah, that wasn't me.

762. That wasn't me. - Man.

763. That wasn't me.

764. Watch your head. - OK.

765. Wow.

766. - It's a lot better, right? - Look at this.

767. They're the old marks. They're the old marks.

768. What? Are they?

769. - They're the old ones. - Oh, no, no.

770. Promise me? - I haven't hit nothing.

771. Um, walk me through— oh, damn.

772. That wasn't me.

773. Can I talk about that?

774. sake.

775. That ain't a fist.

776. It's a ball, I swear to God

777. A ball?

778. It's in there, I swear to God.

779. Come on, look.

780. Perfect.

781. I promise you, all right?

782. You pull me out, I'll take a liar detector test.

783. Honestly.

784. That's a shame

785. You're not bench pressing that.

786. I can do it a couple of times,

787. OK, let me see. - All right.

788. I'm going to do it easy for you. Look at that.

789. OK, good. Good, good.

790. Is that good enough?

791. You're still in great shape, I'm telling you.

792. I walk in, the place is buzzing.

793. Last time I was here, it was more than 20% down.

794. You're now 20% up, saving for a liquor license.

795. Yeah.

796. So you're putting enough money away

797. each month to save for that.

798. I am starting.

799. We're still— we're still behind.

800. I mean, you know, the electric and the gas

801. and all that goes first.

802. But we were up from last year, and that's what I look at.

803. Yeah.

804. As long as we're up, it's positive.

805. Exactly.

806. That seems more control, less anger.

807. Are you happier inside?

808. Definitely.

809. Can't you see?

810. I'm definitely— from before, I'm emotionally in a way

811. better place.

812. Way better. - You need to get back to work.

813. That place is full up there.

814. I miss you, man.

815. It's not easy to find your manhood

816. when things are going bad.

817. And he put that back.

818. He put it back for me.

819. Come on.

820. Ah!

821. Hi. So good to see you.

822. I know.

823. - Are you well? - I'm well, I'm real well.

824. Place is busy.

825. Yeah, it's been good.

826. I actually like coming to work now.

827. - You do? - Yeah.

828. I'm so pleased to hear that.

829. Tommy looks less stressed.

830. Is he better?

831. - Yeah, he's a lot better. - Is he?

832. Oh, my God, yeah.

833. He learned how to take control of his business

834. without letting the business take control of him.

835. And that's the biggest change in Tommy.

836. - Thank you, my darling. - You're welcome.

837. Lasagna.

838. That looks amazing, thank you.

839. And your chicken piccata.

840. Wow.

841. Tommy, sit down.

842. That looks fantastic.

843. Dina, take a seat, my darling.

844. I'm dying to taste this. When was this made?

845. Today. - Today.

846. Today?

847. Fresh, fresh, fresh.

848. That is delicious.

849. Really, really good indeed.

850. Last time I was here, he was walking around with his head

851. in the sand.

852. You were still giving your food 10 out of 10.

853. And I stand behind our food.

854. The food was disgusting.

855. How are you feeling now?

856. I feel that now it's 10 out of 10.

857. And I'm happy now.

858. And I'm happy because he's happy.

859. With Tommy and I working together, running a business

860. together, raising a family together,

861. we're more confident together.

862. This is the happiest that Tommy and I've been,

863. because we're able to communicate better.

864. And I'm not sugarcoating anything.

865. Coming back and seeing exactly where both of you are now,

866. it makes me really proud.

867. I want you to really succeed, so I'm personally

868. going to make a contribution—

869. Get out of here.

870. —to you both, to help get that liquor licence.

871. Seriously.

872. If we can be 20% up now, without the liquor license,

873. get that liquor license, we're on the road.

874. Chef Ramsay is a great guy.

875. And he couldn't have helped us any more,

876. I couldn't possibly have thought.

877. But for him to make a contribution towards the liquor

878. license is, like, just awesome.

879. It really is.

880. Brilliant.

881. Well, good to see you both. Thank you.

882. Yeah, thank you.

883. Chef Ramsay coming in here has been more than a life

884. changing experience. It's been unbelievable.

885. And he really— he's 100% behind me, which is a great feeling.

886. It's a great feeling.

887. All right, listen.

888. Keep it up, will you? - Yes, definitely.

889. Yeah, seriously?

890. Yes.

891. - Well done. - Thank you.

892. Don't give up. Look after yourself.

893. Thank you. That's from here.

894. Seriously. - Thank you.

895. And stop putting those holes in the wall, OK?

896. - Ah, man. - Take care.

897. Thank you, Chef.

898. I love you.

899. Wow.

900. I am so surprised.

901. I mean, I had my doubts about Tommy,

902. but he has really stepped up and taken the bull by the horns.

903. And now he's taken hold of his business.

904. And Dina, she is completely transformed.

905. And as a couple, they are united, stronger than ever

906. before.

907. And I really believe that Chiarella's

908. now on its way to being back on top, where it belongs.

909. Coming up, Chef Ramsay

910. goes back to New Jersey where Michael

911. went from the laziest owner to a hardworking manager.

912. I need one cod and one

913. Find out if he is still leading his restaurant.

914. That's so sad.

915. I'm so disappointed.

916. Or has his old habits resurfaced?

917. That's coming up on "Kitchen Nightmares Revisited."

918. Montclair, New Jersey,

919. home to Italian restaurant Leone's, run by mother

920. and son, Michael and Rose Leone.

921. We owe $1,400 for the meat, overdue for the past month.

922. What are you going to do, Michael?

923. You tell me.

924. What do you want me to do?

925. When I first

926. walked into the restaurant—

927. And what's that thing there?

928. That's, uh, my old, uh, television that I

929. watch while the game's on. - You watch games on that?

930. Yes, sir.

931. I was absolutely

932. stunned by what I saw.

933. Do you think that's a good impression for the customers

934. walking in for the first time?

935. Michael just seemed clueless.

936. A lazy owner watching telly was bad enough,

937. but the decor was just as hideous.

938. Oh, my God.

939. Is that a baby? - Yes.

940. I mean, they say that there's

941. never an ugly baby.

942. I think I've just found one.

943. But that's not you, is it?

944. No, sir. - How are you?

945. How are you?

946. It's good to see you, sweetie.

947. And then, there was Mama

948. Rose.

949. Oh, yeah. Nice.

950. Chef Ramsay's hot.

951. I've been married three times.

952. I need number four.

953. She was quite a character.

954. I can't start to even think about turning this place around

955. until I get to the bottom of the issues.

956. The major problem here is there is no manager.

957. There are no— nobody in control of this restaurant.

958. I take care of payroll, I take care

959. of receiving, doing the menus.

960. Wow.

961. Poor Mama Rose.

962. She depended on Michael to run the restaurant.

963. Basically, the staff is running

964. this restaurant right now.

965. I disagree.

966. But he wasn't running anything,

967. except maybe his mouth.

968. Are you here every day? - Except Monday, yeah.

969. I'm here every day.

970. So you're here six days a week.

971. Across those six days a week you're in here,

972. you're here what? 12, 14 hours a day?

973. Nah, nah. How many?

974. I work the dinner shift, from, like, uh,

975. 5:00 to 10:00, 5:00 to 11:00.

976. So five hours a day.

977. How many of them do you sit down?

978. Depending on the situation?

979. Roughly.

980. Three?

981. So you're on your feet for two hours a day?

982. Yes.

983. Holy crap.

984. In order to get the whole picture,

985. I decided to order the whole menu.

986. Oh, my God.

987. Holy crap.

988. How many items on the menu? - Over 100.

989. 100?

990. I mean, physically, the appearance— oh, come on, guys.

991. Can I have a knife and fork, please?

992. Or maybe a bag.

993. bag.

994. And while the dishes looked awful—

995. There's no seasoning in there.

996. Everything's bland.

997. It's bland, it's bland.

998. This pasta's bland.

999. They tasted even worse.

1000. Ah.

1001. Bleh.

1002. Der— it's like a flip-flop.

1003. Are you crunching grits? - Yes.

1004. Yes.

1005. You think it's good?

1006. I had heard enough.

1007. Michael was clearly delusional.

1008. I'll be back later, yeah?

1009. I'd like to catch a plane out here right now.

1010. Even though I

1011. wanted to leave for good, I came back for dinner.

1012. What is that?

1013. Big mistake.

1014. I think it's veal, chef.

1015. You think it's veal?

1016. - Pretty sure it's veal. - You didn't put it in there?

1017. It looks like meat thrown in a pan.

1018. But what is though? - I don't know.

1019. It's not labeled.

1020. How could you not know?

1021. Stuffed what?

1022. Mushrooms.

1023. Smell that.

1024. Smell it.

1025. That's older than me.

1026. Smell it.

1027. Go on.

1028. I had seen enough.

1029. The kitchen was so disgusting, I had no choice but to—

1030. Shut the place down.

1031. Under no circumstances can we continue to serve food.

1032. I'm embarrassed.

1033. Everybody, I'm sad to say and embarrassed

1034. to say that we're closing down Leone's for the night.

1035. Leone's has never been shut down.

1036. I'm very embarrassed by it.

1037. Probably won't sleep tonight over this here.

1038. I'm angry at myself.

1039. I think, as the boss of the restaurant,

1040. it was just irresponsible.

1041. We're going to turn this ship around.

1042. My mother put

1043. in almost 20 years of her life in this place,

1044. her spirit, her money.

1045. I'm crushed that I let her down.

1046. And I want to make good, but the truth is I don't

1047. know if I can turn it around.

1048. I mean, it's a scary feeling, it really is.

1049. Come on.

1050. So with Michael's eyes finally open,

1051. we spent some valuable time in the kitchen together.

1052. Splash of olive oil on there, yeah?

1053. Salt and pepper. Cooked on the bone.

1054. Why are we cooking on the bone?

1055. - More flavor. - Right.

1056. Get that pan nice and hot.

1057. How do you know when the oil's ready, chef?

1058. A light smoke coming off of there.

1059. It's got to sear in there.

1060. Wow.

1061. That is

1062. It just melts in your mouth.

1063. I think it's time for change.

1064. And I want to be the best Italian restaurant in town.

1065. For the first time, I saw this lazy owner

1066. making a positive change.

1067. And then I knew he was ready to run his restaurant.

1068. You may recognize him from sitting on his ass

1069. outside watching television.

1070. But that guy's gone now.

1071. You have a new Michael.

1072. Let's go.

1073. With a new, modern look,

1074. a concise menu—

1075. Are we ready to order?

1076. The penne.

1077. Michael stepped up and not

1078. only surprised his staff—

1079. Right, now listen.

1080. I need one deli, one cod, one ..

1081. And then we'll worry about everything else.

1082. But that, I need now. - Yes, sir.

1083. —but his mother, too.

1084. Mama Rose, are you happy?

1085. Yeah, I'm very happy.

1086. Look after your son.

1087. I will.

1088. Michael proved, with hard work, he can run Leone's.

1089. Three important words that I need you to remember—

1090. stay the course.

1091. Stay the course, yeah.

1092. I can't hear you.

1093. Chef, in my restaurant, I'm going to stay the course.

1094. Good.

1095. I'm back in New Jersey, hoping that he's kept his promise.

1096. Or has he reverted back to his old, lazy ways?

1097. Next, Chef Ramsay gets to the bottom

1098. of what's going on at Leone's.

1099. Truly?

1100. Honestly?

1101. You don't want to miss what's coming up.

1102. Unfortunately, here's some bad news.

1103. I'm back in Montclair, New Jersey,

1104. to check on the Italian restaurant

1105. Leone's, run by owner Mama Rose, and her son, Michael.

1106. Last time I was here, all Mama Rose

1107. wanted was for her son to step up

1108. and actually run the business.

1109. It almost didn't happen, but we finally

1110. turned him into a leader.

1111. Time to check in if he's continued

1112. to make his mother proud.

1113. How are you?

1114. Hey, welcome back, Chef.

1115. How are you doing? - Good to see you.

1116. - Good to see you, sir. - Wow, this place is busy.

1117. Yes, sir.

1118. Love the buzz.

1119. That's good.

1120. Let's, uh— let's step through there

1121. and have a little catch up.

1122. I'm very excited to see Chef Ramsay today and tell him about

1123. the progress we've made in the restaurant

1124. and all the beautiful changes we have here at Leone's.

1125. First things first, where is the television?

1126. That's, uh, my old, uh, television

1127. that I watch all the games on.

1128. Seriously?

1129. I promise you the day you left,

1130. there was no television here. - No televisions?

1131. In the entire restaurant.

1132. My word.

1133. How have you been?

1134. I've been doing well.

1135. As soon as you left, the buzz around the neighborhood

1136. and the food was fantastic. - Right.

1137. The new dishes flew off the menu.

1138. Good.

1139. I wake up energized.

1140. I'm going to the restaurant supply houses

1141. and buying all the fresh ingredients,

1142. looking up new recipes, trying new things for me and my cooks.

1143. There's a better, stronger relationship there.

1144. That's fantastic.

1145. I started a delivery campaign.

1146. You started a campaign?

1147. Yes, sir.

1148. I did a menu, mailed them out to the surrounding towns,

1149. and it's been very beneficial.

1150. You have been busy.

1151. So this is a complete revolution.

1152. You are so much more hands-on now than you

1153. ever were before, right?

1154. Oh, huge.

1155. Big difference— night and day.

1156. Diana, is he lazy?

1157. Yes.

1158. John, is he lazy?

1159. Yes, chef.

1160. I feel like it's finally my business,

1161. and I'm not running my mother's business.

1162. That's fantastic That's absolutely fantastic.

1163. And where's the business sitting now?

1164. Uh, it's probably up 40% since last time.

1165. 40%?

1166. You are working hard.

1167. Yes, sir.

1168. Gave you my word.

1169. This is a new Michael.

1170. Energized Michael, yeah.

1171. Unbelievable.

1172. I mean, you are so energized. - Yeah.

1173. Yeah.

1174. Ah, what a lovely surprise.

1175. Hello, my darling. - Hi.

1176. How are you? You look great.

1177. - Thank you. - Look at you.

1178. Oh, my goodness me.

1179. Come over. I've missed you.

1180. We missed you.

1181. And you've lost weight.

1182. 75 pounds? That's incredible.

1183. Well done.

1184. Oh, come on.

1185. I mean, you're older.

1186. You don't want to go chasing met of 45 years of age.

1187. Uh, Michael, I'm hungry.

1188. I shall make you something.

1189. Good.

1190. - Welcome back to Leone's. - Good to see you.

1191. Are you well? - Good to see you again.

1192. Yes, I'm great. Thank you.

1193. Have you got two minutes?

1194. Yes, absolutely.

1195. Mama Rose looks amazing.

1196. She looks fabulous.

1197. God bless her.

1198. Michael told me that he's here first thing in the mornings,

1199. last thing at night.

1200. Is he really working that hard?

1201. He still shows up at his usual time—

1202. 5:30, 6 o'clock.

1203. Oh, no. Oh, no.

1204. Back to the beginning?

1205. Why is he lying to me?

1206. Maybe he's scared.

1207. Unreal. Hello, darling.

1208. How are you? - Hi.

1209. How Are you?

1210. I was good, until I just heard that.

1211. What?

1212. Take a seat, please.

1213. I had a chat with Michael around the corner,

1214. and he told me that he's working so hard.

1215. What time is he coming in?

1216. He comes in at 6:00, 6:30.

1217. Wow.

1218. Wow.

1219. 6:30?

1220. Yeah.

1221. I mean, crazy.

1222. You can't run a business coming in at 6:30.

1223. You have to set that example to the staff.

1224. Is he helping with payroll?

1225. No.

1226. He doesn't do any of it.

1227. - Inventory? - No, nothing.

1228. No.

1229. Oh, So he's not stepping up?

1230. We're here at 9 o'clock today.

1231. We swept the floor.

1232. We mopped the floors.

1233. We set it up.

1234. Bloody hell.

1235. It's so annoying.

1236. He— he was, physically, the last one in here.

1237. Honestly?

1238. And he found TVs across the street.

1239. He found TVs across the street?

1240. What do you mean? - The bar.

1241. In the bar. In the bar.

1242. Oh,

1243. So he goes across to the sports bar to watch TV?

1244. - Yeah. - Oh, no.

1245. Oh, yes.

1246. He's still Michael.

1247. He's still Michael.

1248. Oh, truly?

1249. Honestly? - Yeah.

1250. That's so sad.

1251. You can paint stripes on a horse,

1252. but that doesn't make it a zebra.

1253. Like, just because you gave us a little face lift,

1254. he's still the same person underneath.

1255. I mean, we all love Michael.

1256. But unless he steps up, he could destroy it.

1257. I'm so disappointed.

1258. He did not stay the course.

1259. He detoured the day you left.

1260. Oh, my God.

1261. Oh, I'm pissed off.

1262. He needs somebody to tell him what to do.

1263. Right.

1264. Leave it to me.

1265. Thank you.

1266. I appreciate the catch up.

1267. I'm hoping that Gordon Ramsay will

1268. be able to help Michael and maybe

1269. give Michael another kick, because Michael

1270. needs another kick.

1271. OK, Chef.

1272. Today, we have a

1273. Nice.

1274. And our homemade eggplant Parmesan.

1275. Wow, thank you. - Enjoy, sir.

1276. Thank you.

1277. What a difference.

1278. What a difference.

1279. What the is that?

1280. Oh, my God.

1281. The chiles—

1282. Modern, clean, tasty.

1283. And are you that involved in the kitchen now?

1284. Yes.

1285. These are both my dishes, so I hope you enjoy them.

1286. Yeah.

1287. That is delicious.

1288. That's good news.

1289. Unfortunately, here's some bad news.

1290. Whilst I'm excited about the buzz, business being up 40%,

1291. delivery is working brilliantly, I've

1292. just heard from John and Trudy.

1293. Everything you told me about working so much harder

1294. is not what they think.

1295. My question to you is, why me through there.

1296. I didn't you, Chef.

1297. Listen, you're not manning up.

1298. You changed course the day I left.

1299. What time do you come in every day?

1300. 4:30, 5 o'clock.

1301. Trudy's saying sometimes it's 6:30.

1302. On certain days, Chef, not every day.

1303. On any day?

1304. Mm-hm.

1305. You've got to be here before the staff.

1306. How many times have I said that?

1307. Are you scheduling the payroll?

1308. Are you helping out with those?

1309. No, I kept that as it is.

1310. Right now, Chef, I'm just more concentrating

1311. on the food, the atmosphere.

1312. You cannot concentrate on the food when you

1313. walk up at 6:30 in the evening.

1314. Mama Rose, I'm sorry, but I'm disappointed.

1315. You have to be tough.

1316. You need to be a leader.

1317. You need to be in here before your staff.

1318. You need to show that commitment.

1319. They're loyal members that have been here for a long time.

1320. They don't hate you, they just want a commitment from you.

1321. I'm sorry, Mama Rose.

1322. I'm sure you've got work to do.

1323. I'm not impressed, Michael.

1324. Up to now, I haven't been staying the course.

1325. It's very hard to admit that in front of my mom.

1326. I should be more hands-on with the food, with the specials,

1327. with the servers, and the overall business.

1328. Chef, I just wanted to tell you that I'm sorry.

1329. There is areas I could really concentrate for more time,

1330. but I didn't want to say it in front of my mother.

1331. I didn't want to make her any more nervous than she is.

1332. But I really want to tell you that you are right.

1333. I could put definitely more commitment into this restaurant

1334. and do a better job.

1335. I feel like I'm letting you down.

1336. I know, but there's—

1337. there's a lazy streak in you.

1338. When things are going well, that's

1339. when you've got to work harder.

1340. I set an example that I've got to work harder than my staff.

1341. Jump back in there and nail it.

1342. - Yes, sir. - Please?

1343. You've got my word. I want to make you proud.

1344. Don't let me down, and don't let yourself down,

1345. and don't let your mother down. - You've got it.

1346. OK, take care.

1347. Thank you, for coming back, Chef.

1348. Excellent.

1349. I believe that Chef Ramsay gave me

1350. a little bit of tough love today because he

1351. really does want me to succeed.

1352. He doesn't want to coddle me.

1353. He wants me to keep on driving and going forward.

1354. Damn, I'm a little surprised to hear Michael

1355. slipped back to some of his his old habits.

1356. And his staff clearly need more help.

1357. And with that mall opening up shortly,

1358. business is going to continue to grow.

1359. So my only hope now is he steps up and leads

1360. Leone's on the path to success.

1361. But more importantly, God bless Mama Rose.

1362. In the days that followed,

1363. Michael kept his promise to Chef Ramsay

1364. and is putting in more hours at the restaurant.

1365. Now, only time will tell if he will stick to his word.

1366. If Chef Ramsay visits again, he's

1367. going to see a more committed Michael that's

1368. more in tune with his staff.

1369. I'm going to make him proud and make this business succeed.

1370. Three restaurants, three different stories, but so far,

1371. all on the road to success.

1372. In the restaurant business, you're never out of the woods.

1373. The good news is, they are all heading in the right direction.

1374. Good night.