Three Suggestions for ‘Kitchen Nightmares’

I have to admit that Gordon Ramsay is a guilty pleasure of mine. He combines three of my favorite aspects of television: Quality cooking, breaking through people's defenses, and firm British verbal thrashings. Following the theme of threes, Fox usually provides three flavors of Ramsay during the year. There's the short-tempered one that deals with a group of chefs wanting to work under him in "Hell's Kitchen." There's the mentoring one who seeks to elevate an average Joe or Josephine to titular "MasterChef" quality. But my favorite mixes both with Ramsay as the short-tempered mentor trying to revive a struggling restaurant in "Kitchen Nightmares."

It would be my favorite if the show hadn't become formulaic lately. Gordon reacts to the restaurant serving terrible food and/or terrible service. He discovers that the chef or the owner has become burned out or both employees have bad blood over a past incident. Gordon provides a new menu and look to the restaurant. The re-launch has a few more hurdles but eventually is a big hit. Lather, rinse, repeat, and see what else is on.

Following the theme of threes, here are three suggestions to spice up "Kitchen Nightmares."

Showcase the restaurant's surroundings.

Occasionally "Kitchen Nightmares" shows glimpses of the area where the restaurant of the week is located. But these things are glossed over so quickly it's easy to forget what city the restaurant is in. What if someone wanted to actually visit the restaurant to see whether the improvements stuck? In an effort to expose the restaurant more and perhaps boost the local economy, perhaps "Kitchen Nightmares" can spend a minute or two on the restaurant's surroundings. It could be located in the middle of a tourist spot or the area has some unique local charm that could make the place worth heading to if one is in the area. At least flash the restaurant's web site or Yelp listing so it's easy to find. If Ramsay is confident that he turned the restaurant around, why not promote it a bit more to show off the fruits of his labor?

Failure is an option.

I vaguely recall earlier episodes and "where are they now" episodes where the restaurant was beyond Ramsay's help and wound up closing. But those moments are too few and far between as recent episodes have become routine happy endings after much struggling. I'm sure Ramsay wants to maintain a high success rate to maintain his reputation. But there is no shame in failure and at the very least the episode becomes a lesson on what not to do. And at least there will be some exciting reason to watch to see if one restaurant will actually fail despite his best efforts.

Throw in a recipe or two.

The improved menus of the troubled restaurants are my favorite elements of "Kitchen Nightmares." The food from the improved menu is presented so appetizingly well that I want to make it myself when the restaurant is not in my area. Since inspiring restaurants to put passion back into their cooking is a goal of "Kitchen Nightmares," perhaps the show can inspire the chefs hidden in us by providing recipes featured in the restaurant's new menu. Heck, they can develop an app listing those recipes. I'd buy it.