The second episode of the US version of Kitchen Nightmares takes place at Dillon’s. You might remember that name from a while back, when Gordon was sued by Martin R. Hyde, at that time the restaurant manager of Dillon’s. It is going to be very clear why he was sued, but I’ll get back to that later.

SPOILERS HEREAFTER

Day 1: Gordon arrives.  He is greeted by 3 different managers, one of them is Martin. Gordon sits down and orders a few dishes from both the American-style and Indian-style menu. Surrounded by flies he actually tastes some of the garbage that is served. Ironically, he asks for a clean plate to put his (rotten) food on. When the last dish arrives, Gordon does something really smart, and has the chef that cooked the dish sit down and eat what he sent out.

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For those of you that have seen Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares, the UK series, the formula is about the same: Gordon goes to a troubled restaurant and tries to turn it around. There are some big differences between the UK version and the US version though.

First of all, they have crammed a whole episode in a 40 minute time-slot (1 hour if you add commercials), which is clearly not enough. While very fast-paced, it feels like there is alot missing, especially compared to the UK series. The sensational parts are left in, but the witty parts are gone. There are none of the brilliant cooking and menu ideas that Gordon usually has, and the updated food looks very “American”, meaning huge portions thrown on a plate.

Second, there is the problem that the first restaurant he visits is run by stereotypes. Complete morons, oblivious to what’s happening, and with their head up their ass. And it wouldn’t be Gordon, if he didn’t tell them just that, with the usual and very necessary swearing. Unfortunately (unlike the UK version) all the swearing is bleeped out.

Third, where as in the UK version, Gordon would let the people in the restaurant solve their own problems, here, all problems are magically solved overnight. Each day seems to be a step forward, but with no obvious reason of how it’s come this far. And this is, by far, one of the biggest downfalls of the series.

And fourth, the narration for the show is the same as with Hell’s Kitchen. Where in the UK Gordon did his own narration, the US version has a voice narrating the whole thing from one intense moment to the next. I can’t help it but I liked it alot better when Gordon did the narrating, giving some insight to what was going on.

SPOILERS HEREAFTER

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