Ugh, God, I’m going to throw up writing this.
Cooking shows are something I have written a ridiculous amount about in the past, and I am most likely going to continue writing about them because I love them. Cooking is a side-passion of mine that I’ve grown to love more as I’ve gotten older, and somehow, someway, I never get tired of it.
The one person that is pretty consistent in many of the cooking shows that I watch happens to be Gordon Ramsay. I know, probably one of the most known chefs ever in existence, but that’s for good reason. He makes good content, from the crazy moments in Hell’s Kitchen to the brilliant Masterchef to some of his newer shows, such as Gordon Ramsay’s Food Stars. He doesn’t miss.
One show of his that I watched at length during the COVID-19 pandemic, just when I was really starting to get into cooking, was Kitchen Nightmares. It originally ran for seven seasons before it was cancelled. But now the popular Ramsay show has been revived for more seasons – and in honor of this, I’m going to go over the worst nightmares that Gordon found during his time on the series – starting with one big obvious one.
When Gordon Found Hundreds Of Cockroaches In The Basement Of Dillon's (Season 1, Episode 2)
I’m pretty sure the first time I saw this episode, I was very close to throwing up. It’s honestly almost hilarious how I can watch some of the scariest horror movies in existence or the goriest zombie films and not bat an eye, but throw some cockroaches into the mix and I am completely cooked.
In the first season of Kitchen Nightmares, Ramsay visited Dillon’s, a restaurant in New York City, and upon his normal inspection of the place, he discovered that there weren’t just one or two cockroaches in the basement of this eating establishment – no, there were hundreds. Plenty.
Look, I’m from New York. I visited the city on a pretty weekly basis. I know the it's known for the fact that there are cockroaches, but this was too much. There were so many in that basement that some of them ended up in Ramsay’s hair. Absolutely disgusting and unacceptable.
Seascape’s Moldy Pesto – Which Was Served To Gordon (Season 1, Episode 4)
At first, I didn’t believe this was real but the proof is in the pudding – or should I say pesto?
For those who don’t know, there are three stages of Ramsay’s visit to these failing restaurants – the tasting, the inspection, and then the makeover. The first thing he always does is have a sit-down meal at these establishments to test the food. Most of the time, the food is underperforming – and sometimes, downright inedible.
The next day came along and Ramsay did his inspection at Seascape, the restaurant he visited in New York, only to find that the pesto he had eaten the day before contained mold.
I’m not about to throw up; you are! How does that just slip by someone? Ramsay was pissed off – for good reason.
When Gordon Discovered An Intense Amount Of Cross-Contamination In A Walk-In Freezer (Season 7, Episode 3)
One of the biggest no-nos you could possibly have when cooking is cross-contamination. If you’re using the same cutting board for certain things, wash it all the time so the germs of, say, raw meat don’t cross with vegetables or other ingredients. Or, better yet, just keep everything separate until you're cooking it.
This is a staple that you can see in any cooking show, the best baking shows, or any decent eatery anywhere because it's a common health precaution. When Ramsay visited Old Neighborhood in Season 7, however, it was a clear sign that the people of this restaurant did not care.
He walked into a walk-in freezer that was a) filled with food that was cross-contaminated, including desserts on top of raw meat and b) completely spoiled, so much so that it smelt horrendous. If anything, that restaurant should have been shut down then and there, and may have been if not for Ramsay coming in to help them, because that, my friends, is a true kitchen nightmare.
When Maggots Infested The Food (Season 1, Episode 10)
Let me tell you that The Secret Garden of Season 1, Episode 10 would give zombie movies a run for their money with the amount of maggots that were discovered in their food.
In this episode, Ramsay visited the restaurant to continue his inspection. In the walk-in, he discovered there were so many pieces of old food that were covered in mold that even the freezer itself smelled like it. And to top it all off, he found a bunch of food with maggots in it – and then proceeded to throw up.
I don’t know how rotted something has to be or for what length of time for maggots to find a way into it, but here we are.
The Gross Sushi Pizza That Gordon Could Not Keep Down (Season 2, Episode 12)
So, to be fair, a sushi pizza is something that is actually a legit food item that you can find at certain places. But, it’s the way that Sushi-Ko prepared it that has to make this list, because it’s absolutely disgusting.
Ramsay visits this failing restaurant, and is served a sushi pizza – something that has raw fish and cheese on it, in order to make it an actual pizza. Obviously, cheese and sushi don't go together at all and it ended up just being a disgusting, unappetizing mess.
There were so many other reasons why that restaurant would make this list, specifically for how they handled their food, but that dish is the absolute biggest offender.
All Of Amy’s Baking Company (Season 6, Episode 16)
I mean, we have to include this here.
While the food itself wasn’t the biggest nightmare of Amy’s Baking Company – and, in fact, the desserts weren’t half bad – it was the people who ran it that made it an absolute horror show, and it was one of the first ever times Ramsay walked out on someone because they refused his help.
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The owners yelled at customers if they didn’t like the food, tried to impersonate food critics online and patrons in order to boost up their reviews, kept the tips from the servers, and pretty much did everything wrong that you could think of when running a restaurant. This episode became so popular that Ramsay ended up revisiting the place years later.
To be honest, I can’t wait for more episodes of Kitchen Nightmares, because I would love nothing more than to see Ramsay help other failing eateries – but a part of me is also expecting to see more nightmarish stuff such as this. Only time will tell what the new seasons of the show will bring.
