Gordon Ramsay: Kitchen Nightmares, Local Restaurants

Although Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares officially premiered last week, last night was the first restaurant visit of the season, a place called the Handlebar on Long Island (favorite two quotes in the first 10 minutes: The owner saying Ramsay has beautiful restaurants and "you don't get that way by being an idiot"; the server saying Ramsay's "hot?for an older guy, he's hot."). It's as painful and entertaining as ever to see the dirty restaurants, the angry owners, cooks who don't want to be cooks, and Ramsay criticizing microwave food like he expected four-star dining (watch the ep here).

Last season there were three Southern California restaurants (Lela's, Secret Garden, Sebastian's), two of which closed shortly after their episodes aired (Lela's, Sebastian's). We learned that there are two Los Angeles-area locations this season: One is Sante Cuisine on La Brea (proudly displaying the Ramsay menu here, post-Ramsay reviewed here), but we don't know when the episode airs. Per the FOX flacks, we won't know the other location until closer to the air date (of course, tips are welcome). If the LA episodes are anything like Sebastian's from last season, pelase, set the DVR now.
· Ramsay Ruined Sante [~ELA~]
· Kitchen Nightmares Revisited: Sebastian's [~ELA~]