Real Time Web Analytics Foodie Gossip: A Real Kitchen Nightmare... For Gordon Ramsay

Monday, September 27, 2010

A Real Kitchen Nightmare... For Gordon Ramsay

Joseph Cerniglia, a New Jersey Chef that had once been featured on FOX’s Kitchen Nightmares, was found dead in the Hudson River Friday, Sept 24th. It is confirmed that Cerniglia had committed suicide and now Chef Gordon Ramsay is taking an abundance of heat from the media.

In 2007, Gordon Ramsay paid a visit to Cerniglia’s restaurant,
Campania, and found the kitchen in complete disarray, sporting an unruly/juvenile wait staff, precarious management, and the New Jersey restaurant's rapidly mounting debt. Ramsay, in his famously acrimonious style, castigated Cerniglia and staff for their "boring" cuisine and wasteful ways. But what caught the media’s attention was Ramsay stating to Cerniglia: “ Your business is about to swim down the fucking Hudson”, after Cerniglia admitted to losing approximately $120k in restaurant expenses. A phrase the media seems to be endlessly echoing and labeling as “harsh” and “haunting”.



But if you actually pay attention to the Kitchen Nightmare's episode (s01e04), Ramsay and Cerniglia’s interaction wasn’t so volatile, as the media has portrayed. Ramsay’s signature speaking style is all about the abrasiveness and profanity – that’s been his secret sauce to fame. Yet, unlike many other chefs, whom Ramsay has driven to tears, Cerniglia never cowered, nor disregarded Ramsay’s feedback or guidance. In fact, their rapport was actually amiable. Ramsay was almost patriarchal and even went so far as to defend Campania’s re-vamped cuisine against the “old bag” on their re-opening night.

And while I'm nowhere near a fan of Gordon Ramsay TV – his speaking style grates on me like Freddy Kruegar’s nails on a chalkboard – I actually feel for the guy. It’s clear that he had a soft-spot for Joseph Cerniglia and it’s very likely that he’s feeling a loss for the much-loved New Jersey Chef.




It looks like Gordon Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares isn’t just about the restaurant anymore. According to The Daily Mirror, the Kitchen Nightmares’ star and executive producer has added a number of irrelevant questions to the Kitchen Nightmares contestant application. How much a contestant weighs, as well as their height, eye and hair color are just a few of the questions that have been added. But my favorites of all of them are these:
  • Have you ever had a restraining order filed against you?
  • Does your family have a history of depression?
  • Are you easily upset?

Actually, the one regarding a history of depression seems to be fair.

A friend of mine had filled out an application for Chef Ramsay’s Hell’s Kitchen (as a joke) and told me that they had similar questions on the application he filled out, which he thought was strange. Considering that Kitchen Nightmare’s is supposed to be focused on the restaurants and not the contestants, asking such personal questions doesn’t seem right.

Moreover, Chef Gordon Ramsay should be focused more on cleaning up his muddied image instead of adding to his laundry list of drama and evil doings.

Are those questions even legal? But then again, does he really care?

More on Gordon Ramsay and Hell's Kitchen:
The Sharks that Gordon Ramsay Killed: The Movie (warning: video contains graphic violence)
Gordon Ramsay Tossed to the Sharks (Warning: Contains graphic photo)

3 comments:

  1. I am a Ramsey fan for the sole reason that here is a guy that makes bucks saying exactly what he wants...unlike the rest of us who are generally bound by better sense.....aside from the crap he actually does spew out he does have a certain enviable freedom

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  2. the death of this guy was not gordon's fault. if not for gordon? the guy would be dead anyway. sorry but true. there was something wrong with this guy. I do think this site and this blog is good for information. stuff i don'tknow. But the writer should give us a dam break. we get it. you don't like him. okay. he is famous. he is most likely the best chef in the world. travels around the world to bring back new idea's and menus for everyone to try. he eats, breathes, and lives food. the tv stuff is a way for him to generate more income so he can open up more restaurants and get more stars. try posting something positive for a change. my god. id love to see your personal life. oh, thats right. you don't have one. your to busy trying to be a leach off of Gordon's. grow up already.

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  3. i have worked in a few kitchens and they are not for overly sensitive people there is a lot of yelling so i don't think it should be an issue

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