The day that all of Orange County has been waiting for…okay…too much: The day that a few interested parties who read food blogs and have gone to Luigi's in Anaheim have been looking forward to is upon us. This Friday, the Kitchen Nightmares episode featuring the tantrums of one Gordon Ramsay as he lays into Luigi's D'Italia, one of OC's most long-lived Italian eateries, will air on FOX stations at 8 p.m.
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Full disclosure: I stopped watching the American version of the series
about the third or fourth episode of the first season. The British
originals were great. But with the newer stuff, the formula just got too
predictable. Here's how an episode usually goes: Ramsay gags at the
food; the owners/chef refuse to accept his cruelly honest criticism; a
few people curse; the restaurant's (pick one)
underappreciated/overworked/lazy/inept crew is seen teary-eyed when the
newly made-over restaurant is revealed; the opening night will prove to
be rough; a few more people will curse; the second night will be better;
then there's hugs, kisses, gratitude, and some sort of acknowledgment of Ramsay's benevolence; the end; repeat again next week.
But
as with all things on TV, it all changes when you've got a horse in the
race. We've been talking about this episode on this infernal blog since
it was announced, and I reviewed the place specifically because of his involvement. This makes me one of
the interested parties. I've got it queued up on the DVR, and I'm
looking forward to it. Really looking forward to it, as I'm sure is
Gustavo, who was there during the taping.
Check back here after the show airs for more commentary…or if you
can't wait, let out all your grievances now, as people have every time
the subject of Ramsay's visit is brought up. Comment board is open.
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Before becoming an award-winning restaurant critic for OC Weekly in 2007, Edwin Goei went by the alias “elmomonster” on his blog Monster Munching, in which he once wrote a whole review in haiku.