During this COVID-19 pandemic and quarantine, I've been doing a hefty amount of binge watching. I checked off every show and movie on my list on Netflix and now I'm moving on to see what Hulu has to offer. My deep dive started with mediocre reality shows on TLC and then found Kitchen Nightmares, remembering the random clips I watched on Youtube of the best moments. Gordon Ramsay is such an iconic and ruthless man, I wanted to give the show a chance and see the full transformation of these suffering restaurants.

In the show, Ramsay travels around the United States to restaurants that are standing on their last leg. He spends a week at each restaurant, inspecting the kitchen, fixing the interior, changing the menu, and giving the staff a wake up call. On the first day, he will mainly observe, trying out the food on the menu, and then takes a look at the normally dirty conditions of the kitchen. He could find broken equipment, moldy food, and an infestation of insects or rats. After eating the questionable food, Ramsay watches how the staff works. The next couple of days, he works to make the changes he believes would most benefit the restaurant. By the end of the show, drastic improvements are seen within the restaurant and the staff. He gives them a newfound confidence that their restaurant can regain it's old glory and be a place people could actually consider somewhere to get good food.

I would have never known that a restaurant in my own town, Montclair, New Jersey, was subject to Gordon Ramsay's intimidating presence if not for my brother. When I told him I began watching the show, he told me Ramsay had come visited an Italian eatery called Leone's in 2011. It was unexpected and I couldn't believe it. After some research, I located the episode (Season 5 Ep. 4) and watched it.

Leone's opened in 1996 by Rose Leone, also referred to as Mama Rose. Back then, it was considered one of the top restaurants to get Italian food in town. After falling into a coma from complications in a surgery for two years prior to the episode airing, her son, Michael took over. However, he was not fit to be the boss, not caring for the business and lazed around the restaurant. This resulted for the staff to also not care and the restaurant suffered, the quality of the food going down and less customers showing up. Mama Rose woke from her coma and was heartbroken to see the condition of her restaurant and seeked out assistance from Ramsay, noting, "If this doesn't work out, I will have no other choice than to die."

The biggest problem Ramsay saw and the staff noted was how there was no management, leaving everything in chaos. Other issues found was the menu being too large with over a hundred dishes, the food was disgusting, cold, and bland, and the fridge was not organized. Ramsay demanded that the chefs try their own food and they admitted that they didn't like it, spitting it out.

Once he finished trying out the food, he wanted to watch how the restaurant would normally function during the dinner service and more problems rose. The chefs used the microwave to heat up the food, further diminishing the quality. Customers were not happy, making comments how the food was cold and lacked flavor. Ramsay also took this time to search around the kitchen. He discovered raw meat stored next to cooked chicken and frozen, expired food. Disgusted by his findings, Ramsay decided to shut down the kitchen for the night.

To begin the transformation of the restaurant, Ramsay instructed everyone to clean up the kitchen. The next day, he brought the staff to a nearby art gallery to open up Michael's eyes by showing him pictures of their competition's food and comparing it to Leone's. Ramsay showed them that they had to step up their game if they wanted to stay around. He also had Michael cook in the kitchen to help him understand how to actually run his business. Overnight, Ramsay worked with his crew to redecorate (which has not stayed, reverting to back to the original set up) and change the menu to have more modern Italian dishes.

On reopening night, there are always some bumps along the way. Michael was acting like a real boss, but quickly started to panic and pushed out food to tables who already received their food. Ramsay had to reel him back in and Michael was back on track. The rest of the night went smoothly and customers were loving the food. Ramsay praised the staff for their great improvement and left Michael with some parting words, "Stay the course."

Thanks to Ramsay, Leone's was able to grow back into the amazing restaurant it was originally and is still open to this day. A year later, Ramsay revisited the restaurant and was happy to see the food was still high quality, but it was revealed by the staff that Michael resorted back to his old habits. He promised he would do better. Mama Rose passed away on April 5, 2014.

It was weird to see my hometown and Leone's, a restaurant I've walked into numerous times, on TV, but still really cool. I can't believe I never knew that Gordon Ramsay came to Montclair before. At least now I have a fun fact to share about my town.