Kitchen Nightmares (2007) s07e07 Episode Script
Zayna Flaming Grill, Pt. 1
Tonight on Kitchen Nightmares, chef Ramsay heads to Redondo beach, California.
But the sun isn't shining on this mediterranean family restaurant.
I don't want to hear it! There's a storm brewing between two owners who happen to be an aunt and a niece.
- I need help.
- What is? Aunt Fay complains that she is the only one putting in any effort.
So who's not pulling their weight? None of them.
That's not true.
But then again, she refuses to take help from anyone.
You don't let anybody help you.
No, they don't want to.
Niece Brenda complains that Fay doesn't treat her as her partner.
You've not been shown the recipes? No.
This is crazy.
But her lack of passion I'm gonna go sit down in my booth.
Has everyone feeling that she doesn't care.
When you just sit on your phone, we're cooking, serving.
That's not true.
It's hard for chef Ramsay to tell who's right It is bedlam.
And who's wrong.
There's poor communication.
I can see that.
But one thing's for sure.
Can you be able to do things when I'm not here? I do! They are more focused on each other's faults Nobody wants to help her because she is so critical of the way you do help her.
Than running the restaurant.
I'll fix it.
Fix what? It's correct.
It's not correct.
As for the staff Now I need to make flaming potatoes.
Move that.
Can you I They are not only fighting with each other Are you [Bleep.]
kidding me? They're ready to walk out the door.
You got to be kidding me, man.
Walk out like you always do.
Tonight, chef Ramsay is in for the challenge of the year What you're doing is so wrong.
No.
As he attempts to turn around a restaurant That's gross.
In utter turmoil.
You're screwed.
I'm done.
What is that? You're serving rotten food.
They're not crap.
They're delicious.
Then wake up! You wake up! Shut the place down.
Get out of here! That is amazing.
That's embarrassing! Oh, God! Thank you so much.
Redondo beach, California.
Just blocks from the ocean is Zayna flaming grill, opened in 2009 by the aunt-and-niece team Fay and Brenda.
Mama's falafel for table five.
I'm Egyptian.
I came to United States at 18.
My first experience was a catering truck for 16 years.
And it was really successful.
But I always wanted to buy my own restaurant.
It was always my dream to have my own business.
And when the door opened about opening a restaurant with Fay, I decided to give her a call since she had kitchen experience and I had management experience.
When I put the meat somewhere on the grill, do not move it.
I just checked them.
It's done! The reason why this place is going downhill is because of the drama between Fay and Brenda.
Actually, all this was on this side.
These were on this side.
No, this was here.
Families don't want to come here, because why would you want to come to a restaurant with arguing and stress? It's embarrassing.
Oh, my God! Fay is definitely the scary boss here.
She's the one who pushes people, screams at people.
You guys need to take the meat when the order comes out.
She'll tell the staff, "shut up.
" Be quiet.
"Get out of the kitchen.
" Then move! Move from here.
"Stop arguing with me.
" I don't want to hear it! "Zip it.
" Move, move.
Don't worry about that right now! Do not move the tickets.
Fay needs help, but she doesn't want to accept it from anybody.
I know what I'm talking about, you guys.
Fay doesn't trust me to run this place.
The salad is not Do you see me standing here, doing nothing? She sees me as her niece and not her partner.
It's a complete joke.
I'm obviously doing stuff.
Brenda doesn't seem to care anymore.
I'm gonna go sit down in my booth.
I just want to sleep.
She'll be on the phone.
How are you? Talks to friend.
Where is Brenda? Right now it's Brenda's just laziness.
I want you to be stronger person, but that's your personality.
It's not that I'm not I want you to be strong.
Just because I'm not yelling at them It's not yelling.
I'm not wanting you to yell.
You know what, Fay? _ - I'll fix it.
- Fix what? It's correct.
It's not correct.
All their problems come from the restaurant.
You've become, like, so frustrated.
You're like, "to hell with it.
I don't care anymore.
It's so upsetting.
This restaurant has put a strain on my entire family.
I really have to go.
I'm done.
Nobody understands how much stress I'm under.
I've borrowed from my parents a little over 60 grand.
If the restaurant fails, I feel like I would've failed my family.
But you know what, we really need help.
If I don't smile, I'm gonna explode.
I'm gonna cry.
The restaurant is my life.
But it became a burden.
It seems like it's slipping away.
And I feel like if this is gone, I won't have anything left.
It should never be like this.
Both Fay and Brenda have requested meetings with chef Ramsay prior to him arriving at the restaurant.
- How are you? Brenda, right? - Yes.
He realizes that this is a perfect opportunity to get both sides of the story.
It's Fay, right? Hello.
Good to see you.
- Good to see you.
- Likewise.
Good to see you too.
It's an honor to meet you.
Well, it's a pleasure seeing you.
Oh, thank you.
And obviously, I wanted to reach out and have a word - before I went inside of the restaurant.
- Yes.
I want to tell you some issues that I have with my business partner - and my niece Brenda.
- Okay, great.
Tell me about the restaurant.
How did it start? Fay had this idea and saw a location that she really liked and approached my mom.
And she said that I would possibly be interested.
It kind of just took off from there, you know, what it seems like it was right thing to do and are you 50-50? Yes, we're 50-50 partners.
Right.
So explain the roles of the restaurant.
I shop.
I cook.
I clean.
- Oh, you're the chef as well? - Yes.
Wow.
You're busy.
So if you cook, shop, clean, what the hell does Brenda do? Uh Basically, there's different days where I am serving, and there's days where I'm on the line with Fay.
And it can get a little overbearing back there, 'cause Fay, she's definitely a control freak.
She doesn't have confidence in me stepping into the kitchen and being able to help her out.
And she is just like, "no, you're not doing it right.
" And I sometimes feel like I'm an employee, not an equal.
_ every literally everything.
Why can't Brenda prep for her one day running the business independently? Um, she doesn't know.
She stay out with friends, and she's very tired.
The kids, they tell me when I'm not there, we sit on the computer, watch TV, or watch What? How does the business run on those nights when your auntie's not there? Very smoothly.
Uh-huh.
And customers are happy with the food? Definitely.
Things flow easy.
I feel like it's a disaster.
How do you know this is a disaster? The customer come to me and tell me what happens.
Wow.
Brenda's cooking in your absence How would you give that, out of ten? - Six.
- Six.
I give myself ten.
Oh, wow.
If she wasn't your niece, would you fire her? Yes.
If this wasn't your auntie, would you fire her? Yes.
How long can the business continue? I'm giving myself about a year.
- Really? Wow.
- Yes.
- Our numbers are horrible.
- Oh, I see.
How much did you put into the business? We put about 60 grand each.
Wow.
I'm afraid and scared that I will lose this.
In this time of my life, I don't see myself going to work for someone and even retire.
I really need chef Ramsay to change Brenda.
But I have doubt that anything will change.
Brenda's not gonna change.
Okay, I'll see you back at the restaurant, okay? - Thank you so much.
- Thank you, darling.
- I'll see you back there.
- I appreciate you.
After hearing two completely different stories from the owners about why Zayna is failing, chef Ramsay arrives at the restaurant, anxious to see where the problems lie.
So "fresh, flavorful food seven days a week.
" Now, that is fresh.
- Hello.
- Hello.
Hi, my name's Amel.
Amel, nice to see you.
And this is? - Mark.
- Okay.
- He's my son.
- What do you do? Help around with everything, from cooking to bussing, serving, seating.
Okay.
Right.
Well, good to meet you.
Let me sit down and have a quick bite to eat, get up to speed, and I'll catch up after.
- Thank you.
- Enjoy.
Oh, boy.
If you'd like to have a seat on the couch.
Excellent.
Ooh! Sinking down here.
I feel like I'm back at my grandma's couch.
Why have you got such high couches in such a small restaurant? I'm not quite sure.
I Wow, okay.
Now how long have you been here? I've been here for 4 1/2 years.
- So you've been here since the beginning? - Yes.
The two owners, do they run the business together? How does that work? Fayza works here more days than Brenda does.
- Oh, really? - Yeah.
Aren't they 50-50 partners? They're supposed to be 50-50.
But I would say it would probably be a 75-25 difference.
Oh, wow.
Fayza's definitely the 75% of work.
And what does the other partner do? Brenda's more laid-back.
She prefers more talking to the customers instead of being in the back with the kitchen.
Oh.
So who's the boss? The scary boss would be Fayza.
Fayza? Is it Fay or Fayza? She said to me her name was Fay, so Usually, I call her Fayza.
Or sometimes when it's busy, I'll call her Fay.
There's people who call her foo-foo.
Foo-foo.
I'll stick to Fay.
Is she scary? She is hell on wheels.
Wow.
If it gets busy, no matter what it is, you will hear yelling in the dining room.
Everything that happens back there, our customers see.
Our customers hear everything.
- Wow.
Seriously? - Yeah.
Fay has an extremely short temper.
If something goes wrong, all hell will break loose.
How do you get on with Mark? It must be hard when you're working with the owner's son.
Yes.
If he sees something that's dirty, he will leave it for somebody else to take care of.
Is he lazy? When it comes to cleaning, he doesn't do it full-heartedly, if that makes any sense.
So he leaves a mess for you when you come in the next day? Yeah.
Oh, wow, well, thank you for the insight.
I'm gonna look at everything and whoa, wait a minute.
"Mediterranean bistro.
An exquisite 'dinning' adventure.
" Oh.
Wow.
Where's Mark? Mark? Oh, Mark, he is Could you ask him to come around? Yeah.
Thank you.
He wants to talk to you.
Yes, sir.
Amel, come with him.
I got a little quiz.
Are you ready for this? How do you spell "bistro"? How do you spell Bistro.
B-I-s-t-r-o.
Uh-huh.
Good.
And how do you spell "dining"? D-I-n-n-I-n-g.
So you wrote this menu? "Dining" is d-I-n-I-n-g.
Okay.
Has anybody else mentioned it? We have a lot of customers who have pointed it out to us.
Right.
Hum, thank you, Mark.
Okay, Amel, what would you recommend? We do four different dips.
We'll do hummus, baba ghanoush Give me the four different dips.
We'll go for that, yeah.
Okay.
Let's go for the fava beans, the kibbi roll.
Okay.
Yeah.
And then let's go for the Zayna combo plate.
- All right.
- Definitely.
Thank you, my darling.
Oh, you're welcome.
I'll place your order right now.
First impressions? The place is soulless.
Man.
Ooh! [Bleep.]
.
It's like dominoes.
They just keep on coming down.
Why is that? Honestly.
Why? Oh, [Bleep.]
.
Man.
- Wow.
- All right, you ready? Three kibbi, fava beans, and Zayna combo.
Okay.
Let's rock and roll.
I am very proud of my food, and I stand by it.
It's fresh, it's made to order.
Chef Ramsay there's no way he would dislike my food.
The appetizer is ready.
Just take it out.
I'm confident.
Our food's good.
Damn.
Coming up, chef Ramsay digs in.
Looks like the inside of a diaper.
And things go from bad to worse So who's not pulling their weight? None of them.
As the staff is ready to jump ship.
Go ahead, walk out like you always do.
And later Ugh.
Gross.
Chef Ramsay is so frustrated My God.
That he resorts to doing something he has never done before.
"Fresh food seven days a week," my ass.
While the owners continue to blame each other for the restaurant's problems The appetizer is ready.
Chef Ramsay is anxious to taste the food.
So this is our combination appetizer.
Okay.
Wow.
Why is all that oil on there? We usually drizzle the top of our appetizers with olive oil.
Drizzle or flood? Um, usually, we drizzle.
But it looks like there's a little extra put on.
Yeah, I'll say.
Could I have a teaspoon, please, darling? - Of course.
- Thank you.
Wow, you drizzle sparingly with a touch of oil.
But look at it.
I've got little spoonfuls, little miniature bathtubs full of oil floating on the side.
It's gross.
Here's a teaspoon.
Can you ask Mark, very carefully To stop staring at me? 'Cause he's scary.
He just stands there and stares.
Okay.
I'll let him Can I have another little dish first to put this oil in, please, darling? Oh, yeah.
Hey, Mark, he says stop staring at him, 'cause you're creeping him out.
You got to be kidding me, man.
A little dish.
Ugh.
A teaspoon of oil.
Who put the oil on? I'm not quite sure.
I wasn't back there.
Wow.
This is the hummus? My God.
It's so thin.
It's just liquid.
Is that normally that runny, that? The hummus? I've been told it depends on the garbanzo beans.
Really? We're gonna start blaming a bean for the hummus? There's times where the hummus will be extremely thin, or there's times where the hummus will be overly thick.
Yeah, it's not the bean's fault.
It's the chef's.
I feel like I'm always apologizing for the food.
Anyway, darling, I'm done with that.
Okay.
But I'm not a chef.
It's out of my control.
Who put the oil on top of the appetizer? I didn't do the appetizer.
I did it.
He said it's a lot of oil.
It's tradition to put a good amount of oil on hummus.
So for chef Ramsay not to like it is a shocker to me.
I should've made it for him.
That is a disgusting bussing station.
It looks dreadful.
There has to be a much better place to put dirty dishes than that.
That's bad.
Amel.
It's weird how you just drop all those dirties there.
Yeah.
That's where our dishes go.
Why not just walk 5 feet and put the dirty plates - inside the plate wash? - I don't know.
How difficult would it be to walk straight into the kitchen - and put them in there? - Not hard at all.
Chef Ramsay is right.
But every time I try to open my mouth, every time I have a suggestion, I basically get told to shut up.
Thank you, darling.
You're welcome.
Fava beans is ready.
Okay, I'm coming to get it.
Oh.
Fava beans.
And who put the zed on there? What's the "Z"? "Z" for Zayna, kind of a design.
Looks like someone's puked up on my plate.
Oh, come on.
Does that look appetizing to you? Yeah.
It doesn't look too appetizing? It doesn't look appetizing at all, no.
Okay, thank you.
No problem.
Uh That looks like the inside of a diaper.
I mean, it's so bad.
[Bleep.]
.
He said the fava beans looked like someone threw up.
Okay.
Tell him, "enjoy your meal.
" Umm, I'm done there, darling.
- Yeah? - One mouthful too much.
All right, I'll get that out of your way.
- Thank you, my darling.
- You're welcome.
One thing I can confirm, it tasted the way it looked dreadful.
Nope.
Not a winner.
Okay, whatever.
You guys, this is crazy.
I don't agree with chef Ramsay about some of the items.
That's a first.
I will defend my food to chef Ramsay, because I know how healthy and delicious it is.
Chef Ramsay has only sampled a few dishes but is already questioning the food.
That looks like the inside of a diaper.
And owners Fay and Brenda are questioning the feedback.
Food never comes back.
That's a first.
People always rave about our food.
Whatever.
If you're telling me my food's not good, I'd love to see what's good.
Who put the kibbi back? I did.
It's gonna be dry.
That's why I moved the one that's cooked already.
Kibbi roll, Mark.
_ why not? _ You should be confident in what you do.
So these are? Kibbi rolls.
Could you describe the dish? Kibbi rolls, it's a bulgur wheat shell with sirloin ground beef and pine nuts in the middle.
Thank you, Mr.
sunshine.
Fresh? Uh, kind of.
Wow.
What does that mean? She'll have them, like, prepped for the week, like, one week ahead, 'cause it takes so much time prepping.
- They taste are they frozen? - Uh-huh.
Yeah, they're frozen.
Yeah? Yes, sir.
Do you know what it says on the front of the restaurant, - on the banners outside? - About the catering? - No.
Go outside, have a quick look.
- Okay.
Read it and come back in.
You got it.
We'll have a chat.
Damn.
I know he can't spell.
But let's hope he can [Bleep.]
read.
[Bleep.]
.
- What'd it say? - We care about quality and taste.
Okay, great.
What else did it say? It began with "F.
" It began with "F"? I didn't read it.
- I just read "quality and taste,".
- Oh.
- I was ashamed.
- There's three "F" s there.
Now read it properly and come back and tell me what it says.
No problem.
Have a look.
Whatever you say.
Oh, man.
All right.
Right, three "F" s.
Three "F"s "Fresh, flavorful food.
" Right.
And you're telling me now my appetizer is frozen, 'cause we make a bulk at the beginning of the week.
Yeah.
I just read that literally entering the building, so I don't expect anything frozen.
Thank you.
Wow.
He said, "your sign outside says 'fresh, flavorful food.
'" I said, "yeah".
"But this is frozen.
" He knew by the taste.
Kibbi, you cannot do it fresh.
Man.
You're not gonna like what he has to say.
I stand by the kibbi because we really use good ingredients.
I don't see in any arabic home anyone can make them differently.
The chicken's almost ready? It's kind of not cooking on that side.
- I don't want to burn it.
- It's not burning.
I need to mark it, and it's done.
If it's done, it needs to be off the grill Well, it still needs to get marked.
- Or it will be overdone.
- It's not overdone.
- It is.
- It's not.
Maybe you should be doing all the cooking then.
You're making drama for nothing.
Fay is over my shoulder, micromanaging and just constantly bossing us in the kitchen.
There's no time for burning meat.
I'm just over it all.
Can you take this, please? One item I could stand behind.
This is our Zayna combo plate.
Thank you, darling.
Wow.
Instantly, you can see it's dry, slicing in there.
Mm.
Wow.
And this one is the That's just a regular beef kabob.
The meat is just like it's boiled.
It's just tasteless.
Everything's so overcooked.
We try to make our meat medium.
But that looks medium-well, well-done.
It's drier than Mark's personality.
And the kofta, sadly, is overcooked and dry.
It's drier than the sands around the pyramids of Egypt.
Dreadful.
And the chicken is bland.
Is the chicken fresh, or is that frozen? The chicken is frozen.
What a shame.
Who cooked my lunch today? That would be a mixture of Fay and Brenda.
I think they tag-teamed on the dishes.
Supposing you tag-team, you'd expect it to be twice as good.
But this one's twice as bad.
Darling, I'm done.
Wow, that was disappointing.
Thank you, darling.
Wow.
Trust me, this has been a huge, huge disappointment.
There has not been one thing that he said he liked.
Not even one item, huh? Let's come over, please.
Wow.
I don't know where to start, really.
Fay, Brenda, I am so disappointed.
The atmosphere's flat.
The decor's drab.
And I'm sat on the corner of a ridiculous cushion opposite a large container of dirty [Bleep.]
.
They've never done that before.
That's what's bothering me today.
Um, excuse me.
We do that every week.
I believe you and Vanessa use buckets, don't you? But don't put the buckets on the floor.
Well, it doesn't matter if it's on the floor.
I don't think that's the issue.
I think the fact that the bucket's - in view of the customers - They fill them, and they walk inside the kitchen with them.
But we have been told to use a bucket.
I always asked you guys to use a bucket, so stuff doesn't spill all over the place.
But we've never said to put it on the floor.
Yeah, you use the table or one of the chairs, and you take them back inside when they're almost full.
But they're still in front of the customers if we leave them on the chair We never put them on the floor.
I'm a little confused.
- Do we leave them on the floor? - Never.
- Yes.
- Wow.
But set all that aside.
I've just had a bad experience.
And I felt the food was below standard.
The hummus was runny, very liquidy.
Why so much oil on there? I have arabic customers that like loads of olive oil.
When customers want more oil, don't assume that everybody wants more oil.
I don't even think it was olive oil.
What was that oil in there? - Olive oil.
- It was olive oil.
Wow.
That must be cheap.
What's funny? Um, our product's not cheap.
Your product's not cheap? Okay.
So what's so funny? You said it was cheap.
It tasted cheap.
It's not expensive, but it's not cheap.
Okay, I'm not gonna argue with you.
But you sit there on your ass, laughing your head off, thinking it's funny.
I'm not gonna get upset because of what you say.
- No? I'm just gonna smile about it.
- Fine.
- It is your opinion.
- How old are you? - 26, sir.
I'd expect that if you were 16.
'Cause right now, Mark, it's very far from funny.
Can I continue about my lunch? For me, a kofta, when you bite into it, it just bursts with flavor.
This thing was dry beyond belief.
But this is number one seller.
This is what my customer eats every time they walk in.
But, Fay, chicken was dry, and the beef was dry.
Is that protein frozen? We buy it fresh.
I buy it fresh, I marinate it.
- Buy it fresh - Then I have to freeze it.
So there's a system Prep, freeze, and cook.
I don't know why you think customers leave their homes to come and eat frozen food.
I don't have a walk-in freezer, and I don't have a walk-in cooler.
Okay.
So My option is to freeze it, then cook it.
How long have you been functioning like this? No, it's been like this since day one.
I just wanted to let you know that I don't have the help to prepare when I need help.
Right.
I cannot cut myself in half, have my half here behind the counter, and the other half inside.
- Sure.
But, Fay, have you given up? - No.
- Do you want to give up? - No.
_ _ - what? - I need help.
- From your family? - Yes.
- So who's not pulling their weight? - None of them.
Chicken was dry.
But this is number one seller.
Fay not only believes that her food is impeccable I need help.
She also believes that she is the only one in this restaurant who is putting in a real effort.
So who's not pulling their weight? None of them.
None of us? You don't let anybody help you.
Brenda, what's going on? Is your auntie on her own? She's not on her own.
She's not.
She has to have her hand in everything.
She has to marinate.
She has to cut.
- That's not true.
- That is true.
When is the last time you cut the chicken or lamb or beef and you marinate it? Many, many times.
- When? - Many times.
- No, that's a lie.
And you know that.
- Many times.
It's not a lie.
I always stand with you in the back and ask you, "show me how to do this.
Show me how to do that.
" I always tell you what? Bring a piece of paper and pen and write it.
No, you don't.
No, you don't.
You don't say, "hey, come here.
Let me show you how to do this, so if I'm ever off, you could do it.
" - You've not been shown the recipes? - No.
Um, she never ask, so she see me - That's not true.
- She see me when I marinate.
I always go in She's worked with me almost every time I'm here.
Many times, I brought in my laptop, and I said, "let's go through the recipes.
" If she came and tell me, "I wanted to learn this," I would never tell her no.
I would never tell her no.
You always say, Fay, "I have to do it.
" They can bring a piece of paper and bring anytime when I'm doing something and write what I do.
That's not true.
When was the last time you were shown how to cook something? - Never? - Minor stuff in the kitchen Seriously? Like appetizers.
But that's pretty much it.
- Really? In five years? - Yes.
Yes.
You two don't sound like a niece and an auntie.
When was the last time your auntie gave you a compliment about something? I don't get compliments.
When she cooks, all I hear from the customer is complaints.
There's nobody gets complimented.
She only cooks when I'm not here.
Just the last week, on Wednesday, I was off.
On Thursday, a customer walks in just to complain about how horrible the food was when I'm not here.
- I've never been told that.
- And I'm not saying, - because you don't take it well from me.
- Then you should tell me.
I told you so many times.
You don't take it well from me.
When did you tell me? When? When the falafel is dry, and it was burned The falafel was perfect.
- I got so many feedback.
- That's not true.
I am very picky how everything's cooked on the grill.
That's not true.
You don't believe me, ask the servers.
The server cooks the food when you're here most of the time.
No, they don't.
You don't cook all the time when she's here? No.
No, I want her to answer.
So I sit on my ass when everybody else is working? Yes.
And I tell you, "find something to do.
" I've offered to cut chicken multiple times for free, and I was told that I wasn't allowed to do it.
But I'm confused.
You want them to do it, but then they say you don't let them do it.
No, they don't want to.
That's not true.
- That's the God-honest truth.
- That's not true.
I offered.
I wasn't allowed to do it.
She never did work for free.
I've offered to work for free to learn how to cut the chicken and help her during the week.
I don't want you to be with me in the kitchen.
No, I'm saying you told me I don't want you to be with me in the kitchen, and that's why I will never tell you anything.
I'm afraid that she gets hurt.
When she's working her regular shift and not even cooking, she's hurting herself.
I don't usually hurt myself.
"I need a bandage.
" Every day, Amel needs a bandage.
I've never poked myself with a knife here.
Amel, you ask for bandage all the time.
No, I really don't.
Wow.
In the end, it's not my job to cook.
I don't get paid to cook.
I don't get paid to do inventory.
I don't get paid any extra to do anything.
But as a family, we do it just because we care about the You do my inventory? - I've done the takeout inventory.
- It's not mine.
- It's inventory.
- She didn't say your inventory.
I do the bread inventory.
Maybe a few time, but not all the time.
Not all the time because I have my own job to do.
And when I come in, and the dining room's dirty, my first thing to do is Why is the dining room dirty? 'Cause the staff from the night before don't clean.
Really? When it comes to cleaning, Mark does not do it.
There's a little bit more lenience Don't say that [Bleep.]
.
Don't point fingers, because that [Bleep.]
happens.
I've came right after you swept, and I've swept, and it's been dirty.
By far, she does way more of her duties - More than anybody else.
- But it happened both ways.
Is Mark lazy? - No, he's not.
- He's not lazy? Actually, he works the busiest nights.
He works the busiest nights, but when it comes to bussing and cleaning and pulling his rope, he doesn't pull it.
Mark does not pull his rope when it comes to his duties.
If you want to start pointing fingers, Brenda No! I was gonna keep my mouth shut and not say [Bleep.]
about anyone.
When you just sit on your [Bleep.]
phone, we're cooking, serving, and you're sitting - Negative, and if I need - Whatever.
So I'm not gonna say anything.
- If I'm gonna sit down and - It's okay.
- Actually put food in my mouth - It's okay.
Go ahead, walk out like you always do.
When you're here for five hours? Yeah.
No, I'm not here for five hours.
- You are! - This impromptu staff meeting has gone from Brenda and Fay pointing fingers at each other No, when the falafel is dry The falafel was perfect.
To the blame game with the entire staff There's a little bit more lenience -Don't say that [Bleep.]
.
Don't point fingers.
Can I finish? Including Fay's son, Mark.
If you want to start pointing fingers, Brenda, when you just sit on your [Bleep.]
phone, we're cooking, serving, and you're sitting Negative.
Whatever.
Go ahead, walk out like you always do.
When you're here for five hours? - Yeah.
- No, I'm not here for five hours.
You are! Whatever.
I wasn't gonna talk [Bleep.]
about anybody, but okay.
I'll be yelled at, taking food to the third table over there.
By who? By Fayza.
She will scream at me as I'm walking.
- In front of the customers? - Because I ask the TV to be off.
No, it has nothing to do with the TV.
These are different issues.
I have to scream at you, "turn off the TV," because it have some bumping and grinding and whatever is going on on TV.
Bumping? And it pisses me off, because I walk from inside Bumping and grinding? On what? There's not bumping and grinding.
American video channel.
The solution Brenda have to change her shift because I voice my opinion.
I changed the shift because you guys constantly bump heads, and you constantly get into these great arguments in this open kitchen and the dining room.
In front of customers? Yes.
In front of customers.
Wow.
Um, I need to see this place working tonight.
Just do what you normally do, so I can have a chance of getting up to speed to see how this place functions.
I'm getting some fresh air.
What a lunch.
I'll be back later.
Thank you, sir.
Wow, and I thought the problems were just the food.
I can't handle this.
Nobody here is perfect.
Nobody here is perfect.
You just make it seem like when Mark and Vanessa are here It happens when all of us are here, Brenda.
But you guys don't pull your weight.
Nobody pulls their weight, and that's what the problem is.
I wish.
.
I wish _ Here.
She works.
I never told you Nobody here works like the way she works.
Her mouth, yes, I agree.
But when it comes to her work, she goes the extra mile.
Her mouth is what gets her in trouble.
She's an awesome worker, and she needs to know that too to work better.
I always tell her.
I always tell her that.
You know, nobody gets compliments here, Fay, nobody.
I tell her, "thank you.
We have a great night.
" "Thank you.
Have a good night.
" Of course she doesn't tell you I tell her that, but she comes back and cry about things.
Amel is not my problem.
What my problem is is what he said about the food.
Anybody hungry? I'm eating my frozen food.
Anybody want to eat frozen food? I'm glad you're laughing about it.
It's not funny.
Ironically, the only thing that Fay and Brenda agree on is the food.
I don't want this to burn, because I don't have time to make more.
It's not gonna burn.
Unfortunately, aside from their issues with each other, that is the restaurant's biggest problem.
Okay, are we ready? Ready or not, I have to be ready.
What can I get started for you tonight? Can I get an order of the falafel with garlic sauce? Definitely hummus.
- Hummus? - Yeah.
You got it.
I'll be right back.
Thank you.
Okay, just explain to me how the line works.
Okay.
The tickets come out, and we start to pull whatever meats, and we start cooking.
Wow.
Okay, don't let me stop you.
Okay, table one, spicy hummus and beef shawarma with Zayna.
I got it.
Brenda _ that's why I got these jalapenos.
Use them, please.
We're giving them spicy hummus, Fay.
- Spicy means spicy.
- Whatever.
The hummus still looks very watery.
- Is this it here? - Yes.
- How often is that made? - Every few days.
This is number-one seller.
So within just two, three days, it's finished.
Right.
That's disgusting.
This is bad.
That hummus is awful.
And why is it so runny? The consistency could be better.
Yeah, just a little bit.
Sorry for interrupting.
How are we? Ladies, welcome.
The hummus, how is that? A little bland and runny.
My apologies.
_ Thank you.
"Fresh food seven days a week," my ass.
He's leaving? I don't think Gordon Ramsay likes us.
_ I can't believe that.
Brenda, when people ask you for spicy hummus, they want spicy hummus.
Enough.
I don't need something explained to me three times.
He's here.
Yay.
With chef Ramsay seeing so many customers unsatisfied with the same watery us that he had at lunch, he has returned from a trip to a nearby supermarket I'll show them how good their hummus is.
With a plan.
Shh.
Mum's the word.
Mum's the word.
Yes! Ladies, there we are, some fresh hummus.
Gents, the same for you.
- Thanks.
- My apologies.
Sorry.
- Thank you.
- Way too much oil.
_ That's for you to share.
_ _ Man, it's working.
Creating a buzz here.
They're loving it.
Holy crap! I'm running out.
_ Who would've thought that store-bought hummus would be high in demand? How was that? _ Brenda, all the chicken is done.
Just give me a second.
I'm making the damn salad.
The chicken was just it was nasty.
_ Sorry about that.
Oh, no.
Um No, no, no, no.
They're ordering completely new entrees.
She said she didn't like it at all.
What happened here? She said the chicken didn't taste good at all.
Oh, really? It's dry.
Is it supposed to be minced like that? This is exactly the way it's served everywhere I know.
I never, ever have someone return the chicken shawarma.
- Not complaint, we have complaint - Don't let me stop you.
Well, listen.
- I understand.
- Let's call them a liar.
I never have a complaint of dry or overcooked shawarma.
I tasted most of the shawarma, and I know delicious it is.
Can I go ask them why they didn't like anything, or, like, what their opinion is? 'Cause that's just - Do what you think is good, all right.
- 'Cause that's just 'Cause this has never happened before.
Hello, ladies.
How are you today? Hi.
You've sent back everything, so I just wanted to come and _ what did you not like about the items? _ Okay.
_ Was the flavor It just wasn't it wasn't for you.
- Yeah.
Okay.
- You guys are done? _ whatever.
All of the sudden, people are food critics? What did they say? They thought that shawarma was rubbery.
Our dolmas taste like vinegar.
Stuff never came back before, never.
Whatever.
If they don't like it, they don't like it.
Wowzer.
God help me.
Beef kabob, is it ready? - Ready.
- Ready! _ No, it's raw.
The beef is still cooking for that plate.
- I'll fix it.
- Leave it, leave it.
Seriously? Do what you always do.
I'm fed up with Fay dominating in the kitchen.
It's really hard to deal with.
_ That one's raw.
Half of this beef is well, half of this beef is raw.
But these are medium.
If I cook them more, they will not be medium anymore.
But one of them was raw.
That's what I'm trying Oh, sh Stop commenting on everything, please.
I don't know why you're acting like I'm the one who's doing it.
I can't handle this.
Amel, why is she quick to jump down your throat? Why is that? I don't know.
If you haven't noticed, it happens to everybody who comes back here, even Brenda.
Wow.
Bloody hell.
Ay, ay, ay.
_ you know what, just go ahead you can just take it.
Okay.
I'm good.
Oh, jeez.
This is supposed to be medium, and it's rare.
Let me see, Mark.
Okay, that's cooked.
That is raw.
I wasn't talking to you, Amel.
Oh, man.
Redo it.
It looks like [Bleep.]
.
_ Seriously, Fay, you're making me lose it.
My God.
Flaming grill.
Flaming [Bleep.]
mess.
Oh, I want to scream.
That's disgusting.
It's frozen.
We're done.
How are we? How's the food? It is stone cold.
Yeah, I had that for lunch.
And it wasn't pleasant.
My apologies.
Thank you.
The customers have given a very clear verdict on the food at tonight's dinner service.
So chef Ramsay decides to move on to an inspection of the rest of the kitchen, including the food storage.
The freezers are busy.
Man.
Wow.
There must be three to four weeks' worth of prep in there.
Ugh.
What is that? Does that look appetizing? Mediterranean, it's not.
Man! This one, kibbi mix.
Leftovers in a home kitchen.
No date.
My God.
Ugh.
Disgusting.
God, what a mess.
This stuff has been in there so long, it's all freezer-burnt.
Any chance of any flavor has gone, a bit like the flame on the grill.
Just boxes of meat prepped in bulk.
They say "fresh, flavorful food.
" My ass.
I say frozen, frozen, frozen.
That's gross.
It's dinner service at Zayna.
It's raw.
The beef is still cooking for that plate.
- I'll fix it.
- Leave it, leave it.
- Seriously? - Oh, I want to scream.
And while Fay and Brenda continue to argue in the open kitchen Boxes of meat prepped in bulk.
Chef Ramsay is uncovering some alarming practices in the back kitchen My God.
Which include a massive amount of frozen food.
Fresh salmon.
Oh, [Bleep.]
.
Frozen salmon.
Ugh.
What is that? Welcome to my mediterranean flaming grill.
It's a broke bag.
Looks like lamb in there.
Look at that.
Ugh.
Defrosting frozen meat in warm water.
What a mess.
Chicken shawarma.
Ugh.
Does this lady really know how to run a restaurant? I don't think so.
The logic has left the building.
This is too many orders and none of them on the grill.
- I thought you took all the meat.
- I took out lamb.
Okay, it's not on the grill.
Well, it disappeared.
Can I show you something, just two seconds? Sure.
Sure.
- Just to talk to you in private.
- Sure.
I just want to show you something very quickly.
Okay.
What did he walk back there for? This was in the sink, in a bowl of water.
We run the water on it to defrost it.
Running hot water on it, what does that do? It's not hot water.
I run cold water.
It's warm on the outside and solid in the middle.
So when it's different colors like that, do you know what that means? That means cooked.
Even before you start turning this into kofta, you're screwed.
One more thing.
What's this here? What are you doing in here? I'm defrosting some chicken.
And why are you defrosting that? I marinate it yesterday, and I didn't have enough space in the fridge, so I put inside the freezer.
I disagree about the meat.
Freezing the food, it doesn't make it go bad.
I really don't get what he's saying 100%.
Some of those customers tonight, the food that came back, were the customers right, or were they wrong? I never, since I open, have that much food come back, never.
I don't think you understand how far you've slipped.
Get real.
- I am.
- No, you're not.
Why aren't your customers coming back to your restaurant, Fay? I don't know.
They loved my food.
They loved my smile.
You're not being honest.
You're not being honest with yourself, and you're not being honest with your customers.
No, I'm being honest.
Your customers were complaining about the hummus, the dips.
They weren't very excited.
So I went and made some.
Stay there.
How is that? It's delicious hummus.
Can you taste the difference? Yes.
_ now I have a confession to make.
I actually walked to a store and bought it.
You need to be ten times better than store-bought hummus.
Otherwise, what's the point of running a restaurant? Tonight was a shock to me.
Like, wow.
Why everything is coming back? There are certain plates I'm very proud of, and it came back.
But it's not good enough.
What you're doing is so wrong.
And unfortunately, because you are surrounded by family members, you've convinced yourself and them that what you're doing is right.
Well, I'm sorry.
Flaming grill, it's not.
Extinguish grill, it is.
And the problems, Fay, are inside.
Do you want this business to continue? I feel like I'm hanging by a thread.
_ I've been praying and saying tomorrow will be a better day.
That better day is not coming.
_
But the sun isn't shining on this mediterranean family restaurant.
I don't want to hear it! There's a storm brewing between two owners who happen to be an aunt and a niece.
- I need help.
- What is? Aunt Fay complains that she is the only one putting in any effort.
So who's not pulling their weight? None of them.
That's not true.
But then again, she refuses to take help from anyone.
You don't let anybody help you.
No, they don't want to.
Niece Brenda complains that Fay doesn't treat her as her partner.
You've not been shown the recipes? No.
This is crazy.
But her lack of passion I'm gonna go sit down in my booth.
Has everyone feeling that she doesn't care.
When you just sit on your phone, we're cooking, serving.
That's not true.
It's hard for chef Ramsay to tell who's right It is bedlam.
And who's wrong.
There's poor communication.
I can see that.
But one thing's for sure.
Can you be able to do things when I'm not here? I do! They are more focused on each other's faults Nobody wants to help her because she is so critical of the way you do help her.
Than running the restaurant.
I'll fix it.
Fix what? It's correct.
It's not correct.
As for the staff Now I need to make flaming potatoes.
Move that.
Can you I They are not only fighting with each other Are you [Bleep.]
kidding me? They're ready to walk out the door.
You got to be kidding me, man.
Walk out like you always do.
Tonight, chef Ramsay is in for the challenge of the year What you're doing is so wrong.
No.
As he attempts to turn around a restaurant That's gross.
In utter turmoil.
You're screwed.
I'm done.
What is that? You're serving rotten food.
They're not crap.
They're delicious.
Then wake up! You wake up! Shut the place down.
Get out of here! That is amazing.
That's embarrassing! Oh, God! Thank you so much.
Redondo beach, California.
Just blocks from the ocean is Zayna flaming grill, opened in 2009 by the aunt-and-niece team Fay and Brenda.
Mama's falafel for table five.
I'm Egyptian.
I came to United States at 18.
My first experience was a catering truck for 16 years.
And it was really successful.
But I always wanted to buy my own restaurant.
It was always my dream to have my own business.
And when the door opened about opening a restaurant with Fay, I decided to give her a call since she had kitchen experience and I had management experience.
When I put the meat somewhere on the grill, do not move it.
I just checked them.
It's done! The reason why this place is going downhill is because of the drama between Fay and Brenda.
Actually, all this was on this side.
These were on this side.
No, this was here.
Families don't want to come here, because why would you want to come to a restaurant with arguing and stress? It's embarrassing.
Oh, my God! Fay is definitely the scary boss here.
She's the one who pushes people, screams at people.
You guys need to take the meat when the order comes out.
She'll tell the staff, "shut up.
" Be quiet.
"Get out of the kitchen.
" Then move! Move from here.
"Stop arguing with me.
" I don't want to hear it! "Zip it.
" Move, move.
Don't worry about that right now! Do not move the tickets.
Fay needs help, but she doesn't want to accept it from anybody.
I know what I'm talking about, you guys.
Fay doesn't trust me to run this place.
The salad is not Do you see me standing here, doing nothing? She sees me as her niece and not her partner.
It's a complete joke.
I'm obviously doing stuff.
Brenda doesn't seem to care anymore.
I'm gonna go sit down in my booth.
I just want to sleep.
She'll be on the phone.
How are you? Talks to friend.
Where is Brenda? Right now it's Brenda's just laziness.
I want you to be stronger person, but that's your personality.
It's not that I'm not I want you to be strong.
Just because I'm not yelling at them It's not yelling.
I'm not wanting you to yell.
You know what, Fay? _ - I'll fix it.
- Fix what? It's correct.
It's not correct.
All their problems come from the restaurant.
You've become, like, so frustrated.
You're like, "to hell with it.
I don't care anymore.
It's so upsetting.
This restaurant has put a strain on my entire family.
I really have to go.
I'm done.
Nobody understands how much stress I'm under.
I've borrowed from my parents a little over 60 grand.
If the restaurant fails, I feel like I would've failed my family.
But you know what, we really need help.
If I don't smile, I'm gonna explode.
I'm gonna cry.
The restaurant is my life.
But it became a burden.
It seems like it's slipping away.
And I feel like if this is gone, I won't have anything left.
It should never be like this.
Both Fay and Brenda have requested meetings with chef Ramsay prior to him arriving at the restaurant.
- How are you? Brenda, right? - Yes.
He realizes that this is a perfect opportunity to get both sides of the story.
It's Fay, right? Hello.
Good to see you.
- Good to see you.
- Likewise.
Good to see you too.
It's an honor to meet you.
Well, it's a pleasure seeing you.
Oh, thank you.
And obviously, I wanted to reach out and have a word - before I went inside of the restaurant.
- Yes.
I want to tell you some issues that I have with my business partner - and my niece Brenda.
- Okay, great.
Tell me about the restaurant.
How did it start? Fay had this idea and saw a location that she really liked and approached my mom.
And she said that I would possibly be interested.
It kind of just took off from there, you know, what it seems like it was right thing to do and are you 50-50? Yes, we're 50-50 partners.
Right.
So explain the roles of the restaurant.
I shop.
I cook.
I clean.
- Oh, you're the chef as well? - Yes.
Wow.
You're busy.
So if you cook, shop, clean, what the hell does Brenda do? Uh Basically, there's different days where I am serving, and there's days where I'm on the line with Fay.
And it can get a little overbearing back there, 'cause Fay, she's definitely a control freak.
She doesn't have confidence in me stepping into the kitchen and being able to help her out.
And she is just like, "no, you're not doing it right.
" And I sometimes feel like I'm an employee, not an equal.
_ every literally everything.
Why can't Brenda prep for her one day running the business independently? Um, she doesn't know.
She stay out with friends, and she's very tired.
The kids, they tell me when I'm not there, we sit on the computer, watch TV, or watch What? How does the business run on those nights when your auntie's not there? Very smoothly.
Uh-huh.
And customers are happy with the food? Definitely.
Things flow easy.
I feel like it's a disaster.
How do you know this is a disaster? The customer come to me and tell me what happens.
Wow.
Brenda's cooking in your absence How would you give that, out of ten? - Six.
- Six.
I give myself ten.
Oh, wow.
If she wasn't your niece, would you fire her? Yes.
If this wasn't your auntie, would you fire her? Yes.
How long can the business continue? I'm giving myself about a year.
- Really? Wow.
- Yes.
- Our numbers are horrible.
- Oh, I see.
How much did you put into the business? We put about 60 grand each.
Wow.
I'm afraid and scared that I will lose this.
In this time of my life, I don't see myself going to work for someone and even retire.
I really need chef Ramsay to change Brenda.
But I have doubt that anything will change.
Brenda's not gonna change.
Okay, I'll see you back at the restaurant, okay? - Thank you so much.
- Thank you, darling.
- I'll see you back there.
- I appreciate you.
After hearing two completely different stories from the owners about why Zayna is failing, chef Ramsay arrives at the restaurant, anxious to see where the problems lie.
So "fresh, flavorful food seven days a week.
" Now, that is fresh.
- Hello.
- Hello.
Hi, my name's Amel.
Amel, nice to see you.
And this is? - Mark.
- Okay.
- He's my son.
- What do you do? Help around with everything, from cooking to bussing, serving, seating.
Okay.
Right.
Well, good to meet you.
Let me sit down and have a quick bite to eat, get up to speed, and I'll catch up after.
- Thank you.
- Enjoy.
Oh, boy.
If you'd like to have a seat on the couch.
Excellent.
Ooh! Sinking down here.
I feel like I'm back at my grandma's couch.
Why have you got such high couches in such a small restaurant? I'm not quite sure.
I Wow, okay.
Now how long have you been here? I've been here for 4 1/2 years.
- So you've been here since the beginning? - Yes.
The two owners, do they run the business together? How does that work? Fayza works here more days than Brenda does.
- Oh, really? - Yeah.
Aren't they 50-50 partners? They're supposed to be 50-50.
But I would say it would probably be a 75-25 difference.
Oh, wow.
Fayza's definitely the 75% of work.
And what does the other partner do? Brenda's more laid-back.
She prefers more talking to the customers instead of being in the back with the kitchen.
Oh.
So who's the boss? The scary boss would be Fayza.
Fayza? Is it Fay or Fayza? She said to me her name was Fay, so Usually, I call her Fayza.
Or sometimes when it's busy, I'll call her Fay.
There's people who call her foo-foo.
Foo-foo.
I'll stick to Fay.
Is she scary? She is hell on wheels.
Wow.
If it gets busy, no matter what it is, you will hear yelling in the dining room.
Everything that happens back there, our customers see.
Our customers hear everything.
- Wow.
Seriously? - Yeah.
Fay has an extremely short temper.
If something goes wrong, all hell will break loose.
How do you get on with Mark? It must be hard when you're working with the owner's son.
Yes.
If he sees something that's dirty, he will leave it for somebody else to take care of.
Is he lazy? When it comes to cleaning, he doesn't do it full-heartedly, if that makes any sense.
So he leaves a mess for you when you come in the next day? Yeah.
Oh, wow, well, thank you for the insight.
I'm gonna look at everything and whoa, wait a minute.
"Mediterranean bistro.
An exquisite 'dinning' adventure.
" Oh.
Wow.
Where's Mark? Mark? Oh, Mark, he is Could you ask him to come around? Yeah.
Thank you.
He wants to talk to you.
Yes, sir.
Amel, come with him.
I got a little quiz.
Are you ready for this? How do you spell "bistro"? How do you spell Bistro.
B-I-s-t-r-o.
Uh-huh.
Good.
And how do you spell "dining"? D-I-n-n-I-n-g.
So you wrote this menu? "Dining" is d-I-n-I-n-g.
Okay.
Has anybody else mentioned it? We have a lot of customers who have pointed it out to us.
Right.
Hum, thank you, Mark.
Okay, Amel, what would you recommend? We do four different dips.
We'll do hummus, baba ghanoush Give me the four different dips.
We'll go for that, yeah.
Okay.
Let's go for the fava beans, the kibbi roll.
Okay.
Yeah.
And then let's go for the Zayna combo plate.
- All right.
- Definitely.
Thank you, my darling.
Oh, you're welcome.
I'll place your order right now.
First impressions? The place is soulless.
Man.
Ooh! [Bleep.]
.
It's like dominoes.
They just keep on coming down.
Why is that? Honestly.
Why? Oh, [Bleep.]
.
Man.
- Wow.
- All right, you ready? Three kibbi, fava beans, and Zayna combo.
Okay.
Let's rock and roll.
I am very proud of my food, and I stand by it.
It's fresh, it's made to order.
Chef Ramsay there's no way he would dislike my food.
The appetizer is ready.
Just take it out.
I'm confident.
Our food's good.
Damn.
Coming up, chef Ramsay digs in.
Looks like the inside of a diaper.
And things go from bad to worse So who's not pulling their weight? None of them.
As the staff is ready to jump ship.
Go ahead, walk out like you always do.
And later Ugh.
Gross.
Chef Ramsay is so frustrated My God.
That he resorts to doing something he has never done before.
"Fresh food seven days a week," my ass.
While the owners continue to blame each other for the restaurant's problems The appetizer is ready.
Chef Ramsay is anxious to taste the food.
So this is our combination appetizer.
Okay.
Wow.
Why is all that oil on there? We usually drizzle the top of our appetizers with olive oil.
Drizzle or flood? Um, usually, we drizzle.
But it looks like there's a little extra put on.
Yeah, I'll say.
Could I have a teaspoon, please, darling? - Of course.
- Thank you.
Wow, you drizzle sparingly with a touch of oil.
But look at it.
I've got little spoonfuls, little miniature bathtubs full of oil floating on the side.
It's gross.
Here's a teaspoon.
Can you ask Mark, very carefully To stop staring at me? 'Cause he's scary.
He just stands there and stares.
Okay.
I'll let him Can I have another little dish first to put this oil in, please, darling? Oh, yeah.
Hey, Mark, he says stop staring at him, 'cause you're creeping him out.
You got to be kidding me, man.
A little dish.
Ugh.
A teaspoon of oil.
Who put the oil on? I'm not quite sure.
I wasn't back there.
Wow.
This is the hummus? My God.
It's so thin.
It's just liquid.
Is that normally that runny, that? The hummus? I've been told it depends on the garbanzo beans.
Really? We're gonna start blaming a bean for the hummus? There's times where the hummus will be extremely thin, or there's times where the hummus will be overly thick.
Yeah, it's not the bean's fault.
It's the chef's.
I feel like I'm always apologizing for the food.
Anyway, darling, I'm done with that.
Okay.
But I'm not a chef.
It's out of my control.
Who put the oil on top of the appetizer? I didn't do the appetizer.
I did it.
He said it's a lot of oil.
It's tradition to put a good amount of oil on hummus.
So for chef Ramsay not to like it is a shocker to me.
I should've made it for him.
That is a disgusting bussing station.
It looks dreadful.
There has to be a much better place to put dirty dishes than that.
That's bad.
Amel.
It's weird how you just drop all those dirties there.
Yeah.
That's where our dishes go.
Why not just walk 5 feet and put the dirty plates - inside the plate wash? - I don't know.
How difficult would it be to walk straight into the kitchen - and put them in there? - Not hard at all.
Chef Ramsay is right.
But every time I try to open my mouth, every time I have a suggestion, I basically get told to shut up.
Thank you, darling.
You're welcome.
Fava beans is ready.
Okay, I'm coming to get it.
Oh.
Fava beans.
And who put the zed on there? What's the "Z"? "Z" for Zayna, kind of a design.
Looks like someone's puked up on my plate.
Oh, come on.
Does that look appetizing to you? Yeah.
It doesn't look too appetizing? It doesn't look appetizing at all, no.
Okay, thank you.
No problem.
Uh That looks like the inside of a diaper.
I mean, it's so bad.
[Bleep.]
.
He said the fava beans looked like someone threw up.
Okay.
Tell him, "enjoy your meal.
" Umm, I'm done there, darling.
- Yeah? - One mouthful too much.
All right, I'll get that out of your way.
- Thank you, my darling.
- You're welcome.
One thing I can confirm, it tasted the way it looked dreadful.
Nope.
Not a winner.
Okay, whatever.
You guys, this is crazy.
I don't agree with chef Ramsay about some of the items.
That's a first.
I will defend my food to chef Ramsay, because I know how healthy and delicious it is.
Chef Ramsay has only sampled a few dishes but is already questioning the food.
That looks like the inside of a diaper.
And owners Fay and Brenda are questioning the feedback.
Food never comes back.
That's a first.
People always rave about our food.
Whatever.
If you're telling me my food's not good, I'd love to see what's good.
Who put the kibbi back? I did.
It's gonna be dry.
That's why I moved the one that's cooked already.
Kibbi roll, Mark.
_ why not? _ You should be confident in what you do.
So these are? Kibbi rolls.
Could you describe the dish? Kibbi rolls, it's a bulgur wheat shell with sirloin ground beef and pine nuts in the middle.
Thank you, Mr.
sunshine.
Fresh? Uh, kind of.
Wow.
What does that mean? She'll have them, like, prepped for the week, like, one week ahead, 'cause it takes so much time prepping.
- They taste are they frozen? - Uh-huh.
Yeah, they're frozen.
Yeah? Yes, sir.
Do you know what it says on the front of the restaurant, - on the banners outside? - About the catering? - No.
Go outside, have a quick look.
- Okay.
Read it and come back in.
You got it.
We'll have a chat.
Damn.
I know he can't spell.
But let's hope he can [Bleep.]
read.
[Bleep.]
.
- What'd it say? - We care about quality and taste.
Okay, great.
What else did it say? It began with "F.
" It began with "F"? I didn't read it.
- I just read "quality and taste,".
- Oh.
- I was ashamed.
- There's three "F" s there.
Now read it properly and come back and tell me what it says.
No problem.
Have a look.
Whatever you say.
Oh, man.
All right.
Right, three "F" s.
Three "F"s "Fresh, flavorful food.
" Right.
And you're telling me now my appetizer is frozen, 'cause we make a bulk at the beginning of the week.
Yeah.
I just read that literally entering the building, so I don't expect anything frozen.
Thank you.
Wow.
He said, "your sign outside says 'fresh, flavorful food.
'" I said, "yeah".
"But this is frozen.
" He knew by the taste.
Kibbi, you cannot do it fresh.
Man.
You're not gonna like what he has to say.
I stand by the kibbi because we really use good ingredients.
I don't see in any arabic home anyone can make them differently.
The chicken's almost ready? It's kind of not cooking on that side.
- I don't want to burn it.
- It's not burning.
I need to mark it, and it's done.
If it's done, it needs to be off the grill Well, it still needs to get marked.
- Or it will be overdone.
- It's not overdone.
- It is.
- It's not.
Maybe you should be doing all the cooking then.
You're making drama for nothing.
Fay is over my shoulder, micromanaging and just constantly bossing us in the kitchen.
There's no time for burning meat.
I'm just over it all.
Can you take this, please? One item I could stand behind.
This is our Zayna combo plate.
Thank you, darling.
Wow.
Instantly, you can see it's dry, slicing in there.
Mm.
Wow.
And this one is the That's just a regular beef kabob.
The meat is just like it's boiled.
It's just tasteless.
Everything's so overcooked.
We try to make our meat medium.
But that looks medium-well, well-done.
It's drier than Mark's personality.
And the kofta, sadly, is overcooked and dry.
It's drier than the sands around the pyramids of Egypt.
Dreadful.
And the chicken is bland.
Is the chicken fresh, or is that frozen? The chicken is frozen.
What a shame.
Who cooked my lunch today? That would be a mixture of Fay and Brenda.
I think they tag-teamed on the dishes.
Supposing you tag-team, you'd expect it to be twice as good.
But this one's twice as bad.
Darling, I'm done.
Wow, that was disappointing.
Thank you, darling.
Wow.
Trust me, this has been a huge, huge disappointment.
There has not been one thing that he said he liked.
Not even one item, huh? Let's come over, please.
Wow.
I don't know where to start, really.
Fay, Brenda, I am so disappointed.
The atmosphere's flat.
The decor's drab.
And I'm sat on the corner of a ridiculous cushion opposite a large container of dirty [Bleep.]
.
They've never done that before.
That's what's bothering me today.
Um, excuse me.
We do that every week.
I believe you and Vanessa use buckets, don't you? But don't put the buckets on the floor.
Well, it doesn't matter if it's on the floor.
I don't think that's the issue.
I think the fact that the bucket's - in view of the customers - They fill them, and they walk inside the kitchen with them.
But we have been told to use a bucket.
I always asked you guys to use a bucket, so stuff doesn't spill all over the place.
But we've never said to put it on the floor.
Yeah, you use the table or one of the chairs, and you take them back inside when they're almost full.
But they're still in front of the customers if we leave them on the chair We never put them on the floor.
I'm a little confused.
- Do we leave them on the floor? - Never.
- Yes.
- Wow.
But set all that aside.
I've just had a bad experience.
And I felt the food was below standard.
The hummus was runny, very liquidy.
Why so much oil on there? I have arabic customers that like loads of olive oil.
When customers want more oil, don't assume that everybody wants more oil.
I don't even think it was olive oil.
What was that oil in there? - Olive oil.
- It was olive oil.
Wow.
That must be cheap.
What's funny? Um, our product's not cheap.
Your product's not cheap? Okay.
So what's so funny? You said it was cheap.
It tasted cheap.
It's not expensive, but it's not cheap.
Okay, I'm not gonna argue with you.
But you sit there on your ass, laughing your head off, thinking it's funny.
I'm not gonna get upset because of what you say.
- No? I'm just gonna smile about it.
- Fine.
- It is your opinion.
- How old are you? - 26, sir.
I'd expect that if you were 16.
'Cause right now, Mark, it's very far from funny.
Can I continue about my lunch? For me, a kofta, when you bite into it, it just bursts with flavor.
This thing was dry beyond belief.
But this is number one seller.
This is what my customer eats every time they walk in.
But, Fay, chicken was dry, and the beef was dry.
Is that protein frozen? We buy it fresh.
I buy it fresh, I marinate it.
- Buy it fresh - Then I have to freeze it.
So there's a system Prep, freeze, and cook.
I don't know why you think customers leave their homes to come and eat frozen food.
I don't have a walk-in freezer, and I don't have a walk-in cooler.
Okay.
So My option is to freeze it, then cook it.
How long have you been functioning like this? No, it's been like this since day one.
I just wanted to let you know that I don't have the help to prepare when I need help.
Right.
I cannot cut myself in half, have my half here behind the counter, and the other half inside.
- Sure.
But, Fay, have you given up? - No.
- Do you want to give up? - No.
_ _ - what? - I need help.
- From your family? - Yes.
- So who's not pulling their weight? - None of them.
Chicken was dry.
But this is number one seller.
Fay not only believes that her food is impeccable I need help.
She also believes that she is the only one in this restaurant who is putting in a real effort.
So who's not pulling their weight? None of them.
None of us? You don't let anybody help you.
Brenda, what's going on? Is your auntie on her own? She's not on her own.
She's not.
She has to have her hand in everything.
She has to marinate.
She has to cut.
- That's not true.
- That is true.
When is the last time you cut the chicken or lamb or beef and you marinate it? Many, many times.
- When? - Many times.
- No, that's a lie.
And you know that.
- Many times.
It's not a lie.
I always stand with you in the back and ask you, "show me how to do this.
Show me how to do that.
" I always tell you what? Bring a piece of paper and pen and write it.
No, you don't.
No, you don't.
You don't say, "hey, come here.
Let me show you how to do this, so if I'm ever off, you could do it.
" - You've not been shown the recipes? - No.
Um, she never ask, so she see me - That's not true.
- She see me when I marinate.
I always go in She's worked with me almost every time I'm here.
Many times, I brought in my laptop, and I said, "let's go through the recipes.
" If she came and tell me, "I wanted to learn this," I would never tell her no.
I would never tell her no.
You always say, Fay, "I have to do it.
" They can bring a piece of paper and bring anytime when I'm doing something and write what I do.
That's not true.
When was the last time you were shown how to cook something? - Never? - Minor stuff in the kitchen Seriously? Like appetizers.
But that's pretty much it.
- Really? In five years? - Yes.
Yes.
You two don't sound like a niece and an auntie.
When was the last time your auntie gave you a compliment about something? I don't get compliments.
When she cooks, all I hear from the customer is complaints.
There's nobody gets complimented.
She only cooks when I'm not here.
Just the last week, on Wednesday, I was off.
On Thursday, a customer walks in just to complain about how horrible the food was when I'm not here.
- I've never been told that.
- And I'm not saying, - because you don't take it well from me.
- Then you should tell me.
I told you so many times.
You don't take it well from me.
When did you tell me? When? When the falafel is dry, and it was burned The falafel was perfect.
- I got so many feedback.
- That's not true.
I am very picky how everything's cooked on the grill.
That's not true.
You don't believe me, ask the servers.
The server cooks the food when you're here most of the time.
No, they don't.
You don't cook all the time when she's here? No.
No, I want her to answer.
So I sit on my ass when everybody else is working? Yes.
And I tell you, "find something to do.
" I've offered to cut chicken multiple times for free, and I was told that I wasn't allowed to do it.
But I'm confused.
You want them to do it, but then they say you don't let them do it.
No, they don't want to.
That's not true.
- That's the God-honest truth.
- That's not true.
I offered.
I wasn't allowed to do it.
She never did work for free.
I've offered to work for free to learn how to cut the chicken and help her during the week.
I don't want you to be with me in the kitchen.
No, I'm saying you told me I don't want you to be with me in the kitchen, and that's why I will never tell you anything.
I'm afraid that she gets hurt.
When she's working her regular shift and not even cooking, she's hurting herself.
I don't usually hurt myself.
"I need a bandage.
" Every day, Amel needs a bandage.
I've never poked myself with a knife here.
Amel, you ask for bandage all the time.
No, I really don't.
Wow.
In the end, it's not my job to cook.
I don't get paid to cook.
I don't get paid to do inventory.
I don't get paid any extra to do anything.
But as a family, we do it just because we care about the You do my inventory? - I've done the takeout inventory.
- It's not mine.
- It's inventory.
- She didn't say your inventory.
I do the bread inventory.
Maybe a few time, but not all the time.
Not all the time because I have my own job to do.
And when I come in, and the dining room's dirty, my first thing to do is Why is the dining room dirty? 'Cause the staff from the night before don't clean.
Really? When it comes to cleaning, Mark does not do it.
There's a little bit more lenience Don't say that [Bleep.]
.
Don't point fingers, because that [Bleep.]
happens.
I've came right after you swept, and I've swept, and it's been dirty.
By far, she does way more of her duties - More than anybody else.
- But it happened both ways.
Is Mark lazy? - No, he's not.
- He's not lazy? Actually, he works the busiest nights.
He works the busiest nights, but when it comes to bussing and cleaning and pulling his rope, he doesn't pull it.
Mark does not pull his rope when it comes to his duties.
If you want to start pointing fingers, Brenda No! I was gonna keep my mouth shut and not say [Bleep.]
about anyone.
When you just sit on your [Bleep.]
phone, we're cooking, serving, and you're sitting - Negative, and if I need - Whatever.
So I'm not gonna say anything.
- If I'm gonna sit down and - It's okay.
- Actually put food in my mouth - It's okay.
Go ahead, walk out like you always do.
When you're here for five hours? Yeah.
No, I'm not here for five hours.
- You are! - This impromptu staff meeting has gone from Brenda and Fay pointing fingers at each other No, when the falafel is dry The falafel was perfect.
To the blame game with the entire staff There's a little bit more lenience -Don't say that [Bleep.]
.
Don't point fingers.
Can I finish? Including Fay's son, Mark.
If you want to start pointing fingers, Brenda, when you just sit on your [Bleep.]
phone, we're cooking, serving, and you're sitting Negative.
Whatever.
Go ahead, walk out like you always do.
When you're here for five hours? - Yeah.
- No, I'm not here for five hours.
You are! Whatever.
I wasn't gonna talk [Bleep.]
about anybody, but okay.
I'll be yelled at, taking food to the third table over there.
By who? By Fayza.
She will scream at me as I'm walking.
- In front of the customers? - Because I ask the TV to be off.
No, it has nothing to do with the TV.
These are different issues.
I have to scream at you, "turn off the TV," because it have some bumping and grinding and whatever is going on on TV.
Bumping? And it pisses me off, because I walk from inside Bumping and grinding? On what? There's not bumping and grinding.
American video channel.
The solution Brenda have to change her shift because I voice my opinion.
I changed the shift because you guys constantly bump heads, and you constantly get into these great arguments in this open kitchen and the dining room.
In front of customers? Yes.
In front of customers.
Wow.
Um, I need to see this place working tonight.
Just do what you normally do, so I can have a chance of getting up to speed to see how this place functions.
I'm getting some fresh air.
What a lunch.
I'll be back later.
Thank you, sir.
Wow, and I thought the problems were just the food.
I can't handle this.
Nobody here is perfect.
Nobody here is perfect.
You just make it seem like when Mark and Vanessa are here It happens when all of us are here, Brenda.
But you guys don't pull your weight.
Nobody pulls their weight, and that's what the problem is.
I wish.
.
I wish _ Here.
She works.
I never told you Nobody here works like the way she works.
Her mouth, yes, I agree.
But when it comes to her work, she goes the extra mile.
Her mouth is what gets her in trouble.
She's an awesome worker, and she needs to know that too to work better.
I always tell her.
I always tell her that.
You know, nobody gets compliments here, Fay, nobody.
I tell her, "thank you.
We have a great night.
" "Thank you.
Have a good night.
" Of course she doesn't tell you I tell her that, but she comes back and cry about things.
Amel is not my problem.
What my problem is is what he said about the food.
Anybody hungry? I'm eating my frozen food.
Anybody want to eat frozen food? I'm glad you're laughing about it.
It's not funny.
Ironically, the only thing that Fay and Brenda agree on is the food.
I don't want this to burn, because I don't have time to make more.
It's not gonna burn.
Unfortunately, aside from their issues with each other, that is the restaurant's biggest problem.
Okay, are we ready? Ready or not, I have to be ready.
What can I get started for you tonight? Can I get an order of the falafel with garlic sauce? Definitely hummus.
- Hummus? - Yeah.
You got it.
I'll be right back.
Thank you.
Okay, just explain to me how the line works.
Okay.
The tickets come out, and we start to pull whatever meats, and we start cooking.
Wow.
Okay, don't let me stop you.
Okay, table one, spicy hummus and beef shawarma with Zayna.
I got it.
Brenda _ that's why I got these jalapenos.
Use them, please.
We're giving them spicy hummus, Fay.
- Spicy means spicy.
- Whatever.
The hummus still looks very watery.
- Is this it here? - Yes.
- How often is that made? - Every few days.
This is number-one seller.
So within just two, three days, it's finished.
Right.
That's disgusting.
This is bad.
That hummus is awful.
And why is it so runny? The consistency could be better.
Yeah, just a little bit.
Sorry for interrupting.
How are we? Ladies, welcome.
The hummus, how is that? A little bland and runny.
My apologies.
_ Thank you.
"Fresh food seven days a week," my ass.
He's leaving? I don't think Gordon Ramsay likes us.
_ I can't believe that.
Brenda, when people ask you for spicy hummus, they want spicy hummus.
Enough.
I don't need something explained to me three times.
He's here.
Yay.
With chef Ramsay seeing so many customers unsatisfied with the same watery us that he had at lunch, he has returned from a trip to a nearby supermarket I'll show them how good their hummus is.
With a plan.
Shh.
Mum's the word.
Mum's the word.
Yes! Ladies, there we are, some fresh hummus.
Gents, the same for you.
- Thanks.
- My apologies.
Sorry.
- Thank you.
- Way too much oil.
_ That's for you to share.
_ _ Man, it's working.
Creating a buzz here.
They're loving it.
Holy crap! I'm running out.
_ Who would've thought that store-bought hummus would be high in demand? How was that? _ Brenda, all the chicken is done.
Just give me a second.
I'm making the damn salad.
The chicken was just it was nasty.
_ Sorry about that.
Oh, no.
Um No, no, no, no.
They're ordering completely new entrees.
She said she didn't like it at all.
What happened here? She said the chicken didn't taste good at all.
Oh, really? It's dry.
Is it supposed to be minced like that? This is exactly the way it's served everywhere I know.
I never, ever have someone return the chicken shawarma.
- Not complaint, we have complaint - Don't let me stop you.
Well, listen.
- I understand.
- Let's call them a liar.
I never have a complaint of dry or overcooked shawarma.
I tasted most of the shawarma, and I know delicious it is.
Can I go ask them why they didn't like anything, or, like, what their opinion is? 'Cause that's just - Do what you think is good, all right.
- 'Cause that's just 'Cause this has never happened before.
Hello, ladies.
How are you today? Hi.
You've sent back everything, so I just wanted to come and _ what did you not like about the items? _ Okay.
_ Was the flavor It just wasn't it wasn't for you.
- Yeah.
Okay.
- You guys are done? _ whatever.
All of the sudden, people are food critics? What did they say? They thought that shawarma was rubbery.
Our dolmas taste like vinegar.
Stuff never came back before, never.
Whatever.
If they don't like it, they don't like it.
Wowzer.
God help me.
Beef kabob, is it ready? - Ready.
- Ready! _ No, it's raw.
The beef is still cooking for that plate.
- I'll fix it.
- Leave it, leave it.
Seriously? Do what you always do.
I'm fed up with Fay dominating in the kitchen.
It's really hard to deal with.
_ That one's raw.
Half of this beef is well, half of this beef is raw.
But these are medium.
If I cook them more, they will not be medium anymore.
But one of them was raw.
That's what I'm trying Oh, sh Stop commenting on everything, please.
I don't know why you're acting like I'm the one who's doing it.
I can't handle this.
Amel, why is she quick to jump down your throat? Why is that? I don't know.
If you haven't noticed, it happens to everybody who comes back here, even Brenda.
Wow.
Bloody hell.
Ay, ay, ay.
_ you know what, just go ahead you can just take it.
Okay.
I'm good.
Oh, jeez.
This is supposed to be medium, and it's rare.
Let me see, Mark.
Okay, that's cooked.
That is raw.
I wasn't talking to you, Amel.
Oh, man.
Redo it.
It looks like [Bleep.]
.
_ Seriously, Fay, you're making me lose it.
My God.
Flaming grill.
Flaming [Bleep.]
mess.
Oh, I want to scream.
That's disgusting.
It's frozen.
We're done.
How are we? How's the food? It is stone cold.
Yeah, I had that for lunch.
And it wasn't pleasant.
My apologies.
Thank you.
The customers have given a very clear verdict on the food at tonight's dinner service.
So chef Ramsay decides to move on to an inspection of the rest of the kitchen, including the food storage.
The freezers are busy.
Man.
Wow.
There must be three to four weeks' worth of prep in there.
Ugh.
What is that? Does that look appetizing? Mediterranean, it's not.
Man! This one, kibbi mix.
Leftovers in a home kitchen.
No date.
My God.
Ugh.
Disgusting.
God, what a mess.
This stuff has been in there so long, it's all freezer-burnt.
Any chance of any flavor has gone, a bit like the flame on the grill.
Just boxes of meat prepped in bulk.
They say "fresh, flavorful food.
" My ass.
I say frozen, frozen, frozen.
That's gross.
It's dinner service at Zayna.
It's raw.
The beef is still cooking for that plate.
- I'll fix it.
- Leave it, leave it.
- Seriously? - Oh, I want to scream.
And while Fay and Brenda continue to argue in the open kitchen Boxes of meat prepped in bulk.
Chef Ramsay is uncovering some alarming practices in the back kitchen My God.
Which include a massive amount of frozen food.
Fresh salmon.
Oh, [Bleep.]
.
Frozen salmon.
Ugh.
What is that? Welcome to my mediterranean flaming grill.
It's a broke bag.
Looks like lamb in there.
Look at that.
Ugh.
Defrosting frozen meat in warm water.
What a mess.
Chicken shawarma.
Ugh.
Does this lady really know how to run a restaurant? I don't think so.
The logic has left the building.
This is too many orders and none of them on the grill.
- I thought you took all the meat.
- I took out lamb.
Okay, it's not on the grill.
Well, it disappeared.
Can I show you something, just two seconds? Sure.
Sure.
- Just to talk to you in private.
- Sure.
I just want to show you something very quickly.
Okay.
What did he walk back there for? This was in the sink, in a bowl of water.
We run the water on it to defrost it.
Running hot water on it, what does that do? It's not hot water.
I run cold water.
It's warm on the outside and solid in the middle.
So when it's different colors like that, do you know what that means? That means cooked.
Even before you start turning this into kofta, you're screwed.
One more thing.
What's this here? What are you doing in here? I'm defrosting some chicken.
And why are you defrosting that? I marinate it yesterday, and I didn't have enough space in the fridge, so I put inside the freezer.
I disagree about the meat.
Freezing the food, it doesn't make it go bad.
I really don't get what he's saying 100%.
Some of those customers tonight, the food that came back, were the customers right, or were they wrong? I never, since I open, have that much food come back, never.
I don't think you understand how far you've slipped.
Get real.
- I am.
- No, you're not.
Why aren't your customers coming back to your restaurant, Fay? I don't know.
They loved my food.
They loved my smile.
You're not being honest.
You're not being honest with yourself, and you're not being honest with your customers.
No, I'm being honest.
Your customers were complaining about the hummus, the dips.
They weren't very excited.
So I went and made some.
Stay there.
How is that? It's delicious hummus.
Can you taste the difference? Yes.
_ now I have a confession to make.
I actually walked to a store and bought it.
You need to be ten times better than store-bought hummus.
Otherwise, what's the point of running a restaurant? Tonight was a shock to me.
Like, wow.
Why everything is coming back? There are certain plates I'm very proud of, and it came back.
But it's not good enough.
What you're doing is so wrong.
And unfortunately, because you are surrounded by family members, you've convinced yourself and them that what you're doing is right.
Well, I'm sorry.
Flaming grill, it's not.
Extinguish grill, it is.
And the problems, Fay, are inside.
Do you want this business to continue? I feel like I'm hanging by a thread.
_ I've been praying and saying tomorrow will be a better day.
That better day is not coming.
_