There is no denying that Gordon Ramsay knows what he’s doing in the kitchen. And he has created an entire reality TV empire with his knowledge. And his new series, Secret Service on Fox, is all about not only helping restaurants in need, but also seeing the reality of the problems without them knowing he’s there.
In episode four of Fox’s Secret Service we saw Gordon Ramsay head to Maryland to try to help a restaurant called MacGregor's.
From the very beginning, it is clear that this restaurant has issues. The owner, Stephanie, seems to have a hoarding problem, her head chef is also her boyfriend, and he admits that he’s never really worked in a kitchen before. Instead he was a busser in the restaurant before his promotion to head chef, leaving him without a real knowledge of what it means to be a chef. And that doesn’t even take into account the fact that when Gordon Ramsay walked into the walk-in cooler, he finds food with mold on it. There is literally food rotting in this kitchen, and nobody seems to notice.
Fox’s Secret Service heads to MacGregor’s to try to help the restaurant’s new owner
But that was not even the worst part about this kitchen and restaurant. The worst thing was seeing someone tell their server that they had a shellfish allergy, and the kitchen paid no attention to that note. They literally cooked chicken next to shrimp on the griddle. And the cross contamination was horrifying to see. We were not the only ones horrified, as it clearly pissed off chef Ramsay.
When Gordon Ramsay asked the chef what a shellfish allergy meant, he seemed to have no clue. Chef Ramsay literally had to break down what could happen to a person with a shellfish allergy if they ate food that was contaminated. His anger was 100% justified and what made it worse was the fact that the restaurant’s chef didn’t even seem phased.
While it is clear that the new owner wants to succeed, it also seems like she’s being held down by the past. Although she’s already paid the former owner for his restaurant, she hasn’t made the place her own. And Gordon Ramsay makes it clear to her that things need to change.
Even as he walks out of the restaurant to go back to his spy truck, there is no denying that this restaurant is in trouble. Stephanie needs to make changes in her restaurant if she wants to succeed, and not only does that mean getting rid of all of the excess stuff left behind by the previous owner, but it also means cleaning up the kitchen and making sure the staff and her head chef know what they are doing.
Unlike some of the restaurants that Gordon Ramsay has tried to help, it is clear that Stephanie wants his help. She wants to make changes. And it really seems like she’s willing to listen and learn from Chef Ramsay.
Gordon Ramsay’s team steps up and helps to transform the restaurant into something new and fresh that it is clear Stephanie loves. Not only that, but he also helps to refresh the menu in a way that will satisfy the local customers. After introducing the new menu, Chef Ramsay pulls the restaurants head chef aside to cook one of the dishes together. Specifically, they cook the crab linguine and discuss where to get crab that’s local, including opting for crab from Louisiana when it’s not in season near them.
Honestly, this felt like the best episode of Fox’s Secret Service yet. We had a restaurant that had some serious issues, but also an owner that wanted to make a change. She wanted to succeed, but didn’t seem to know what to do. So she had no problem with Gordon Ramsay coming into her restaurant and shaking things up. And we love to see it.