Chef Ramsay travelled to West Babylon, NY to help turn around a struggling restaurant, The Classic American. The 2 
owners are former waitresses who purchased the restaurant from their former boss. Business had steadily declined over the years and on a normal Saturday only 6 to 8 tables would be seated. The owners dread going to work and are in serious debt. Things are so bad that Colleen, one of the owners, had to move back in with her parents. She and Naomi (the other owner) are not even on the payroll.
When Chef Ramsey first arrived at the restaurant, he was greeted by Dominick, the head of inventory and ordering for the restaurant. I’m sorry, if you’re the owner of a restaurant and Chef Ramsay is coming to help you out – you better be there to greet him! Of course, Chef Ramsay’s initial evaluation of the food at The Classic American was “dreadful”. When finally watched a dinner service, he saw that the restaurant ran out of almost everything – hamburgers, meatloaf, cups, and even menus! At one point during the dinner service, I asked the question, “Why is the restaurant so busy?” For being a struggling restaurant, they had a full house pretty quickly. I bet that the word got out that Ramsay was in town and the people came out for a chance to be on TV.
It was nice to watch this episode because the owners and staff were motivated to make changes. Normally, Chef Ramsay has to fight with restaurant owners in order to get them to be committed to making improvements. Colleen and Naomi really worked to make changes; they ultimately made a commitment to the staff to be better leaders. Even the hard-nosed Dominick was affected by the experience and changed his attitude and demeanor. With Chef Ramsay’s help, The Classic American is back on track to be a success.
