Kitchen Nightmares Recap for 11/20/2023

-This week on Fox’s Kitchen Nightmares, we are in Yonkers, New York visiting El Cantito. It is a family Puerto Rican restaurant run by siblings Debbie and Julio.

-The restaurant opened in 2020, right before the pandemic hit. When they were finally able to reopen, they had trouble keeping afloat. Food quality is a mess, things are breaking down and they are unable to pay a staff to help. They are also going into debt trying to keep the place in business.

-Chef Gordon Ramsay visits to help owner Debbie and Chef Julio out. He also tastes their food, which is not up to his standards.

-Things only get worse when Chef Ramsay discovers that the restaurant is serving customers raw chicken. He talks to Debbie and Chef Julio in order to get them to see the error of their ways.

-Chef Ramsay wants them to raise their standards and regain the love they had for their restaurant. He plans on coming back the next day to see how they run a dinner service.

-When the time comes to do the dinner service, Chef Ramsay is on hand to help out. He notices that the staff is quiet and that the diners are not happy with their food. Things get even worse when he notices Chef Julio using water to defrost seafood. He tries to talk to him about his lack of work ethic….which causes Chef Julio to cry.

-Omi Hopper from Next Level Chef shows up as an undercover diner. She is also a Puerto Rican chef and can identify what is going wrong with this establishment.

-Chef Ramsay discovers that the kitchen is a fire hazard not up to standard…….so he shuts the place down.

-Chef Ramsay has Omi talk to Debbie and Chef Julio and help them see the error of their ways.

-El Cantito is redesigned with new air conditioning and a mural of the playground where Debbie and Chef Julio’s mom played as a child. Her picture also has a place of honor in the restaurant.

-The kitchen is also remodeled and cleaned….complete with a new refrigerator.

-The menu has been scaled down, but still uses the same recipes their mom passed down to them.

-Chef Ramsay prepares them for dinner service and helps them cook in a timely, appropriate manner.

-Omi returns for the new dinner service.

-The service starts out well and the diners love the new food. However, as the night goes on, they begin to get overwhelmed.

-Things finally get under control and the dinner service is a success!

-Two months later, the place is still thriving.

-More next week, stay tuned!