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The Moore PlaceThursday, May 08 2008 |
From a hideous purple exterior, to the greasy processed foods coooking within, the Moore Place Stinks - inside and out! Oh What will Gordon do this time?
In case you missed the rerun on the BBC, read on for the full scoop.
The Moore Place restaurant is a giant purple industrial looking brick building sitting on the golf green of the Moore Place Golf Club. Except, unlike most clubs on the green, the golfers here avoid the purple monstrosity. Most of them haven’t stepped foot inside for years, because of the notoriously horrible food. The new owners Nick and Dave admit they know virtually nothing about running a restaurant, and it’s apparent – from the horrible color on the outside to the stinky oily smell on the inside.
Gordon Ramsay sits down for his taste-test meal, and as can be assumed, is met with sour wine and tough meat. Gordon asked his waitress to try it and the poor girl couldn’t’ even finish chewing it while on camera - it was so tough. Gordon steps inside the kitchen to assess the damages. One chef Gordon titles the crazy Frenchman. “The chef is crazy; the cooking is bad,” he says. The “executive” chef, Mark claims to have “training”. But he left cooking to try his hand at business. He’s a chef again, and with his more business sounding title of “Executive”, he has made such changes in the kitchen as adding tons of microwaves and deep fryers. Not really traditional cooking tools.
Which is ironic, because most of the menu is “traditional” cuisine. Maybe that’s to gentle – “out dated” might be a better word for it.
Gordon identifies one of the main problems in the kitchen as an “obsession with deep fryers and 1970’s cuisine.” This is while “Executive Chef” Mark describes the menu as straight forward, varying slightly from the old menu. (He was supposed to update the menu). The dishes revolve around three sauces that are old, and come from just-add-water packets and jars. One meal was almost completely prepared using only the microwave, from its mushroom sauce to the bagged single-serving rice. However, the “crazy” French chef did masterfully dust the entre with dried parsley as garnish….mmmm…original and tasty!
When he showed up for Day Two of his assessment, he found that “Executive” chef Mark was heading for the golf course on his day off. (Some "executive"). Why take a day off today of all days? Well, no one is in the restaurant. They hardly need a chef. But, Gordon does met the new head chef, Andy, who has a promising background, fresh ideas, and sees eye to eye with Gordon when it comes to the Moore Place needing some drastic changes.
Gordon takes the owners on a field trip to local restaurants, and finds that the customer base is made up of Wealthy Brits and Americans who work at a corporate conglomerate nearby. The consensus of those who have ever been to the Moore that the color is horrible and the food is outdated. With thousands of Americans to tap as prospective customers, Gordon’s idea is to create a menu inspired by what these peoples are accustomed to. His idea: an American style café. The Moore Place needs just ONE main plate that they serve that will identify them in this competitive restaurant community. They need to put their name on something. Gordon goes back and creates his spin on the American classic – the hamburger.
His new burger for the Moore is made with fresh meat (not the frozen patties they used to serve), topped with tomato chutney. Everyone agrees; the burgers are awesome. Mark worries about the old folks that might come to the restaurant. At that, Gordon replies that the place needs “American-style café, upbeat friendly service, bloody good food, and stick to it. And if Mark goes on again about why he cooks ninety nine percent of his food in a f***king deep fat fryer, I'll put one up his arse sideways." Now that would be interesting.
Coming up that weekend is Mother’s Day. So, Gordon sets new head chef Andy in a good direction with the new menu, and turns his focus to the wait staff. They need to focus on the customers, and try to sell the new menu items. Kim, a long time waitress at the Moore, is a quick study; her charm makes up for any flaws she has describing the food. But the other two waiters have a harder time even remembering the names of the new items. The newest waiter, Zach, can’t even speak without tripping over his words. So, Gordon decided to give them something else to help them with the Mother’s Day event that weekend.
He decides that a traditional Roast Chicken with table-side carving will impress the customers, and give each table the special attention they will need if the Moore is to ever be graced with their patronage again. So, it’s Chicken Carving 101 at the Moore. Everyone passed, but no one got an A.
Head Chef Andy does well pulling the rest of the menu together, and the crazy French chef needs Gordon’s help with the fresh Yorkshire puddings, but the team is ready for the Mother’s Day Mob.
The first seating does well, and the Chickens become really popular. The second seating isn’t as successful because people have to wait a long time to be served. The food was good, but the organization was bad. But in the end only one family of 19 left unhappy. Everyone else was content, and had a good time. Good news for the kitchen – the color of the building was the biggest complaint.
One month later, Gordon returns to find that the building is still purple. Andy has fired Mark, and instated a new menu with some of Gordon’s ideas as well as a few of his own. The food is now fresh and tasty, and the deep fryers and microwaves are getting a break. The service is continuing to work well after Gordon’s lessons, and the service now matches the food. The owners now have enough customers to keep them busy as they go from table to table to check in, and the food looks and tastes great. The managers like the theme. The head chef actually cares and so everyone else does too. Andy is the asset.
So, with the restaurant saved, there is only one thing left to do on his evening back at the Moore Place – head out to the green for some glow-in-the-dark golfing. Watch that back-swing, Gordon.
