- I'm here in little haiti in brooklyn, new york.
It's one of the most colorful and vibrant
Districts in the city.
And right in the heart of it lies the juicy box,
A family-run juice bar and haitian restaurant
Started by local businessman jacques sylvestre.
- I opened several box businesses.
What we comprise is the box empire.
We have the waffle box, we have the smoke box,
And we have the juicy box.
- Chicken tenders.
- Tacos? Are they coming out now or no?
- Yes, should be bringing those out.
Juicy box serves food that's native to our island,
And that just opens up for the community
To know more about haitian culture firsthand.
- In 2019, jacques gave the keys to his son q
And brought in his daughter zappy
To provide a helping hand to the front of house.
- Hi, how you doing?
You guys can sit at the bar.
- When we started the juicy box,
I worked really hard, seven days a week,
Nonstop until it was a point where I knew
More than anybody else did.
So I took the reins of leadership.
[laughs]
- When q took over juicy box,
He was only 21 years old.
And then, I guess, everything started going downhill.
- How's everything over here?
- Uh-huh. - It was just a disaster.
- Hey, ladies, how y'all doing tonight?
- It's 24-7 happy hour over here.
Cheers. - Cheers!
- Q kind of enjoys the bar and club life, the party life.
He engaged more in that life.
He gained, like, friends, and his loyalty
Started to serve them versus the business.
- Oh, man.
- Q let his social life
Merge with the business life.
That don't work.
- Let's get some shots going,
'cause I need a shot right now.
- Shot o'clock! Shot o'clock!
- Q had a little problem keeping up
With payroll, customer service,
Keeping up with the bills.
Q is always having to go back and forth to the supermarket
'cause they have things that run out.
Being on top of all the logistics in the restaurant,
It requires a lot of focus, you know?
We're losing a lot of money.
We're losing a lot of customers.
And the business is going down, down, down.
- We have a feather on the wings.
Maybe if you buy the proper wings,
Maybe we won't have feathers.
When q tells someone to do a task,
I don't think anybody takes him seriously.
- You're the leader here. - All right.
- You're supposed to be leading everybody.
- So tighten up.
- No, you tighten up! Not me.
You tighten up.
- How about both of y'all tighten up?
- Who asked you?
- Damn!
Q's management style needs to be improved.
It's just a bunch of chaos.
- Today I've had it.
There's no organization.
They think they have their attitude.
Everybody's big boss in here, right?
I'ma show them who's the big boss.
- We have put in at least $1 million of our money
Into keeping juicy box afloat.
- We need to get it together right now.
We can't lose this place because of poor management.
What's at stake here is the legacy that we built.
- For it not to be able to carry on that legacy,
It's devastating.
- All right, I'm gonna go check on that, all right?
- You've been saying that.
- Oh, and my smoothie too, please?
- Smoothie? What'd you order?
- I don't even remember anymore.
- Wow.
- This business is the foundation
Of all the other things that we're doing.
So if we lose this business, I mean, the empire
Starts to--it's over.
I want q to run this place like a true boss
And I want gordon ramsay, the real--
The boss of the bosses,
To come here and show him how it's done.
- Let's just go. I'm--I'm done waiting.
[dramatic music]
- This place is a death trap.
If I can't help you, you can't help yourself.
Rot has set in.
Smell it!
Shut it down!
♪ ♪
I'm in the heart of brooklyn in the neighborhood
Known as little haiti.
Now, if you want to be successful in this area,
Trust me, you need to be authentic.
I'm about to step into the juicy box,
And I'm hoping this place really
Does deliver that fresh island feel,
Because I love a juice in the morning.
[door rattles] [music winds down]
It's 10:00 a.M., and they're not open.
Ok, let's go for a walk round the neighborhood.
Time is money, so not taking advantage
Of brooklyn's morning footfall is madness.
- Hello. How y'all doing today?
- When I'm back from my walk, it's 2:00 p.M.
Fingers crossed.
Yes, finally.
- He's here. [laughs nervously]
- I learned from gordon ramsay, actually.
As a kid, I used to watch all his videos.
So that just inspires me. I'm super ready.
- Ok, well, what is this place?
It's a bit of a hodgepodge.
Definitely not a tropical haitian feel,
But it is a haitian restaurant,
So I'm expecting plenty of fresh, vibrant flavors.
- Hi. - Hello.
- Welcome to juicy box. - How are you?
- Good. How you doing? - And first name?
- Zapara. - Zapara.
- And you want anything to drink?
- Juicy box, let's-- what's the most popular
Fresh juice you've got?
- Do you want, like, a fruity drink,
Or, like, you want, like, a green type of drink?
- Green. - All right. Got you.
- Thank you.
♪ ♪
- You know how to work this thing?
- Juice? - He wants a juice.
- Juicer's been broken for, like, eight months.
- We don't have juice. We have smoothies.
- So far, 10 minutes in, zero.
- ♪ yeah, yeah, mm ♪
♪ smoothie time ♪
- Sorry I took so long.
- Is that a juice or smoothie?
- It's a juice.
- But that looks like it's been blended.
- Yeah, I blended it.
- Right, so you don't blend juices.
- The problem with that is, right now,
The blender--the juicer is kind of, like, broken.
♪ ♪
- It's called the juicy box.
- Yeah.
All right, we'll call it a smoothie.
- Shall we order? - Yeah.
- Just in case it takes as long as the smoothie juice.
- Oh, before you order...
We don't have any tasso turkey.
- Turkey, right.
- We don't have any snapper.
- We're out of red snapper? - Yes.
- That's a shame.
- And we don't have any sliders.
- So what do you have?
- Everything else. - Gotcha.
I was so looking forward to that snapper,
Especially haitian style.
So let's do some juicy chicken wings,
Some jerk chicken tacos as well.
Let's go for the haitian rice with the grilled salmon.
Thank you. - You're welcome.
♪ ♪
- Bloody hell.
- All right. - Zap, we have snapper now.
- We do? Oh, he's gonna be so happy!
Ok, listen, this the man order--
10 lemon pepper wings, jerk chicken tacos.
His entrée is snapper.
Hey. - Mm?
- So great news, we have snapper now.
♪ ♪
Yeah! - Thank you. I'll take that.
- Yeah, I gotcha. - Thanks, love.
The snapper has arrived.
- The food is ready.
Take it out, please. Thank you.
Appreciate it.
- Hey, so I got the tacos.
- Yes, great.
- Wow, 30 minutes in, and all I've got
Is a glass of water and a weird smoothie.
- Yo, what happened to the--
I had a chicken with tacos and mac and cheese.
- [bleep].
- You took it to the wrong table, didn't you?
♪ ♪
- Any chance of maybe some wings or something?
- Yeah, let me check on your food.
- Thanks, zappy.
- What's up on gordon's tacos?
- I made a mistake.
I gave somebody the wrong food.
I did the wrong thing.
The jerk chicken taco, I took it.
I didn't know what table it's for this.
- This is gordon's food!
- Q's leadership sucks.
We don't have control of what's going on
Between the floor and the kitchen.
- His lemon pepper wings are ready.
Let's get that to him 'cause that's what he want,
At least some wings.
♪ ♪
- Thanks.
Ok.
Oh, [bleep].
- [laughs]
- Ok.
♪ ♪
These just taste like it's a sort of store-bought wing.
Nothing exciting here.
Wow.
Not very haitian.
- Yo, what's going on, y'all?
Like, we've been having orders sitting around.
Like, no one's communicating with each other.
- Maurjean, why you don't stop what you doing?
- I am clearing the [bleep] sink, dawg.
I'ma need you to chill and do your work.
- But I asked you to take out food.
- I heard you, but you see I'm preoccupied right now.
- But that's not important, though.
- I need this out of here.
All right, I'm taking this out, all right?
- Take that [bleep] out!
- Right.
♪ ♪
Need some help?
- Is there a problem with the food?
- I haven't [bleep] eaten anything.
That's the biggest problem.
Are they ready, the tacos? - Yes, they are.
- I'll take them. They're appetizers, right?
- Yes. - Thank you.
Ok, the tacos are back.
- Bro!
- [laughs]
- Yo, we messed up on that one.
- I think everyone's under pressure right now.
Everyone needs a shot.
[laughs] I know I need one.
[laughs]
♪ ♪
- Bloody hell.
♪ ♪
Think of a taco, it should be vibrant, fresh.
It's certainly lacking that haitian flair.
Tortilla's ice cold. Chicken is dry.
- Cheers. - To the box.
- To the juicy box.
- [bleep].
Honestly, it just feels and tastes like the kids
Have been left home alone.
♪ ♪
Salmon.
♪ ♪
Yeah, salmon just tastes dry.
What a mess.
♪ ♪
- Here's the snapper. - Thank you.
And do you have any, like, stainless steel
Knife and forks?
- No, sir. - When you've got things like
Protein, steak on the menu,
You want to sort of start slicing,
What do the customers say?
- We just give them plastic and we hope for the best, honestly.
- Gotcha.
Quite the philosophy.
Well, the snapper's actually--
That actually tastes quite fresh from the snapper.
Seasoned nicely.
- Yeah, I wanted to let you know
How we season all the food.
It's a special seasoning called the papi sauce.
- What does it consist of?
- Special peppers that come from haiti and the caribbean.
- Yeah? I love that.
And who's papi? - Papi's my grandfather.
- Yeah.
I'm more concerned about the pace of this restaurant.
Juice machine's not working either,
So we couldn't even get a fresh juice.
- It hasn't been working for over a year now.
- So maybe we should change the name.
- Change the name?
- Well, we can't call it juicy box
'cause there's no [bleep] juice, is there?
- No, there's not, sir.
- Juice, you take first thing in the morning.
I came here first thing in the morning.
- Yes?
- This place was like a ghost town.
Do you have another job in the morning?
Are you hitting the gym?
Where are you from sort of 8:00 till midday?
- I'm at home recharging.
Like, you know, I take a shot in the morning.
- You need a drink in the morning?
- Why not?
♪ ♪
- Q, we've got work to do, young man,
'cause we're in [bleep].
- [sighs] ok, I'll be ready.
Well, I was thinking, when I met gordon,
He would like me 'cause I have good energy.
But he seen my skills and he disliked it.
Makes me feel terrible.
- Why don't you do your job?
Are you making it?
- What the hell was that?
- You making the drink?
- It's a free-for-all.
Businesses need figureheads
With hunger, passion, determination, drive.
And this restaurant is void of all of that.
♪ ♪
Hey, jacques. How are you, bud?
I need to talk to q's dad to figure out
How they got to this point.
Take me back to the beginning.
I mean, this place started out as an exciting proposition,
Right, a dream... - Right. Yes.
- For the family. - Right, right.
It started out great,
First two years, we was selling juice.
Customer base was strong.
It was a success.
- How was it working in the beginning?
Was it working well?
- It was working very well.
- Q. Q took it upon himself.
I trusted him.
That's why I handed it over to him.
- How much has his attitude changed
Than it was two years ago when he took the reins?
- Well, well, two years ago, I mean, he was really,
You know, gung ho.
He was ambitious.
Now he's a little bit settled back.
- ♪ mama, I need a mango ♪
- He's not going to the gym as he used to.
Now we open at 2:00.
We used to open at 7:00 a.M.
That messes up everything.
When I was running juicy box, we were open at 7:00 a.M.
'cause I knew those customers coming out the gym,
They needed to have those juices and smoothies.
So we lost that whole 7:00 a.M. Crowd.
We lost thousands and thousands of dollars
Because my son q doesn't want to get up on time.
- Why has he fallen out with the principles
Of running this place? What's happened?
- I think he's getting distracted.
He wants to hang out and party, you know?
Then zappy started helping him with the stuff.
She be partying with him.
She gets caught up with the drinking and the partying.
And it is a mess.
This is the family business, you know?
So it's a reflection on us.
- I'm in shock, honestly.
It's a free-for-all.
- Banana, banana, banana, banana!
- I doubt they've even got the qualifications
To run their own life, let alone the juicy box.
- It's not going right right now.
Like, to keep this place open, just to pay the bills,
I have to go in my pocket. - Wow.
- Every month, it's something.
If it's not the electric, it's something that's
Pulling the business down.
It hurts that we're losing money, because, you know,
We put so much effort to this, you know?
And I have other businesses.
And things have fallen behind here.
We can't go another 60 days like this, you know?
- It sounds like the clock's ticking.
- Yeah. Yeah. - He's got 60 days,
And he needs to deliver in 60 days.
- Yeah, it's over.
- Tough question here, but have you ever
Considered replacing q as the owner of this place
To get some form of return on your investment?
- Yes.
I need proper management.
I gave it my best shot with him.
♪ ♪
[dramatic music]
- I'm at the juicy box in brooklyn, new york.
Yesterday I saw firsthand how owner and manager q
Has completely mismanaged
This once-popular haitian restaurant.
I now need to talk with zappy, q's sister.
She's supposed to be q's helping hand,
But it seems like she's causing more issues
Than she's solving.
Zappy. - Yeah?
- How are you feeling? - I feel good.
- You feel good? - Yes. How are you?
- I'm pissed off. - I know.
- I'm upset for your father right now.
♪ ♪
Your dad's a hardworking man.
He's busted his ass off to get what he's had.
He comes in here, and it's all sort of fun and games.
What about your role?
How do you define your role?
- I'm just a helping hand.
I may help out here and there,
But that's pretty much who I am, what I do.
Most of the time, I'm hanging out here.
Sometimes I'm working. Sometimes I'm not.
I'm the vibe. I keep the juice flowing.
I drink. I party.
- Are you enjoying the partying more than you are working?
- Yeah.
I've gotten comfortable with it.
- I don't want to see any of that [bleep]
Whilst we're working.
I can't wave a magic wand.
On top of that, your father's hurting.
There's a lot of money at stake and we need to start turning
This place into a profit. - Yeah.
- Are you with me? Are you in, or you're out?
- Yes, I'm standing 10 toes with you.
- I need that voice.
And above all that, it's about actions, ok?
If this place wasn't owned by your father,
You would've been out of a job two years ago.
- Yeah. - You know that.
- Yeah. [sighs]
♪ ♪
Oh, god.
♪ ♪
- Zappy says she's on board to change her behavior,
But she's not the one in charge.
That responsibility falls on q.
I need to see if he actually
Has what it takes to be a restaurateur
Or if I have to tell his dad it's time
To cut his losses so he doesn't take
The other businesses down.
Young man, where in the hell do we start?
Seriously.
First of all, I didn't have a dad
That took care of me the way your father's
Taking care of you.
That's a big plus for you.
You may be young, but you're not [bleep] dumb.
Be honest with me.
Do you really want this, or do you want to [bleep] around?
- I want to run the restaurant.
I want to take this place to a new height
It's never been before.
But if I want to run this restaurant successfully,
It can't just be me.
I have to have a solid team behind me.
- So you're saying the team behind you is not solid.
- Not all the way.
My sister didn't know where things were at.
Maurjean was running all over the place.
Stef is the head chef, but the kitchen was lacking items.
It's weighing me down.
- The buck stops with you. - Yeah.
- You have to set the example. - Yeah.
- The relationship with your little sister,
How hard is that?
- Oh, man, it's a battle.
She has a hard head, but she's headstrong.
So, you know, I tell her things like,
We have to work this way.
We have to do this.
- I appreciate that, but you're also partying
With her in the same building.
- Right.
- So it's like, do as I say, not as I do,
Where she's gonna absolutely ignore you,
'cause why should she do what you say
When you're not doing it yourself?
- Mm.
- You have to set the boundaries.
This place opened at the beginning
At 7:00 a.M. In the morning.
- Correct.
- We're now open at 2:00, and all of a sudden,
We're not even enjoying any early-morning customers.
And starting your day with a shot.
This place is a business, ok?
It's not a party house.
- [sighs] jeez.
- And the sad news is, and he hasn't told you this yet...
- Yes?
- But you've got 60 days.
- Mm-hmm.
- Do you know that?
- I didn't.
- 60 days, otherwise that door is gonna be shut
And the "for sale" sign is gonna go.
- Jeez. - Yeah, jeez.
So the heat's on.
How long do you think dad was gonna
Keep on propping this place up with money for q's dream?
That guy is not gonna be taken down by you.
Now, tonight I want to see this place function.
I want to see the back. I want to see the front.
So the heat's on.
Understood?
[rock music]
- It's a new day at the juicy box
In brooklyn, new york.
- Hello. Good afternoon.
- And they're just 60 days from being shut down.
Hello.
If I'm going to turn things around,
I need to get into the kitchen...
- There you go.
- And see what systems they have in place.
I want to see how this business runs tonight, yeah,
And start finding out where the cracks are.
Just do as normal, but push it a little bit.
- Yes, sir. Yes, sir.
- I'm pumped for tonight.
Gordon told me I need to lead my team better,
But I know that I can run a great dinner service
And they can put their trust into me.
Feeling great!
[dramatic music]
- I have five jerk wings, five sweet chili,
Mac krack, and honey rasta pasta.
♪ ♪
I'm gonna put this here because I kind of--
- Yeah, this hard one too.
- No, this kind of needs to get out now.
- Stef, what's the system when an order comes on?
Do you call it out?
Where's the appetizers come from?
Q, when an order comes on like that,
How do we know what's app, what's entrées?
- There's really no knowing, honestly.
- No, stef, don't you take a ticket
Unless they organize that for you.
This is your domain, my man, your domain.
- Hey, I have some sweet chili wings here.
- Thank you.
- Salmon and black rice.
- Thank you. - No problem.
♪ ♪
- Gents, madam, how are we?
Sir, we good?
- We didn't even get our appetizer first.
- Yeah, well, my apologies.
Q, 30 seconds, please.
So this table's been sat here for 20 minutes.
The lady hasn't even had her appetizers,
And the entrée comes out.
- I understand. I'ma take care of that.
- Let's go. - Excuse me, excuse me.
Coming through.
So the entrées came out before the appetizer.
- We put out this--
Oh, ok, I see what you're talking about.
I had some tickets here.
I didn't know if they were entrées
Or if they were appetizers.
- [bleep] me.
- Hi.
- Did not come with grilled chicken.
So I'll fix that for you.
- What's wrong with that?
- They said that it didn't come with the grilled chicken.
- It didn't say chicken on it. It just said rasta pasta.
That's all it said.
- Where's the ticket?
- Yeah, I didn't put it on there.
- She didn't put it on there. [bleep].
- I only put honey rasta pasta.
- Oh, guys. - I apologize.
- [bleep]. Oh, come on, guys.
Man, there are no systems in here whatsoever.
No systems.
There's no station. There's no organization.
Pan's on fire.
Really bad.
This restaurant has zero systems
Anywhere, let me tell you.
They can't even take an order properly.
They're not even separating the appetizers
From the entrées.
And right now, stef's just getting sandbagged.
But everybody's coming in, meddling.
It's like a one-man band gone absolutely wrong.
[ice rattling]
Show me that. Just show me that.
Where's that been?
- That's gone. We can't use that.
And whereabouts downstairs has that been?
- In the walk-in fridge?
Why is it so warm?
- It doesn't work? How long's it not worked for?
- It's never worked for six months?
[bleep].
Ah.
[bleep].
It's like a [bleep] sauna in here.
"lord of the flies."
The smell!
[bleep].
Ok, well, the plantain are ripe, that's for sure.
[bleep]. What a mess.
[bleep]. Ah.
The [bleep] is that?
That is a pepper.
It's so hot in that fridge that it's actually roasted inside.
It's disgusting.
[flies buzzing] [bleep] flies everywhere.
Dirty [bleep].
♪ ♪
Back in 2016, that was a [bleep] onion.
I mean, [bleep] me.
Look at these.
How dirty.
Q.
Q! - Yo.
- Stef!
- Yes, chef? - Come down here.
When was the last time you went in the fridge?
- Today. - Today?
- Yes, sir. - And you?
- Today.
- The average fridge runs around 38, 40 degrees.
[flies buzzing]
♪ ♪
It's running at 73.
♪ ♪
Any idea how long produce needs to be in that fridge
Before it turns like [bleep]?
- Yeah, that's due to the fridge
I should have been fixing a long time ago.
♪ ♪
- Q, we haven't got money to burn.
We can't even pay the [bleep] electricity bill,
And now we're running a--
A walk-in that is running like a [bleep] sauna.
74 degrees fahrenheit.
Every time you put product in there, it's [bleep].
Every time.
♪ ♪
- Oh, man.
- [bleep] me. 74 degrees.
74 degrees.
♪ ♪
It's disgusting.
[dramatic music]
- At the juicy box in brooklyn,
I found a restaurant with no systems
And no standards in place.
- You should see the fridge downstairs.
Did you take a look?
Our inventory sucks [bleep].
Downstairs is [bleep] up.
- I think it's time for a reality check with q,
Zappy, and all the staff.
♪ ♪
Right, I'm lost for words.
I thought I was coming in to fix systems,
Implement new standards.
But there was no systems to fix and no standards to reach.
♪ ♪
Honestly, right now, this is an emergency.
♪ ♪
A walk-in that doesn't work.
The [bleep] juice doesn't even work.
The machine's broken.
This is way further gone than I thought it was gonna be.
It's not a viable business. We should not be open.
This is [bleep] serious.
And all I see is just a bunch of jokers.
Q, you need to run this place as a business.
We can't party in here.
- Obviously, there's nothing in place tonight, which
Resulted in a choppy service.
- It's not just tonight.
This [bleep]'s been going on
Way longer than just tonight.
- Everything's not perfect, but, like,
It is what it is, though.
I'ma keep it rolling.
♪ ♪
- Are you taking this serious?
Is it what you want to do?
- Yes. - You do?
- Yes.
♪ ♪
- Can you guys go in the kitchen and just leave me.
Zappy, q, stay here, please.
♪ ♪
Guys, can you put those down, please,
And just give me five [bleep] minutes on my own,
Please, with these two?
♪ ♪
- This is crazy.
- Right.
You two, I am [bleep] off.
I am so [bleep] off, you have no idea.
- We need to-- - this is a joke!
- Yeah, it's a joke. It's a joke.
- An absolute [bleep] joke, and you two should be embarrassed.
- I am.
- This place is going [bleep],
And your parents have given you everything.
And we're just playing at it.
Come on, man!
- I feel like every single day, you know,
I try to put my all into this place.
I do!
I wake up, I think about juicy box.
I go to sleep, I think about juicy box.
I don't even have a personal life.
I come here every day, every night.
I'm here from when we're opening--
- But you're using this place as your personal hangout.
There needs to be a difference, q.
You can't party in here and expect
To run a [bleep] successful business.
It doesn't work!
If I walked into any of my restaurants
And saw my staff taking shots,
They'd be looking for a [bleep] new job there and then.
I'm not [bleep] around.
- No more partying.
No more drinking.
- [sighs] jeez.
- The only person that I'm concerned about right now
Is your dad.
- Look, I really feel for my brother
And my dad and everything.
I see how hard my dad works.
And I really just want my brother to understand
That this is all we've got.
I could be in school.
I could be focusing on other stuff, but I'm here for him.
Like, I really want this to grow.
♪ ♪
- Zappy, we're out of control.
♪ ♪
I'm ready to open my playbook to you,
But I'm just not convinced you deserve it.
I think it's gonna be wasted.
- I've been here every day for five years straight.
Maybe if I--if I focused my time differently,
Maybe I could delegate different tasks.
- There you go.
There's a big difference between putting time in
And making the time work.
I know how much discipline you've shown before.
I do not want to see that squandered.
But what I do need is that same mindset,
That mind frame, that hunger, that discipline
Running this business.
- It's gonna work, and I'll make it work.
I don't know what I'ma do if the restaurant closes.
This is my only chance right here.
- You need to listen.
You need to start showing some accountability.
You've got to stand up on your own two feet now.
And I will stand by your side,
But I'm not gonna carry you.
Is that clear?
- Yes.
I'm mad.
Like, this is years of mistakes,
And at the end of the day, this is my fault.
I don't want to become a failure, never.
- Early hours of tomorrow morning, we go to work.
Understood?
♪ ♪
- When the juicy box used to open at 7:00 a.M.,
It thrived as a juice bar and restaurant.
Let's go. Straight ahead.
It's clear q once had the early-bird passion
For success.
So I need to get him back on track,
And the best way to do that is to kick-start
His day with a top-of-the-day workout session.
A healthy body equates to a healthy mind.
- Right.
- I hope this reignites his discipline
And motivates him to start early,
An important step to bringing back customers
And making the restaurant successful again.
When was the last time you saw 5:30 in the morning?
- This is the first time.
Won't be the last!
- Exactly, because the juicy box is gonna open
At 7:00 a.M. From now on.
- I'm with you. - A new beginning!
- Yeah! Let's go!
[grunts] - 1.
2.
20 seconds gone. - [moans]
- 10 seconds. Come on, big boy!
- I haven't worked out in about six months.
Gordon was high-energy.
I didn't expect gordon, who could be my grandfather,
To be working harder than me.
- Up, down.
Go back up.
Come--come on!
Up!
Come on.
- I feel like this is as real as it gets.
I know what's at stake.
This is more than just one workout.
This is me putting my life on the line
Not only to making this business succeed
But making sure I help my family succeed as well.
- This business is a new beginning,
And I want a new q with a healthy mind.
- Yes, sir.
[dramatic music]
- Back at the restaurant,
Stef and the kitchen staff
Have been cleaning all night and learning new recipes.
My team has been working hard to set up the juicy box
For a successful relaunch.
- [squeals]
- Come in! - Oh, my god.
- Please. - Oh, ho, ho.
That's crazy.
- Gone are the dark walls
In favor of an inviting, vibrant caribbean feel.
- Oh!
[chuckles]
- The tired old bar has been transformed
With dazzling new services, fresh fruit on display,
And, most importantly, a juicer that works.
- Wow!
- Can I get you a fresh pineapple juice?
Something I never got when I first arrived.
- Thank you. - Mm.
- It's delicious.
It is amazing!
This is fire!
Like, yo, it's so vibrant.
I never imagined juicy box looking like this.
That is fire.
- Welcome to your new home.
- We love it! The box!
- Oh, my god.
- Jacques, are you getting emotional?
- Yeah, yeah, a little bit. [laughs]
- Right, take a seat.
Your new juice bar.
- Crazy! - Oh, wow.
- We have a juicer that is working.
- Oh, my gosh.
- Oh, by the way, your walk-in fridge
Is now running at 32 degrees.
[cheers and applause]
Right. Let's look at the menu, ok?
Fresh, vibrant, and quick to execute.
Let's start off here with these little
Delicious saltfish fritters, a classic.
Next to that, we got the beautiful juicy box wings,
Beautifully marinated.
The griot, yes, that beautiful braised spiced pork.
But guess what.
We're not gonna be opening plastic knife and forks
'cause I've invested in your very own cutlery.
Both: Wow! - [laughs]
- That's right. Dig in, please. Take a bite.
- Wow, this looks so good.
I love the new menu.
It's infused with our haitian culture.
It has juicy box dna written all over it.
Everything I taste is immaculate.
It is fire!
- One more thing, you mentioned the importance of the peppers
And the onions and the flavoring, the dna from...
- Papi.
- Papi, yes.
Anytime you're feeling down...
- [squeals] - oh, my god!
[cheers and applause]
♪ ♪
And you're looking for a touch of extra inspiration,
Take a moment and look at that.
Yes? - Yes.
- Oh, yeah. - Remember the dna.
You're doing this for your family.
Hey, papa! Good to see you.
- Oh-ho-ho!
- Hey!
- Papi!
Hi!
[all speaking creole]
[laughter and applause]
- Amazing.
- It looks so good. I'ma show you everything, papi.
- Crazy, bro.
- Hey, my man, thank you.
You are front and center.
Everything we do here.
Bye, pop. Bye-bye.
- Oh, my god.
- Ok.
- Oh, man.
- The tone is set. - Yes, sir.
- Now's the time for you to step up and write your chapter
In your family's history.
Is that clear? - That's clear.
I'ma make this work.
I have the support of my family.
I have the support of gordon ramsay.
I have the support of this whole team
That's gonna help me take this to the next level.
Zapara got the first half of the floor.
Maurjean got the second half of the floor.
All tickets go to stef.
All right? Let's bring it up.
One, two, three. All: Juicy box!
- I'm gonna be helping out my brother tonight.
He's asked for my help, and I'm here to support him.
Q seems motivated, seems ready.
- Q, two seconds?
We have a very, very special guest coming in tonight.
His name's garry pierre-pierre.
He's a phenomenal writer, a staple in "the haitian times."
Look after him.
They're all gonna be vips tonight.
My expectations for the juicy box tonight are high.
- Let's go, let's go, let's go.
Service is about to start.
- I needed to get back to what they set out to do:
A young, vibrant, cool restaurant
In a very promising neighborhood.
[upbeat music]
- Hello, welcome to the juicy box.
- Hey! First customer. Let's go.
It's time to open the doors...
- Everybody in their positions right now, let's go.
- And time to show the local community...
- This is our menu for tonight.
- And special guest, pulitzer prize-winning
Haitian journalist garry pierre-pierre,
The new and improved menu.
♪ ♪
- You guys ready? - Hi.
- Ok, no problem. - Thank you.
♪ ♪
- Thanks so much.
Stef, high-level order.
This is garry pierre-pierre.
He's a journalist.
This has to be made with excellency, all right?
- Ok. [chuckles]
- Nice to see you.
Why don't you two sit down, have a bite to eat?
- Ok. - Follow me. Let's go.
- Yeah.
- Runners!
Table 4, juicy box wings.
♪ ♪
- To me, this is an elevated haitian dish.
- We need to get started on this entrée,
The grilled spiced shrimp with pikliz.
- Good to hear the voice.
Customers loving the food, by the way.
- Thank you. - Ok? Loving it, yes?
- Thank you. - Hey, z.
- Yeah? - So when you're done,
I need you to stick up in the front, all right?
I want you to--that's your domain, all right?
- Q was more of a friend than a boss before,
But now he's the boss, straight boss.
It feels good.
It feels really, really good.
- Ok, stef, what's next?
- We're doing table 1.
- 3 minutes, apps and entrées. Let's go.
Start dropping those wings as well, guys.
We shouldn't be waiting for wings.
Three-top, four-top.
Try and get all the main courses at the same time, yes?
- Yes, sir. Yes, sir.
- We are getting full now.
We got walk-ins for the pickup of the juice and the sub.
So now we need to stay cool and get behind stef
And support him.
[dramatic music]
♪ ♪
- Yo, stef, let me know if you need my help, all right?
- Guys, how long have you been waiting?
- What did you order?
- Meatball and a shrimp. Thank you.
♪ ♪
Be two seconds.
So those college kids now have been waiting for 20 minutes.
They got a shrimp and a meatball sub, yeah?
♪ ♪
- I need one poulet, one grilled pikliz,
And one jerk mahi-mahi.
I need both those wings.
I need one plain and one hot.
I need another plate-- what the hell?
♪ ♪
I need another-- wait, this is for table--
- Stop confusing for two seconds.
Look at me now. Right now, look at me.
You've got a lot on, but they're not
Getting fed any information.
What they're not doing now is talking.
Sadly, the wheels are starting to fall off.
Stef's backed up.
He's just head down, in the zone, and he's shut down.
- You guys drop a order of wings, please?
You guys-- - hey, guys, anybody in there?
[banging] one wings, please.
Everyone's just standing staring.
Kitchens just don't operate. Let's go!
If he shuts down, the kitchen shuts down.
He needs to open up and communicate.
- How long on table 6?
- They sat there at least for 30 minutes.
- [bleep] hell.
- Table 6, entrée-- I mean appetizers
Coming out right now.
- We haven't come this far now to shut down, ok?
We got to speak.
♪ ♪
[dramatic music]
- In little haiti, brooklyn, new york...
- Are you guys ok?
- The juicy box is at full capacity.
- Green machine. - Thank you.
- But in the kitchen, orders are backing up.
- How long on 7?
- Give her a time.
- 7, 7, what's 7?
- And communication has broken down.
This is crazy.
We're just not even talking.
How long, stef?
Ok, tell them two minutes.
Give him a juice on the house, please.
Let's go.
Everyone's just standing staring.
Hey, guys, anybody in there?
[banging] - let's go, let's go.
We need it right now.
- Yo, stef.
Showtime right now.
You got this.
- Guys, grilled chicken sandwich working?
- Yes. - Mahi-mahi?
- Yep.
- Grilled with pikliz, one more.
- There you go. Good man. Let's go.
- Both of these are bar 3.
- Bar 3.
- You guys enjoy. - Thank you so much.
- You're welcome.
- Delicious.
- Waiting on the jerk greens.
- Thank you. - You are absolutely welcome.
- Good? - Yeah.
- Wow, the wings are so good.
- Yo, stef.
Let's rock out, man, come on.
- This is table 6.
We got the mahi-mahi, side of rice.
- Right, we got a bit of rhythm here now.
You need to keep that momentum. - Right.
- We got a system here, finally.
- It looks delicious, stef.
- Ok, I'm gonna take table 1.
- We're grateful for y'all coming out today.
We hope to serve you again sometime soon.
- How's everything over here? - Oh, food is...
- Great. - Mwah.
I loved it, son. - Thank you, pop.
Father. Appreciate it. - Thank you.
Q got a framework from ramsay.
- Yo, let's finish strong, people.
Let's go. We're almost there.
- And seeing him now and seeing how
He's embracing this whole situation,
I don't see him turning back.
- Wings. Let's rock out, man, come on.
- Fish was really good.
And I loved the salad.
- We're going to the finish line.
Let's finish hard, all right?
- [laughs]
♪ ♪
- [squeals] we did it!
♪ ♪
- I had nothing but positive reviews tonight.
And I think this is a stepping stone
To take this place to the next level.
- Just keep this up.
We're gonna skyrocket.
- All right, bet.
- Right.
I've got one parting gift for you both.
♪ ♪
Please say hello to reuel vincent.
- Hello. - How you doing?
- How you doing, boss? - My name is q.
- This man lives in the neighborhood,
And he's also the executive chef
At the one world observatory.
- Wow! - Now, that is an amazing job.
Some nights, this guy is banging out 300 covers.
So what reuel has agreed to do is mentor you...
- Ooh, like that.
- To help you drive this business forward.
- Caribbean cuisine holds a very important part in my life.
I'll be able to help you understand
How the system works so you can be efficient and successful.
- Sounds great.
- It's all good, man. I got you.
- I'm gonna leave reuel here.
My time is done.
- [laughs] - yes, sir.
I'm so grateful to be a part of this experience.
Gordon taught us better ways of doing things.
He got our family together.
- Look after these two, please. - Will do.
- Appreciate it. - Thank you.
- The business is not only changed; our lives changed.
- Good night, guys. - Good night.
- Take care.
[sputters]
What a week.
Honestly, when I first walked in here,
I saw a place that had lost its identity
And an owner who had really--
Was more focused on partying than he was
Running a business.
But honestly, q is not someone to underestimate.
If he can continue to be a disciplined leader,
I promise you now, and I have no doubt,
That he will squeeze a profit out of this amazing juicy box.
Fingers crossed.
Man, what a week.
- Welcome to the juicy box.
- The juicy box has now surpassed the 60-day mark,
And q has stepped into his role as leader.
- Get y'all some dessert. How's that sound?
- Although he's adjusting to the new early hours
And has changed his routine, q is determined
To make the business thrive.
- I'm really just grateful for you guys coming here tonight.
- He's looking forward to taking the juicy box
To the next level and making his family proud.
Next time on "kitchen nightmares"...
- Why the [bleep] is there a vegan pancake on this thing?
It's not even on our menu.
- I need my crab benedict for the bar.
- Leave me alone and I could do what I do.
[dish shatters] oh, my [bleep] god!
- You shouldn't talk to anyone you hate that way,
Let alone someone you love.
- What can I do? - Nothing. Get away from me.
- I do not have any control of it!
- [coughs]
- This business has destroyed our relationship.
- And have you set a date for the marriage?
- I don't know if I really want to marry chris.
♪ ♪