[dramatic hip-hop music]
- Brooklyn, new york.
In the heart of bay ridge sits neighborhood restaurant,
South brooklyn foundry
Co-owned by business partners kelly and rey since 2018.
- I was a server for 20 years.
A little, old italian guy
Taught me how to do the best service.
He screamed at me all the time.
You're welcome.
But he taught me what people want.
How's the sangria, guys? [indistinct chatter]
At south brooklyn foundry,
I run the front of the house and take care of service.
And rey runs the back. He's the chef here.
♪ ♪
- And while the restaurant out front is tiny...
- Is everything okay?
- We're just a little tight. - Tight, yeah.
Kinda small place. - Yeah.
- The prices are not.
- It is almost $30 for a burger.
People don't want to pay that.
- With dwindling business,
Not only have the foundry become heavily in debt...
- South brooklyn foundry has around $120,000 in debt.
- Rey, we need to talk.
- Kelly was handling the finances,
So they're on her name.
- But communication between owners kelly and rey
Has completely broken down.
[dramatic music]
- You're telling me you didn't sign this contract?
- Show me you can continue saying.
Just show me, like.
- You think that it's okay that I should be into $120,000 debt?
You think that's okay, right?
I've taken out multiple credit cards.
The sba loans are in my name.
Like, I'm the cash cow.
Rey makes $1,350 a week,
Less stress, no problems, nothing.
I'm struggling!
I'm the one that's [bleep] struggling.
- So get another job.
- Why do I got to get another job?
I put my [bleep] life savings in here.
I'm [bleep]. I'm not heard. I'm [bleep].
And I'm not treated like a partner.
I want to work like partners should work together.
- Wait, are we done with the conversation?
- Yeah, we're [bleep] done.
- Okay.
Kelly and I do have a toxic relationship.
[dramatic music]
- My kids are the world to me right now,
And to put all of my money into this restaurant
And have nothing for them now, it's too much to handle.
This is my life. I love this place.
I need help.
[dramatic music]
- This place is a death trap!
I can't help you if you can't help yourself.
Rot has set in!
Smell it!
Shut it down!
[dramatic music]
- Hi, how are you? Party for four?
Uh, let's seat you here. How about here?
- Today, I'm in bay ridge, brooklyn
To check out a restaurant called south brooklyn foundry.
Now, this area is unique for its diverse cuisine,
So to be good, trust me, you need to stand out.
By the looks of this thing,
It looks like a fricking hardware store.
Is this closed?
♪ ♪
All right. [indistinct chatter]
[door closes] - oh, ramsay is here.
- Wow, I can't believe the top chef in the world
Is coming to the south brooklyn foundry.
- Might as well sit here then, I think.
- Hi, chef. - Hey, how are you?
- I'm good. - Are you well?
- Yes, thank you. - Man, this place is tiny.
- I don't get star struck, you know.
But I think gordon ramsay is amazing
And I want to be discovered.
No, I'm just kidding. I just--I'm kidding.
You to cut that out.
- Hi, how are you? - Hello, how are you?
- I'm well. - This is kelly, right?
- I am. Nice to meet you.
- Likewise. Good to see you too.
What an amazing neighborhood.
So how many seats you got altogether? It's like--
- So we can fit like 50 people in here at one time.
- 50 in here?
- I put an extra table in the middle of the room
And we turn them sideways for our drag shows.
So I'll-- - for your what shows?
- My drag show.
[quirky upbeat music]
- Wow. Anything else?
- People come in for botox. - For botox, here?
- Yeah. - [bleep]. Get out.
Do I need any botox on my-- - [laughs]
- Am I a bit late?
- Yeah, you missed the party.
- It adds character, right? - Yeah, I guess.
♪ ♪
- And do you inject the botox?
- No. - Okay, great.
- We have professionals for that.
- Professional. Thank god for that.
- [chuckles] thank you for coming.
- This place is amazing. Not at all.
Good to see you.
♪ ♪
- Hello, nice to meet you. - Nice to see you too.
- A pleasure. Nicholas. - Pleasure.
Can I just touch the hair? - Yeah.
- Have you had any botox? - I have not.
- Okay, good. - [laughs]
- Smooth as a baby's [...].
- Me serving gordon is the most nervous I ever been.
For sure.
- Right, let's start off with the organic spare ribs.
- Okay, perfect.
- And then main course, let's do--
Let's do the bucatini.
- Okay.
- And this place has a reputation for its burgers.
Right? - We do.
- Yeah, I mean it should be at $27.
Let's do the 50/50 wagyu and grass-fed angus, please.
Thank you. - Thank you.
- [bleep]. Now that's a first, burger and a botox.
- What does he want?
- Nah, he's ordering a bunch of stuff.
- Put it in right, nick.
- Do I put it in like as an appetizer, main?
Right? Or-- - let me do it for you.
- Okay.
- I would describe kelly as a micromanager.
She wants things a certain way.
- Go ahead. - We got the 50/50.
- How do you want it cooked?
- Uh, I just-- I didn't--I didn't ask him.
- Oh, my god, nicholas. Let me go back.
- The foundry is her baby.
- Sorry, chef, he didn't ask you
How you wanted your burger cooked.
- Oh, mid rare, please. - Medium rare.
- Yeah. Thank you.
- Anything that comes in the way of that,
She will plow.
- All right, let me just make sure that he knows.
- Here you go.
- Rey, you know that table two is ramsay, right?
- Vip?
- I'm sorry? - Is that vip?
[playful suspenseful music]
Every table's vip.
- I think that you should come in for a botox night.
Do right here and I think you could do right there.
- Why is-- why is kelly looking so upset?
What's wrong with her? Is she okay?
- That's her resting bitch face.
- That is her resting bitch face?
- Yes. - Got you.
[quirky note]
- Kelly's a really hard worker,
But I think kelly is very stressed.
I think she has a lot on her plate.
And I personally think kelly does a lot more than rey.
Thank you. - Thanks, darling.
- Like, I wonder if gordon ramsay knows
That rey does work at another restaurant.
[mixer whirring]
[tense music]
- Man, they're slow.
Slow.
[grills sizzling]
♪ ♪
Hmm.
♪ ♪
I'm supposed to be popping in for a quick lunch.
And so far, 20 minutes in, nothing.
Not a good sign.
♪ ♪
- You're waiting for your appetizers, right?
- I'll take anything.
- Let me go check on that for you.
- I am starving. - I got you.
- Please.
♪ ♪
- Okay, so chef ramsay is starving.
- All right, karen, when it's ready, I'll ring the bell.
All right.
♪ ♪
- Tiny little dining room. There's only eight tables.
Not good enough.
Thank you. - Enjoy.
- Thank you very much.
[suspenseful music]
Okay.
♪ ♪
The ribs aren't even hot. They're sort of lukewarm.
Not so sure why they took so long.
That is crazy. Very strange.
♪ ♪
- How was everything?
- They were cold, the ribs.
So I'm hanging out for my burger.
This guy's got a reputation for good burgers, right?
- Yes. - Yeah.
And this thing is, like, sold at $27?
And then some fries, so $30?
It's expensive, especially in this neighborhood.
♪ ♪
[kelly sighs]
- Rey, chef ramsay said that the ribs weren't warm.
They were cold inside.
♪ ♪
When I walk into the kitchen, I feel tense.
I feel like I'm not wanted. I feel like I'm ignored.
The relationship has gotten very toxic
And I don't know how to fix it.
This is the last one, right?
♪ ♪
[rey sighs]
I feel like I'm walking on eggshells.
It's like a battlefield. I'm tired of it.
[suspenseful music]
[bell rings]
This is his food?
- This is table two. - Two.
I'm going? - Yeah.
♪ ♪
Enjoy. - Thanks, darling.
- You're welcome.
- Hmm.
♪ ♪
Bucatini.
Goodbye.
Don't forget botox next Tuesday.
Bye-bye now.
This is very strange.
You think of this being a staple in this neighborhood.
Barely two meatballs, $28.
This food is way overpriced.
[ominous dramatic chord]
Okay, here we go, the $30 burger.
Having multiple burger restaurants across the us,
I very rarely charge $30 for a burger.
So when we do, it needs to be exceptional.
And this thing, exceptionally large.
[suspenseful music]
♪ ♪
It's okay. It's under-seasoned. It's somewhat bland.
It's just not good enough.
[dramatic music]
[rey huffs] [kelly groans]
$30 in this [bleep]hole. Are you kidding me?
- Rey, chef said that the burger was bad.
- He said a lot of things that just I didn't agree with.
At the end of the day, I can give two [bleep].
[upbeat music]
- I'm in bay ridge, brooklyn, at south brooklyn foundry...
Hmm.
Where I've eaten some very expensive, but mediocre food.
$30, it's overpriced and then underdelivery.
Now that the lunch rush is over,
It's time to talk to the owners.
Uh, kelly. - Yes.
- Let's have a catch-up. Um, bring me the chef.
Let me say hello to the chef.
And ladies, can you give me two minutes with the owners?
Is that okay? - Sure.
- Yeah?
[tense music]
Hey, rey. - Hey, man.
- How are you? - Good, man.
- You good? - Always.
- Yeah, excellent. Take a seat. Ah...
Listen, that was a tough experience
For me to sit there through that lunch.
That was painful.
♪ ♪
The food is mediocre.
The timings and the wait was ridiculous.
The bucatini, $28, the burger, $30.
Why are we so high?
- I give her prices,
And correct me if I'm wrong, don't you ever say...
[imitating kelly] "no, that's too cheap."
- I didn't set the prices for the burgers, rey.
- [normally] you kept saying we have to raise the prices,
We have to raise the prices.
- What's happened?
- I'm in a lot of debt. - Right.
But I mean, you both are as partners?
- No, I have the debt. - You have the debt?
So it's your place. I thought this thing was 50/50?
- It is.
[dramatic musical spike]
So when we started south brooklyn foundry,
I gave $25,000 cash
And he got his percentage for being the chef.
- The concept was mine, the recipes were mine.
And I felt like that was equal or more
To someone just putting in cash.
- So you're burdening the debt?
- Yes.
Let's face it.
If tomorrow the restaurant goes out of business,
Who's going to be stuck with all that debt? Me.
- Rey, help me out here. You're taking 70 grand a year.
Is that right? - Yeah.
- Why aren't you burdening 50% of that debt?
- I got the vision, I got the concept.
I've opened many places and I have other businesses.
- What other business you have, rey?
- A pizzeria.
[dramatic music]
- He's not here most of the time.
It makes me upset because
This place is not where it's supposed to be right now.
- Working locally at a different place
Is not an issue.
Even though they're both cooking,
They're different dynamics.
Hard work is something I'm comfortable with.
Like, I can do that.
- Is this a full-time job for you?
- Yes.
- How many hours a week do you put in?
- 50. - 50 hours a week?
And why do you look like that, kelly?
- Rey, I think that since you-- when I [bleep] signed up
For this show is when you started coming in.
- No. - Wow.
- Yes. - No.
- Wow. - No.
- Seriously? - No.
- Okay, so now the truth unraveling.
- I've been-- I've been in here.
I've been doing it.
- If he's working all the hours he says he is,
How come our sous chef has 70 hours a week?
- Wow. [bleep] hell.
- Danny's our sous chef, and he's great.
I think danny could take rey's job in a minute.
[bell rings]
- I'm having a hard time trying to understand this mess.
I don't get this.
And you guys called me in here to this [bleep] out.
- Well-- - I'm not here--
- Not you guys. I wasn't on board for this.
- So you weren't on board? - No.
- Right. So you don't think there's any problem
In this restaurant whatsoever?
- No, that's not what I'm saying.
- Wait--clearly you are,
Because you want to stick your head in the sand and say,
"[bleep] it. There's not a mess here."
- I think if the reason she called
Was to fix our relationship, I think--
- No, no.
This relationship's gone.
This, this here is toxic.
- I concur on that, yeah. - Yeah.
You're a 50/50. - Mm-hmm.
- But no risk. - Mm-hmm.
- And calling the shots when it's on her shoulders.
- When she was calling the shots, she was in the red.
Now that I'm calling the shots with the finances,
We're in the black. - Is that right, kelly?
- I don't know. - It was negative for--
- And you don't know? Holy [bleep]. Oh, my god.
She doesn't know.
- Kelly had handled the books.
But when I took over, there was no money in the account.
- I was like, "so if you think you could do it better,
Take the [bleep] books over."
- So you don't know if the business is running properly?
- I can't even get into the bank account
Because he's got control of it.
I asked you to come to the bank with me to [bleep] let me in.
- It's right there. We can go any time.
Like, I don't-- - so hold on a minute.
So you've got no insight to the bank account
That he's running? - Nope, nope.
- Yet you've got the debt on your shoulders?
Do you have any idea how [bleep] up this is?
[somber music]
- I just want--I want to know how to get out of debt.
I don't want to go to sleep at night worrying about this.
♪ ♪
- Kelly, you asked for my help.
And right now I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place
Because it sounds like you guys are so far gone.
Okay, I need some fresh air.
What I'd like to see from both of you,
I just want to see how this [bleep] place functions
Tonight, back of the house, front of house.
- You know, the stress that I have
Every day keeping this place open,
It's too much to bear. [sobs]
I'm tired of going around like a hamster in a circle.
- [bleep] hell. What a disaster.
Man.
♪ ♪
Kelly and rey are supposed to be the two responsible owners.
They couldn't be any further apart.
Rey, the chef and co-owner,
It feels like he's using this business.
And it doesn't feel like he's fully committed.
He's running another business.
You don't do that to a partner
And you certainly don't do that to a restaurant
You're taking $70 grand a year from.
Kelly is a lady with a look of fear on her face
Sandbagged with debt
And burdened with pressure that she can't handle.
- Now you guys realize that I'm in the debt here.
I hold all the debt. I have the $130,000 of debt.
And I always fight to keep this business open,
To keep everybody here.
And I'm sorry if I've been nasty to you guys,
But I can't even buy a piece of bubble gum anymore.
[sobs] - didn't know that.
It hit, like, really hard.
- I'm in shock.
I had no idea
It was that financially bad at south brooklyn foundry.
- Going home at night, sleeping knowing my kids have nothing,
I have nothing, I put everything in here.
So please, just understand where I'm coming from. [sobs]
- I think we all do, actually.
- After this especially, this was very eye-opening.
I am floored.
We didn't know the actual damage that was going on.
And I saw kelly a little bit defeated.
- I can't do this anymore. [sobs and sniffles]
[dramatic music]
- It's a new day in bay ridge, brooklyn.
And the clock is ticking for the south brooklyn foundry.
Mounting debt has it on the brink of closure.
- Hey, guys, can we come here for a minute, please?
Okay, no extra napkins.
Please don't put any extra napkins.
You're going to be--
We're under a lot of pressure
And what [bleep] me off
Is like I'm the bad guy all the time.
Because, like, I'm watching
How many napkins you're putting on the table.
Because of debt, I got to watch [bleep] napkins.
[sobs]
You guys, we're going to work the floor together.
Let's get the tables turning.
Let's get them in and out. All right?
We're all good? We're all good?
I'm nervous for dinner service.
I don't know how it's going to go.
Hi, how are you? - How are you?
- Good. - Good.
Table for two. - You got it.
- So you guys maybe want to do that special
To start off, you think?
[playful dramatic music]
- I'm back.
It's time for me to see up close...
Hey.
What's going wrong.
♪ ♪
Hello, mate. What's your name? - I'm danny.
- Danny. - Yeah.
- Good to meet you. This is it, the line?
[bleep]. - It's good, chef.
- How does the line work?
Who does the grill and who does sauté?
- Pretty much, like, person behind this does it
Until we call for help.
- This is crazy if you're on your own.
Crazy.
Why wouldn't danny be behind there with you cooking?
- Because of the fryer.
- And this fryer is not working?
- We use those little tabletops.
- Oh, [bleep].
These? [bleep] hell.
♪ ♪
[gordon sputters] yeah.
- All-in-one burger. Who gets the all in one?
- That's yours. Enjoy.
[tense music]
Table five, is it coming out?
♪ ♪
Rey?
♪ ♪
[bleep] [bleep].
♪ ♪
- Does he always ignore you
When you go in the kitchen like that?
- Yeah.
- You deserve a voice,
And so when you go in the kitchen
And you ask him a question, how [bleep] rude is he
When he can't even turn around and answer you?
You're not here to be a doormat.
You know that? - I do.
♪ ♪
- So...
- Okay.
[suspenseful music]
Rey, table six is leaving.
They said the food is taking too long.
- How long are they waiting?
30 minutes?
- Can we do it to go, rey, right now?
- [bleep].
♪ ♪
- [bleep].
- Rey is so disrespectful to kelly
When she comes to that kitchen,
He is totally shut down.
There's not even an ounce of communication.
That's bad.
- I feel more that he's a partner
With the guys in the kitchen.
They're, like, so loyal towards him.
- It's a very strange setup.
One guy behind there, two guys down this side.
Now it's starting to make sense why it's so slow.
- Just a few more minutes, okay?
We're just waiting on your food, okay?
[indistinct chatter]
Give me just a few minutes
And I'm going to get that food to go for you.
[tense music]
I need the burger.
The girl's having a heart attack.
- I'm--I'm trying.
- What?
- [bleep].
[rey sighs]
- Disrespecting. Disrespecting [bleep].
♪ ♪
My partner treats me like a child.
It's been fight after fight and nothing gets resolved.
And I don't know how to fix it.
- It's so [bleep] depressing.
- Like yours and mine. - Chicken sandwich.
- Yes, that's me. - And then we've got a burger.
- Thank you. - Enjoy.
- We will. - This looks awesome.
[playful tense music]
- You had the all-in foundry burger, right?
I'm going to take that one off the bill.
♪ ♪
They said it's overcooked.
♪ ♪
It's just--it's just not cool. It's not cool.
Like all the food that goes back, it's all my profit.
- It's all your profit.
I'm telling you when I work here
On Monday nights and Thursday nights,
Danny cooks and the food does not go back.
- 90% of the orders tonight is burgers.
Burgers, burgers, burgers, right?
Do you ever do this on your own back and forth?
[grill sizzling]
Rey, two seconds, please?
- Yes. - I know you're busy.
Just touch that and tell me what you think?
The request was medium. - Yeah.
- You know and I know that's overcooked.
- You literally called me out while I was trying to plate
This and then we're like-- - oh, so it's my fault?
- I'm not saying it's your fault--
- No, I saw you pick it from underneath the salamander.
Hey, young man. Hey. I'm watching you like a hawk.
You already picked up underneath the grill.
The cooking had finished.
Anyway, so the two-minute little break--
- Hey. - Oh, you think this is funny?
- No. No, it's-- - no, you do.
- No, no, I don't think it's funny.
- No, but you actually think it's funny.
- No, no. - Yeah.
I've just asked you, "what do you think?"
And you said, "you stopped me from cooking it."
- You know--you know what? You're right.
I shouldn't have sent it. Right.
- Yeah, that's right. - Yeah, you're right.
You're right. - Yeah.
Just another reason to confirm that you don't give a [bleep].
Hey, young man. - Yes, sir.
- I'm not here to [bleep] tolerate your ego,
You know that? - Yes, chef.
Yeah, I don't really give a [bleep]
About ramsay and kelly.
At the end of the day,
I'm, like, very confident in my skills.
And, like, if this boat sinks, I'm the captain
And the captain goes down with the boat.
- Throw it away.
[dramatic music]
[kelly exhales deeply]
[tense music]
- Table two,
The girl on the right said her burger is too raw.
- Okay, let me take it off the table.
- It's a little undercooked.
- Okay. - Also, it's just hard to eat.
It's like really big, the sandwich and everything.
- It's usually big but I'm going to tell them.
- Yeah, it's no problem. - Sorry about that, ladies.
[bleep].
♪ ♪
Rey.
Rey, come here.
[tense music]
It's cold in the middle.
- Okay. - Are you done?
Are you--is this--
♪ ♪
And you just go back there, cook another one,
Nothing to the owner?
- My partner.
- Well, then treat her like a [bleep] partner.
- In what way? I said--
- Well, just with a bit of respect.
Danny, go behind the line.
Put two [bleep] tickets on.
That's the third table you've [bleep] up tonight
And not one, not one apology.
♪ ♪
- Okay.
- It's just being a little bit courteous
To the current situation.
Well, maybe you're applying more of that
In the other place as opposed to here.
- Okay.
- [bleep] hell. Oh, my god.
Rey tries to convince me that he cares
With his behavior and his attitude.
I promise you now, he doesn't care.
He ignores his partner and only shows up
When he's not working at his pizzeria.
We need everyone 100% committed.
You don't get success with a 50% commitment, never.
[indistinct chatter]
As the restaurant begins to empty,
I want to have a word with kelly somewhere private.
Now where's your office? - In the back.
- All right, let's have a quick little two minutes.
[suspenseful music]
♪ ♪
Rey, he's showing no responsibility.
And I'm going to be honest with you.
He's manipulating you.
- I feel that way, too. - Mm-hmm.
I don't know how to get out of this.
I'm scared.
- How long have you been going like this?
How long has it been running like this?
- [sobs] six years.
- Wow. It's not right.
I'm here to help, okay?
But what you need to do is clear the decks.
And you need the gumption.
You need to be empowered.
When these other businesses that he's involved in
Take off, you're going to be dropped.
[snaps fingers]
You've got some tough decisions to make.
- Having gordon actually see what I've been going through
For all these years, I realize now that
Something definitely has to change.
♪ ♪
[bell rings twice] - rey.
- Yeah? - Two seconds, please?
- Yeah.
♪ ♪
[dramatic music]
- This business is going nowhere.
We know that, right?
You are only present for 50% of the time.
This business is in a crisis.
- Why don't you just let me take over the business
And I'll take the debt?
- So like walk out zero?
- I'm in debt. There's nothing here.
- So hypothetically, we roll that over to me,
The debt, would you walk away for zero?
- I don't understand.
You always, like, try to twist my words.
- I'm not twisting words. I'm asking you a question.
- Why didn't you come up with the money
When we were in debt?
If you were 50/50 partner,
Why didn't you come up with it then?
- I didn't--I didn't twist any of your words.
I just asked the question.
- I don't want to give this place up.
I put my sweat in here.
- Is that what you're hoping she's going to say?
- What?
- "yeah, I'll sign it over to you."
- No, that's not my plan.
I feel like I'm being offered something that's not fair.
- [bleep].
You draw 70 grand a year out of the business.
You're only here for 50% of the time!
You have other interests. - Okay, okay, okay.
- The business is dying.
- Rey, I'm the one that got the sba loans
To keep the place open.
I'm [bleep] dead here.
- We're in the [bleep], rey! We're on our ass!
[tense dramatic music]
You're robbing her!
- Yes, chef.
- You know what he's going to do?
He's going to go to the bank, he's going to take
All the money, I won't have any money.
[rey sighs]
- He has control over the bank account?
- Yes. - Wow.
- Okay.
Yeah, I'll walk away. I'll walk away.
[dramatic music]
♪ ♪
[dramatic music]
- It's crunch time for the south brooklyn foundry.
- I'll walk away.
- The chef and co-owner, rey, has now left,
So it's time to get this crisis under control.
Now, big, deep breath and we're going to start again.
Okay? - Okay.
- Where's the team? - Downstairs.
- Guys, will you come up, please?
Come sit with kelly.
Okay. Hear me out.
Rey's left.
[ominous notes]
And this place is heading for a closure.
But I have a plan to get us out.
I'd like to know now
Is there anyone that's not committed
To turning this business around?
[suspenseful music]
♪ ♪
- I made a commitment to kelly.
So--[chuckles] I wouldn't do that.
- I'm on the same page.
I'm excited when I come in here.
I love the people that I work with.
- Danny, how are you feeling?
Kelly needs you.
- I do need you, danny.
[ominous music]
Stay at least just to help me.
Because danny, I'm the one that's been
Paying you guys for all this time.
I'm the one that's $130,000 in the hole.
- I know.
No, I--
- I know.
- No, but I understand that, but--
- Okay, get your bag.
I'm not going to sit and beg you.
No chance. Good night.
[tense music]
- I'm upset that danny quit just like that.
But I think it was because of rey leaving.
He seems very overwhelmed by everything.
♪ ♪
- Danny and rey may have bolted,
But I appreciate you staying and I'm here to help.
[soft dramatic music]
Now we're gonna start the beginning of a new chapter
And work hard to get ourselves out of this debt.
Things are going to change.
- I want kelly to understand
That I love this business so much because of her.
You're my best friend for 25 years.
I love her so much and I love this restaurant.
[soft upbeat music]
- We're going to do is and I can't do it without you.
- We're in.
- Thank you. [laughter]
We'll see you shortly. - Thank you, chef.
- Thank you.
- Wow. - [sighs]
[dramatic music]
As part of the foundry's new chapter,
I've got my team in overnight to renovate
With a fresh, new look.
And today, while they continue toiling away,
I've arranged to meet kelly downtown
To work on a business plan.
Hey, kelly. How are you?
- I'm okay.
- What a night. What a night.
New day, new start.
This restaurant is a tiny 35-seater.
And this thing is easily controlled.
You just need to be over the business
And committed to change.
- That's what I'm willing to embrace.
That's why I called out to you.
- Last night, I reached out to my restaurant in new york
And I brought in my really good guys.
[upbeat music]
They're going to be with you for a couple of weeks
Whilst we trial for the kitchen team.
♪ ♪
Now, I'd like to introduce you to the business consultant
To local small businesses, and he's helped
Over 632 businesses in this neighborhood.
Pedro, hey. Good morning, sir. How are you?
- Good to see you.
- Well, let me introduce you to the owner, kelly, please.
- Thank you so much. Thank you. Come in.
Financials were taken away from me
And rey said that he could do better at it.
I just want him to show me, like,
How to keep proper inventory,
How to know what food prices are.
- Going forward, it may feel scary
Now that you've got the whole weight on your shoulders.
But with this gentleman advising you,
He'll be a great support for you.
And you've seen this situation before, haven't you?
- I have. I've actually seen worse.
So I think you should remain positive.
I'm going to constantly check in on what you're doing,
Connect you with as many organizations
As we can in brooklyn and try to get you going.
- Pedro, I appreciate it. Kelly, I'll see you shortly.
Thank you.
- This is the scary part.
I'm starting to stand on my own right now
And I need to learn how to manage my restaurant better.
I need to do this. I need to get this done.
- I'm definitely going to be here to help.
I know you have a situation with staffing.
- Mm.
- We'll see, we'll have a conversation
To see what we can do about the situation.
Also, we have a loan.
Likely, we work with those lenders,
We'll see what are your available options,
As well as have those solidified.
- Yeah.
- So I'm hoping this makes you feel a little bit better?
- Yeah, definitely.
Thank you so much. - Of course.
[soft gentle music]
[upbeat music]
- Back at the foundry,
My team have worked all night and day
To turn it into something that looks like, well,
A restaurant and not a hardware store.
- Oh, my god. - Wow, look at the trees.
- Oh, wow.
- Ladies, gents, welcome to the new foundry.
- Oh, my god. - Wow.
- Wow, look at this place. - Oh, nice!
- This is crazy!
- Brooklyn, new york.
My team has spent all night and all day
Giving south brooklyn foundry a brand-new look.
And it's time to show owner, kelly, and her staff.
- Oh, wow.
- Welcome, ladies and gents.
- Oh, wow! - Come in.
- Oh, my god. - Please, come in.
- Wow! - Nice, I like that.
- Oh, my god. - Wait, this is crazy.
- Welcome to the new foundry.
First of all, gone are those awkward tables.
- Oh, my god.
- And we replaced these with some amazing high tops.
- [chuckling] this is awesome.
- As you can see, we've got the wrought iron,
Brand-new bar in keeping with the local foundry.
- Wow!
- And everything feels cohesive.
- Oh, wow. This is so nice. - It's amazing.
- We've gone up by nine seats.
Gone are those hideous sunflowers on the window.
Now customers can identify this
As being a very cool neighborhood restaurant.
Right, come up.
Not only did I want to remake the restaurant over,
But I wanted to revamp and give you a new identity
With some delicious food. - Wow.
- Oh, my god.
- Because this kitchen is tiny, right?
- Yeah.
- So we need to be efficient
And we need to get dishes out quickly.
Enjoying the new bar? - Oh, yeah, I love it.
- You do? [chuckles] - oh, wow.
- It's so sexy. - Are you okay? [chuckles]
- This is amazing. - You okay? [chuckles]
Come on.
First of all, the charcuterie board.
This is going to fly out within two minutes
Of you ordering that.
We need to be fast, we need to turn tables.
Just a great way of starting the night
As a sharing platter.
- I want to start my night with that right now.
- We will in a minute, okay?
[laughter] we'll be tasting in a minute.
Next to that, we've got a beautiful
Whipped goat cheese flatbread.
The entrées, we got our lovely chef's burger.
The classic broken meatball bucatini, a big staple here.
Desserts, we've got a lovely chocolate mousse
And then a blueberry crumble.
So what do we think? - Oh, my god.
- It's amazing. - It's so beautiful.
- I'm hungry. - This is insane.
- Kelly, let me introduce you to the chefs.
- Yes. - The rest of you,
Pick up a knife and fork and enjoy the menu.
- Whoo-hoo. - Awesome.
[soft upbeat music]
- Y'all need to get into this. - How is this?
Oh, my god. - That's delicious.
Now we're actually set up like a real restaurant/bar.
It's just like a miracle.
This is something that couldn't have happened
Without chef ramsay.
♪ ♪
- It is good. - It is good.
- June and nestor, come over, please.
- Hi. - This is kelly, our owner.
- Thank you. Thank you so much. - Thank you.
- These guys have got bags of experience.
They're going to be here for the next two weeks.
- Thank you.
- They both came from times square
And set up my restaurant-- good to see you both.
- Thank you for having us. - Thank you, guys.
Thank you so much for coming in.
- There you go. Come over, young lady.
This is the powerhouse.
- Hi. - Hi.
- How are you? - This is kelly.
- Hi. - Aw, don't cry.
Happy tears, right? - Yes.
- Wits is going to be expedited tonight.
- Thank you. - Okay?
- This is a new beginning.
It's--it's more than I expected.
It's more than I asked for.
- A lot to take in.
- It is so beautiful outside. Thank you.
And now, I'm like in a space that's beautiful.
It feels clean. It feels--it just feels light.
[softly] wow.
Hey, guys, can we come over here?
I just want to talk to you. - Sure.
♪ ♪
- I want to thank you all for staying with me.
Let's push forward and let's make this work.
Let's really make this work, guys.
[tense musical crescendo]
♪ ♪
- I'm back and it's time to see if kelly and her team
Can rise to the challenge of a brand-new menu,
New systems, and a new layout.
[dramatic music]
Look at this place. Beautiful.
♪ ♪
Less than 24 hours ago, we lost all our kitchen staff.
We're good?
My back of house team
Will really have to step up tonight.
Remember, guys, it's not a race.
We'll start off a little bit slow.
We will pick up the speed. But it's not a race, okay?
All: Yes, chef. - Excellent.
I need kelly to be over the front of house
Charming customers and managing our staff,
Not carrying plates and bussing tables.
Let it shine, girl.
Let it shine.
[dramatic music]
- Hi, guys. - Hi, guys.
- Hi, welcome to the foundry.
- The place is filling up.
- Hello. - Hi.
- And amongst the clientele
Is a food blogger with over half a million followers.
- Bucatini sounds amazing, but so does the risotto.
- Hi, guys. How are you? Welcome.
- Thank you.
- And what are we thinking today, guys?
- We'll start with a whipped goat cheese flatbread.
- Sure.
[dramatic music]
- With a new, easy-to-execute menu...
[bell ringing]
Things have started well...
- All right, here we go.
- And food is flying out.
- Okay. - Thank you so much.
- Jessica, welcome. - Hi.
- Hey, how are you, darling? You good?
Nice to see you. - Nice to meet you.
- Introduce me to your dad.
- [laughs] my husband.
- [laughs]
- Okay, now I'm gonna ask for the photo.
- Come on, I'm joking. I'm joking. Come on.
All right, enjoy tonight. - Awesome.
- Flatbread coming right up.
- Thank you. Lightly toasted.
- You guys are good?
Everything's going through properly?
We're okay? - Yes.
- Orders are coming in thick and fast
And it's not long until mistakes begin to occur.
- We have the steak.
- Oh, one thing. - Sure.
- I think that that was her main entrée,
But we had asked for the goat cheese.
- Sorry.
Okay, guys, table five said
That they got a main course before their appetizer.
- They're serving food to the wrong tables.
With our new systems, new staff, new food,
Everyone has to communicate
Or things are going to fall apart.
You good? - Yes, chef.
- Two hanger steaks, medium. One hanger steak, medium well.
- It seems back of house is running well.
- Tell me you heard. Both: Heard.
- Great.
But front of house has fallen apart.
Kelly, I want to see some of the girls coming
Picking food up as well, please, yeah?
And kelly is starting to seem overwhelmed.
Host your room.
- Who else got medium well? - Medium? Oh, no.
It was one medium well and two mediums.
- Okay, all right.
Oh, brother. - What's the matter?
- The order is wrong. This is medium well.
- There are two mediums. The medium well is coming out.
Just go.
We're going back to the way we were.
- Table eight, the burger?
- Oh, yeah, that's me. - Great.
- Thank you.
- The other one's coming right now.
- Okay, perfect.
- Table eight only got one main course.
- What?
- I put in two main courses on table eight
And only one went out.
- Why? - I don't know.
[suspenseful music]
- Table eight is missing a main course.
Chef? - Where's the ticket?
Got burger on there. - Mm-hmm.
- Correct. - Medium rare.
Yeah? Where's the steak?
- Um--
- I'd rather you be honest with me,
Tell you forgot the order of the steak.
There's no steak on there.
- Orders are being put in wrong.
I feel very stressed in this moment.
It's embarrassing.
- No steak on there.
[bleep] terrible.
Your team need to know their tables.
They have to talk to each other.
- This is a disaster.
Nosedive.
- Absolute [bleep] [bleep].
[dramatic music]
- This is a disaster.
- South brooklyn foundry.
While the restaurant looks beautiful
And is packed full of customers,
Staff are putting orders wrong...
- Why were these on table three?
- Delivering food to the wrong tables...
- I'm going to get angry.
- And kelly is scrambling to keep things under control.
- Did you guys write down the dessert?
- I didn't take the dessert order.
- Okay. I'm missing two desserts.
I'm missing a chocolate mousse
And a blueberry crumble on table six.
Okay. Do it.
Does anybody know what I can put ketchup in?
- Look at me, look at me.
I asked the girls
To get all this stuff sorted out before we opened
And now you're running around like a headless chicken
Looking for ketchup. Not good enough.
Kelly's panicking and so she's bussing tables,
Cleaning tables, running food, and just--
You've got a team there to do that.
Be the face of the business.
Remember? Owner. - Okay.
- Kelly needs to run it one way,
And that's the correct way.
- Guys, I want everybody circulating the floor.
Find out what food is missing from each table, please,
And report back to me.
Let me know what's missing for the kitchen.
- Okay.
- Chef, how long for that hanger steak for table eight?
- Hanger steak? 30 seconds.
At last, kelly seems to realize
What she needs to do...
- Guys, we got table five coming out.
- And is taking control of this chaotic service.
- This one I don't want to serve, please.
Nope, it's not going to be to my satisfactory.
- We got the shishito peppers.
- How is it?
- Yes? Enjoy.
Thank you. - Thank you.
- Kelly has finally taken up the reins again...
- Can I have new utensils here for a dessert, please?
- And given her staff a new focus.
- Are you waiting on anything?
- Just the bill here. - Just the bill?
Okay, sure. I can grab the bill for you.
- And the customers seem to be enjoying themselves.
- How's the food, guys? How is everything?
- Good. - Good? You like?
- Yay.
The most valuable thing that gordon ramsay has showed me
Is that I can be in charge, I can be empowered,
I can take care of a restaurant.
- Thank you, ladies. Take care.
[soft upbeat music]
- Good job. - Thank you.
- A lot of issues with table numbers, et cetera.
That will come.
- Thank you. - Thank you, guys.
Thank you so much for coming. - Ooh!
- These are growing pains.
Don't let them discourage you. - Yeah.
- It wasn't going to be perfect, right?
Despite a slightly bumpy new start,
I'm confident that kelly and her team
Have what it takes to move forward successfully.
This is just the beginning for you, kelly, okay?
There's never an easy night in any restaurant.
But more importantly,
When you're laying down a new foundation,
It's going to be scary.
Are you ready for this? - Yeah.
Am I excited about new changes? Yes.
Am I excited to see how the business may grow?
Absolutely.
- And if you want it,
Then you step up and you hold those reins.
- I did everything to save this place,
So I want it to stay here for a long time in the neighborhood.
- Good luck. - Thank you so much.
- Come on.
Eh?
When's that next botox party?
- [chuckles]
- Karen suggested I get some in my forehead.
- [chuckles] - guys, stand strong.
Look after this lady, yes? Well done, you two.
Yeah, don't let me down.
See you guys. - Yes, chef.
- Good to see you, man. Thank you, guys.
Great job.
[upbeat music]
[sighs] honestly, it's been a tough one this week.
When I first arrived, I found a restaurant
Engulfed in conflict with two owners
Fighting each other for control.
And honestly, it was obvious to me
Which one of them was truly invested.
But now that kelly has stepped up
And has taken over and holding the reins,
I hope the south brooklyn foundry
Can really forge an exciting future ahead it truly deserves.
♪ ♪
[bleep] hell.
[dramatic music]
After some much-needed time apart,
Rey has recommitted himself to the south brooklyn foundry.
- I think the time apart between me and kelly,
That was definitely needed.
And I'm here to, like, get this place back to a point
Where it's stable.
- And kelly is hopeful for the future.
- We're not perfect.
We're like a big, dysfunctional family here sometimes.
But I feel good about the future
Of south brooklyn foundry.
- Next time on "kitchen nightmares."
- Chili is tasting a little bland.
- I'm going to send it back. - Come on, that's ridiculous.
- Yeah, terrible.
Wrinkles in there than there is in my granddad's [bleep].
[dramatic music]
- I'll have to be honest.
I mean, I'm well over $1 million.
- In debt? - In debt.
- Blame everybody else for your [bleep] problem.
- It's hard to believe this business
Has been functioning for 95 years.
- I'm literally begging you
To take my [bleep] help and you're not!
♪ ♪