Kitchen Nightmares Season 4 Episode 1
On the Season 4 premiere of “Kitchen Nightmares,” Chef Ramsay heads to Plainfield, New Jersey. There he hopes to help Shelly Withers transform her soul food restaurant called Blackberry’s.
Shelly had run a successful catering company, so she felt it was natural to move to open a restaurant. Her mother, Mary, invested her entire retirement fund into the business and helped make Shelly’s dream come true.
Even though Shelly feels that Blackberry’s has the perfect location and perfect food, she has no customers. Her Sous Chef Mateen believes that his boss is in denial about the décor and the quality of the food. He also thinks that Shelly’s a control freak. Yet due to the lack of organization, the kitchen is in total chaos. As a result of all of these problems, Shelly is $200,000 in debt and barely holding on.When Chef Ramsay arrives, he’s impressed by the “amazing, buzzy little town,” which he feels is a great location for a restaurant. He’s greeted by the hostess and immediately asks if the place is decorated for a party – the décor is bright yellow and purple with lots of 45 records hanging from the ceiling.
But it’s time to focus on the food. Chef Ramsay sits down and takes a look at the menu. He orders collard greens, the smothered pork chop, mac and cheese, chitlins, and red velvet cake. As the kitchen whips up his meal, Shelly is confident that she’ll get a phenomenal rating from Gordon.