Has Gordon Become a Big Softy?

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As I mentioned in my previous post, after visiting Purnima it seemed to me that Gordon’s changes to the restaurants he transforms are simply cosmetic. But after last night’s episode, I’ve come to realize Gordon doesn’t just revamp menus, fire staff members, and overhaul dining rooms. Gordon changes lives.

This week he traveled to the Motor City, Detroit, to the family-owned Italian trattoria, Giuseppe’s. Though owners Joe, Kathy, and Sam squabble like all the other Kitchen Nightmare families, they are a little more proud, a little more refined, and a their kitchen is actually clean. In fact, Gordon didn’t have to do his usual dig through the sludge below the stove, or wipe his fingers through gross gunk plastered to the refrigerator walls, or toss out boxes of rotten food. Nope, we were spared the gory details this week.

Gordon’s first step to getting acclimated with Giuseppe’s was sampling the food which according to the menu reflects “the essence of Italy.” Anyway, Gordon, who lovingly referred to server Dawn as “darling” (a term of endearment) asked for her suggestions. On her recommendation, Gordon ordered Eggplant Rollatini (which he learned was heated up in a microwave), then he decided to throw chef Sam a curve ball by ordering potato skins and the Octopus salad. Both Gordon and I had the same sentiment about the potato skins: there is nothing Italian about them.

The only gag moment was when Gordon spit out his first bite of the Octopus Salad. Generously, he shared a forkful with his friendly server, Dawn. Like Gordon, Dawn also had trouble downing the rubbery squid (I think octopus is a squid? I just learned on wikipediathat octopi have three hearts!)

After observing the usual kitchen antics of a micromanaging dad Joe, an underperforming chef Sam, and the poor attitude of Brian — both a sous chef and part-time truck driver, Gordon, my restaurant superhero, managed to rescue Giuseppe’s from failure. The reveal of the newly designed trattoria was in itself a mini episode of ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. An emotional moment, the family shed genuine tears of relief and joy and I started to get pretty choked up watching them. But what really did me in were the gut-wrenching letters the family members read aloud to each other. By the end of the show I was bawling. A refreshing change from the lasting impression of the usual gross grub and bug infested back rooms.

While the hard-ass, expletive spewing, sensational Gordon is fun to watch, I much prefer the softy. Even if it means crying like a baby again next week.