I don’t watch Kitchen Nightmares. (The reasons why are personal, and not really relevant to a food blog.)
But I think I am going to have to make an exception for this episode. Holy cow.
Yes, I know, “reality television”, probably heavily edited, taken out of context, etc. But:
- Can anyone name any context in which threatening to call the police on your patrons who have been waiting over an hour for their food is a good thing?
- Accounts of what went on that night seem to be backed up by sources other than the show.
- The behavior of those involved since the show aired seems to lend some credibility to the KN depiction of events.
(And pocketing tips? I Am Not A Lawyer, but my understanding is that this is the kind of behavior that gets you investigated by multiple federal and state agencies, and generally results in big lawyer bills and large cash settlements.)
Note: the episode apparently aired last week. It is available on the Fox web site and Hulu right now, but you either have to have a Hulu Plus account or a Fox account through one of their designated providers to watch it. The Fox website says it will be available to the general public eight days after air date, and it looks like the same applies on Hulu. The Eater articles also contain a link to a bootleg version, which I won’t link here.