La Galleria 33 Kitchen Nightmares Update: Saving a Crippling Italian Restaurant
The double episode of season 6 revolved around La Galleria 33 in North End, Boston. It was also known as ‘Little Italy’ as more than 80 Italian restaurants were located there, including La Galleria 33. La Galleria 33 was opened by sisters Rita and Lisa in 2006. Their father also owned a successful Italian restaurant named L’Osteria. The sisters were able to open the restaurant with their parent’s financial aid. However, it was located less than 100 meters from L’Osteria.
Coming from a restaurateur background, Lisa and Rita expected immediate success but somehow success never got to taste it. They tried various strategies to attract customers which remained fruitless. The staff blamed the owners for the decline in business. They complained that the sisters were rude to them and were unprofessional.
The staff also highlighted that Lisa had a drinking problem and Rita smoked everywhere. The declining business had not only affected the work environment but had accumulated debt.
Did Gordon bring the lost owners back on track with success? Find out in our La Galleria 33 Kitchen Nightmares Update!
Key Takeaways
- Initial Struggles: La Galleria 33 struggled with poor management, unprofessional behavior, and declining business despite its prime location
- Core Issues: Gordon Ramsay identified core issues like disorganization, subpar food quality, and lack of leadership at the restaurant.
- Gordon Ramsay’s Intervention: Gordon highlighted that effective teamwork and better communication among staff were crucial for the successful relaunch of La Galleria 33.
- Improvement Plan: Ramsay introduced a revamped menu and modernized the restaurant’s interior to improve its appeal.
- Successful Relaunch: The restaurant staff managed to pull together under Ramsay’s guidance, even though they faced setbacks.
Table of Content
Ramsay and the Owners of La Galleria 33
Lisa and Rita were on a bench outside the restaurant when Gordon arrived. Gordon gave them a quick greeting as they greeted him, thinking they were customers. As he entered the restaurant, he was greeted by Pat the busboy, and Sara the waitress. Rita and Lisa formally introduced themselves.
Gordon then decided to meet with the owners and get some insights into La Galleria 33. Lisa and Rita told him their parents had a restaurant five doors down the street. He asked about what the name symbolized. Rita told him that 33 was Rita’s age at the time of opening and Galleria represented an art theme they initially planned. They wanted to have a wall painted with different famous art pieces. But had to change plans as the painter painted naked cherubs everywhere.
Gordon then moved on to logistics and inquired about the business growth. The sisters told them that the business was at a loss and was deep in debt. He also got to know about Lisa’s drinking habit. Gordon then asked about the service at the restaurant. Lisa told him that the service wasn’t good as the servers wouldn’t tend to the customers. Gordon was surprised to know that Douglas, the head chef, was the ex-husband of Lisa. He wasn’t a trained chef and had gotten training and recipes from Lisa’s dad
Ramsay’s Initial Assessment of La Galleria 33
After getting an introduction to La Galleria 33, Gordon moved on to the food evaluation. Before ordering, Gordon asked Sara about her viewpoint of the restaurant. She told him that there was disorganization in the restaurant and the owners weren’t open to change. As he was waiting for the food, he asked Pat about his role in the restaurant.
Pat told him that he was a former shoe salesman and was now the manager. However, Lisa clarified that he was a Busboy whom she had fired but had to rehire as she took pity on him.
He ordered and rated the food as follows:
- Homemade Gnocchi: The gnocchi was homemade but frozen. The meatballs were rubbery and tasteless.
- Chicken Marsala: The marsala looked more like soup. The dish was sweet and lacked flavor.
- Veal Paradiso: The dish presentation was a mess and not appetizing at all. The veal was overcooked and salty while the sauce was horrible. The dish was overall bland.
- Seafood Ravioli: The ravioli was frozen and didn’t taste good. It was terrible in terms of taste and quality
After having horrible food, Gordon asked for any desserts available. Sara told him that they only had tiramisu which they had run out of. Gordon got Pat to run an errand and get him a tiramisu from L’Osteria. Rita’s mother Lena came to deliver the dish herself. Gordon was delighted after having tiramisu and complimented her for her dish.
Gordon then went into the kitchen to meet Douglas along with the owners. He inquired about Douglas’s experience in the kitchen to which he answered that he has been working since 1994. Gordon told him about the terrible lunch service and advised them to do better as he would be observing them the next day.
Core Issues and Challenges at La Galleria 33
The next day, Gordon asked Douglas about the tiramisu as soon as he entered La Galleria. He was disappointed to know that the head chef didn’t bother to make it available. He then asked Douglas to tell him how the line worked and who worked in the stations. Douglas told him that they didn’t work in stations.
As the restaurant opened for the dinner service, customers started to come in. The kitchen got to work as the first order was received. Gordon was confused as no one was communicating. He was surprised to see the unhygienic standards of the kitchen. While preparing dishes, Douglas dropped the chicken on the floor and continued to cook it.
The customers weren’t satisfied with their orders. They complained that the food was horrible, not fresh and undercooked. Lisa refused to cater to the angry customers when the staff asked her. When they asked Rita to do so, she also declined. Rita wasn’t good at handling the complaints and confronted the customers regarding the food. She was in denial and thought that their food was good.
After hearing complaints about the food not being fresh, Gordon went to check the fridge. He found old and dead mussels. Gordon then went into the basement to check the inventory. Upon his inspection, he found most of the items rotten, old, and frozen food. Lisa got frustrated with the criticism they got from Chef Ramsay and decided to leave for the day. Gordon convinced the owners that they should focus on making the food quality better and handle things effectively. At the end of the night, he gave the owners the task of making a list of things that they wanted to change in the restaurant.
The following day, Gordon called on a staff meeting and made the owners address the issues to the staff. Rita highlighted that the staff was lazy and uncooperative. This led to a confrontation between the owners and Sara and she quit after not seeing the debate going her way. Gordon advised the owners to start taking control of La Galleria 33. He also instructed the staff to coordinate with them.
Rita then prepared Tiramisu Chef Ramsay as a gift. He then gathered the staff to show them the photos of the dishes that were served the day before and asked them to identify them. The staff was unable to recognize the dishes. Ramsay then showed them the photos of the dishes from Boston’s best Italian restaurants. Douglas showed a careless attitude towards Ramsay’s reviews. After Ramsay’s encouraging recommendations, the head chef and the staff were ready to make a change.
Gordon Ramsay’s Improvement Plan at La Galleria 33
Gordon then introduced an updated menu to the staff. He added small plates as a new feature to the menu which would allow the customers to enjoy a variety of Italian dishes. The menu included:
- Homemade meatballs
- Roasted chicken livers
- Truffle and lemon asparagus risotto
- Cavatelli
Gordon also hired Michael to train Douglas for a month. While Michael was showing the ropes to Douglas, Ramsay’s team renovated the place. The following day, Gordon was surprised to see that Sara had rejoined the team. He presented the staff with a chic and modern interior of La Galleria. The walls were upgraded to brick walls and modern lighting was installed to elevate the environment. A map of the North End highlighting La Galleria 33 and L’Osteria was also installed.
The Relaunch of La Galleria 33
Before the restaurant opened for dinner service, the owners gathered the staff and encouraged them to coordinate and work as a team. Gordon instructed the servers to read the menu thoroughly so that they could describe the items to the customers.
As the La Galleria 33 opened for the relaunch, it got busy with customers. The orders were coming in however they were not going to the kitchen as the ticket system started to glitch. Lisa advised the staff to use regular checks as an alternative and got them back on track. Chef Michael and Douglas were together to prepare the dishes while Rita was expediting. The orders were being served to the customers on time and the dishes were being received well by them.
However, the staff started to interrupt the kitchen as they started to shout out their orders. This created havoc in the kitchen. Gordon advised the staff to stay calm and focused. He instructed Rita to focus on expediting and asked Lisa to keep checking in the dining room. The staff and kitchen worked together and made the relaunch a success.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Gordon Ramsay’s intervention at La Galleria 33 transformed the struggling restaurant. Initially La Galleria faced chaos, unprofessionalism, and declining business. Gordon identified key issues like poor food quality, lack of leadership, and disorganization. Ramsay helped the owners regain control of their business. The successful relaunch demonstrated that with teamwork and commitment, La Galleria 33 could once again thrive in Boston’s competitive dining scene.
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