Location: Bourbon Street, New Orleans, Louisiana
A restaurant specializing in Creole cuisine has lost it heart-and nearly makes Gordon loose his lunch at the condition of the walk-in fridges. With an alcoholic, confrontational owner, Gordon has his work cut out for him.
Tropes
- The Alcoholic: Moe really stands out in this regard. He's late for the re-opening... strongly implied to be due to him drinking (or doing something worse). He even leaves during the dinner rush to "take a break".... probably to go drink somewhere private.
- Blatant Lies: Nearly everyone was willing to lie to Ramsay about the condition of the food - except for Rami, because he cared enough about the business to be honest. They lied to Ramsay about having not frozen the crab cakes, only for that lie to be shot down by Rami, and they admit to Ramsay they have lied after being exposed. They even have a rather weak excuse for doing so: they don't get enough customers and they pointlessly make big batches of crab cakes. Next, they try to withhold the details of when the duck that Ramsay ate earlier was made, which is still not being honest as it is lying by omission, and they deny knowing when the duck was cooked... only for Moe to admit that it was cooked a month before and it was made outside of the restaurant's premises. Worst of all, nobody was even ashamed of that simple fact (except for Moe and Rami, perhaps). This alone almost got Gordon to say "screw it" and leave, as he will NOT tolerate being lied to by people he's trying to help.
- Broken Pedestal: Downplayed. Owner Moe is the first one to defend chef Damon, dismissing any critique Gordon has and basically saying he has no right to complain since he knows nothing about cajun cuisine. But when Gordon shows him how lax and lazy chef Damon's methods are, and how much food spoils due to it, he really starts to see how much of a problem Damon is.
- George Jetson Job Security: The young woman who serves Gordon in his arrival admits to have been fired four times in the last year, only to be allowed back after each time. Ramsay is quite astonished, to say the least.
- Lethal Chef: Chef Damon had to be fired during the episode because Gordon and the owners could see the restaurant couldn't move on with him.
- Nice to the Waiter: Gordon's almost apologetic to have to send the waitress back with the food.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: The speech Gordon gives Chef Damon is also among the most scathing. When Gordon sends his disgusting meal back, the chef spends minutes tearing Gordon down, saying that Ramsay knows nothing about Cajun food and making insulting jokes about Ramsay that make the kitchen staff break into loud laughter...which Ramsay overhears. Ramsay then inspects the kitchen, finds filthy equipment, dead mice, and tons of rancid spoiled food in the fridge, and then delivers a scathing point-by-point verbal beatdown, with a pointed, sarcastic "Chef" attached to the end of each detail and directed at the Oceana chef, all of it stated in a calm, even voice.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: Moe and Rami, the co-owner brothers of the restaurant. Moe is extremely hot-tempered (when the restaurant has to be shut down due to serious food-safety issues, Moe literally throws a couple of chairs across the room), whereas Rami is more level-headed, even a little self-aware.
- Separated by a Common Language: Gordon calls the meatheaded lunk, Moe, a "busy idiot", which means Exactly What It Says on the Tin. Moe, however, is combative and reacts quite badly to being called that, so his brother Rami has to calm him down by saying that in Britain, "busy idiot" is a compliment, with the infamous quote, "He's from British, he doesn't speak English."
- Stealth Insult: Moe: 'I'm speechless!' / Ramsay: 'Good! I like it when you're speechless.'
- Twitchy Eye: Chef Damon blinks extremely frequently, sometimes even one eye at a time; this becomes especially pronounced when he is angry.
- Vomit Discretion Shot: Gordon threw up immediately after smelling rotten shrimp from the fridge. He was very fortunate that a trash can was right beside him at the time.
