Location: Norwalk, Ohio
In the first half of a two-part special, Gordon encounters one of the most pretentious restaurant owners he has ever met.
Tropes
- Berserk Button: Joe gets unreasonably furious about Gordon handing him back the raw micro-carrot he had used as a garnish on one dish: Joe decides to do a stellar impression of Ramsay complaining about the carrots. And then Ramsay actually does complain about the carrots, calmly handing them back to Joe, which causes Joe to start quietly raging about it in the kitchen and on the voiceover, all while Ramsay remains relatively composed.
- Joe: (as Ramsay) Wot the bloody ell you fink you're doin' servin toiny carrots? (laughs at his own joke)
- Blatant Lies: Joe claims to be "self-taught by the greatest European chefs." Gordon seems to brush off the oxymoron in that statement, but it becomes clearly apparent when Gordon actually tries the food. Later on, when Gordon actually talks to Joe about Joe's food, Joe tries to backpedal and say "I didn't fucking tell you that!" when Gordon points out that statement of Joe's about being taught by the greatest chefs of Europe and we see a flashback from earlier proving Joe to be a liar. In addition, Joe convinced Gordon, at the beginning, that all of the meat cooked at his restaurant comes from his personal ranch, but Gordon soon fails to find any of it in the kitchen's storage.
- Cordon Bleugh Chef: Gordon doesn't know how to react when served a quesadilla stuffed with elk meat.
- Interspecies Romance: Ramsay makes a few jokes about this when Joe introduces him to his pet goat, and remarks that said goat is "jealous" when it tries to headbutt Ramsay.
- Let's See YOU Do Better!: Joe is an example of this, alongside outright denial. When Amy tells Joe that the Elk Medallion is too tough to even chew for Ramsay, and they charge an outrageous $35.00 for the elk on top of that, Joe eats it himself and says "[Ramsay] is dead wrong, elk is gonna have a bite, gonna have a chew, it's characteristic of it, it's never gonna change. That is a tender piece of elk." In fact, Joe said, that at his expense, he would go to one of Ramsay's restaurants that serve elk and he'd demand instructions on how elk should be made.
- Long Speech Tea Time: Whenever Gordon bruised his ego, Joe would go on lengthy rants to staff and customers alike as if they were his psychiatrists about how he's so much better than Ramsay, with no one being particularly interested in his prattling.
- Turn in Your Badge: Gordon Ramsay jokes about this when he says "turn in your badge" to members of the serving staff who have been made by Joe to wear ridiculous nametags.
