“Like, no one tells me that these things are going on unless someone tells me, and they haven’t told me.” – Lisa
I’m originally from New York and then lived in California for a long time, so I greatly enjoy episodes of Kitchen Nightmares that focus on personality types and neighborhoods that I’m familiar with.
“Lido Di Manhattan Beach” is an especially delicious one for me as I have actually been inside the establishment once upon a time. I met a friend there for a drink years ago, but did not actually have anything to eat. Perhaps a good thing!
Therefore, I can at least provide you with a description of the location before diving into the specifics of the episode. Lido Di Manhattan is located within a huge strip mall in an upscale and very busy area in Manhattan Beach, California, which is on the westside of greater Los Angeles, south of Santa Monica.
For several years, I had a job that was nearby, so I would see Lido Di Manhattan all the time because I would go to a gym in the same strip mall, and I also shopped often at a high end supermarket nearby. There was also a takeout Mexican restaurant across the vast parking lot that had incredible burritos. That place I ate at many times.
Again, seems like I may have gotten lucky with my Manhattan Beach culinary travels after all!
Anyway, we’re told that Lisa Hemmat bought the restaurant when she was 23 after graduating from USC, but we don’t get a read on how she got the money to buy the joint (except for “dad co-signed on a loan for me”). Let me emphasize that the real estate in that part of southern California has got to be very expensive by any standard.
When we meet Lisa in this episode, she’s 28.
Immediately, Damien, a bar manager, dishes on Lisa, saying that the only reason why Lido hangs in there is because the staff has worked there “forever” and knows what they’re doing. Oh, and then we learn that Damien and Lisa have also been “kind of dating for the last six months,” which is very funny, I must say.
Lisa admits that dating Damien is “probably a bad idea, but I’m going to do it anyway.”
Gordon Ramsay shows up, and as is standard practice, orders a meal to check out the restaurant’s food and service. When he forks into the eggplant parmigiana, it visually looks gross, and Gordon quickly notes, “The eggplant is raw… it’s like palmed in grease.”
Meanwhile, the “ahi tower” is “grainy and furry.” So not great. And then the tortellini tastes like rubber.
“What hurts more than anything is how bad the food was,” Ramsay informs chef Luis Martinez, and his brother Arturo.
It’s flat out laughable when we learn that the pasta and tuna are not pre-made (read = frozen) at an Italian restaurant.
Meanwhile, the entire way that Lido Di Manhattan runs seems antiquated, down to its ordering system. Which doesn’t speak well to Lisa’s background as a graduate of USC’s Marshal School of Business – which she makes me sure we hear about multiple times.
As Ramsay walks Lisa around the kitchen, asking her questions such as why tuna is being seared on a Monday in preparation to be served several days later, she has a look on her face that’s akin to when a parent or teacher examines all the shoddy work that you’ve done and you have no good answers to respond with.
“Like, no one tells me that these things are going on unless someone tells me, and they haven’t told me,” Lisa says. Which is the opposite of what one would define as effective leadership, I’m sorry to state.
And if that’s not enough, we get a taste (so to speak) of how dinner service is going when we hear a diner say, “I can’t eat more of this, it’s making me sick.”
That all happens before Ramsay starts digging into how dirty the kitchen is.
“They should be cleaning every day,” Lisa says, and it’s hard to tell if she’s saying it as a statement or simply whining.
Meanwhile, Gordon goes into Stunt Mode, halting action in the kitchen and inviting the diners into the back of the house to show them how dirty it is. If Ramsay was looking to break Lisa, it worked as this move sends her running in the bathroom Lido crying.
Damien leads the charge in cleaning up the back of the house, and it’s hard to tell if he’s helping to throw his girlfriend Lisa under the bus when he shouts, “Gordon’s right, it’s filthy!”
The kitchen now clean and service fired back up, Lisa refused to leave the bathroom nearly an hour later. Finally, after the “dismal dinner service” concludes, Lisa emerges and has a sit-down chat with her tough lovin’ pal, Gordon.
It’s really hard to have any sympathy at all for Lisa when she continues to whine, “What do you want me to do, go back into the kitchen and dust?”
Anyone who has ever actually given a damn about their job screams in unison at that moment: UHHH… YEAH. THAT WOULD BE A START.
Meanwhile, Gordon hurls a “precious princess” at her and tells her that she’s in denial. And while Ramsay is being pretty brutal, he’s very much in the right here.
The next day, things take a more positive note as Gordon leads the staff through a little stunt where they smash the antiquated point of sale register (no word on what they’re replacing it with), after which Chef Ramsay gives the team a cooking lesson. It’s hard not to shake your head here, however, when Lisa reveals that she “doesn’t know that much about food.”
For that night’s dinner service, Ramsay sends Lisa onto the cooking line to give her a crash course on how the business she owns actually works. And if nothing else her fumbling around amused her employees to no end. And then it’s astounding that she was not aware how many of the dishes were even prepared.
And as that’s going on, one of the servers reports that seven entrees and counting have been sent back due to the food being awful. Lisa also laughably notes that “no one can take responsibility all the time.”
Eventually, things smooth out and the service is able to finish on a high note. Lisa even discovers that understanding what’s going on in the kitchen is “vital.”
Day Three is relaunch day, replete with a complete overhaul of the décor. Side note that the one time I had a drink at Lido, I do recall the interior being quite nice, with the upscale Manhattan Beach vibe that you’d expect in that kind of restaurant. Oh, and a new POS system has been installed, by a company called Halo. The staff glows and applauds their great new fortune.
Meanwhile, the menu has been overhauled and is now “wine friendly.” There’s also very attractive dishes like flat breads and some other pastas and stuff that I didn’t quite a read on.
Dinner service on the night of relaunch: there’s a “communication breakdown” in the kitchen and no dishes are heading out of the kitchen. Finally, the diners get their food… but they ain’t liking it. Some entrees are cold, others overcooked. So not great in other words.
“They don’t know what the f— they’re doing,” Lisa says of her own staff.
“This is stupid,” Arturo eventually responds. And then Arturo a bunch of others from the kitchen staff bails out and literally leaves Lido. Maybe they went to get an incredible seven vegetable burrito at that amazing Mexican place in the strip mall that I reference above?
Ramsay calls someone named Scott, who “miraculously” is close enough to drive over and save the day, and is also set to serve as a consultant at Lido for the next month.
Eventually, Chef Scott shows up and starts barking orders (he seems to immediately be intimately familiar with the new menu), and Arturo and staff show back up and fall in line. “A massive comeback” occurs and the night ends successfully.
After service, Ramsay tells Lisa that she’s “punctual and a fast learner,” which is a flattering compliment if you’re an eight-year-old. That being said, the two hug and the night ends on an up note.
🍽 Want more? Check out Pop Thruster’s Kitchen Nightmares episode reviews (there’s a lot).
Kitchen Nightmares, “Lido Di Manhattan Beach”: is it still open?
As of this writing, Lido Di Manhattan remains open! Did I mention that its location at 1550 Rosecrans Ave. is incredible? Anyway…
Lido Di Manhattan boasts an impressive four-star rating on Yelp, with 562 reviews currently. And “Lisa H.” remains listed as the “business owner.” So perhaps she learned a thing or two from old Chef Gordon Ramsay after all.
Some stats and info about Kitchen Nightmares, “Lido Di Manhattan Beach”
TV SHOW – Kitchen Nightmares
SEASON/EPISODE – Season 2, Episode 5
AIRED ON – March 4th, 2010
NETWORK/STREAMING SERVICE – FOX
GENRE – Docuseries, Office Culture, Trashtastic TV, Food Shows
CAST – Gordon Ramsay