“I don’t want to be a chef.” – Chef Melissa
We’re back on Long Island, Kitchen Nightmares, my homeland, which always means we’re in for one hell of a good and trashtastic time.
Let’s do this.
The Handlebar is located in Mount Sinai, New York, which is on Long Island’s north shore, and quite a way east of the part of Suffolk County I grew up in (East Northport/Commack). Narrator Guy tells us that it’s a working class community of “city commuters.” I only mention this because commuting to New York City from Mount Sinai, while totally possible, is a long ride on the Long Island Railroad each way.
We learn that Bill Leroy, a “former construction worker” with a very healthy handlebar mustache of his own, and his wife Carolyn have only owned The Handlebar for about a year at the time of the episode’s filming.
“In its heyday, this was the place to be,” Bill says.
Mary Jane, a server, grades Bill as an “okay manager,” but we quickly learn that “okay” means that he’s:
- Lazy: hangs out at the bar instead of actively managing
- Grouchy: with wild mood swings
The Handlebar is also dingy and also severely in need of upgrades. And meanwhile, Melissa, the head chef, admits herself that she’s not very good and doesn’t want to work there.
Meanwhile, Carolyn tells us that the Handlebar is so deep in the financial hole that she and Bill are at risk of losing their house.
Gordon Ramsay gets lost trying to find the Handlebar, which corroborates my experience of how confusing Long Island’s north shore can be in trying to get around. However, in the era of GPS and smart phones, I’m not sure what our guy’s excuse is.
When he shows up, Ramsay’s first comment is especially weird, even for him: he relays that Mount Sinai sounds like “Mount Cyanide,” and then says he hopes that the food at the Handlebar doesn’t taste like it.
Meanwhile, Amanda the server tells the camera that “for an older man,” Ramsay is hot.
When Ramsay sits down to order, he’s more on point in noting that there are four different menus, including specials and one that’s a “price fixed menu.”
I’m reminded here how important diners are to the Long Island lifestyle. I spent countless hours at the Candlelight Diner in Commack growing up, a 24-hour joint where I’d sit with friends gabbing over French fries and coffee.
After Ramsay orders a strange assortment of dishes, including the “filet mignon fondue,” he observes that while the bar is bustling with customers, the dining room is empty. Also: the décor is “ghastly,” and dated in a very 1980s-centric way.
From the kitchen, Chef Melissa grimaces at Ramsay’s choices, but adds that pretty much everything is terrible. In a shocking turn of events if you’ve ever watched Kitchen Nightmares, Ramsay actually loved his first order, the soup.
However, things return to the norm with his seafood crepe, which is rubbery and tasteless. The filet mignon fondue is even worse: it “comes out like raw dog food.” Also: rancid and “a complete, utter joke.” He seems particularly insulted that the Handlebar would serve fried filet mignon. “Are they stupid?” he asks, derisively.
When Ramsay informs Bill that the food is bad, the Handlebar’s owner seems genuinely surprised as he likes Melissa’s cooking. Things take a turn when Melissa informs Ramsay that she hasn’t lost her passion as she never had it in the first place.
“I don’t want to be a chef,” she adds.
It was around this time when I noticed that not only does Bill have a big-time handlebar mustache, but he’s also rocking a major mullet. Oh, and don’t forget the tiny earring. Business up front, party in the back my people.
During dinner service, the restaurant runs out of basic vegetables right away, so it’s pretty hilarious when you see a pile of cooked radishes being sent out with steaks to diners.
Meanwhile, Billy Boy starts getting fed up with Ramsay’s brand of tough love pretty quickly. “I’m really starting to dislike him,” he tells the camera.
The next morning, Ramsay gets into Kitchen Investigation mode, which never goes well. “The remnants of the Exxon Valdez,” our guy quips as he rummages through creepy looking leftovers and other food objects in the food storage area.
When the British chef confronts Bill and Melissa about the dirty and neglected conditions, the Handlebar owner’s attitude is generally deflective: it used to be worse, you shoulda seen it when… and so on.
“It looks 60%, 70% times better than it used to,” Bill weirdly adds. After this, he whines that Ramsay refuses to give him “a pat on the back” for the things he feels he does well as a restaurant owner.
As the staff is tasked with doing a proper cleaning, Ramsay pulls Bill outside to lay into him more. “I’m f—ing pissed off,” he tells him.
I can absolutely see a case for assertively pushing back against Ramsay for his brash and overly aggressive demeanor, but Billy instead blubbers incoherently, alternating between whining and deflecting about his plot in life.
“You’re a weak man,” Ramsay concludes.
Back inside the Handlebar, Billy announces, “I’m done with this crap.” With this, he takes off his microphone and storms out of the restaurant.
Eventually, Ramsay sends two staffers out to try and convince Billy to get back on board with saving his own restaurant. My favorite part here is when one of the female servers spits something large out of her mouth before lighting up a cigarette.
Meanwhile, Billy goes on about how “the only reason” he hasn’t taken a baseball bat to Gordon Ramsay is because “I’d go to f—ing jail for it.”
The female smoker retorts, “Go ahead, be a f—ing baby about it, Billy.”
My thought bubble here: “Ah, Long Island!”
It gets even better when Bill calls Carolyn and tells her that he wants to sell the Handlebar, and if that means losing the house and going to bankruptcy court, “so be it.”
Sans Billy, Ramsay rallies Carolyn and the staff that they are moving forward to open up that night with a clean restaurant and new attitudes. In addition to this, he then works with Chef Melissa to come up with new specials for that night’s dinner service. Handmade potato chips will be on tap along with fresh clams, and they do indeed look delicious.
As dinner service is underway, Billy Boy shows back up, but now with a good attitude. When we see Carolyn trying to talk him down and get him on board with turning things around, I honestly felt with her as their interaction has the vibes of an abusive (or at least unhealthy) relationship.
Eventually, Billy and Ramsay reconcile in some sense, with the owner finally conceding that Gordon can be helpful.
The next day, the renovation of the interior is unveiled, and while everyone freaks out with joy about it, it comes across as a modest overhaul on camera. Ramsay dubs it “Long Island’s gastropub.”
“Gastropub? What the f— is a gastropub?” Amanda asks the camera.
At this point in the episode, it’s time for a gimmick: Ramsay organizes a motorcycle event that involves Long Island native and Twisted Sister frontman Dee Snyder to help publicize “the grand reopening of the Handlebar.”
For relaunch night, the menu is consolidated and simplified in typical Ramsay style, with fresh, easy to prepare pub foods.
With the place packed, Melissa alternates between not being communicative and attempting to send out overcooked dishes (she gets into it with Ramsay over blackened blackened salmon). Eventually, things smooth out as she’s encouraged to delegate more to her two assistant chefs.
In the epilogue segment, Melissa says she now enjoys being the Handlebar’s head chef, and overall things seem to be going pretty well. And Billy Boy even says that he’s appreciative of Chef Ramsay’s help.
🍽 Want more? Check out Pop Thruster’s Kitchen Nightmares episode reviews (there’s a lot).
Kitchen Nightmares, “Handlebar”: is it still open?
No! The Handlebar closed about a year after Gordon Ramsay and Kitchen Nightmares paid it a visit, for reasons that remain unclear.
And on a sad note, Bill Leroy passed away in 2015.
Some stats and info about Kitchen Nightmares, “Handlebar”
TV SHOW – Kitchen Nightmares
NETWORK/STREAMING SERVICE – FOX
GENRE – Reality TV, Docuseries, Food Shows
EPISODE DESCRIPTION – Chef Ramsay visits the family-run Finn McCool’s in Westhampton, New York and faces an obnoxious head chef who happens to be the owner’s son.
CAST – Gordon Ramsay