Seascape Inn in Islip, NY

Before I begin, yes. I'm still upset that this is the fourth episode of this season of Kitchen Nightmares and they're still in New York state despite the claims of the opening voice who says they criss-cross the country in search of restaurants for Gordon to assist. I'm beginning to think I should never eat at a restaurant in New York state if I were to visit. Hmm.

This episode, we're watching the drama within the Seascape Inn in Islip, NY. It was opened in 1962 by current owners Irene's late husband and Peter's father. In the last couple of years since he passed away, the restaurant has begun failing miserably and Peter needs to make up between $800,000 and $1,000,000 to keep the restaurant afloat.

It doesn't help that their head chef, Doug, is beyond arrogant and believes his cooking is the be all end all despite the amount of grease sludge in the kitchen. The sous chef, Charles, seems like he could really care less about being there. The two people I liked the most in this episode (besides Gordon - duh) were the two waitresses Marilyn and Diane. Marilyn was an older bird who'd been waitressing for the Seascape Inn since 1967. Diane was a woman who shot from the hip. I liked that.

We all know the routine by now. Gordon shows up and introduces himself. He sits down and orders a meal or meals. Tonight he decided to go with the crabcakes, pesto lobster ravioli, and cajun Atlantic salmon. The crabcakes fell apart (they weren't prepared fresh but were frozen), the raviolis needed more parsley (not), the pesto was a light creamy green (ewww), and the fish was dry. The topper of his meal was the sweet little cookie Irene brought him. Personally, I think Irene was trying to suffocate him with the powdered sugar.

Of course, the dinner service that night was horrendous. Complaints from customers, Peter arguing on the phone in front of customers, and cold plates. I did love what Gordon told Doug about his overuse of parsley on the dishes. I'll tell you what he said for a five dollar Paypal. Just kidding. He told Doug, "Sprinkle it on your wife but not on the effing plates!" You have to love Gordon Ramsay.

While observing dinner service, Gordon noticed the kitchen was uber filthy. How hilarious that at the beginning of the episode Irene had told him that they ran a clean restaurant. It made my skin crawl watching Gordon go through that kitchen. They keep fish in a dog food bag? Doug recooks the chicken? The croutons are moldy?

Gordon decided to shut the place down. No lunch service for the folks of Islip on their day two! Personally, I think they'd be better off at the local Cluck 'n Pluck. The kitchen needs a deep steamcleaning. Finally the restaurant was on the verge of reopening on day four. Was it cleaner? Yes. Were Doug and Charles still acting like asses? Yes. They were being such asses that Gordon told Peter and Irene that they needed to make a choice. Basically it was him or them. Peter timidly walked to the kitchen and fired Doug and Charles. Poor Dougie was humiliated. What a baby. No cooks means no reopening.

On day five, Gordon took Peter boxing to relieve his frustrations. Come to find out, Peter had been put down by his father growing up and and said he had been keeping himself down in the business due to that. He's now found the cajones to prove his father wrong and has decided that he can't blame his father for keeping him down anymore.

While they were boxing, the amazing remodeling took place. I must say the place looked better. At least it didn't look like the walls were about to crumble apart at any moment and come crashing down on a diner's head. They also hired a new chef, Scott, who was local to the community. I hope he takes charge. They certainly need some direction in the kitchen. Oh my gosh! Jean-Baptiste is there!!! He'll be helping Peter take charge in the front.

The restaurant is getting ready to reopen for dinner service finally that evening and Peter's even wearing a jacket (Jean-Baptiste suggested it). Woohoo! A shirtless Gordon Ramsay sighting. Yum.

Of course, things were crazy at first because they hadn't been used to this amount of business in about forever. Eventually though they all settled into a rhythm and began working as a team getting the orders out. Overall, Gordon thought it was a successful night.

Interesting enough, we found out that Gordon stuck around for another week after that night and helped the new chef Scott out for the restaurant. Gordon even helped the restaurant with an annual chowder cookoff. And Marilyn, who'd been there since 1967, brought back the table-side flambee.

Whoa! We're being treated to an update again. This one is five months after the filming was completed. The restaurant looked deserted. Come to find out, Peter sold the restaurant. He got an offer he just couldn't refuse. I feel bad for Marilyn the most.

Next week, Kitchen Nightmares will be at the Old Stone Mill in Tuckahoe, NY. What? Did I really hear that right? A fifth New York state restaurant in a row? Forget about in a row. Only New York state restaurants since this series started? I've had it! I'm done with this show!!!

I could be talked into watching next week's episode if I'm promised another shirtless Gordon scene though.