Kitchen Nightmares: Secret Garden in Moorpark, CA

The previews leading up to this week's season finale of Kitchen Nightmares promised an explosive episode that wouldn't disappoint. After watching the show, I don't know if I'd call it explosive but it was definitely enjoyable.

Nestled in the gateway to California's wine country is the Secret Garden restaurant in Moorpark, CA. It is owned and run by Michel and on the brink of financial ruin. The featured staff in this episode included: Jane, a server; Sammy, a server; and Devon, a cook. Michel is an arrogant and fiery French chef serving stodgy food to retirees who must have nothing better to do with their money than to eat in his establishment.

After two tries, Gordon finally found the entrance to the restaurant and was amazed at the lack of waitstaff and the ghastly furnishings. Walking back to the kitchen, he found Michel and Jane and introduced himself. Once seated, he was met with a dirty glass which he quickly pointed out to Jane. Gordon decided to live a little dangerously and ordered an appetizer of strawberries and garlic shrimp (it was disgusting). He then ordered a Roquefort stuffed filet of beef which turned out to be a tough hunk of meat accompanied by raw carrots and a heaping of greasy shoestring potatoes all served on a chipped plate.

When he met with Michel about his meal, he told him that it was boring and tasteless crap. It was one of the worst meals he'd ever eaten. Of course, none of this went over very well with Michel who almost immediately began bickering back and forth with Gordon. The next morning didn't go very well either. When Gordon inspected the kitchen he found rotten food, moldy containers, and maggots. Yes, I said maggots. After throwing up in the restroom, he confronted Michel on the state of his kitchen. Michel actually said that it had just been cleaned and was upset that Gordon would dare insult him. This guy is a piece of work.

After the massive kitchen clean-up, Gordon wanted to witness the dinner service. The problem was that there were hardly any customers. What few customers there were had the same problem that many of this season's restaurants had -- slow service. Michel believed his customers wanted an experience to enjoy in his restaurant. I guess if you call staring at the horrible furnishings and decoration while waiting to be served an experience then you'd be correct. Personally, I'd rather enjoy the food but what do I know?

On day 3, Gordon shuttered up the business and placed 'Closed' signs on the place. When Michel finally showed up to work, he wasn't happy about that because he didn't want the community to think he'd closed down. Gordon calmed him down and then went to work butchering the Frenchman's menu. There was too much food and it was all crusted or stuffed. Gordon believed the menu should be cleaner so that the food would be quick and easy to cook. Michel was having a hard time going with it.

At dinner service that night, the customers were loving Gordon's specials and things were going great -- at first. Before too long, orders began backing up which made Michel feel that he had to revert back to his old menu. It didn't help either that the kitchen staff wasn't telling the waitstaff that they were out of ingredients for some of the specials which left the waitstaff still pushing the specials on the customers. Jane and Michel eventually began arguing about the way things were going and she left in tears. The service ended in disaster: waiters messing up, no communication back and forth between them and the kitchen, and just outright disorganization.

The next day was relaunch day so you know what that means. The restaurant received new signage and new decor. It was so drastic to me that it didn't even look like the same restaurant (that means it was a huge improvement). Michel didn't think it was much of an improvement though and was worried that his old (literally) customers wouldn't appreciate the new design and be worried they might be in the wrong restaurant (that just might be possible). Michel really didn't like the news that there would be a food critic at dinner service either.

At dinner service that evening, there was a ton of customers -- including the food critic and Miss California! I don't know if you noticed this or not, but the food critic had an earpiece in which made me wonder who was talking to her. Anyway, her fish that she'd ordered was overseasoned so she sent it back. Michel then went out to offer her a signature dish from his old menu which infuriated Gordon. They began a huge yelling match (did you see that quick shirtless Gordon shot?) that the customers could overhear in the dining area. Gordon called Michel a pig with a filthy kitchen. Michel told Gordon he wasn't a true chef. Eventually, Gordon left to get some fresh air and to cool off.

Although he wanted to walk away from it all, Gordon did eventually come back to the kitchen and told Michel that they just needed to work together just one more night. Michel changed his mind about serving one of his old dishes to the food critic and instead served her one of Gordon's dishes. She absolutely loved it which Michel didn't like hearing. Michel continued talking to the other customers and was told over and over again how much they loved the changes and the food. Doesn't that tell you something Michel?

At their final meeting, Gordon told them not to screw things up and told Michel that he has to learn to serve the customers and not himself. The voiceover guy told us that later in the week Michel had kept on cleaning, Jane had been promoted to Manager, customers were happy, and the restaurant is now a success. They didn't say if the restaurant was still open or not so I'm assuming it is. I have a hard time believing though that Michel really changed any of his ways.

What did you think about this finale episode? What'd you think about the arrogant French chef? What'd you think about the entire season of Kitchen Nightmares overall? What kind of changes would you like to see in its second season?