The Fenwick Arms - Kitchen Nightmares Update - Open or Closed?

In this Kitchen Nightmares episode, Gordon Ramsay visits The Fenwick Arms in Claughton, Lancashire.

The Fenwick Arms is a pub owned by Brian and his partner Elaine.

They have owned the pub for 3 years.

Brian has over 20 years experience of running and cooking in pubs with his wife Elaine.

The pub is now losing over £1500 every week.

Gordon arrives and the pub is in the middle of a busy road and can be easily missed.

The bush out the front is overgrown and it covers the menu.

Gordon tries to move it to see the menu.

Gordon meets the owners and the space in pub is tight and he thinks the decor is cluttered.

They tell Gordon they work every day and around 100-120 hours a week, taking only Christmas off.

Brian is 62 and only took 7 days off when he had a triple heart bypass.

Gordon is confused as it is a pub but the atmosphere is not fun or homely.

There is a separate dining room with a huge dining table that is set up for a silver service dinner.

The menu is like that of a fine dining restaurant with upscale dishes, sauce lists and wine lists.

Gordon ordered the simplest thing on the menu, a prawn cocktail but it comes served in a martini glass.

He also orders a rack of lamb but it is also pretentious, difficult to eat and is like chewing on a golf ball.

Gordon tells them that pub grub is supposed to be homely and rustic and not a la carte fine dining.

The next day, they say they are devastated by his feedback.

They have debts totalling £250,000 and are 3 months away from being homeless.

Gordon wants to see a dinner service.

He learns that Brian sets a timer as he prepares each dish as he is forgetful.

He runs around the kitchen doing everything.

The experienced Chef Nathan simply garnishes the food as he isn't allowed to cook anything.

Nathan shows him his weird broiler filled with bizarre sauces, including one that uses Appletiser fizzy drink.

Gordon tells them their kitchen is too complicated.

A 62 year old who has had 5 heart attacks should not be working this hard.

The kitchen is cluttered with equipment including a second hand espresso machine.

Brian hoards plates of different shapes and sizes.

He keeps them wrapped in cling film and stored in every nook of the kitchen.

Gordon hires a skip and tells Brian that he must decide what is to be thrown away.

He finds reasons to hold on to almost everything.

He wants to hold onto three microwaves, despite only needing one.

Gordon intervenes and persuades Brian to part with some items that are broken or not needed.

As a result the stock pot, a hot plate and more is thrown away.

The items are crushed as Gordon is convinced that Brian would sneak the items back in.

For the evening service, Gordon moves Brian to the bar to serve customers.

He wants to show him that the staff can run the kitchen in his absence.

The kitchen staff can shine and show Brian that they are able to run the kitchen without him.

Brian is awkward with customers at the front of house.

He just sort of hovers around the customers, looking lost.

Elaine is pouring the guests wine and the dining tables are empty.

The bar is full of people waiting for food.

Gordon is frustrated by the formal nature of the service.

After the service, Gordon meets with Brian.

He wants to move the pub towards serving simple, rustic pub food.

The next day, Gordon has tasked the owners with creating a new menu.

The kitchen staff get to work learning new classic British pub dishes.

Gordon tells the owners that they won't be working that evening.

They are to have their first night off in 18 years.

Gordon wants them to come to the pub for dinner and relax.

The staff will be running the pub alone again that night.

He tells them to ditch their uniforms.

The owners return for the evening service but they are dressed in suits.

Gordon tells them that they have to leave and return dressed more casually.

They return dressed more casually and Gordon lets them in.

The couple are pleased with the service and taste of the new menu.

The night was a success.

The staff reveal that Brian came back into the kitchen to put his plates back.

He also told the staff that nothing will be changing.

Gordon speaks with the owners.

They fear losing control and stepping away from their roles is losing their business.

It is a Bank Holiday but the pub has no customers.

They should be full of customers eating roast dinners.

Gordon takes a pot of their gravy to fill in a pothole in their car park.

He then takes the kitchen staff through making a real gravy and Yorkshire puddings.

Gordon comes up with the idea of being known for the best gravy in the area.

He gives them t-shirts and a bullhorn to wear into town to launch a campaign for real gravy.

They all show up with Yorkshire puddings and their new gravy as samples for the locals.

They love the spectacle and the samples.

They are all invited for the relaunch.

Before the relaunch Gordon gets them to take down the banner in front of the pub.

They jet clean the outdoors and start selling off Brian’s crockery on eBay.

Gordon tasks Elaine with keeping Brian out of the kitchen.

The campaign worked and they have up to 88 bookings for the relaunch.

Gordon takes the kitchen staff through last-minute recipes for the new menu.

For relaunch, the menu has been simplified once again.

Chef Karen will be leading the kitchen.

The diners are pleased with the food but the service is letting them down.

The first sitting have not left the tables and they need to prepare them for the second sitting.

The bar is full of customers waiting to be seated.

The first set of customers have not received their bills.

Gordon tells them not to be afraid of telling customers who are done with their meals to move to the bar.

They move the customers through and Brian steps up turning the tables for the second sitting.

The customers all love the new food especially the gravy and are complementary of their food.

Brain finally realises that the kitchen can function on their own and he is proud of them.

They made £2447 during the service and £2000 more than the previous week.

What Happened Next at The Fenwick Arms?

Gordon returns a month later.

He returns on a Sunday and the carpark is full.

Brian is temporarily back in the kitchen.

He returned just 7 days after filming and his plates are also back.

Sunday roast sales are up 30%.

They are making over 250 litres of homemade gravy every week.

The website is getting 30,000 hits a month!

Gordon revisits in a revisited episode.

Only one of the original kitchen staff are still working there.

Brian is still in the kitchen, controlling the menu.

Morale amongst staff was low, in fact most of the staff were looking to leave.

Brian had also bought some new plates and these were creeping back into the kitchen.

A rival pub "The Highway Man" had recently opened down the road.

This had noticeably affected their business.

Brian and Elaine left the pub in 2009.

They moved to Aldborough and were running The Ship Inn.

They claimed that the new menu at the Fenwick drove away trade.

The Fenwick was taken over by new owners and had a major revamp both inside and out.

In 2011, the pub was put up for sale and closed.

The Fenwick Arms reopened in June 2013.

The pub reopened as a seafood restaurant and pub.

Elaine Howden sadly passed away in January 2024.

Trip Advisor reviews are excellent.

The Fenwick Arms aired on November 14 2006, the episode was filmed in August 2006 and is Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares UK season 4 episode 2.

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