In this Kitchen Nightmares episode, Gordon Ramsay visits Diwan in Port Washington, New York.
Diwan is owned by Margaret and Bobby Chhikara.
The Indian restaurant has been in business for 35 years.
The business has been declining, so Bobby has been experimenting with fusions.
However, these have not been successful and leave customers confused.
Bobby is 68 years old and should be taking it easy, but his retirement is in jeopardy.
He still comes to work 7 days a week and does not want to let go of the restaurant.
Gordon arrives at the restaurant.
He is pleased by the stunning view and is excited about the Indian restaurant.
Gordon is confused by a sign outside saying the restaurant is a kebab bar.
He enters and sees the interior has leftover Mexican elements from a closed-down Mexican restaurant.
Bobby explained that the Mexican restaurant was an experiment he ran to offer more culinary options.
Gordon speaks with Bobby, who proudly tells him he is the Mexican chef, having done it before and succeeded.
Server Fernandes explains about the Indian restaurant.
Gordon is confused about the menu, as hummus and other non-Indian dishes are on it.
He also notices the high prices on the menu items.
While waiting for the food, he looks at their social media pages.
They joined years ago, but there have only been 4 posts since then.
He also has time to speak to other customers.
The food arrives and there are Chinese influences in the dishes and Gordon is even more confused.
The dishes are soggy, taste old and are swimming in oil.
Fernandes says the samosas were made in the morning, but in reality, they were made 2 days before.
The Chicken Tikka Masala arrives sizzling.
Gordon sees through the steam that food coloring has been added.
The food is tasteless and he is not happy to pay $42 for food coloring and frozen food.
The Biryani comes and Gordon also sees something wrong with it.
Fernandes is a passionate server and Gordon commends him, but the food is substandard and dated.
Gordon sits with Bobby and tells him the food does not represent true Indian food as he has cut too many corners.
He explains that his food has not evolved with the times.
The customers are not to blame for the decline of the business.
Margaret is also a part of the meeting and she thinks Bobby should be scaling back.
Bobby casually says that losing $100,000 is nothing, since the business will turn around, as it always has.
Gordon finally sees that Bobby is delusional.
The next day, Gordon has a plan to show Bobby how much the times have changed with a community survey.
They all say they enjoyed the restaurant in the beginning when it was still authentic.
The diners started to stay away when the food and decor changed.
They think the prices make no sense, since they have fine-dining prices.
Gordon thanks them and then goes to observe the dinner service.
Gordon wants to watch both the kitchen and the front of house.
Mistakes are made and food is sent back to the kitchen.
Gordon quickly sees Bobby is controlling the kitchen with no one doing anything.
No one does anything until he says so, which holds up the orders.
Margaret lets Gordon know he has no trust in his staff.
Halfway through the dinner service, everything falls apart once again.
Gordon leaves them to look in the basement storage area.
He quickly discovers that it is in a state.
They store items in the worst conditions, with several freezers of frozen foods with no dates.
A lot of the food in there is freezer-burned, which should not be used.
There are items of fresh produce that are so old that they are dehydrated.
Gordon confronts the staff about the conditions in the basement.
There is still Mexican food being stored even though the restaurant has been closed for a long time.
Both raw and cooked chicken are stored on the same shelf.
Gordon has the staff clean out the basement all night.
Overnight, Gordon has his own team work on the restaurant space to update the decor.
The bland, confused space is now ambient and warm, with Indian influences.
It is bright and colorful.
The staff love the new look and are excited to taste the new menu.
The food is presented to the staff, with no added food coloring and it is all made from fresh produce.
They love the colors, the spices and the flavors.
Mehreen from Next Level Chef is introduced to the staff.
She will be helping them with their social media presence.
They have some time to practice the new menu before the relaunch.
On relaunch, the customers come in and orders flow to the kitchen.
Bobby has finally hung up his apron and is greeting customers in the front of house.
It all starts well, with food going out quickly and customers loving it.
Bobby then quietly goes to the kitchen behind the line and Gordon has to go drag him out.
He is made to sit with his wife and order food from the menu so they can enjoy themselves.
The kitchen staff promises Gordon not to let Bobby behind the line again.
The rest of the night goes well, with the customers enjoying their time there.
What Happened Next at Diwan?
Two months later, Bobby has finally stuck to his retirement plans.
He has left his staff in charge of the restaurant.
Fernandes runs the front of house with renewed energy.
Diwan is open.
They are more active on social media.
Reviews are positive, with praise for the food and service.
There are a few complaints that the prices are still too high and a few issues with the Sunday buffet.
They returned to their previous menu just days after Gordon left.
Bobby claimed that regulars were disappointed not to see their favourite dishes on the menu.
With most episodes, there are often fake negative reviews.
It appears that some one star reviews appeared around the time the show aired.
Diwan was aired on 04 December 2023 and the episode was filmed in June 2023.
Diwan is Kitchen Nightmares season 8 episode 10.
Read About More Kitchen Nightmares
Previous episode - Max’s Bar and Grill
Next episode - Iberville Cuisine
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