Note: The last Kitchen Nightmares recap was received with a request to never-ever recap an entire episode again. Ouch! So this time I’m going to do a brief synopsis of the show; trying not to spoil too much for those who are in other countries and have to wait a long time before they get to watch. What do you guys think? Full recaps, shorter synopses, forget it entirely… I’m open to suggestion.

The third episode in season 2 has Gordon visiting a family-run Italian eatery called Giuseppi’s located in a small town outside Detroit. The restaurant was started by a couple, Joe and Kathy. They’ve run several restaurants throughout their lives and upon retirement they opened this restaurant in hopes of passing it on to their son, Sam.

Joe and Sam butt heads constantly, Joe wants to run everything even though the premise was to hand the reins over to Sam. Joe’s health is deteriorating but his workaholic nature drives him to be at the restaurant all the time. This drive also makes it hard for Sam to step up and take control because he just wants his family to be “happy and healthy”, thus he avoids rocking the boat.

Gordon Ramsay is driven to the restaurant by Kathy; she briefs him on the family and restaurant background en route. Even though the restaurant has only been open a couple years, Gordon feels the decor looks like something out of the 70′s. While waiting for his octopus salad, potato skins and eggplant rollatini, he studies the menu in preparation for the upcoming rehab.

Gordon has to help the family refine their definition of traditional Italian food (i.e. not serving potato skins!) as well as mend family relationships in order to make this restaurant a success.

Jill blogs at GlossyVeneer where she rambles about her daily life and reviews random things/places she encounters. She also writes at JillWillRun, as she trains for a marathon while raising money for cancer research.