The second episode of Kitchen Nightmares season 8 takes superstar chef Gordon Ramsay to New Jersey, where he offered his sage advice to the owners of the trendy Bask 46 sports bar in the Woodland Park community.
Interestingly, Bask 46 opened only six months prior to Ramsay's visit, so it didn't have enough time to be one of Ramsay's bigger nightmares. But that didn't mean there weren't problems; some of Bask 46's challenges were ones that many restaurants have been faced with in the post-pandemic world: staffing and costs. Though popular, the restaurant was losing money, which impacted owner Steve Baskinger's health and well-being.
Per the New Jersey Digest, Baskinger saw an opportunity to work out some of the fledgling restaurant's issues while gaining valuable insight from Gordon Ramsay to help turn his business around before it was too late. Like Ramsay, Baskinger has experience managing multiple restaurants; his Bask Bar & Grill is only a short distance from Bask 46 and his other restaurant, 381 Main, was open for over a decade before closing in 2019.
According to the employees, Baskinger's relationship with Chef Bobby was contentious. Bobby, a self-taught chef, didn't like criticism, didn't have a grasp on portion sizes and wasn't making the "homemade" sauces being flaunted in the menu. Neither men could work together without arguing and the restaurant was bleeding money.
Ramsay visited Bask 46 in May 2023, closing the restaurant for a week while he worked his magic. Some of the things he tackled included making portions smaller to help save money and prevent so many customers from going home with leftovers, and adding a few signature menu items to entice customers who were already pleased with the food being served there.
Almost five months have passed since Ramsay's visit and Bask 46 is going strong. Baskinger and Chef Bobby are getting along. One look at the 4.3-star rating from 59 Google reviews for Bask 46 reveals that things have been going well for the sports bar. It's also nice to see that Baskinger himself has been responding to customer reviews, thanking them for their business and their reviews.
That makes Ramsay two-for-two so far on this season of Kitchen Nightmares, after he helped keep the Bel Aire Diner open.
Kitchen Nightmares season 8 airs Mondays at 8 pm ET/PT on Fox. Stream episodes on-demand on Hulu.
