GORDON: I'm checking into a very unusual location...
a castle in the middle of Ohio run by a mother and son.
You know, you get a little overwhelmed,
and you don't know how to proceed.
GORDON: She takes on all the responsibility...
Have you ever told anyone how much stress
- is on your shoulders? - No, I pretty much keep it in.
GORDON: And he doesn't know how to help.
I can't tell you business-wise
if Jimmy really has any strengths at this point.
GORDON: If I can't get through to him,
this hotel will be in serious jeopardy.
Surely you must know that this is not right.
No, it isn't.
Sync and corrections by explosiveskull www.addic7ed.com
(dramatic music)
♪ ♪
GORDON: Located along the black fork of the Mohican River
is the small town of Loudonville,
home to Landoll's Mohican Castle.
(upbeat music)
After selling their profitable printing business,
owners Jim and Marta Landoll built the castle
on a lush 1,100-acre estate in the heart of rural Ohio.
Jim and I ran a coloring book publishing business.
We did sell it. I assumed we would retire.
But Jim had other ideas. (chuckles)
My dad told himself that if he ever
made any kind of money someday he would build a castle.
And he made money, and he built a castle.
Between the castle and restaurant,
the official total was in the $6 million range.
In 2008, our beautiful restaurant burned to the ground.
(dramatic music)
My husband, he had let the insurance lapse.
Unfortunately, it was only four days prior.
(tearfully) It was a really bad day.
We burned down in May, and Jim and I separated in June.
We were divorced within the year.
Jim retired, and now it's all on my shoulders.
CRYSTAL: Marta does everything here.
She works, oh, my gosh,
harder than anybody, I think, on the property.
SHAYLA: She runs around like crazy.
There's not a day that she's not working
from sunup until sundown.
She could be retired.
She could be relaxing somewhere enjoying her grandkids,
but instead it's almost like she's a prisoner here.
So I think that we really need Jimmy to manage the property.
CRYSTAL: Jimmy's the general manager in title only.
He's more of the cook here on the property.
It says two... or one tablespoon of worces... worcestershire,
or whatever you call it.
CRYSTAL: We don't really honestly take him seriously,
but we've never had a reason to, I guess, take him seriously.
Are we supposed to clean up now?
CRYSTAL: Because he's the baby born
with a silver spoon in his mouth,
that everybody's always done everything for him.
What is honey-glazed carrots? I've actually never made those.
Marta does baby Jimmy, and that causes Jimmy
to not really have to step up and be a general manager.
MELODY: We keep thinking what... what can we do...
What could we do to get more, you know,
more customers in the restaurant?
What can we do to get more people at the hotel?
It has such potential.
MARTA: One of my main concerns is that I do want to be able to
make this place successful and be able to retire,
but it is a struggle, you know, because a lot of times
I don't see a lot of light at the end of the tunnel.
(light music)
♪ ♪
GORDON: I'm here in Ohio.
I'm heading to a castle.
That's right, a castle.
But it's actually built by a local businessman.
He's no longer involved, and he left the property
to his ex-wife and his son to run.
Here we are. Castle up ahead.
Look at that. Well.
The grounds are stunning.
O...M... G. Look at this place.
What an amazing setting. Really beautiful.
- Hello. - Hello.
My goodness me. Gordon. Nice to see you.
Crystal. Nice to meet you.
This place is incredible. When was it built?
They started construction in 1996.
We opened in 2002.
Wow. How long have you been here?
I've been here for ten years.
And all this... sort of junk, what happens to that stuff?
- This is our little gift shop. - Oh, wow.
- Yeah. - So this is a gift shop?
- Bits of... sort of knickknacks. - There's little... yeah, odd...
No? But they seem odd. What about these?
I haven't sold any of the reading sunglasses.
And what's that?
That is the CD we have in our rooms.
- A CD? Celtic, mystic... - Yes, mm-hmm.
We have music playing in our suites when you arrive.
Wow. I didn't know you could buy CDs anymore.
- (laughing) - Wow.
16 do... is it good?
I've listened to it for ten years.
I don't hear it anymore most of the time.
What a strange little knickknack shop.
And what's over here?
All the beer and wine that we sell.
Wow, you can see the dust on top of there.
Everything's so dusty. Who's in charge of cleaning?
I'm slacking on my job.
I appreciate the odd speckle of dust on the wine
in the wine cellar, but not like this.
Wow. And look at that. When is that from?
- 1980 what? - (laughing)
You laugh, but it is a little out of date, right?
Oh, yeah, definitely out of date.
- And dusty. - Dusty?
Actually if the TV was on,
you couldn't see it 'cause of the dust.
So it looks like it was high-end to build,
- really expensive. - Yes.
But it doesn't look like we've had enough
money go back into it to keep it sort of...
Where... how... where it needs to be.
- Yeah, where it needs to be. - How it should be, right.
And what's over here? Oh, there's a wedding.
One of the weddings we had on the property.
- This place must be packed. - They do 30 to 50 a year.
Who runs those?
Melody is our events coordinator.
And she's a specialist in events and...
She was never, like, trained or anything, but she does...
How can you run events if you've not been trained?
Common sense sometimes prevails.
Mm-mm. Now what's that there?
Landoll's Mohican Castle, win a night's stay.
- Mm-hmm. - Stop.
You know how many people want a free night?
- Seriously? - Seriously, yeah.
- We try to do it once a month. - Shall I do one?
Yes, please.
Love this. Love it.
Ready? So...
- All right. - That's fantastic.
Is there a cell number on there?
Um...
Thank you. Answering machine.
Chuck, congratulations.
You have won yourself a free night's stay
at Landoll's Mohican Castle
courtesy of me, Gordon Ramsay.
- Free dinner? - Dinner's not included, no.
Oh, Chuck, I'm so sorry.
I don't want to piss on your bonfire,
but there's no dinner involved.
But I'll pay for dinner, Chuck. Best wishes.
He's gonna be so happy when he hears that [bleep] message.
- There we go. - Yes, he is.
- He's gonna be floored. - Excellent.
Amazing mess... clutter. There is... dusty. Damn.
So you've been here ten years? What are the problems?
Just little things here and there that need to be updated.
Most of it's still from when we opened originally,
so 13 years old.
Now, the owner is no longer involved in the business.
He's left it to his ex-wife?
- Marta, Jim's ex-wife. - Marta, right.
She runs it now with her son who's the general manager?
- Correct. - Right.
And what's his strengths?
I can't tell you business-wise, management-wise if Jimmy really,
in my opinion, ‭has any strengths at this point.
He has the title "general manager,"
but I don't think he really fully has that role
- of general manager yet. - Right.
And he went off to train at hotel school?
- Where did he come from? - No.
Jimmy has no training outside of high school.
- Marta? Does she? - No.
She has no training, he has no training.
- Who's more hands-on? - Marta is hands-on.
Marta is here, there, and everywhere.
- Wow. - And she's like the busy bee
- that never stops. - Is she around, please?
I'm sure she's on the property. Let me...
Thank you.
I'm gonna just check around outside.
- Sure. - I look forward to seeing Marta.
- Thank you. - You're welcome.
- Hey, is Marta down there? - Wow.
This place cost a fortune, and what is up here?
Okay, can you send her up? Gordon would like to meet her.
Look at that. Wow.
What in the [bleep] is that over there?
Is that a T-rex? What is that thing?
Here... Ugh.
Look at all these flies.
Bloody hell.
Look at that.
So you relax and take your cigarette breaks.
Ugh. [bleep].
Look at all these flies. That is disgusting.
This is a place where people come to relax?
What? Oh, that's gross.
(whispering) Seriously?
Ugh. Horrible.
Wow.
- Hello. - Hello.
- You must be Marta. - I'm Marta.
- You must be Gordon. - That's right.
- Nice to see you. You good? - You too.
- What an incredible place. - Oh, thank you.
It's different.
It looks like somebody spent a lot of money.
Yeah, we did.
And how much did you spend building this place?
- I think it's around 6 million. - Wow. And what's it worth now?
Oh, probably 2.
- 2 million? - We need help, Gordon.
Uh, yeah. Well, I'm here to help.
- I mean, driveway... - Yeah.
- Woodland... stunning. - Yeah, thank you.
I mean, absolutely stunning. You walk in there, inside it's...
it's caked in dust in there. It's dust...
- It's not supposed to be. - Oh, it is, trust me.
- It is? Okay, well... - And then the horror for me
was going up there. Have you been up there recently?
- Probably about a month ago. - Disgusting.
- Okay, sorry. - Flies everywhere.
- Not a dozen, couple of hundred. - Okay.
Thousands. And let me give it to you straight.
It looks like staff are taking a piss, going upstairs
for a break, and putting their cigarettes in a bottle.
On the back of one really bad fire,
the last thing you want to get is a second one.
- No. That's true. - So you're the general manager?
I am running it, and I'm trying...
Jimmy started a little over a year ago.
- Right. - But he's so tied
- with the restaurant. - So...
Jimmy runs the kitchen, and you do everything else.
- That's a lot on your plate. - Oh, I help in the kitchen too.
- Seriously? - I do the ordering.
I do the ordering.
How come he doesn't do his own ordering?
Oh, he would if I told him to.
- Right. - Yeah.
With everything on your shoulders
- running this place... - Yeah, I guess I'm used to it.
Yeah, wow.
So I've never done anything like this before,
so it's unfound territory for me.
- Okay. - In order for me to see
where the cracks are, what this place is made of,
- how good we are... - Mm-hmm.
I've found an amazing couple
that recently just got engaged.
And you two... the circumstances with the groom...
he's having to go off and do military duty
- in two week's time. - Oh, okay.
So they are coming here,
and we are going to host their wedding.
- Okay. When are we doing it? - In a couple of days.
- Okay, how many people? - And it's a very impor...
- 100 guests. - 100 guests, okay.
100 guests, so I need to see how this place functions
and what you've got, what the standards are like,
- just the kind of offerings. - Okay, okay.
Look at it. It should have way more
than 30 or 40 events a year.
It doesn't make sense.
GORDON: Knowing the castle is losing money
by not hosting as many weddings as they should be,
I wanted to see how I could improve their standards
and increase revenue.
- Roxanne? Nice to see you. - Yeah. Nice to meet you.
Likewise. Hi, good to see you, Eric, how are you?
So I invited a bride and groom to get married at the castle.
First of all, let me say congratulations.
both: Thank you.
I know you're trying to get married quickly
- because you're off on duty. - BOTH: Yeah.
And so we want to make this somewhat special.
'Cause we're doing this once and there's no rehearsal, right?
- BOTH: Right. - Let's jump in, shall we?
- Okay, perfect. - Come in, please.
- It's my first time here. - Ours, too.
There we go.
Oh, dear.
It looks like someone's puked on the walls
with a lemon meringue pie. Oh, dear. Oh, dear.
- Look at the ceiling. - Yeah, the ceiling's...
- What is that? - Really scary.
The chairs. Oh, dear.
- Those are really stained bad. - What is that?
- What is that? Spandex? - Yeah.
They're... they're not nice, are they? Oh, dear.
- Ooh, that's worse. - Oh, dear. Oh, dear.
- I'm Melody. - Hi, I'm Roxanne.
- Roxanne? - Yes, nice to meet you.
- Yes, I'm Eric. Eric. - Welcome to the castle.
Now let's talk about the food. What do you normally do?
Normally we do buffets.
- Buffets? - Mm-hmm.
Wow, that's something from the 1980s.
So what do we do about tasting the buffet?
- We don't do tastings. - You don't do tastings?
- No, we don't do tastings. - Why not?
'Cause of the kitchen staff. The setup in the kitchen.
Not really selling me on the good wedding side.
You can stay relaxed for now,
but trust me, we are gonna taste some food.
We're gonna take a seat. We're gonna do some tastings.
- And I'd like to see a menu. - Yeah.
- Don't worry. - Okay.
- We'll get this sorted. - Okay.
Here you go. There, my darling, please.
Probably got too many set here.
Take a seat, please. Before we do any tasting,
is the son here, Jimmy?
- He's in charge. - Yeah, mm-hmm, Jimmy's here.
- Can we have a quick chat? - Yeah, sure can.
Yeah?
Color's dreadful. Reception lobby, awful.
And the linens don't even match.
There's white and ivory.
There's a lot going on at the... on the bar, too.
- The bar, yeah, I noticed that. - I'm not sure
if that's left over from another wedding.
Dreadful.
- Jimmy? - Yeah?
Chef would...
- He'd like to meet you. - Okay.
- Hey. - You are Jimmy?
- I'm Jimmy. - Good to see you.
- Nice to meet you. - I spoke to Mom earlier.
- Yes, yes. - Let me introduce you
to two very special guests. Roxanne...
- Hi, nice to meet you. - Nice to meet you, Roxanne.
- And Eric. - Eric.
Eric, nice to meet you as well.
So do you have a chef jacket or...
- I do. - Do you ever wear it?
- Only when I deliver food. - Deliver?
Like bring food out to people.
Oh, so you just put the jacket on to carry food?
Yeah, so I look fancier.
So you normally wear a T-shirt to cook?
- Yeah. And pants. - And pants?
- Yes. Yes. - That's very kind of you.
Anything you recommend? I mean,
try to sell it a little bit to the bride and groom.
There's certain things on there I've never made before.
So that probably doesn't...
- Stop. Two seconds. - Yeah.
You got things on your menu that you've never made before?
Well, no one's ever ordered them.
- But you run a restaurant here. - Yes.
That's not a buffet. That's plated.
No, I should definitely know how to make them, I agree.
Yeah.
I've never cooked a filet mignon before.
You've never cooked a filet mignon?
- No. - Who cooks it?
- We've never sold one. - [bleep], no.
No one's ever had a wedding and ordered filet?
Not since I've been here. Not from me.
You've got things on here you've never cooked before.
- Yes, correct. - You've never cooked a filet.
So, just out of interest, filet mignon comes up,
you gonna go to a culinary school?
What happens?
Maybe Google how to do it exactly.
- Google? - Yes.
- I mean, I could do that. - Jeez.
- Google a filet? - Yeah.
What? To watch a video?
Uh, yes.
Our wedding food is really good.
Well, I can't wait to taste it.
Let's have a look at this and, you know, I'll see you later.
Okay, perfect. Sounds good.
Wow, okay. Sorry about that.
GORDON: After learning Jimmy gets his recipes
from the Internet,
I'm starting to feel like I've made a mistake
inviting the bride and groom to have their wedding here.
So we have a stuffed chicken.
GORDON: To keep some options for Roxanne and Eric,
I told Jimmy to prepare a selection of dishes.
Up first, a chicken dish that I couldn't believe
was smothered in soggy cheese.
Look at that bit there.
It's like my granddad's [bleep].
Not good. No wonder Grandma used to get upset at night.
Okay, over medium heat, add olive oil, let it get hot.
GORDON: While Jimmy surfed the Internet
for how to cook a filet mignon...
Let the filets...
let the filets... in a hot pan...
GORDON: We were served a salmon dish.
I mean, what? I wouldn't feed that to my cat.
It is bland. It's undercooked.
- Mm-hmm. - Simply raw in the middle.
- It's a little slimy almost. - Yeah.
GORDON: And knowing Jimmy had never cooked a filet mignon,
trust me, my expectations weren't high.
That steak is terrible. It's overcooked.
You've cooked better than that at home, wouldn't you?
- Yeah. - Now I know why
there's no tastings available. I mean, terrible.
- Yeah. - Terrible, terrible, terrible.
I'm embarrassed, and I just want to apologize.
I was expecting it way better than this.
- Yeah. Me... us too, I think. - Yeah.
Be patient. Let me get to the bottom of this, okay?
Okay.
GORDON: It's clear the castle standards are low.
And with only two days to put together a wedding,
I'm feeling a lot of pressure
and I don't want to disappoint Roxanne and Eric.
Hi. Can I have a word with you all?
- How are you guys feeling? - Discouraged.
I mean, you know, it's an important day for us
and the food's really important.
And it's, like, I think about this,
and I want it to be the best day of my life.
And then it's disappointing.
It's something you want people to remember
for a good reason, not a bad.
- Of course. - Yeah, exactly.
You know, I see lots of young couples,
and we host lots of weddings,
but this is new territory for me.
I've never seen a space... a member of staff
so disconnected to the real deal.
I don't think we thought it was gonna be like this.
(light suspenseful music)
GORDON: There's only two days
till Roxanne and Eric's wedding,
and having witnessed the lack of attention
to the event space and menu,
tonight I need to see how Marta and Jimmy
run their restaurant on a regular night.
- Hey, how are you? - TJ.
TJ, good to see you. And this is?
- I'm Shayla. - Shayla, nice to see you.
- I'm Jimmy's wife. - Oh, Jimmy's wife?
- Yes. - Okay, the chef's wife.
Cook's wife, the general manager's wife.
- Yes. - Right. What is he,
- a GM or a cook? - A little bit of both.
- Yes.
- Excellent. - Good answer? Okay.
- What do you do, TJ? - I'm just the host tonight.
Excellent. So...
(light music)
So... sir.
[bleep] walked [bleep] off.
- Jimmy, the sea bass. - What about it?
It needs to go on. It's with this order.
- Okay, I don't... - Uh, good evening.
- Good evening. - Hey, Gordon.
She has a bruschetta listed here, too.
Six minutes on that.
- We haven't met yet, have we? - No. I'm Grant.
Grant, good to see you. And you're sous chef?
Yes.
Are you working in the kitchen tonight as well?
- Yeah, I sort of help 'em. - Wow.
What don't you do in this establishment?
- (chuckles) - Nothing.
Yeah, I can't think of anything.
Ah. Mm.
Holy crap.
So you cook all the fish and meat on the same thing?
We do the meat on the left side and the fish on the right side.
- It's all the same flat. - Yes.
So you saying everything on the left doesn't hit the right,
and everything on the right doesn't hit the left?
I've never seen that.
(suspenseful music)
It's weird the food sits there. Shayla?
- Yes, sir? - Why do they put food here?
- Is this where they... - This is the warmer.
- This is the... - On the wall?
Yes. This is just what we have.
- It's crazy. - [bleep], but where...
the kitchen's in there and they just stick this on the wall?
So how do you know whose is whose?
Do you just pick up...
We take the wrong plates all the time.
What a [bleep]-up scenario that is.
- What is this? Is this done? - I think so.
I don't have any idea what all this meat goes to right now.
What are these two flatirons for?
Does anybody know?
- Here's a flatiron... - Medium-rare.
And there's a flatiron.
But I don't know what tables they go to.
(sizzling)
♪ ♪
[bleep]. [bleep] me.
I've never... that is a beef stroganoff.
- What's that? - Just...
Just show me that one.
- A beef stroganoff. - Yes, yeah.
- Yes. - Bring it down, please.
Yes.
It's how I was taught to make it.
I mean, it looks like prison food.
Whose table is that stroganoff?
- That's mine. - That's yours?
And what are you waiting for now?
- The rest. - That was on a single ticket.
- But there's six of 'em. - Seriously?
Why is it not all on the same ticket?
Well, 'cause they wanted separate bills,
so I just... I wrote 'em all on separate tickets
- 'cause that's how we... - But you do that at the end.
The kitchen needs one ticket
so they can serve all the entrees together.
- Go. - Oh, my God. OMG.
What are you waiting for, my darling?
- A stroganoff? - Where are we at here?
One French fry. Okay.
Do we have anything on the six-top?
- What's she waiting on? - Stroganoffs, I guess.
And this doesn't really have any sauce in it,
but I can't... can't help it they got messed up.
Just take it.
Ah, you just deserve better. I'm sorry.
Oh, here's your stroganoff ten minutes later.
There we go.
Your plate's hot, too, so be careful.
Yours looks completely different.
Wow, what a mess. What a mess.
Oh, jeez...
Jimmy, that's been sat there for 15 minutes now, this one.
- Which has? - This one here.
- What is it? - Yeah.
- What are you waiting on? - I've just...
I've never seen this kind of dysfunctional kitchen.
So one dish... three minutes later,
another dish comes along.
The girls are coming up and seeing the flatirons,
seeing the chicken and just going.
Because there's no uniform.
- A table's been waiting. - Where's your tickets?
- Right there. - Okay.
Just take this medium-rare flatiron then, I guess.
We apparently need another castle.
Did we make that or not?
Someone must have taken the ticket down without us knowing.
This steak was supposed to be medium,
and the other lady, her potatoes,
garlic mashed, were ice cold.
Oh, God.
They want it more well-done.
She wants... they want it more well-done.
The same piece or another one?
No, we'll have to put it back on.
Okay.
GORDON: I've gathered that the restaurant
has absolutely no organization.
But what is more alarming is how dependent Jimmy is
on his mother to run this business.
You guys, good night. Thank you.
Thank you.
We did it. That was easy.
(laughing)
Uh, I'm not gonna laugh.
(somber music)
Let's just go back to the beginning.
Driving in and looking at the place, breathtaking.
Walk into the reception, and it's just caked in dust.
And that tower, in front of the entrance
is laden with 5,000 dead flies.
Tonight, I just wanted to see how this place functioned.
And hand on heart,
I've never seen such a dysfunctional business
in all my life.
Surely you must know that this is not right.
I think we know that, but...
You think?
I...
I speak for myself, and I can say I know that.
And yet everybody walks around and says,
"We're doing a great job," and laughing and joking
as if to say, "We've got something to be proud of."
I wouldn't say we're in denial.
No, [bleep].
I got told when I checked in
Jimmy is the general manager.
Can I just tell you the feeling
when you walk into this place...
there's no authority, there's no responsibility,
and staff are just going through the motions.
And if you are even going to attempt to step up
to that position, you can't go home,
pat yourself on the back ‭saying you're doing a great job.
You need to start implementing.
Gordon, we would like this to be the starting point of that.
You know, we want that. We just...
You know, you get a little overwhelmed
and you don't know, you know,
how to proceed.
The general consensus in this building
is that you are generally running around
seven days a week for everybody.
That's true.
And tonight, I witnessed it firsthand.
This is no life for a lady in her 60s.
- No, it isn't. - Banging her head
against the wall. That is not right.
Can I just have two minutes with your mother
- on my own, please? - Yes.
(tense music)
This is insane.
Honestly, you looked like the pot washer's assistant tonight.
I know.
Sometimes I am the pot washer's assistant.
- Seriously? - Yeah.
- It's not helping. - I think I've gotten
so used to it, and so I just keep doing it.
I know, but you're doing more and more
every week, every month, every year,
and it's not right.
And that must be having a toll somewhere.
You can't continue like this.
I agree.
Has your son taken enough responsibility?
I think that he probably feels that he has
because he's never probably had the life that I've had
to know what it's like to work from morning to night.
He's never felt the jeopardy that you do on a daily basis.
- No. - Nowhere near it.
- No one has. - And it shows.
He knows you're gonna do it, and that's the problem.
And he's got so used to that
that he's not gonna come out of his comfort zone
and do any more because he doesn't need to.
Yeah.
I want Jimmy to wake up
and take the burden off your shoulders
and step up and start showing some form of responsibility.
You should think about a letter
about what you need from him going forward.
Think about something strong and speak openly.
And if you can commit that to me,
then I'm gonna commit myself to you
and getting this place back on the map.
- Okay. - Okay?
- Yeah. - Promise?
- I promise. - Thank you.
- Okay. - Get some rest.
- Okay? - Okay.
(dramatic music)
GORDON: It's very important for hotels that host weddings
to not only focus on the event itself,
but other services as well.
- Front desk. - I'd like to order
the $79 breakfast in bed package.
GORDON: So I ordered a room service package
for Roxanne and Eric.
- Enjoy. - Thank you so much.
- Thank you. - We will see you soon.
All right.
(knock at door)
Thought I'd check in on you. How is it?
- It's tastes uncooked. - Oh, God.
It's just gone from bad to worse.
My apologies.
GORDON: After seeing their disappointment,
and that nothing was special about the experience,
I sent someone from my team to put together a gift basket
to show how much higher their standards really need to be.
This is just basic stuff. You two dig in.
We got some work to do.
(dramatic music)
♪ ♪
GORDON: Last night, I asked Marta to write a letter
to Jimmy outlining her needs for him moving forward.
I'm hoping this can show Jimmy he needs to step up.
- You okay? - Yeah.
How long did it take to put this thing together?
Probably an hour, hour and a half
to think about it.
I went to sleep around 5:00 a.m.
What? You went to sleep at 5:00 a.m.?
Why?
Just thinking about everything that went on
and wishing it wouldn't have been the way it was.
Knowing there's a lot to fix
and just being completely overwhelmed
at all the aspects of it, so...
Mm-hmm.
I have a lot of nights like that.
That's exactly what he needs to hear.
And that's what we've got left in order to get through to him.
That's why he needs to feel your pain a little bit,
because you've been too good masking over it.
Yeah. I... yeah, I do probably do that a lot.
You need to stop accepting everything
to make things better for yourself now
and not being so easy on your son
and being a little bit more selfish,
because you're too kind, too generous.
Right. I agree with that.
'Cause you need a break.
- Yeah. - Quick.
Yeah, you're right.
- I'm gonna go get him. - Okay, thank you.
Uh, Jimmy. Two seconds, please.
Take a seat.
Your mother,
- she left last night, upset. - Yes.
And we need you to listen
- to something important. - Yes.
I just want you to listen, okay?
"Dear, Jimmy, I worked 20 years at the coloring book factory
"being on call 24/7.
"I, of course, thought that when we sold the business,
"we would retire.
"Unfortunately, that didn't happen.
"I know you have always seen me work hard,
"but the financial part of it has been just as stressful.
"It is so disheartening when we could get complaints
"about such stupid things as dust and uncleanliness.
"It has to stop. There's no excuse for it.
"It has to change.
"No one has more to gain by making the castle successful
"than you do.
"Let's make this place what it should be:
a great future for all of us. Love, Mom."
I just want to say thank you.
I know.
I love you so.
(sentimental music)
♪ ♪
You know this can't continue.
And where I'm coming from, it's about stepping up.
That means putting Mom out of the day-to-day running
and you getting firm, strong,
and making some serious [bleep] decisions.
I don't want to give the impression
that I'm too proud ‭or I'm a spoiled brat 'cause I...
How much do you want this?
I wa... I-I don't know if there's a real word for it,
but I want it. I want... I mean...
Could I just have two minutes with him, please?
Yes.
Go in the kitchen, get yourself a coffee
and close that door.
I don't [bleep] feel it enough... that's all.
- I know. - I don't get excited by it.
She, your mother, hasn't got long left
- at this pace. - I know.
And if you've got a pair of [bleep],
you better start [bleep] using them.
And I want you to use them quick.
I don't think you fully understand
just what a gift you've got.
I don't think I do either.
I feel it, but I don't fully have a grip of it.
No. And whilst I am here,
- I want to see you commit. - Okay.
- And show me how hungry you are. - I will. Yes, sir.
And when you see something wrong...
- Say something. - [bleep] sort it out.
- Like your mom's been doing. - I will.
- Got it? - Got it.
GORDON: It's the day before the wedding,
and preparations are underway.
Normally we have a soft drink/soda station
on the antique hutch down there.
GORDON: While the staff discuss last-minute details
with Roxanne and Eric, my team and I
are completely making over the event space.
We're upgrading the drab interior
with a modern decor to brighten the room
and create an inviting space.
(cheerful music)
♪ ♪
- GORDON: Are you ready? - ROXANNE: Can we run?
- Yes. - Let's go.
Okay, brace yourselves.
What you're about to see is mind-blowing.
- Jump in. - Oh, my goodness.
Welcome.
- Oh, my goodness! - Come on in.
- Oh, my goodness. - Oh, wow.
- Oh, it's beautiful. - Wow.
- Oh, my goodness. - Now...
- Oh. - Oh, wow.
- Where shall we start? - Oh, my.
Just the lighting alone feels more inviting.
- It's a different world. - Gone is that ghastly
- yellow color. - Oh, it's beautiful, Melody.
Beyond what I ever could have imagined.
I can't believe it's the same place.
- That's awesome. - Complete new paneling.
- All the way around. - Wow.
- Absolutely breathtaking. - Oh, it's beautiful.
So let's have a little focus on the tables.
- Brand new chairs. - Oh, my goodness.
- It's amazing. - Beautiful. Take a seat.
Now we have proper elegant chairs.
Look at the chargers. Aren't they beautiful?
Check out the floor. Brand new floor.
Yeah, so nice.
Look at the space over there now with the bar.
- It's so nice. - It's like out of a magazine.
This is what it's like during the day.
Can you imagine what it's going to be like at night...
Oh, my goodness, you're right.
With the candles lit on the table flickering.
With the candles lit, yeah.
This is what we've needed. I mean, we need guidance.
We've just been spinning our tires for so long.
Right. And you happy?
- I'm happy. - Good, I'm glad you're happy.
I'm probably the most excited I've been
except maybe when my babies and grandbabies were born.
I'm literally that excited.
- It's beautiful. - Oh, my. So beautiful.
- Thank you so much. - You're welcome.
- Thank you. - Yeah.
(light music)
♪ ♪
- Now, let's talk food. - Yes.
Ladies, can we line up here?
Let's take one of each. Menus.
I've got a plan for the food.
Let's focus first on the menu and plates for the restaurant.
Let's start off wit the beginning.
French onion soup and a bowl of chili.
Oh, wow.
We got the beef stroganoff with wild mushrooms.
- Oh, yeah. - Mm-hmm.
Next to that, you got the chicken Alfredo.
- I like that. - Uh-huh.
Let's focus on the big menu for the wedding tonight.
- Right. - The perfect entree
- is the braised short ribs. - Oh, beautiful.
Next to that, we got local walleye.
- That's amazing. - Beautifully seared.
Oh, look at that. Oh, that's beautiful.
- Nothing complicated. - Wow.
Everything looks so appetizing, too.
- Clean, yeah. - Yes.
But there is one thing missing, and that's a chef.
So I've arranged for a unique person
that has been working with me in Vegas for the last five years.
She is incredible,
and she's going to be your consultant chef.
- Okay. - Let me introduce you to Keisha.
- Good morning, my darling. - How are you doing today?
- Stand over here, please. - Thank you.
- Nice to see you guys. - So, Marta,
this young lady knows her stuff.
She's going to help install somebody on a full-time basis.
But the hand-over process
is going to be part of her responsibility.
- Are you excited, Grant? - Very. Very excited.
- Yay. - Grant, work closely with her.
- Absolutely. - Now, remember,
tonight you're going to step up and run this.
The burden is now on your shoulders.
I'm prepared to take it.
(piano music)
♪ ♪
- Morning. - Hello.
- Hello, gorgeous. - Come on in.
Morning, ladies. How are you? You look amazing.
GORDON: When I check in with Roxanne and Eric to ensure them
that everything is on track with their wedding...
- How are you feeling? - Very good.
- Yeah? - Yeah.
I just want to give you the heads up...
the room's looking gorgeous.
Okay, now let's just set 'em up.
GORDON: I put Jimmy in charge of managing the entire event
from the ceremony to the reception.
- That's a cool layout. - Isn't it pretty here
- with the sun coming now? - Yeah, it is pretty.
GORDON: While the castle has done many events in the past,
I'm hoping this wedding not only raises the bar,
but puts it on the map as a "destinational" spot.
Gents, how are you? You look great, by the way.
- Thank you. - Ah, so smart.
All good? You look smart as well.
- Where's Eric? - He's already out there.
- How are we looking? - Looks great, so...
- Yeah. - Everything's beautiful.
Great. Here's the bride.
The bride's coming, everybody. Wow, she looks gorgeous.
As they sit down, let's go into the room
and let's just go over everything,
get the team together, and we'll get our timing
absolutely nailed.
Welcome, everyone to this beautiful, glorious day
of the union of Roxanne and Eric.
So you guys aren't used to doing plated service.
It's been buffet after buffet. That's gone.
Say good-bye to the 1970s. Welcome to the 21st century.
- Great. - Wanted some finesse.
It's a wedding, not a funeral.
- Yes. Be happy. - So fun.
We get into weeds, we get ourselves out.
It's not a race, guys. Who's the general manager?
- Jimmy. - Jimmy.
Excellent. Who's in charge of the kitchen?
- Grant. - That's right.
Talk, communicate.
Any last words of advice for the team?
Just stay positive.
You know, it's their big day.
We don't want them to see our problems.
- Yeah, good luck, guys. - Thank you.
Thank you, Jimmy. Let's go.
I now pronounce you husband and wife.
You may kiss your bride.
(applause)
All right, everybody, I hope you enjoyed the ceremony.
We're going to head over to the event hall.
All right, ladies, help sit them down.
- Got it. - Please, as quick as you can.
- Table 5. - Here's table 11.
- What would you like? - I'll do the short ribs, please.
So here we go. Grant takes every ticket.
Don't accept a ticket until you understand it.
- Absolutely. - Okay, that's the only way.
- The fish. - Can we do the walleye, please?
Walleye, okay, very good.
Okay, so you've got to synchronize with the DJ
to announce the bride and groom. Big moment, this one.
- Perfect. Yes, absolutely. - Okay, so focus on the timing.
- Yes? - Yep.
How are you?
So when you walk back in, that's when you cue the DJ.
- Yes. - 'Cause the DJ is gonna make
the announcement, "Ladies and gentlemen,
be up standing for the bride and groom."
- Yes. - It's a crucial moment now.
Yes, sir. I'm gonna go up there right now
and talk to 'em and find out what exactly...
when they're exactly coming down.
As soon as I come back in the room,
you'll see me walk in the door, so be kind of looking.
As soon as I walk in...
You have to get everyone's attention.
- We will. Yeah. - Yeah?
What's all this for?
We're only doing the bride and groom.
I just want to get their pronunciation
- for the bride and groom. - It's just Roxanne and Eric.
Oh, you're not going to give their last name?
No. Jimmy, how do you announce the bride and groom?
"Please, be up standing for Mr. and Mrs...."
Mr. and Mrs. Gu... is it Wular... or Gulardi?
Is the pronunciation?
Jimmy, you should have this nailed.
- You should know. - That's what I was told.
- Gulardi. Galardi. - Gulardi.
- Gallarde. - I don't want to [bleep] up
- with the bride and groom, okay? - I understand.
So we have to be [bleep] seamless.
- Gallarde. - Mm-hmm. I'll confirm it.
- We got to get this sorted out. - Just wait outside for me.
- Okay. Let's do that. - Oh, my God.
I'm gonna let you tell the DJ
how to pronounce your last name correctly.
- All right. - You couldn't have been like
- the Smiths or something. - Right.
Okay, so I'm gonna go in
and kind of get everyone's attention.
And go ahead and give me how do you want...
you would like to be introduced.
Mr. and Mrs. Eric Gualdoni.
The bride and groom are two minutes away, okay?
Be careful, yes?
Ladies and gentlemen, if I could have your attention, please?
We have a very special couple right outside that door.
And we would like to give them a big welcome
as they enter the room.
Let's have a nice round of applause for the new
Mr. and Mrs. Eric Gualdoni.
(cheers and applause)
At this time, they are going to be making their way
to the dance floor to share their first dance together
as husband and wife.
(dramatic music)
♪ ♪
We're now serving the entrees.
Just make sure all the asparagus are lining the same way.
This is the... and they're together.
- Like so? - Yes.
Five plates, please, Grant.
Service, please. That's the top table.
- I'm going to give it to them. - Go.
Second table, you have four fish, two beef, yes?
- Everything looked nice. - Oh, my gosh.
- The presentation is beautiful. - Yeah, that's awesome.
- Yes. - I love it.
Good to hear. I'll come back and check on you soon.
Take any plates out of your way here?
- You're good? - Shayla, Shayla?
Why are you clearing when the whole table haven't finished?
Melody asked me to cover.
No, that is so [bleep] wrong, so wrong.
So his plate is cleared, and she's now playing with her food.
- Yeah, she feels uncomfortable. - So from a woman's point...
Of course she does. So you know that.
This is what I'm saying to you. I can't tell you the obvious.
- 'Cause you know [bleep], okay? - I have to pay more attention.
Yeah, and I want them looked after like royalty.
- And so do you, right? - Yes.
I'm gonna see if they want any more champagne right now.
- Yeah. - Okay.
I'm gonna come back with some champagne to top everybody off,
okay?
Marta, the atmosphere in here is incredible.
- It is. - I mean, it really is.
However, Jimmy needs to be on top of things, yeah?
- Right. - He needs to nail
- the small attention to details. - Okay, yeah.
But just look at the atmosphere. The difference is night and day.
- Yep, they're happy. - Let's keep 'em that way.
- No, get the staff to do that. - Okay.
- Put that down. - Okay, okay.
- You're the owner. - I know.
- You are the owner. - They keep asking me
to go get beer and go get this. I'm not supposed to?
No, they're picking up after you,
you're not picking up after them.
- Okay. - Those days have gone.
Okay, thank you.
How was dinner?
I'm waiting for my wife
to pass over her plate
- so I can finish it off. - (laughter)
- How's everything tasting? - It's beautiful.
- Isn't it awesome? - I love you.
(cheers and applause)
That was good. No.
Hi.
Right, you two, my time is done.
What a day.
- You look amazing, seriously. - Thank you so much.
I mean, really. Have you had a good day?
Thank you. Today was perfect.
- Yeah? - Absolutely perfect.
Everything that she could have asked for
and that I could have asked for... it's been phenomenal.
Thank you both for your patience,
because when we first met at the beginning of the week,
I was more nervous than you two.
- Good luck to you both. - Thank you so much.
- Thank you, thank you. - Take care.
I totally thought when we first got here, we're settling.
This isn't what I want, but we need to do this quickly,
and now it is the fairy tale
that you think when you see a castle.
ERIC: It's jaw-dropping, the transformation that was made.
And how are you feeling first?
I'm feeling great.
- The ceremony was amazing. - It was.
- Who's the general manager? - Jimmy is.
- Who's the owner? - I am.
That's right. And you just oversee it.
- Okay. - I don't want you
- chasing trash cans anymore. - I know, I know.
I don't want you sweeping up the bathroom.
- Look after yourself. - Okay, thank you.
I need 30 seconds with your son.
Okay, good-bye. I appreciate it so much.
- Enjoy this place, okay? - I will, I will.
- You deserve it. - Thanks so much.
- Good night. - Good night.
I do not want to see your mom sweeping up.
- I don't either. - You need to step up.
I couldn't believe you forgot the name of the bride and groom.
- Yes, that was bad. - Yeah, however...
your mind's in the right place.
- Yeah. - Do not be scared of change.
- Tonight was a little rough... - Yeah.
But think of the difference you made on that young couple.
I know, they seem so appreciative of everything.
And the first thing they'll do
is they're going to go tell all their friends.
Yes. Yes.
It's an amazing wedding they've had.
You're going to promise me that you're gonna stay on track.
I'm gonna put in the work, I promise.
- Good luck. - Thank you.
- Take care. - Have a safe trip.
Thank you. Good night. Yeah?
Thanks, Gordon.
(exhales deeply) Wow.
(upbeat music)
♪ ♪
GORDON: Since my last visit, Landoll's Mohican Castle
has steadily increased their bookings.
Keisha has reorganized the kitchen,
and with Jimmy's help, they have found a new head chef
to take the lead.
And Jimmy has finally taken charge
as the general manager...
Let's make a plan and figure out what we want to do timing-wise.
GORDON: Allowing his mother to take a step back
as an owner.
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