Series 4 Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares: Momma Cherri's Soul Food Shack

Date Published:

23/10/2007

Gordon's advice

Ramsay first came to Momma Cherri's Soul Shack in December 2004, and it became one of his biggest Nightmares' success stories. Although when he arrived, it was an entirely different story: owner Charita was £65k in debt and the restaurant was empty. Momma Cherri had head chef Brian, but Charita was doing all the cooking and writing the menu. This meant Brian had a cushy job, and so had lost motivation. Ramsay loved Charita's food. He said her home cooking should be the restaurant's unique selling point, but it wasn't working. But then he discovered she'd been deep frying chicken wings eight hours before service. Ramsay began to suspect the home cooking wasn't quite as wholesome as he first thought.

The staff turned up late and were far too laid back. Charita talked to her staff like they were one of the 33 foster children she'd adopted over the years. Charita was killing herself trying to do everything and only paying herself £200 a week. She was paying two chefs to dress plates: a surefire way to ruin a business. Ramsay said Brian needed to take the reins and be the head chef. Charita needed to stay out of the kitchen.

Ramsay was confused about the menu prices: they were offering specials at £8 but on the menu dishes were a hefty £14. Why the leap? Charita said her bank manager suggested boosting prices to make money. Ramsay said it was killing the business. Charita needed to cut prices and offer smaller portions. They let locals sample Momma Cherri food – and they loved it. Charita's street hustling paid off and she got the restaurant fully booked for that night.

Charita slipped effortlessly into being the hostess with the mostess. Brian took his first decision as head chef: to make buffalo wings to order. But two hours into service, the food wasn't going out quickly enough. Brian struggled and wasn’t helped by Charita's constant interruptions. Ramsay helped Brian regain his lost confidence by getting him to cook delicious dishes at home. This worked. Towards the end of Gordon's week in Brighton, Brian finally behaved like a head chef.

Gordon overhauled the menu by offering a weekday £10 three-course, fixed-price menu of simple, sexy and irrestistable soul food. He called it ‘Soul in a Bowl’. The idea was to let customers sample small portions of different foods during the week, and then hopefully customers would return on a weekend for more. But at £10 a head, Charita had to fill the restaurant twice over each night to make it pay. It was a gamble that paid off: the customers loved the food, the front-of-house team pulled together, and the vibe in the kitchen was professional.

Two years on, Gordon returns to find Momma Cherri is now one of Brighton's biggest success stories. Six months ago, Charita moved out of the shack to bigger premises round the corner. Momma Cherri’s Big House has over five floors and is triple the Shack’s size. People are booking for March. They have an average of 900 to 1,200 covers a week. Gordon’s amazed but he says the first year of expansion is dangerous for any business so he hopes Charita has got a tight hold on the reins. Brian is still head chef. Charita has taken on nine new chefs. Ramsay hopes they're sticking to the fresh food regime, but the signs aren’t good. He finds trays of pre-cooked chicken wings around the kitchen. He's distraught and wants to know where the passion's gone. Gordon likens it to a fast-food restaurant. He can't believe they ditched the successful 'Soul in a Bowl'. Charita is upset, she thought they were moving up. But Ramsay tells her the business may have expanded, but standards have definitely slipped.

Ramsay says they need to ditch the pre-prepared food and get 'Soul in a Bowl' back on the menu. He gets the chef team to throw away the pre-prepared food and gives them the task of cooking 'Soul in a Bowl' in under 25 minutes. Next day, Gordon returns and they've followed his advice. Lunch is delicious – he feels like he's back in the Shack. He tells Charita and Brian they were the original team and only they can make the place successful.

by Sarah Jagger