This weekend, celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay went to Sacramento, CA in an attempt to remodel and revamp well-known soul food restaurant Sandra Dee’s Bar-B-Que & Seafood.
If you're familiar with Ramsay, you know he's known for getting chefs all the way together, most notably through yelling. He helps get restaurants on the up and up, and also helps chefs get their cooking on point. However, it seems that if it ain't broke, don't let Ramsay fix it or he'll take away the seasoning.
After years of being contacted by different networks asking her restaurant to be a part of their shows, Sandra Dee finally agreed to be a participant in Gordon Ramsay’s 24 Hours to Hell & Back.
“The restaurant has been struggling,” said Sandra Dee, who opened the establishment in Alkali Flat 19 years ago. Though she didn't seek out Ramsey, she was accepting his help.
According to The Sacramento Bee, Ramsay arrived at the restaurant Friday in disguise. He was dressed as a construction worker complete with a fake beard and round belly. The series features Ramsay “going through hell in order to bring failing restaurants back from the brink of disaster,” according to a press release.
However, in all of this, Ramsay seemingly forgot the culture of a soul food restaurant.
His first mishap was a stripped-down menu and less seafood. A photo of the Ramsay-suggested menu obtained by The Sacramento Bee notably lacked ribs, tri-tip and hot links that were mainstays in her restaurant. From appetizers to dessert, it offered only eight items. A soul food joint with only eight items? Come on now.
Then, he told Dee to only season with salt. Soul food with only salt? Oh, no sir.
“My customers don’t want me to change the menu,” Dee said Tuesday. “As to changing to his menu, I will not be doing it. I’m Creole and I don’t know how to cook without spice.”
The second thing he changed was the decor. While the restaurant was up for a revamping, he took away some of the most notable things that soul food joints tend to have: the collage wall. The pictures of famous guests who visited over the last 19 years are gone after Ramsay replaced them with a colorful wall of wood doors and a wall of natural wood planks. Also, several new pig art elements also grace the interior. To that I say, reframe the pictures and hang them back up (Pigs? Really?). However, the exterior with several murals depicting famous African Americans remains.
Many people spoke of the restaurant saying that the remodel was warranted. But a regular of the restaurant said Ramsay may have done too much.
“They made it a little too hipster,” Paul Imagine said to The Sacramento Bee. “They tried to make it something that it’s not. Not a huge fan of the makeover.”
While business seemingly has picked up after the makeover, it can’t be determined if it is due to the publicity surrounding Ramsay’s show or the food. One thing's for sure, if you beg to remodel, please understand the culture of the restaurant prior to making changes.
