After Shane and I moved to Nashville, and before I got a job, I went through a lot of obsessive phases, like my crazy reading phase or the time I binge-watched the first two seasons of The Walking Dead over a weekend while Shane was out of town. Bad idea, because that sh*t's scary when you have to sleep in your somewhat creepy apartment by yourself at night.
I also went through a Gordon Ramsay obsession, specifically Hotel Hell and Kitchen Nightmares. If you've never seen Kitchen Nightmares, what is wrong with you?! The legit British episodes are really really awesome, and the later American seasons are pretty good too...they definitely bring a lot of American reality TV flavor in with over-dramatization and it's hilarious when the owners get all pissed and walk out of the restaurant.
Of course when I found out through Twitter that Kitchen Nightmares would be filming in Nashville at Chappy's on Church, we HAD to go. When they film, you can't just go and eat there. There's a whole application process and you have to be picked. We were chosen for day one of filming during lunch service (BEFORE the transformation...great) but that meant there would be a pretty good chance of spotting Gordon Ramsay while we were eating because that's when he comes in for his "intro" and samples the food for the first time.
We got to Chappy's, signed our releases, then sat down to lunch. All during appetizers and bread service we were sneaking glances around the room and listening to see if we could hear anything. Then HE walked in, yes, Gordon Ramsay! We weren't supposed to look directly at him or the cameras, but it was just so gosh darn hard! He was right over there!! And we got to be on the same screen with him! Aaaahhhhhh!!!!!
It gets even better because on the show when they seat Gordon at his lunch table, they cut straight to a scene of Shane and I sitting at our table! Holy crap! In real life we were already long gone by the time he sat down to lunch, but that's the magic of TV for you.
We're famous! Now every time this reruns on BBC America, viewers will get a glimpse of the Horners! I'm waiting on my call from Hollywood to see which TV show/movie has cast me as the leading lady.
**I actually just found out like two hours ago that we were even shown on the episode. The first time we saw the episode, we missed the first ten minutes and thought we just got cut. I just so happened to turn to the channel tonight at just the right time and there we were! **
Overall it was a really cool experience. The food was fine (I'm no gourmand) to me and we didn't get food poisoning or anything. Shane said his red beans and rice were a bit watery but my chicken was decent. Gordon Ramsay updated the restaurant a LOT...like seriously the Nashville location just opened in 2006 and the decor still looked totally 90s...and changed the menu, but it didn't work out for Chappy.
After only four weeks with the new menu, he switched everything back. The restaurant closed a few months later for tax evasion and Chappy said on the news that being on Kitchen Nightmares ruined his life.
Sorry Chappy, but I'm pretty sure Gordon Ramsay didn't come to your house and make you not pay your taxes, plus he has a bunch of restaurants and collectively has 13 Michelin stars, not to mention a ton of TV shows and books, so I think he knows what he's doing.
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