Gordon Ramsey’s Kitchen Nightmares Hits Long Island Again
Yup, that crazy, arrogant, millionaire celeb-demonic chef graces the island again and this time he is at the Handlebar Restaurant in Mt. Sinai, NY.
I went there the other day and it was really interesting. Camera crews running around, people “shushing” us whenever a loud laugh was heard and a frantic stressed out group of employees.
It was a typical day at the Handlebar. Not many people were there at the bar, perhaps 7, but then again it was only 3:30 in the afternoon and not everyone is retired or self-employeed. As my mundane but good tuna on toast arrived, the bartender yelled out “last call….they told us to close up A.S.A.P.
The heavy hitters next to me packed up and left to go to a local fraternal organization to drink .50 cent beers, cameramen cleaned their lenses and after I ate my sandwich in record time we were told that we could stay but nobody new could come in.
This is were it got interesting!
Then suddenly the man himself appears and hurried off into the back room to interview the owners.
Trying to hear what he was saying was almost impossible but I did hear the words..pathetic, boring, are you kidding and unacceptable.
My attention was taken away when the waitress came to the bar crying about how stressful it was and how the “crew” are such assholes and really pushing them to kind of exaggerate their issues.
Also, the owner was really worn out. He was ranting on how he would never recommend this experiment to anyone.
I understand it is stressfull. Being told when to open, close, do this and that..but please, it will all be worth it. It’s less than a week of this.
The Handlebar will end up with loads of new equipment, a better attitude, better food, more clients and homeade recipes as opposed to buckets of rice pudding and generic salad dressings that have a shelf life of 21 years.
I’ve got a reservation with a few good friends for tonight and I am anticipating a good time. A circus perhaps but a good time.
It sure is going to be interesting to see what happens when this is all over but all in all, they will be a better restaurant for it.
We haven’t eaten there in a long time. The place already looks better without that bike out front. Looking foward to all the chef’s changings.
Comment by Christine — February 8, 2008 @ 11:44 am
We haven’t been there in a long time. It already looks better without the bike in front. I’m sure the chef’s changes will make a great difference as long as they are followed. We wish the Handlebar all the best!!
Comment by Christine — February 8, 2008 @ 11:53 am
wow you have to be really joking yourself. this is sooooo far from a gastro pub its not even funny. how bout people open their eyes and go to manhatten ( ie) pastis, the spotted pig, wd50 the list goes on and on!!!! this looks like a good night at applebees..did he steal the menu from ruby tuesday????? i guess gordon doesnt want to give these people something they cant fry!! have fun failing ..sorry
Comment by jon — February 20, 2008 @ 8:41 pm
Handlebar hater,
Have you even been there?
There are only 5 items on the menu that are fried vs. the old menu…which was fried itself and stained with ketchup the despair of the old Handlebar. Oh yeah and it smelled like cigerette smoke.
I am experienced with all culinary aspects of seafood. Everything from catching it, buying it, cooking it and writing about it and the Ipswich Clams are incredible.
I agree with you on the fact that there are some excellent establishments in the city, however, this is not the city, that place is starts 50 miles away and Gordon really lifted this little Long Island “townie” place up.
*** WD50? Over rated! Please…Wylie Dufresne and his love affair with math, physics and foam will die out very soon.
The only foam at the HB is on the top of the ice-cold beer.
A WD-50 menu would not work here.
For those of you whom are not familiar check out some of their offerings:
Bone marrow, chestnuts, tonburi, pickled honshemeji
Foie gras, fennel, malt, sherry vinegar jam
*****This isn’t pub fare.***** This is a science project gone wrong!
*** Spotted Pig…indeed a great gastropub. Worth the trip.
*** Pastis- A generic french bistro. Not a Gastropub. A dime a dozen.
The word “gastro” in gastropub signifies a place that offers drinkers something a bit more upscale and sophisticated than burgers and fries with their pints.
It’s a busy atmosphere in a warm and cozy pub that makes you want to get a drink, grab an app or have dinner and if you have been to the Handlebar recently this is exactly what they have become.
The question is, can they keep it this way or will they go back to selling the same old double fried mozzarella sticks, mock seafood chowder, warm tuna salad sandwiches, rice pudding and salad dressings that come from 20 gallon vats?
Comment by admin — February 21, 2008 @ 8:36 pm
I agree with the admin…the place has changed for the better.
Same wacko regulars and some new blood.
They better advertise the shit out of this place now and when the show aires in the Fall or they will be doomed.
Hopefully the new menu and atmosphere will make a few of the whitey t regulars find a new spot.
My girlfriends and I go there every week and have fun. Very down to earth..now more classy and a touch of the city.
And what the hell is with that video game poker shit? QuickDraw I think it is.
There is this one guy who spends hundreds there everyday (no joke) and talks aloud to himself as if anyone wants to hear him. I hear his mom passed and gave him a fortune…and he is a cheap s.o.b.
You can tell the guy never earned a dime on his own but acts like he earned it.
Wow..how did I get away from the subject at hand?
Sorry Mr. Lexus hat.
Comment by DonnaoftheIsles — February 21, 2008 @ 9:18 pm
point taken , perhaps initial rage and a let down from gordon ramsey even calling it a (gastro-pub) was upsetting ( just threw wd in there for fun) but tons of places in nyc have it down….arnt we all just looking for the same thing???? and cool night scene with good interesting food and wine?? i believe long island is ready ,,, but where???
Comment by jon — February 26, 2008 @ 11:45 pm
Jon,
I totally agree. Long Island is ready.
Have you been to The Southampton Publik House?
Not your typical Southampton, “I’m better than you”, eatery.
Great pub area, very good food and great atmosphere.
Again, your not paying $21.00 for a cheese burger and “real people” make up the flavor.
Excellent hand crafted beer.
Also, Croxley Ales in Franklin Square in very nice.
Nice enviornment, great people, good crowd. A mix of young and old.
I feel like a kid in a candy store here with 60 ales and lagers on draught.
The apps are pretty generic but very good. Sweet potato fries kick ass.
Crunchy, sweet and served with a maple dipping sauce.
They have an ecelectic menu of offerings including Bangers & Mash, Bass Ale Marinated Steak and Mushroom Pie, Young’s Oatmeal Stout Meatloaf, a real Shepherd’s Pie and the list goes on.
So within a 75 mile radius I know of 3 places that may fit the bill.
If anyone knows of others please let us know.
If you are not in NY please pipe in with your comments.
Comment by admin — February 27, 2008 @ 7:57 am
I would like mosaic in St. James to open a gastro pub!!! I ate there saturday night, probably the tightest menu around the island.( concept and execution wise)
Comment by fruit bastilla — March 9, 2008 @ 11:15 am
Hey Fruit Bastilla,
Thanks for the info.
I heard that Mosaic is excellent.
Tell me what you had and about the experience?
Thanks!
Comment by admin — March 9, 2008 @ 4:59 pm
sure….conceptually they have a theme, which seems to be having fun with words,ingerdients and cultures such as foi-grits, pepper pickled pepporcini, and so on. Twisting classics like the penne a la vodka soup which i had for an appetizer served with a provolone crouton and broccoli rabe pesto and marinated broccoli rabe(something reminiscent of a moto in chicago but without all of the equipment. i fogot what the wife ate but it came with about 10 different accompaniments like bamboo relish, kohlrabi, and so on. we then had 2 mid courses lemon ginger sorbet, with a ginger marinated cucumber, cucumber sake and spiced anise sugar? Very refreshing the server brought it out and had a small labratory squeeze bottle and squeezed the sake into the glass. which is always fun. For 3rd course my wife and i had the roast beef filet with horseradish soubise, cabbage dumpling, green suace. i asked the boy serving me what is green suace? he said smiling, basiclly everything gren in the kitchen , parsley, dill,cucumber, apple,celery,lime….(which is funny and it tasted good. Ihad the coconut roasted salmon med-rare with chocolate-walnut mole soil that came in a miniature ceramic planter,plantain crema, pepper pickled zuchini, and a sweet potato enchilada that came in a small porcelin le creuset. We didnt really want dessert but the server told up they had a nice cheese selection he said trust me it will be enjoyable …and at 8 bucks sure he sold me…cheese for 1 came out with shropshire blu cheese, spanish mahon, roqufort, prima donna,french buefort, ossou-iraty,veneto de’ estate, and a valency wedge. I was baffled where did all this cheese come from? and how did this kid remeber all those cheeses and the stories and regions behind each one( and the traditional accompaniments were in attendance….smoked kumquot honey, 25yr balsamic,apple,pickled red cabbage, pickled ale onion and someother stuff. i finished my meal off with a glass of 1991 glenrothes whiskey served tableside over one ice cube my wife had sweet chartruese
my experience was good, it was crowded but it was 7 30 , the bathroom was clean, the painting were unique and fun, youll understand if you go, clean linnens for hand towels, ummm…the music was oddly good??? the police?david byrne grateful dead, bob dylan, beethoven..pretty interesting, servers were nice i never had the anything given to be unexplained from the butter and salt to the olives in oil. thats bout it
Comment by fruit bastilla — March 10, 2008 @ 1:17 pm
I’m going tonight I’ll let you know how it goes
Comment by Public — March 12, 2008 @ 12:55 pm
i thought you were kidding about the cheese plate……i called ahead and told them i liked brillant savarin….so they bought that and bought 2 other cheeses similar to it,, thanks mosiac
Comment by kk — March 20, 2008 @ 8:14 pm
Your blog is interesting!
Keep up the good work!
* Hey, Thanks ALexM..Keep viewing!
Comment by AlexM — August 17, 2008 @ 2:50 am
I was at the Handle Bar restaurant in the last week of August with my husband. This is a place that we like to go to without the children, a date night. I always had loved the seafood crepes, and had heard that they were serving fondue, which I haven’t had as a kid and was really looking forward to it. It wasnt there. I ordered the special of the day, a $22 1 1/2 lb Lobster, great price. I asked for spinach on the side, I received a double spinach side, lobster was great, spinach was metiocre. I was saddened to see some of my favorites, were gone and forgotten. The food is ok now, but I wanted more of a selection. This was always a place that wasn’t yuppy central, I dont know if Chef Ramsey was trying to make this place a Manhattanite dining experience, but seriously, if I wanted to have that experience, I’d hop on the train. Sadly, when I entered the restaurant, you could here crickets, it was empty. I honestly think that the new menu was horrible, that the owner was doing wonderful with the old menu. I think that Gordon Ramsey’s show has gotten to his head. He went in there trying to get ratings, what the public didnt know is that he had a lawyer and a psychologist in his trailer. The Dr, to tell him how he can set each individual employee off, and the lawyer telling him what he can and cannot say. Ratings, ratings, ratings.
So to you Chef Ramsey, your experiment failed, I hope your media attention helps this restaurant owner, and that the owner makes changes that will fit the community better.
Comment by Colleen — September 7, 2008 @ 8:42 am
Just tuned in to the show “Kitchen Nightmares” and Chef Ramsey is just amazing, what he & his staff has done to this restaurant, I plan on taking a trip back to NY and am looking forward to dining out at the handlebar Congrats to the owners and the staff and am also looking forward to getting autographs as they have become stars in their own rite…..
Comment by Gutsy Gator — September 11, 2008 @ 7:10 pm
I went to the Handle Bar restaurant shortly after the airing of Kitchen Nightmares 2008, episode 1 and found it to be a rather ordinary affair. I arrived no less then 30 minutes after the airing, and found only a few gatherings of cheap helium balloons, obnoxious drunken off-duty employees, one extra wide-screen TV placed specifically for the show, and a lack-luster bunch of drunkards and of course the post-show novelty seekers – myself being one of them. Though I do live close by, this was the first encounter I had with the challenged and worn decorum of the establishment. What surprised me the most was the complete lack of enthusiasm from both the staff and the crowd in general, and try as I might I could not help but escape the feeling that I was simple sitting inside some typical ‘Strong-Island’ playground for tight-shirted-men and worn out anarchists who speak with ease, the oft forgotten and whimsical colloquy of Brooklynese. Yes, this is a biker bar and of course it shall remain one, but the truth is, that beyond some pathetic attempts at naming this a gastropub; the Handle Bar is, and shall always be, a Long Island dive for the not-so-rich and not-so-beautiful eclectic crowd.
Comment by Stephen — September 11, 2008 @ 9:51 pm
I ate at the Handlebar last night for the first time since the re-opening. My food was very good, and as were the meals of the rest of our party. The rest of my evening was spent suffering from extreme stomach pains- with a climax of projectile vomiting and diarrhea at around 10 pm. This continued until about 6am (with vomiting and explosive diarrhea once every hour) and I have been recovering all day today. Thank you for the food poisoning, Handlebar. I will never again eat in this establishment, and will always give a poor recommendation from here on out.
Comment by Chris — November 14, 2008 @ 6:32 pm
We have just watched the first show of “Handlebar’s”, in the UK. Lovely people, we wish the owners and staff all the best.
Comment by april — March 20, 2009 @ 3:08 pm