(keep reading to learn what happened)
Season: 2 | View All Season 2 Episodes
Original Episode Air Date: November 6, 2008
Hannah and Mason's Address: 39 N Main St Cranbury, NJ 08512
Episode Recap
Hannah and Masons was a Cranbury, New Jersey restaurant featured on Season 2 of Kitchen Nightmares.
Though the Hannah and Masons Kitchen Nightmares episode aired in November 2008, the actual filming and visit from Gordon Ramsay took place earlier in February 2008.
It was Kitchen Nightmares Season 2 Episode 7, though it was only the sixth restaurant featured because the first episode of the season was a revisit.
Located in Cranberry, NJ, Hannah and Mason’s is owned by two friends, Chris Posner and Brian Kelly (not the former Notre Dame football coach!).
Brian is seen as the lazy owner, and Chris is the one who cooks and manages the restaurant.
Brian would like the restaurant to be open for three nights a week because he doesn’t want to work at night.
Have you ever heard of that?
A restaurant that’s only open three nights a week?
That sounds like a recipe for failure, so I guess it’s not surprising that Hannah and Mason’s ended up on Kitchen Nightmares.
As Gordon Ramsay approaches the restaurant, he notices the missing letter N in the sign for Hannah and Mason’s.
When he gets inside, Gordon is surprised by the youth of the manager.
He then orders the baked onion soup and the lamb lollipops.
Gordon complains that the soup is too greasy.
Gordon’s lamb is undercooked, and the onion jam it is served with is too sweet.
Gordon also ordered a quiche that was made poorly.
The owners claim the customers love the food, but that’s obviously not the full story given Hannah and Mason’s current situation.
Gordon is shocked that the restaurant is only open three nights a week.
Of course he is – it’s a ridiculous plan!
Gordon decides to watch their Valentine’s Day dinner service.
He sees old desserts out but learns they are for display only.
Although, a piece of week-old cheesecake managed to find a way onto a customer’s dish.
Gordon is in the kitchen when he notices that the kitchen staff isn’t washing the vegetables before use.
The fridge is disgusting, and there is food everywhere.
Raw chicken is mixed with other foods, which is a significant health risk.
Gordon deems the restaurant a hazard and turns off dinner service.
The celebrity chef praises Chris for stepping up.
Gordon admonishes Brian for not helping.
Gordon Ramsay orders the staff to clean the kitchen and heads out for the night.
The next day, Gordon strolls around the area.
He discovers many farms that offer fresh ingredients.
When Gordon returns from the restaurant, he argues with Brian over his lack of enthusiasm.
Gordon Ramsay decides to teach Chris a new dish – pork medallions with caramelized Braeburn apples.
Brian threatens to leave because Gordon will not stop criticizing him.
Umm – that’s kind of the whole point of the show!
If your restaurant/ownership didn’t deserve any criticism, then the Hannah and Mason’s Kitchen Nightmares episode probably wouldn’t exist.
Let’s move onto the service…
The service is slow, and tickets quickly begin backing up.
Eventually, the pace picks up, and the customers leave satisfied.
Brian agrees with Gordon about using locally sourced ingredients.
The next day, the staff sees Gordon’s improvements to Hannah and Mason’s.
He has replaced the defunct letter N in the signage.
The roles are now reversed, and Chris is nervous about all the changes.
Brian is excited about the success of the previous night.
Gordon has farmers outside to promote the restaurant.
Gordon has changed the theme from fine dining to casual dining.
Brian steps up once the relaunch starts, but Chris is still nervous.
Chris tries to make substitutions instead of preparing fresh food. Gordon is disappointed, but eventually, Chris gets back on track.
The outlook looks bright, but Gordon Ramsay still doubts that the restaurant will succeed.
So was Gordon Ramsay right about the restaurant?
Was the Kitchen Nightmares Hannah and Masons restaurant a long-term success or did it fail?
Keep reading our update to learn what happened next and if this Cranbury, NJ restaurant is still open in 2023 and beyond.
Hannah and Mason's Update - What Happened Next?
Now that we’ve gone over what happened on the Hannah and Mason’s Kitchen Nightmares episode, let’s talk about how the restaurant is doing since the cameras stopped filming.
Is Hannah and Mason’s still open after Kitchen Nightmares?
Hannah and Masons’ eventually closed in February 2010, which was around 14 months after the Hannah and Masons Kitchen Nightmares episode aired on TV.
Why did Hannah and Mason’s close?
First off, there was a decrease in customers and a general decline in the economy that led to fewer people eating out.
Additionally, some loyal customers didn’t like Gordon’s new menu.
Hannah and Mason’s also changed some of Gordon’s remodel choices and went back to some of the initial aesthetic after they found that Gordon’s changes didn’t bring in as many customers as they expected.
Chris Posner, one of the co-owners of the restaurant, told the trade journal Nation’s Restaurant News that “With or without the show, I think we would have closed”, so it seems like Hannah & Mason’s was always destined to end up shuttered.
Gordon Ramsay echoed these thoughts in a statement to the New York Post, in which he said “Unfortunately, they were going to close anyway before I got there”.
As of 2023, the old Hannah and Masons Cranbury NJ location is no longer occupied by a restaurant.
Instead, it’s occupied by a lawyer, so no one will be eating a meal at this location anymore.
Here’s what the Hannah and Masons Cranbury NJ location looks like in the most recent picture from Google Maps street view.
If you zoom in, you can see the sign for the law office on the door of the building:
Unfortunately, the Hannah and Mason’s Yelp page is empty so I can’t share any Hannah and Mason’s reviews from after Kitchen Nightmares.
Why did Hannah and Mason’s close?
In addition to what I discussed above, Hannah and Mason’s was already planning to close even before the visit from Gordon Ramsay.
They thought maybe Gordon’s changes could save the restaurant, but there was too much downward momentum to make it a success.
The Hannah and Mason’s owners blamed a general decrease in customers and the economic downturn.
Overall, Hannah and Masons restaurant really never had a chance to succeed.
What happened to Chris Posner from Hannah and Masons?
Chris Posner from Hannah and Mason’s seems to have gone on to have a long career in the food industry, based on what I believe is his LinkedIn.
He doesn’t list Hannah and Mason’s on his LinkedIn, but the picture does look like an older version of Chris Posner from the episode.
He worked as a research chef at Pinnacle Foods for around seven years.
Now, he seems to be the “VP of Culinary Innovation” at a food company in New York City.
Overall, Chris seems to have done very well after Hannah and Mason’s closed.
What happened to Brian Kelly from Hannah and Masons?
Brian Kelly also seems to have continued working in the culinary space after Hannah and Mason’s closed.
Though Brian’s LinkedIn hasn’t been updated recently, he seems to have had various jobs working as a Head Chef, Executive Chef, and Sous Chef.
Final thoughts on the Hannah and Mason’s Kitchen Nightmares episode
Overall, it’s tough to blame Gordon Ramsay for Hannah and Mason’s closing because it seemed like the restaurant was already bound for closure even before he walked in the door.
The old Hannah and Masons Cranbury NJ location is no longer occupied by a restaurant.
Instead, it’s now a law office.
Chris Posner from Hannah and Mason’s seems to have gone on to have a long career in the culinary industry.
Brian Kelly also seems to have continued working as a chef, though I’m not sure what he’s doing as of 2023.
If you want to see some other nearby restaurants from Kitchen Nightmares, you also might be interested in my updates for Blackberry’s in Plainfield, Mike and Nellie’s in Oakhurst, Flamangos / The Junction in Whitehouse Station, and The Black Pearl in New York City.
And if you want to share your thoughts on the Kitchen Nightmares Hannah and Mason’s restaurant episode, you can do so using the comments section below.
Thanks for reading!
More Information
https://www.yelp.com/biz/hannah-and-masons-cranburyWhat did you think about the Hannah and Mason's episode of Kitchen Nightmares? I'd love it if you shared your thoughts on the episode in the comments below!
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Last updated: 2023-04-21 06:33
They were not that passionate about restaurant at all!
Brian, an oversized, overgrown immature baby who never had any reason to grow up! A true millennial through and through: no drive, no passion, no responsibility, no concept of hard work, and everything is just a game !!! Probably raised by a single mom who always praised him for achieving nothing, always telling him he was special. Open only 3 nights a week, his attitude toward anything that goes wrong in the restaurant (including his own blunders) is “WHATEVER”…..
You just know Brian’s mama catered to him when he sat in his room playing video games all day a night. She fed him an endless supply of Hot Pockets, Lunchables and McDonald’s
You’re literally insane. Do you hear yourself?
No, I don’t think so .
At the beginning it’s Valentine’s day, later it seems to be apple season.
Tad Nathaniel, projecting a bit too hard there chief.
Which one is Hannah and which one is Mason?
As with all these restaurants they leave it too late to seek help they are almost passed the point of no return. Then they don’t continue with the changes to return to what they were doing before and failing. How then could you expect to succeed. Don’t ask for help if you are closed minded, you may not like what you’re going to hear but if you won’t accept advice on why you are failing and what you need to do to succeed it will always be a failure. Also helps if you have a chef that can actually produce good quality tasty fresh food.
The big lump, Brian looked like a giant mongoloid. I would never let him near sharp objects.
You need to post pictures of the main characters in each episode. The other KN Revisited website (which seems like it has not updated since 2020), has pictures of the owners, chef, and any other main characters, so it looks better.
I’m working on adding pictures to all of the updates. I’ve done it for some of the more popular episodes but I haven’t gotten to all of them yet. I don’t remember any other site using pictures, though.
Thanks for the feedback!
You’re doing a great job!
Pictures of big head Brian would be good. All these shows have a villain or two. Usually the owner or the chef or both.
I just added pictures! I also added some information about what happened to Chris and Brian after the Hannah and Mason’s episode.
Great updates? Wonder what happened to Marie? I hope she married Brian. Their kids would be precious.
Brian the blob didn’t hit the bell. Food sits 20 minutes. What a loser.
There used to be a band called Big Head Todd.
I hate to say it, but Chris had a good point. The last thing you want to do when your business is going down is take a sharp left turn. If they continued as a bistro, but with a (somewhat) updated interior, and an updated, more local, menu, they would’ve lasted longer than 14 months, I believe.
Yes, they were destined to close, but I think Gordon, in this case, forced them shut sooner than they otherwise would’ve.
Seriously, had they incorporated more dishes like the pork & apple, using local vegetables and locally raised farm animals, advertising as such, they would’ve done well as a bistro. instead they’re supposed to become a *cafe*, overnight?
Gordon said he wanted to turn the place around and I feel like he took it way too literally. He swapped red for blue, dinner for cafe, utterly ridiculous.
Nothing could have saved that place. Brian the big head lazy blob had no work ethic and was dumber than a stump. He single-handedly killed the restuarant, and nothing could have made that better unless he had quit.