(keep reading to learn what happened)
Season: UK | View All Season UK Episodes
Original Episode Air Date: February 21, 2006
Oscar's Address: 31 Beam St, Nantwich CW5 5NA, United Kingdom
Episode Recap
Oscar’s was a Nantwich, England restaurant featured on Season 3 of Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares in the UK. Though the Oscar’s Nightmares episode aired in February 2006, the actual filming and visit from Gordon Ramsay took place in late 2005. It was Episode 1 of Season 3 on the UK version.
Oscar’s is located in Nantwich, Chesire.
It is named after Oscar Wilde and owned by Maura Dooris.
Maura used her life savings to open up Oscar’s, so she has a lot riding on the success of the restaurant. That explains why she called in help from Gordon Ramsay and the Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares show.
Her son Lenin cooks for free as she can’t afford a chef. The food offerings are described as a little bit of everything.
Gordon decides to kick things off by putting the menu to the test.
Gordon orders a paella dish that takes twenty minutes to arrive.
Maura needs to give out complimentary wine because of the long wait times.
An hour and a half later, Gordon receives his second course of carbonara.
The chicken that comes with his dish is rubbery. He is not happy with his meal so far.
Gordon goes into the kitchen to help with the chaos.
The food is burning on the stove, and Maura and Lenin are fighting. I
t ends up that Maura gave away over £100 of free food and wine to make up for the poor service. They end up losing as much money as they made, which is obviously no way to run a successful business.
Gordon comes back the next day to talk about the previous evening.
Lenin admits he had nerves and drank to calm then down.
Gordon challenges Lenin to cook a new dish for the menu using lamb stock.
Lenin says the menu is boring, and he has no passion for cooking.
Gordon negotiates a discount with a local butcher and farmers market to get cheap meat and produce.
That evening the restaurant is fully booked.
The dinner service begins okay, but then Lenin starts serving cold and bland food.
Lenin was drinking again, and Gordon told him that he couldn’t have any alcohol for the rest of his time.
Gordon says the menu needs to be reduced and that they should add some traditional Irish dishes.
Gordon teaches Lenin how to make homemade fish cakes.
Lenin is continuing to stay sober. Gordon reminds Maura to be more present in the dining room.
That evening the dinner service was successful.
To go along with the improved changes in the kitchen, Gordon revamps the exterior of the restaurant.
During the relaunched service, Lenin was drinking again and he fell over.
Gordon goes to visit him at his apartment and tells him he has to try and get better.
Chef Michael Quinn, who is a recovering addict and has a foundation to help those struggling, talks to Gordon.
Les, the assistant cook, is put in charge of the kitchen, and Gordon assists him. Les does a great job. He is able to keep up with all of the orders coming in.
So, did the Oscar’s Kitchen Nightmares episode result in meaningful long-term changes for the restaurant? Let’s find out!
Oscar's Update - What Happened Next?
One month later, Gordon met with Lenin.
Lenin tells Gordon he is cutting down on drinking and doing his best to stay sober.
He has taken a step back from the restaurant and started to get himself help.
Martin is the new chef at the Oscars.
Service went very smooth for Gordon on his revisit. He also invited a few local customers who were unhappy from before to come back and join the revisit.
However, things would not work out for the restaurant as Oscar’s closed in 2005 so that Maura could focus more on Lenin and the family.
Gordon Ramsay also helped get Lenin into rehab so that he could overcome his problems with alcohol addiction, which is a nice thing for Gordon to do.
In an article in the Mirror, Lenin said that without Gordon and Kitchen Nightmares intervening, he probably would’ve just kept drinking.
So, while the Oscar’s restaurant closed and didn’t have a happy ending, it seems like Maura and Lenin are in a better place beyond that.
We’re happy for them.
As of 2022, the old Oscar’s restaurant location in Nantwich is occupied by a ladies-only gym called Gymophobics.
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Last updated: 2022-01-07 06:02
When I don’t know what to watch, I throw on Ramsey’s Kitchen Nightmares -UK. This is 03 June 2022 and I was just curious if these nice folks were still in business. Sad to see, not, but glad they are doing good.
Lenin cooked for free because he subscribed to the motto, from each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs.
Gymophobics wouldn’t let Gordon visit to sample their food as it is a ladies-only facility.
I liked these folks, and Ramsey is at his most compassionate in these UK episodes. I hoped they made it through, but happy to hear they are walking together as a family. May God bless them.
I have just come across this article.
I am Les, the assistant chef from Oscars when Gordon visited. The memories from Oscars and the week with Gordon will always remain with me. I am now a class 2 delivery driver but still like to cook when i can.
Hi Leslie I thought your bingo calling in the episode was great. Hope your keeping well.
Thanks for contributing! I’m glad you’re still able to cook.
Are there any cool stories from filming you’d like to share?
I used to be a chef of 27 years. I turned my back on the trade in 2020 after being diagnosed with severe depression and anxiety.
As Gordon says, drinking is very easy to fall into and I used to drink a load when I was a chef. I never drank on duty, but after work and if I wasn’t doing a late finish? I’d easily neck pints. I’d walk from work to home (about 1.5 miles) and on the way were 4 pubs. I’d stop at every pub and easily knock back 2 pints in each. When at home, I always had booze in, beer, whiskey, vodka, etc and I’d quite happily sit there and get though half a bottle and several cans of beer.
Days off, I would do nothing but drink. The only time I wasn’t drinking was while at work or when I was asleep… which was rarely as I preferred to stay up late and drink instead of sleep.
Now though, and since quitting the trade? I hardly drink. I have the odd drink for special occasions, birthdays, etc. If I go out for a meal, I have soft drinks and I don’t have alcohol in the house anymore. But yeah, it is an easy trap to fall into.