(keep reading to learn what happened)
Season: UK | View All Season UK Episodes
Original Episode Air Date: October 14, 2014
Quelcutti's Tapas Address: Plaza del Castell Setla, 03779 Spain
Episode Recap
Quelcutti’s Tapas was a Setla, Spain restaurant featured on Gordon Ramsay’s special Costa del Nightmares series, which originally aired in the UK.
Though the Quelcutti’s Tapas Kitchen Nightmares episode aired in September 2014, the actual filming and visit from Gordon Ramsay took place much earlier in 2014. It was Episode 4 of Costa del Nightmares.
Owned by the Quelcutti family, Quelcutti’s Tapas, is located in Setla, Spain. You can see a map of the location below, but it’s on the East coast of Spain a little bit South of Valencia. Another name for the area is Els Poblets, Spain.
The family moved to Spain one year at the time of the Costa del Nightmares episode.
The owner, Del, invested his life savings into Quelcutti’s Tapas.
Joe and Ruby run the bar, and Terry was the cook. Del and Susan made Quelcutti’s Tapas a restaurant, but Joe is focusing more on the bar.
The food is being neglected in favor of the bar, which is why they desperately need help from Gordon Ramsay.
The family hasn’t been paid in over a year, and they are in danger of closing. It’s not quite the vacation they wanted when they moved to Spain.
Del and Susan confide in Gordon that their children take no responsibility and give out free drinks.
Del reveals his children control his life. They drink at the bar before, during, and after service.
Gordon orders dishes but is told they are unavailable.
They can’t find the chicken Kiev Gordon ordered, so he switches to a gourmet burger. He also orders a pork dish.
Gordon is not impressed and finds the food very greasy.
He is then given a glass of wine that he says tastes like motor oil.
When he goes to inspect the kitchen, Gordon finds a moldy and smelly ham.
The celebrity chef then sits down with the family and opens up about his father’s alcoholism.
The Quelcutti family members reflect and tell Gordon they are ready to change.
Gordon challenges the kitchen staff to cook for fifteen people, which shouldn’t be that difficult.
At the bar, Joe is awkward and doesn’t know how to converse with the customers. He only knows how to be disrespectful and rude.
The kitchen uses frozen ingredients, and they struggle to use the fresh local ingredients Gordon brought with him.
Joe begins snapping at anyone who leaves any sort of feedback.
One customer finds a cockroach on the table, and Joe swears that it was planted there. Later in Gordon Ramsay’s career, someone would also accuse him of planting a mouse in the USA version of the show during the Blackberry’s episode.
Terry has to come out and apologize after Joe is rude to a family of regulars. Gordon gives Joe the hard truth, and he is the biggest problem.
Gordon has the family write emotional letters to Del and Sue.
The challenge is so emotional even Gordon begins to cry.
Gordon is surprised by the lack of Spanish influence in the restaurant and introduces tapas to the menu.
The family and Gordon go to a Michelin star award restaurant to watch how they run their service.
During the revamp, Gordon added family pictures to add a personal touch to the Quelcutti’s Tapas restaurant.
The re-launch will have fresh tapas paired with glasses of wine. Joe neglects the food and sends twenty orders into the kitchen at one time.
After a few hiccups, caused mainly by Joe, the night was a success.
So – was the Quelcutti’s Kitchen Nightmares episode a success? Let’s find out…
Quelcutti's Tapas Update - What Happened Next?
One month later, Gordon surprises the Quelcuttis for a visit.
The family is no longer drinking at the bar, and the restaurant is making a profit.
On the surface, things seemed to be going much better. However, the actual situation wasn’t quite as rosy as the TV made it seem.
Let’s find out…
Is Quelcutti’s Tapas still open after Kitchen Nightmares?
Quelcutti’s Tapas closed for good in August 2015, which was around 15 months after the visit from Gordon Ramsay and less than a year since the episode aired.
Despite the heart-to-hearts on the episode, Joe said that his family relationships actually got worse after the show. I’m not sure if it’s fair to blame the show, but Joe said things might’ve gone better if they never appeared on Costa del Nightmares.
He also laid the blame for the restaurant’s closure at the feet of Gordon Ramsay’s changes.
Joe said that there were already 10+ other Tapas restaurants in the area, so changing the Quelcutti’s restaurant to Tapas didn’t make sense and actually made things worse.
After the restaurant closed, Joe was left with £25,000 of debt, which obviously didn’t make him very happy.
Overall, the restaurant is definitely closed and the Quelcutti’s Tapas TripAdvisor page has also disappeared so it’s impossible to look up the reviews after Gordon Ramsay.
More Information
https://www.facebook.com/QuelcuttisBarAndGrill/
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Last updated: 2022-01-18 07:01
Gordon ruined the family’s vacation plan, which was EXACTLY to go to Spain and drink all the time.
The family had zero skills whatsoever to run a restaurant. I suspect Gordon gambled on tapas because they would’ve been in over their heads with anything else. But even that was too much of a challenge. Not fit to polish Gordon’s boots, never mind having him mentor them.
Joe was a drunken piece of trash. His family should have cut him loose.
16 years later, where are they now?
Joe was a total loose cannon. I figured he was either on cocaine or drunk, or both, during the filming of the show. It would explain his playing up and erratic behaviour. He was clearly an addict and was a problem child in that family. The parents were being taken for a ride. They are guilty of being soft towards their children and giving them everything. Joe needs professional help. Be interesting to see what Joe is doing now.
It would be interesting to have a Ramsay’s KN Reunion show where he visits all the losers and updates what a trainwreck their lives are, and which ones are dead, in prison, etc.