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Ramsey was here in South Bend

JEREMY D. BONFIGLIO
Tribune Staff Writer

SOUTH BEND -- The television crew of Fox's "Kitchen Nightmares" was hindered by snow early Wednesday morning, but for the more than 100 people who waited nearly three hours at the College Football Hall of Fame for a peek at celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay it was all worth it.

"I love 'Kitchen Nightmares' even more than (Ramsay's other show) 'Hell's Kitchen,' " Kathy Nitz, 36, of South Bend said. "My sister-in-law is just in lust with chef Ramsay."

Ramsay walked into the Hall of Fame's Stadium Theater about 12:45 p.m. Wednesday with j willy's owner John Ittenbach and members of his restaurant staff.

"This is a dynamic team," Ramsay said referencing the j willy's crew. "We have the most amazing decor, the most amazing ribs, and the most amazing barbecue sauce."

The crowd had a chance to sample those ribs and barbecue sauce as part of a promotional event to build excitement for the revamped South Bend restaurant at Indiana 933 North.

The early results were overwhelmingly positive.

Rob Sparks, who had eaten at j willy's before, was impressed with the new direction.

"We went in October and November and it seems they were really pushing the pizza," Sparks said. "This is good for them."

"I'm from the South and I love cornbread and this is some really good cornbread," Karen Rite added.

Ittenbach owned the restaurant when it was still Damon's, but after seeing a steady decline in business, changed the name and concept last September. J willy's has had similar struggles, which is why Ittenbach sought Ramsay's help.

Judging from Wednesday's event at the Hall of Fame, the restaurant is going back to basics. It will now be called j willy's barbecue house, and feature what Ramsay called "the best ribs in South Bend."

That type of transformation is typical for "Kitchen Nightmares." The Fox reality show brings Ramsay to restaurants in crisis to expose and try to correct their flaws -- from the food to the decor -- before the doors close for good.

The "Kitchen Nightmares" crew began filming Monday, and will wrap principal photography by the end of the day today.

What happened behind the scenes to make it happen will be unveiled when the show returns this fall. J willy's is one of 12 struggling eateries to be chosen for the second season of "Kitchen Nightmares."

"There's always surprises," Ramsay said. "There's no script. It's live. ... But these owners have been so humble."

After a half hour of finger licking and filming, Ramsay stayed to shake hands, sign autographs and pose for pictures before heading back to the restaurant at 1:30 p.m. to help prep for the Wednesday night re-launch.

Although the film crew will be gone by the end of today, the visit may have a more lasting impact.

"This is much better than it was," Sparks said. "I can't wait to go eat there."

Here is the local review of the new menu & such

Restaurant redo
Menu is shorter, taste is fresher after top chef's visit

MIKE PETRUCELLI
Tribune Staff Writer

"Don't hug Gordon." That was about the only instruction given before guests were let into j willy's Barbeque House in South Bend last Wednesday.

That was the revamped restaurant's big night after chef Gordon Ramsay had gone over the place with his fine, four-letter comb for an episode of his Fox show "Kitchen Nightmares."

I had been invited by a member of the production staff (unbeknownst to the restaurant staff, I was told) to eat there Wednesday. Before I went in, a short speech was given every few minutes to the gathered guests about how everyone should just basically play it cool. Eat your dinner, talk about the food. Don't ask for autographs. Don't shout "Hey, Gordon!" And don't hug Gordon.

I have never hugged a chef, no matter how good the food was, and I don't plan to start. But I will say that I liked the food I had Wednesday night, and the main problem I encountered was a wait for the food (although owner John Ittenbach explains that a bit in the accompanying sidebar).

Once we went in -- a co-worker also tagged along -- we waited maybe 30 seconds for the hostess to come back from seating another party and we were shown to
a booth, where we had our first look at the new menu.

The old j willy's menu was long. Like, really long, with all kinds of different things on it. The new one is short, to the point, and filled with lots of meat (it is a barbecue place, after all).

After our server took our drink orders, she came back with one of them. Apparently the bar was a little behind that night and needed to catch up on the drinks, so it was a few more minutes before mine came.

In the meantime, we ordered an appetizer of onion rings. After putting the order in, the server came back for our dinner orders, bearing a plate of mini corn muffins and butter.

The muffins were light, sweet and tasty. Oddly, the only plate on our table was the one the muffins came on. The lack of separate bread plates became problematic as there was nowhere for my buttery knife and the crumbs from the muffins but on the tablecloth.

About the time I was wondering about those onion rings, they came.

Most onion rings are thick, greasy, batter-encased things, like a deep-dried tubeworm. You bite into it and the whole, steaming onion slithers out and flops onto your chin.

Thankfully, that's not a problem with rings at j willy's. They are thinly cut and lightly tossed in batter and arrive in a pile (still no separate plates, though). They came with a Latin-style ranch dip that tasted pretty good. The rings were fairly light and easy to eat.

I looked ahead to my half slab of baby back ribs, sweet potato and broccoli. Among other sides were fries, coleslaw, creamed corn, baked beans, and macaroni and cheese. My co-worker had ordered the barbecue chicken, fries and creamed corn and was awaiting his dinner as well.

And we would be a-waiting for another half hour or so. Our server reassured us they were working on it, which I was sure they were, but it was good that she checked in with us during our wait to see if we needed anything and to offer reassurances.

Meanwhile Ramsay was bustling around the place, buttonholing staff, chatting with patrons, even helping bus a table at one point.

Finally the food came. I was worried the delay would somehow result in cold food, but that wasn't a problem. Everything was warm.

I was pleasantly surprised by the broccoli. Anyplace where meat is the focus tends to serve you these limp, drab green things. But this broccoli was bright green and crisp.

And the sweet potato had a nice twist. I don't like them, as a rule. This one was apparently cooked close enough to the barbecue fires that it acquired a nice smoky taste that I didn't notice until I actually took a bite. I tasted a slight smokiness in my nose and that made a great accent to the flavor.

As for the ribs, the meat came off the bone, but did not fall off the bone when I picked them up. To me, that's a plus. I like to put my food in my mouth, not leave it on the plate.

But the sauce on the ribs, the chicken, anything meaty at all, was what they were really touting. The recipe had been concocted just Tuesday, I was told.

The sauce was subtle, not burny, nor cloyingly sweet, and it didn't glow in the dark (owner John Ittenbach told me on Friday that the sauce is all fresh ingredients, like everything else on the menu, so that means no artificial colors). And the ribs weren't drowned in it, either, which happens at a lot of places. Rather, the sauce was added as an element of the dish meant to complement the meat.

For dessert, I had an apple turnover. The pastry was flaky, maybe a touch on the dry side, but the vanilla ice cream made up for that. And there wasn't nearly the amount of filling you usually find, just a sweet, clean, fresh fruit taste, with more fruit on top. This apple turnover actually tasted like apples.

While there was no children's menu Wednesday night, Ittenbach said he has added a children's menu. Same fresh food, just smaller portions.

Overall, I had a good meal. I hope that comes through on the show if any footage of me is used (it's easier to eat dinner with a camera, a boom mic and a light stuck in your face than you might think).

I'm not sure how much of the service delays were just the usual first-time glitches or because a television show was in production right where everyone had to eat. If you go, I would say take the advice the production people gave and play it cool. You're eating off a Gordon Ramsay menu, after all, and that doesn't happen in South Bend every day.

Well, now it does.