Bazzini

What happened after

Italian bistro closed in 2010, about seven months after Ramsay's 2009 visit (episode aired Feb 2010). Lisa's Mediterranean Cuisine has occupied the space as of 2024.

Closure date on record: 2010

What happened on the show

Ramsay arrived to find Bazzini not even open for lunch, a full hour before owner-chef Paul turned up to let him in. Paul had built a serious reputation over a long Manhattan career, but his own Ridgewood bistro had knocked the passion out of him, and his wife knew it. The risotto was so stiff that Ramsay joked about hanging it on the wall before pronouncing it mushy; the fettuccine pesto was cold and bland, the chicken milanese unnaturally hard. The carrot cake, oddly, he loved. During service Paul made excuses, pre-seared his crab cakes until customers complained they were burned, and started blaming his team as food died on the pass, driving his pastry chef to open frustration. The turn came the next day, when Ramsay challenged Paul to make pasta by hand in fifteen minutes. He produced a capellini puttanesca with shrimp, spoke with real feeling about what pasta meant to him, and briefly looked like the chef he used to be.

After the cameras left

The spark Ramsay coaxed out on day two did not carry. Bazzini closed in 2010, about seven months after his 2009 visit, and the 28 Oak Street space in Ridgewood has since housed Lisa's Mediterranean Cuisine, in place as of 2024. A decorated chef who had lost the will for his own restaurant found it briefly under Ramsay's pressure, but a single hand-thrown pasta was never going to outlast the deeper burnout.