Hot Potato Cafe

What happened after

Restaurant closed in 2010, about four months after its Jan 29 2010 episode.

Closure date on record: 2010

What happened on the show

The chef at Hot Potato Cafe was the owners' 21-year-old niece, Danielle, with no formal training, which stunned Ramsay almost as much as the food did. Two sisters, Claire and Kathryn, and their sister-in-law Erin had opened the Fishtown, Philadelphia spot without grasping how hard a restaurant would be, and a scathing early review had wrecked their reputation. The menu leaned hard on potatoes and still failed: the hot potato soup was like glue, the potato skins were three weeks old and no longer contained any potato, and the shepherd's pie was mostly mashed potato over mince. Ramsay decided the brutal review had actually been generous. What broke the episode open was passion, or the lack of it. Watching Claire and Kathryn go through the motions during a packed service, Ramsay called them zombies, announced he was leaving, and told his crew to walk out with him, until the three women chased after him in tears, begging for help they swore they still wanted.

After the cameras left

The tears did not translate into survival. Hot Potato Cafe, at 529 East Girard Avenue in Fishtown, closed in 2010, roughly four months after its January episode. Three relatives who admitted they were in over their heads from the start, running a one-note potato concept on a wrecked reputation, ran out of road quickly. Ramsay had asked them to find a fight they did not have, and the closing proved his read.