Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares (2004–2014): Season 2, Episode 3 - Momma Cherri's Soul Food Shack - full transcript
The venue for tonight's third programme is Momma Cherri's Soul Food Shack, an intimate forty-seater a stone's throw from Brighton's sea front. Big soul momma, owner CHARITA JONES, produces a menu of irresistibly unique classics from the Deep South. The food's hard to fault but the punters are nowhere to be seen, Head Chef Brian and a rag-tag collection of part-timers are taking the mickey - and despite working a seven-day week Charita's got an empty restaurant and a £65,000 debt. If ever there was a case of too many cooks, this is it. Charita's a natural, but she's never made a profit on the restaurant and is now facing financial disaster. Can Gordon successfully shut her out of the kitchen, get the chef back on the boil and put the soul back into the business, or will the shack shut up shop for good?
This programme contains
strong language from the start.
We have put so much of our own
money in it, we no longer have it.
'Momma Cherri's Soul Food Shack's
at rock bottom. No customers.'
Ten past one on a Saturday,
this place should be rammed.
'There's too many cooks doing
all the wrong things.'
Oh, fucking hell.
If you turned up for work late
in my kitchen you'd be home
looking for a new fucking job.
'To turn this into a professional
outfit, that would take a miracle.'
I've definitely gone.
'It's time to get serious.'
If you don't break away from this
stove, the business will close.
You need, young man,
a fucking rocket up your arse.
I'm not gonna lose my business.
Brighton, London by the sea.
Loads of locals and a steady
stream of hungry tourists.
Nestling just a stone's throw
away from the sea front
is Momma Cherri's Soul Food Shack
with classics from the US's South.
Oh, nice, nice, nice.
The big soul Momma,
aka Charita Jones,
has raised 33 foster children,
but running her first restaurant
is proving a far bigger handful.
It's all gonna go...and fall apart.
I don't want it to fall apart.
God, it's definitely a shack,
from the outside anyway.
Fucked up caravan.
Is this it?
Charita.
Charita. Gordon, good to see you.
Nice to see you. Welcome.
This is small and quaint.
It's quaint and it's cosy.
I'll say, it's like walking
into your front lounge.
Thank you. that's what it's supposed
to be, because I tend to spend
all my life here this has got to
be my front room, otherwise when
do I get to kick my feet up?
'After three and a half years,
'despite throwing everything at this
place and working seven days a week
'Charita is still in serious
debt to the tune of £65,000.'
And who's the chef?
I'm kind of the chef.
I come from a background of
big Mommas and all of them cook.
It's called stick to your ribs.
Stick to your roots?
Ribs!
Oh, ribs? Right.
Stick to your roots? To your ribs.
Momma Cherri's Shack seats 40
at an extremely intimate squeeze.
Sadly, that's not often a problem
as weekday trade is non-existent.
It's great at the weekends.
But we've discovered that we're in
a hole, we're just in this hole,
a financial hole that
we can't claw our way out of.
Have you made any money
since you've been open?
Not a single penny have we
made since we've been open.
It's hard to put our finger on why.
Is it critical? How long can
you continue like this?
I'd say...three to six months.
Maximum?
'No customers, no money.
'It's time to check out the kitchen.
'Charita calls herself the cook,
but Brian Moyo is her head chef.
'So who's in charge?'
How are you doing dude? Do you do
this and all that and pull and...?
Er, I try not to.
We don't do cliches!
Are you the head chef or the cook?
What are you? I'm confused.
Well, I...I...I was employed
to come as the head chef.
Because problems with finances
and things like that.
Don't let me stop you.
I took a, a step back.
So who writes the menu?
Charita writes everything.
You've got a cushy job then.
You could say that. As a chef, yes.
Pretty chilled, huh?
As a chef, it's pretty chilled.
A head chef who doesn't write the
menu and only works 35 hours a week.
Next he'll be telling me
he's forgotten how to cook.
Here you go.
Catfish goujons with hush-puppy
and our home-made pineapple salsa.
It's actually quite nice that,
very delicate fish.
It's nicely fried,
it's very light. Really nice.
Thank you. Be back with your mains.
Oh, my God! >
For mains my plate's piled
high with a clumsy mess of ribs,
spicy chicken jambalaya
and corn and bean succotash.
I hope he likes it.
Fucking hell...
..those ribs.
So tender.
I have to say it's thrown on
the plate with no real care,
but it tastes phenomenal.
This may be the first time
I go back with an empty plate.
Em, thank you. Bloody delicious.
You know what? I thought it was
gonna be really spicy but..
it's toned down and it was spot on.
It made me feel like I was back
at Mum's for the first time...
Oh! Oh!
..And having some home cooking.
It was very good.
You'll get me crying.
There are things I would change.
OK, fine, and I'm happy.
I'm happy to hear about that.
But in general...
I need a picture of this plate!
I know it sounds crazy!
I know it sounds crazy!
Mind your head. Mind your head.
Oh, God!
I've fed Gordon Ramsay.
And he cleaned his plate.
How the hell do you turn that
thing off? She doesn't shut up.
Rabbit, rabbit, rabbit, rabbit,
rabbit, rabbit. Shit.
Charita's style should be a selling
point, but it ain't working.
I need to go back to the
kitchen and find out why.
Friday, Charita's tackling most
of the day's preparation herself.
In a desperate bid to save money.
You've got to get your hands
dirty as far as I'm concerned.
Yeah, of course, yeah.
Marinating meat, making dressings,
sauces and baking are crucial
things to prepare in advance.
I'm shaking off the excess.
'Deep frying chicken eight hours
before their first booking?'
So why do you cook them now?
Because if you cook them now and
leave them to cool,
when the order comes in it's just
a matter of picking out however
many we need and they go back in
and they come back up to a nice...
And they don't go dry?
No. Uh-uh, no.
'I'm beginning to suspect the good
home cooking isn't as wholesome.'
Hmm, they smell good.
'Most of it's coming from the
freezer rather than the soul.'
So how many freezers have you got?
Thirteen altogether.
Thirteen? Fuck me.
By the time Brian turns up there's
not much left for him to do.
So you can't really feel like
you're head chef if you've got
Charita in the kitchen cooking the
food and you come in and send it.
That's what I'm saying, yeah.
You're not cooking, you're coming
in and putting things together.
Putting things together, yes.
Have you lost motivation?
Yes.
So, if Charita's head chef's
gone off the boil
I'm hoping her remaining crew,
part-timers, have a bit more spunk.
Heading up front of house is Lauren.
She arrives ten minutes late
for the evening service.
20-year-old AD seems to be more
committed to his glamorous day job.
Why panel beating?
It's just nicer. Finish at
half four every day.
Gavin lives next door, but he
turns up when he feels like it.
Charita's librarian husband Phil
hot foots it back from the day job
to become basement barman and
resident DJ.
Looks like your washer-upper.
I have been known to wash up!
No way. He does that as well.
These are all members of Momma
Cherri's' big laid-back family.
So when he's in the shit, blow them
down like fucking Michael Jackson?
Oh, fucking hell!
Hate to ruin a good party, but
if you want to run a successful
business then the terms "laid back"
and "professional" don't mix.
It's not how good the food tastes,
it's about how it gets there.
And that's crucial.
I can't wait to see this
team of jokers in action.
Can we get going cos they're hungry?
Immediately it's clear
who's the Momma in this kitchen.
I'll get you a chilli pepper cos you
ain't gonna get none. Just the one.
Can I take the seeds out at least?
Charita treats them like children
She's the only one cooking.
I need to be cooking up
these fajitas now.
OK, Charita, all of the seconds,
er, party are in.
All right. OK. Two potato skins,
onion rings, corn bread, two pieces.
Can I get some jambalaya
heated up please?
'For Brian and AD it's an elaborate
heating and plating up exercise.
'Messy food school-dinner style.
D-minus, must try harder.'
That's hot gravy, yeah?
On hot turkey.
Served on cold plates?
With cold salad.
'What's he laughing at?
This is serious.'
You weren't gonna break sweat there?
He's about to kick off.
'When?
'There's twice as many
staff as there need be.
'This should be an absolute breeze,
but Charita's doing everything.'
Is that everything in the
basement, yeah? Everything's gone?
'Paying two qualified chefs to
dress and send a plate of Nachos.
'Come on, that's a sure-fire way
to break a business.'
Fucking hell that's painful,
very, very painful.
Tonight, you were standing here
cooking away in a world of your own.
And these guys standing there just
almost playing with themselves
cos they're waiting for something
from you. If you are the head chef.
You're must start taking the reins.
Yeah. Yeah.
Get through a night without pissing
your pants with laughter.
Two hours pure concentration
without laughing.
OK.
And I bet you can't do it.
You're fucking smiling already.
'If there was ever a case of
too many cooks, this is it.
'One of them will have to go.'
I said no smiling, no laughing.
I'm serious.
Set a fucking example and do not
be scared to get rid of baggage.
Brighton's best kept secret,
Momma Cherri's Soul Food Shack.
It's so well kept, it's losing
a thousand pounds a week.
No-one in. Twenty past ten
in the morning, no-one here.
By day three I've uncovered
a couple of reasons why.
I know it's chilled,
but fucking hell, it's not as
chilled as the snapper!
Why is no-one here this time in
the morning?
Firstly, the food's
good but it could be so much better.
Where's Brian?
Let me give you a hand.
Brian? I have no idea, he
should be here soon.
Secondly, there are
far too many staff,
and most of them aren't pulling
their weight.
Late this morning.
Yes...
..by half an hour.
What do you do to him
when he's late?
Nothing.
Nothing?
I'm just gonna wash up right now. >
So you're washing up as well?
Yes.
She's in, she opens up,
brings all the supplies upstairs.
You should be ashamed of yourself.
Charita's next task is to make a
huge batch of macaroni cheese
that will last her for two whole
weeks.
And we just keep this going.
Ah, this is coming up nicely.
Hot from the stove her food is
irresistible.
People will travel miles
to taste it.
What do you think?
I like that. Yeah, very nice.
But like a lot of her home-cooking
this lot is destined for the freezer
where its delicious texture and
flavour will be lost forever.
Well, you cook beautifully.
Yeah.
And I don't understand why you want
to freeze it when it's so tasty.
OK. Well, I think...
I don't think I want.
It's not a case of wanting to.
No, I think you've got into a habit.
I've got into a habit.
A lazy habit. And you're not lazy
cos you work so bloody hard.
He's lazy.
LAUGHTER
He's definitely lazy.
If you turned up for work half an
hour late in my kitchen, trust me,
you'd be home for the day,
looking for a new fucking job.
To be honest
it's no wonder Brian's lost heart.
The man's been working in the
kitchen for as long as I have,
but to save money he's been
sidelined...
so much so, he's rarely involved
in actually making any of the food.
There is
a kind of a method to my madness.
But you're throwing it together?
It looks like I'm throwing it
together, but I throw it together
the exact same way every single week.
So when you're not
doing it who does it?
I'm doing it.
Ah, and that's my point.
OK.
If Charita was using Brian properly,
they could ditch the
freezers once and for all.
And the macaroni
cheese is nearly there.
Looks delicious. I think
that should go to staff food?
Yeah, I think so.
Does look good, doesn't it?
As it stands few customers
will taste the food at its best.
She's just throwing away
her unique selling point.
# They call it stormy Monday... #
And, boy, does she need one!
# But Tuesday's just as bad. #
It's Saturday lunch time and this
place
should be absolutely rammed,
and there's not a soul in here.
# Wednesday's worse
# And Thursday's oh so sad... #
This is dire. Saturday and Sunday
are your prime days for business,
but like many failing restaurants,
Charita's making some classic
mistakes.
Poor man's meat pie...
Yeah.
£8? I know it's gonna be good,
yet you go onto the menu here and
you've got main courses at 14...
Yeah. Yeah.
£15. Why have they gone up so
expensive?
Em, to pay my bills,
to be blunt. It was bank manager...
Yeah.
..accounting, and I'm
saying, "Help me!
"How do I do this?" They say, "You've
got to raise your prices."
Always the bank manger's solution.
Put your prices up.
And it was, it was literally
down to the bank manger.
Yeah. Well, he's an arsehole.
Oh, good.
Yeah? It's killing the business.
I want to look at
restructuring the menu,
making it a little bit shorter.
OK.
Tweaking the portion size...
Oh, right.
..having less come back.
60% are bones come back.
But it's that 40% I'm gonna work on.
The objective for every customer
that comes through that door
is to have a starter,
a mains and a dessert.
OK.
You'll see turnover treble if you
squeeze three courses out of them.
But before we can squeeze anything
out of anybody, we need customers.
And if they're not coming to us,
we've got to take Momma Cherri's
finger licking food to them.
So, got the meat loaf.
Oh, my God!
Yeah? Got the ribs? OK?
Got the chicken?
That smells amazing.
Oh, it's smelling so good. So good.
And who better to
flaunt it than the Momma herself?
Don't be shy!
Whoa!
I'm gonna come to you since
you're not coming to me.
Fucking hell.
All cooked fresh
at Momma Cherri's Soul Food Shack
just around the corner there. Hmm?
That's lovely, yes.
It's pretty good. This particular
food is called soul food, OK?
It's cooked from the soul,
from the heart.
Boy, she's good!
A soul food evangelist,
and she's out to convert the whole
of Brighton.
What's the name of this food?
Soul food. Can I hear you all say it?
Soul food. All right.
Just wind her up and let her go!
That's nice, innit?
That's lovely!
Get me some small wings. All right!
Don't forget this time it's on the
house.
Next time they're paying, yeah?
Yeah. Yeah.
Did you cook these?
Yes, I did. They're lovely.
There's no doubt that
Charita's a terrific cook,
but she's employing Brian to do
that job and I'm beginning to realise
she's wasted in the kitchen.
What's it called?
ALL: Soul Food.
Thank you. Just call me Momma.
You're Momma.
You got it. Right!
With Saturday night service
about to begin,
it's time to get this shack in
order.
It's pretty obvious that
the business is in dire straits,
and that's real.
That's real. >
That's the truth.
Yes, it is. >
Watching you guys over the last
couple of days you actually treat
it like it's your fucking home.
Chilled, relaxed,
and this lady here, you talk to her
almost as if it's your mum.
And that really has to stop,
if this is to go any further.
And if it doesn't work, not only
are you out of a business
and your livelihood,
all you guys are
out of a fucking job.
You've got no work.
So when it's that far down,
we really have to dig deep and
come up with sensible ideas.
And tonight I'm gonna ask you
to stay out of the kitchen.
OK.
Cos you've got so much to sell.
Yeah.
And you, you're a fucking good cook.
Thank you.
So Charita, let him cook.
I'm gonna let him. I'm gonna let him.
I am, yeah.
You have to pass the reins over.
And if you don't break away from
this stove,
I swear to God
the business will close.
Let them do the job that
you fucking pay them money for.
OK. >
Yeah. I'm gonna go put some make-up
on. I'm going downstairs.
Charita's street hustling has secured
a fully booked restaurant tonight.
If we're gonna get through it we need
to get this kitchen working
like an efficient, well-oiled
machine.
AD are you doing the...
that now, yeah?
Fantastic.
Time to whip up a bit of
professionalism into these boys.
Er, Gavin, can you take those
starters and food downstairs,
as you're standing there
doing nothing?
Yeah. Table five.
Table five. Thank you.
Now he's standing there,
open up your eyes, yeah?
And get him fucking working, OK?
You're running this place
tonight, you know?
Yeah.
You're gonna prove to her
downstairs that you can do it.
Not just to her but to yourself
and me.
I said no smiling, no laughing.
Serious.
OK.
Let's go.
I should stop smiling now.
Good evening. Have you had a chance
to look at the menu?
Yes, we have.
Yeah? Downstairs Charita's slipped
effortlessly into the role of
the hostess with the mostest.
OK, any of you eat macaroni cheese?
We do.
I'm telling you, it's fantastic.
Gordon grated my cheese.
Brian's taking his first
decision as the head chef.
Pre-cooked buffalo wings are
off the menu.
From now on
they're being cooked to order.
Yeah.
Chicken's being cooked from fresh?
Nice. Fucking hell.
You've already had this place
turned around in 20 minutes.
Well, almost.
The rest of the food's going out
just as Charita's always done it.
Hot food,
cold plate, uninspiring salad.
Right, £4 for that?
That's shocking.
And jaw breaking meat loaf.
What time do you close tonight?
You're laughing.
'But let's not try to
run before we can walk.'
Can I get this one as soon as poss?
Yeah, it's going, it's going.
It's going in the oven there.
How long?
Er..
Give Charita a time.
Three minutes.
Three minutes. I'll take that.
Thank you, Charita. Bye.
OK. >
See ya.
All right. >
There you go.
The restaurant's full.
Now she's front of house Charita's
using every trick
in the book to boost business.
Five minutes. Go right next door to
my friendly pub, and I will...
See you in five.
See you in five.
Thank you. Thank you.
Brian?
Move!
Two hours in and the
food's not going out quick enough.
Charita's faith in Brian
is dwindling fast.
These guys have been in a long time.
They've got kids down there.
Yeah, but the starters have just
gone, they've got their starters.
OK.
What happened there
with those starters?
With those starters? They're done.
So they're already in the lift?
Yeah. Yeah.
What? >
These starters.
What one? These ones?
I'm doing them now. >
Oh, shit, I just told her
they're gone, man.
Did you?
Yeah.
For Brian, three years of living in
a culinary coma is a hard habit
to break. He's beginning to lose it.
There's a table that came in before
five other tables
still waiting on their starters.
And Charita's constant interruptions
aren't exactly helping.
Come on, Brian.
Don't lose it now, yeah?
< No.
What else on this table?
You've got, you've got hot, hot
wings and barbecue chicken wings.
I've got the hot wings but I
need whatever else is there,
cos they are getting restless.
Oh, dear.
Is that all the orders?
That's it, send it away. >
I am so sorry. I'll tell you what
the problem was.
We've got fresh food. You can't
expect the food
to jump on your plate just like
that, we have to cook.
You can explain that to
her afterwards, uh?
Chicken takes a good 14-20 minutes
to make sure you don't kill anyone.
OK, has that pig feet gone on because
it needs to go on now
cos it takes the time, yeah?
Every minute you're in here,
we're losing money.
Fucking hell.
So, what do you think
of that meat loaf?
That is nice.
That is bloody good.
Thank you. Didn't I tell you?
Didn't I tell you?
I thought the kitchen got
off to a good start.
You were slightly nervous
being down there because
you were sort of, not spying
on them, but coming up agitated.
Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah? You lost it, Brian.
< A little bit.
A little bit.
And things just got
a little bit on top.
You said something interesting
though. Yeah?
"Charita has to understand it will
take three or four minutes longer
"because I'm cooking from raw."
And the benefit is the customer.
But I think this guy,
with the help of AD can get faster.
Yeah.
Much, much faster.
How would you sum up?
You were in the dining room.
Yes, it felt good because for three
and a half years being here,
it was the first Saturday night
that I have spent downstairs.
They've seen you, you know?
That's the face they want to see
when they come to Momma's.
Downstairs I'm gonna be
cracking the whip a lot harder.
It's your business. Of course you're
gonna crack the whip.
And that's what I was thinking,
you know? I've got to crack it.
Let's go.
OK.
Thank you.
Good. Thank you guys.
Let me go down here,
cos I've got a
few more desserts to sell.
Yeah.
If Brian's going to win Charita's
respect as her head chef he needs to
become more involved in preparing
the food as well as cooking it.
Number 13, lucky for some.
But since his hours were cut
he's been dropped in
a Catch-22 situation.
Where's the little lady gone?
Brian's been left holding the baby.
It became a problem
because Claire had to go to work.
Yeah.
We had to find a way of meeting
the bills
at the end of the month,
and that's why I can't do
Tuesdays and Wednesdays. The whole
thing is just confused, you know.
As Brian's involvement with the food
has diminished,
so too has his confidence.
The first time he made meat loaf
two years ago it was a disaster.
So we're gonna prove that Brian can
not only do it, but do it better.
How much influence do you have
on the menu? Even sometimes
I will do a menu sometime,
but she changes it anyway.
So really I think
that my influence disappears.
But you've got to be strong now.
If she's gonna concentrate in
the dining room, you're going to
be running the kitchen,
you have to be strong.
Yes. Yes.
The problem with
Charita's meat loaf is the bacon.
By the time it's cooked
it's like cutting into leather.
Back bacon you saw
dries out, there's hardly
any fat in back bacon.
There's no fat, so you need fat.
Yeah, streaky bacon. Em, place one
nice fatty piece of bacon there.
As it's cooking, it's putting
moisture inside the meat loaf yeah?
Fantastic.
And if I put my foot down and say,
no. This is like this and like that,
I think I can see myself going far,
you know, I can achieve things.
It's a happy feeling, you know?
It's a happy feeling.
Hmm, just look at them.
Hmm, the seasoning is just right.
It's not too salty.
No, I think that's fine,
doesn't need anything.
Doesn't need anything else.
Anything else at all.
With Brian's confidence
slowly returning,
now I've got to work on Charita.
She excels as a natural cook
and a great hostess.
Oh, my God, I
do everything on my menu.
But when it comes to business
she's a self-confessed numbskull.
You know, one and a half metres
long.
And this tells me the money.
Look out - that's a bit short!
We want it the other way round.
I want it the other way round.
But it's not just the
takings that are the problem.
OK, 200 grams of butter.
Right.
Like a beautifully risen cake,
successful restaurants only thrive
when three key business factors are
working in close harmony.
Gradually adding 200 grams of flour,
we establish one third staff costs,
one third food costs
and one third gross profit.
Combine all those
ingredients into one recipe.
Yeah.
Chemistry.
You have the most amazing cake.
And that's how
any good business works, yeah?
At the moment Charita's
business cake is way off course.
I'm going to show you something,
what we've got currently
happening here at the shack.
With few mid-week customers
Charita's gross profits
are dangerously low.
Very, very little profit.
Her food costs are healthy, but her
massive overheads are crippling her.
Here's what it's gonna cost
you when we start
adding really high staff costs.
So there's an imbalance already.
Oh, my God.
Yeah? Bloody hard. Now I'm doing
this on purpose to prove a point.
Yeah. No. Yeah.
You can't complete a recipe for
successful business
when you've got an imbalanced
situation.
You can tell me to fuck off, but how
much do you pay yourself a month?
I get in a month? Er, well...
I get around 200 a week, that's it.
I'm the lowest out of the kitchen.
£200 a week?
< A week, yeah.
£800 a month?
< A month, yeah.
You're working seven days a week.
I'm working seven days a week.
That's a fucking disgrace.
I mean, AD gets more
than me some weeks.
A Commis chef that's part time
gets paid more than you.
Uh-uh.
You're far too fucking soft.
Oh, I know, I know.
You really are far too soft. >
Well, yeah.
It stops now.
I know. I know, I know,
I know, I know, I know.
That is a profitable business with
the right ingredients.
Yeah. Uh-uh, yeah.
That is what you're running now.
Right.
Have a think. And let me know which
one you'd like to eat.
Very good.
Oh, I just feel like crying.
< Why are you crying Charita?
Cos I'm not gonna lose my business.
'I'm nearing the end
of my week in Brighton.'
Oh, fucking bollocks.
'I'm not sure I've found my soul,
'but Brian is finally beginning
to behave like a head chef.'
'Charita is having a transformation
from mother to matron.
'From now on she'll be ruling
this roost with an iron hand.'
This is not a drop-in centre.
But we still have a
fundamental problem.
A crippling lack
of weekday customers.
We need a gimmick, a bargain that
will ensure the shack's full
to the rafters all week long.
The idea is is to sell.
Your restaurant per table.
OK. So a table of six. Six chairs.
£10 a head. £60 for that table.
If that worked.
Every night at £10 a head there's
£360 in the till.
Think of it this way. They'll
spend the same amount of money.
On alcohol.
My plan is to create an exciting
three-course fixed buffet.
Simplifying the service and cherry
picking from the existing menu.
But before we do the big
presentation to Charita,
I've got to inject some life into
those God-awful limp salads.
How much does a salad cost?
It's £4.50.
Four pound fucking 50, huh?
Do you think that's
real good value for money?
Made a very simple
dressing here, roasted cumin.
Yeah? A little bit of olive oil.
Fresh lime. OK?
Look at the difference now.
Now start building it up and get
some colours in.
£4.50 for a salad's a fucking joke.
And sweet potatoes,
hugely soul food yeah?
All they've done is been
blanched. Into the pan, yeah?
Nicely coloured. Don't move them
till they've got colour on there.
The more you move them
round what happens?
They break up,
that voice in the background.
She's in the kitchen again!
The secret here now is to keep
them nice and hot, now
almost like a roast...potato.
This is not a difficult,
finicky thing to do.
For me, you know, when you look
at the style of Charita's food
it's really important to keep it
rustic, don't want anything fancy.
Gavin the kitchen porter
can get this stuff done.
Yes.
Oh, that is good.
Damn. I'm in heaven.
What I'm trying to do is make
the plates look less cluttered.
Yes, I understand.
Cos the food speaks for itself.
I see these mountains
of food going out, OK?
You know, it's, there's too much.
Come here. Here you go, lick it.
Go on, you know you want to.
What can I say?
Cousin Gordon's sweet potato salad?
Yeah. Yeah.
That's what it's gonna be called.
Go on, mix it in.
How can I mix it doing that?
That was better actually.
Seriously, chef.
'No more food
piled high on cold plates.
'At £10 a head, as long as
it's delicious and looks good,
'the customers will love it.'
What else are you doing there?
Chicken? Your jerk chicken?
Jerk chicken is, yeah.
'Brian can clear the frozen
backlog and start afresh.'
Nice. Make it look nice, yeah,
we've got to sell this, yeah?
We've got to really sell it.
'Simple, sexy and
irresistible soul food.'
Hmm...
Salsa as well. Come on then, do it,
fucking do something. Fucking hell!
Cor, dear! You're driving me
round the bend, do you know that?
AD, what do you think?
Table of four.
Uh? Fucking good.
And every day is changing.
This, this, this is fantastic.
Honestly, for what leftovers,
what you can do with this.
Yes. Right, let's get it,
let's go. Fucking hell.
Right, Charita.
We've gone through the fridge to
see what we could be using up, yes?
Every day it's gonna change.
Here we just made a really nice,
vegetable...piccalilli.
Mayonnaise, brown sugar, vinegar,
look at that there for four people.
You've got a mug of soup as well
it's quite sort of fresh and new.
It deformalises the restaurant as
it's, you know, across the table.
It also introduces everybody
to different sort of foods.
Everyone is having different
taste of everything.
Once they've experienced this
they come back Friday or Saturday.
For a full table.
Yeah. Yeah, this looks great.
Good.
Hmm, hmm, I like this.
Tomorrow we go live.
I'm gonna be, now that you said
live you wait, I'm gonna be live.
It seems Charita's well and
truly sold on our new idea.
Whoa! OK. I've just got to
think of a word for Tapas,
well, I'm gonna come up with my
own word, I'm gonna make a word up.
But I guess I can't call it
slappas cos that sounds too rude.
Short, dynamic, get to the point.
'And Momma's on a crusade.'
Right, customers.
That's all in a bowl, all right,
and we're launching tomorrow
evening,
having a big party down there
£10 each, three courses, delicious.
Excellent, yeah.
I'm doing ribs, jambalaya,
barbecued chicken, go on, you..
Bring some friends with you, OK?
You'll love the food.
'Charita wants all of West Sussex
to know about Momma Cherri's...
RADIO: 'This is Southern FM,'
that's the Housemartins,
Happy Hour, Thorn In My Side...'
..and its brand new mid-week
eating concept, Soul In A Bowl.
OK, here we go.
Gorgeous, absolutely lovely.
You eat, I'll talk, OK?
When you're hungry and in need of
a serious food attack just come to
Momma Cherri's Soul Food Shack.
We've got soul in a bowl, three
yummy courses served on a platter,
fried chicken, jambalaya and more,
we're talking soul food tapas,
the price is so right,
so come to the shack tonight.
Whoa, well done.
As you've brought us breakfast, you
can have that huge plug for nothing.
Thank you, thank you.
On a Wednesday night Charita would
be lucky to get eight customers.
Good morning, Momma Cherri's,
can I help you?
But bookings for this evening's
launch have gone through the roof.
I'm doing two sittings at seven
o'clock and a nine o'clock sitting.
It's all coming together,
except for one small hitch.
There's no Brian, there's no AD,
there's no Gavin, no-one's here.
Brian's stuck with the fucking
baby-sitter somewhere...
God knows where, and you know what?
If we're getting this right, they'll
have to understand discipline.
Big day,
no-one in the fucking kitchen.
Where have you been?
Looking for a baby-sitter, chef.
Go up and get changed. I thought
you were gonna be here by ten?
I was meant to be, but I tried to
phone a girl who looked after them.
She said no,
just like that out of the blue.
Let's get fucking started,
yeah? Let's go, yeah?
'I was hoping responsibility of
running this kitchen would relight
Brian's passion for cooking.'
You need, young man?
Eggs.
A fucking rocket up your arse.
'And with it bring a commitment to
raising the quality and the urgency
'with which the food's delivered.'
How about sweating the onions?
They're in front of you there.
Oh, OK.
There you go.
'Even if Brian was making the new
meatloaf twice as fast.'
(Fucking useless.) 'He still
wouldn't be quick enough.'
I'm just testing it now to see
what flavours have come up.
You haven't put the wet mixture in
so how can you identify the texture?
Get the recipe complete first.
Add the breadcrumbs
then do the fucking test.
Jesus Christ, some mothers do have
them, you know, and I've got one!
Charita's completely unaware that
Brian's already losing it upstairs.
So how's it looking now?
Em, it's looking full. What day
of the week am I? Wednesday.
This is wonderful.
Perfect and 50, 55 customers
tonight. That's £550 on food.
The same again.
Hopefully on the drink.
That's a £1,000 in the till.
Which is equivalent
to a Friday night take?
That's a Friday night.
'It's a new start for the shack and
the staff has got to give 100%.'
OK, here are a set of rules that
you are now going to abide by.
It's an understanding of what
this business needs to go further.
I need everybody here on time.
On time means if I say you start
at six, you get here at quarter to.
That way you have your
cigarettes, get changed, chat,
you have your coffee and so that
at six you're on the floor.
The next one is there
is always something to do,
and if you can't think of it ask me.
The queen is now in residence.
Yes?
Exactly.
Charita is now on the floor.
Eh? And to confirm that we're
gonna raise the flag, yes? OK?
Charita is in residence, yes?
I want you to pull yourself
here together, there you go.
Have a great service. Push wine,
work together and think customer.
Let's get it right,
right-fucking-now. Let's go.
OK, inside. Here's your table here.
The success of soul in a bowl
relies on doing large numbers,
at only £10 a head Charita must
fill the restaurant twice over.
Everything prepped? You nervous?
Yeah, I am.
Good, it's a good sign.
Start shitting yourself.
Brian, AD and Gavin have got to
get those platters flying down
those stairs, but they're only
just peeling the last potatoes.
I'm going to send you down
a tray designed for two.
Here comes the corn bread and soup
as a starter, soup's excellent.
So I hope you enjoy it!
Thank you very much.
We're fully booked tonight.
It's the first Wednesday night ever
they've had to turn customers away.
Slightly spicy sweet potato soup.
Table three two meat tapas, OK?
Just bring them up to the boil once.
AD, my man.
Table seven that you've got up
there is down as three,
They've had a person join them
so it's now for four.
'It's better, but tonight
has got to be perfect.'
Take the fucking bowl off the tray.
Put it in the bowl, yeah. I don't
want all this shit everywhere.
I want it nice and clean.
Fucking clean. Come on. Yeah?
'And for the first time this week
Brian's not smiling.'
That looks lovely. Right,
vegetarian, AD, send it away.
So now we're looking for
a four soup and a three soup.
Four corn bread, three corn bread.
Gavin you're doing desserts, yeah?
Chicken.
The team is pulling together.
Can you, can you put a small bowl
of veggie jambalaya on it?
And then can I have the meat,
come on, where's the adrenaline?
If we slow down I'm gonna lose it.
Communication is much, much better.
Do I get a time?
Five minutes. Five minutes?
Five minutes? On all of them, OK?
Keep it going, Brian. 8pm. So far
so good. You're doing a good job.
'If they can keep it going
we might just pull this one off.'
They said they were stuffed,
it was delicious,
all of the different flavours
that go with it, fully satisfied.
I'm gonna take them some dessert.
You see that? Empty bowls.
'For that dessert AD surprised us
all with his home-made pecan pies.'
That is delicious. That beats panel
beating any day, you know that?
Any day. 'At just 40 pence to make
each slice it's a fifth cheaper
'and ten times tastier than the
ones Charita's been buying in.'
How was the soup, good?
Gorgeous.
'Things must be going OK, we've
hardly seen her here all night.'
Are we turning the tables?
I'm starting to turn.
It's a crucial at £10 a head
we have to turn those tables, yes?
Can we do two trays at
the same time, is it possible?
'Now the pressure's really on.'
We're losing, come on, let's get
some organisation guys, come on!
'It's still not perfect.'
A table's called away,
you stick that ticket
on the tray, no-one touches it.
But the vibe up here has
definitely got more professional.
We're losing valuable time,
what are you doing?
We're a few minutes over.
How's it feeling up here?
Hot. Hot? Pumping.
'I think Brian's actually
breaking a sweat!'
Looking good. They're loving it,
people are loving it.
Very tasty, very good food.
You've got the salads?
Well, done man, thank you.
I haven't eaten anything quite like
this before and it's really nice.
OK, one, and two, a six and a four,
then we're finished.
You couldn't get better value for
money than this, it's remarkable.
Last table goes out just
like the first table, yes?
Oh, we'll come back, definitely.
Definitely, we'll come back.
It's nice, look at that,
it's beautiful.
Fucking well done,
yeah, really good. That's one day.
The real work starts tomorrow, eh?
Let's go.
I didn't know how much I was
gonna cope today.
I didn't know if I was gonna cope
or break basically.
I had just one thought on my mind
that's to get through this.
'Thursday morning and the
whole team are in early.'
You've got to get that boil going.
They're clean out of food and
fully booked tonight,
so they're starting from scratch.
It's my kitchen! My kitchen!
My kitchen! My kitchen!
Fresh home cooking straight
from the soul. Hallelujah!
You set me a target, when I spoke to
you last night we hadn't reached it.
£800 last night.
I asked for a £1,000.
When I cashed up
I hit £1,000, it was £1,080.
Fantastic.
But to find these two, they did it.
'AD's impressed me this week.
'If he wants to make it as a chef
he's got to sort out his loyalties.'
I enjoy it,
but I don't like the hours,
I don't want to be working
those sort of hours when I'm 30.
Unless I'm as rich as you,
and then I won't mind.
You fucker. Can I just say
when I was 20,
there wasn't enough hours
for me to work.
I'd be very happy for you
to become successful.
You've got to work for it.
It doesn't just come on a plate.
'And Brian.
'Momma Cherri's depends on his
strength more than anybody's.'
You've pissed me off this week.
I felt bad after.
Especially yesterday when I
realised that I haven't been...
it's like I didn't care almost.
When I saw you, you were treating
it like a job, no passion.
It came back and I could feel it.
You are the head chef.
So act like the head chef.
Take the responsibilities
of the head chef.
Get a grip, wake up
and fucking stop dreaming.
'Charita knows what she must do.'
You are the most marketable
asset of this restaurant.
I'm gonna be selling myself now.
You, now understand.
Kitchen morning, am.
Hosting the room
and being present in the evening.
You have got to continue that.
I've got to take some control back.
Set a fucking example. Do not be
scared to get rid of baggage.
Back in December,
I spent a week at Momma Cherri's
fading Soul Food Shack, and I've
never spent a week quite like it.
I've fed Gordon Ramsay
(LAUGHS) And he cleaned his plate!
No discipline.
If you turned up for work
half an hour late in my kitchen
you'd be home for the day,
looking for a new fucking job.
And £65,000 in debt.
< Every minute you're in here
we're losing money.
Fucking hell.
'I whipped the head chef
into shape.'
I said no smiling, no laughing,
serious. OK.
Yeah? You need, young man?
Eggs.
A fucking rocket up your arse.
'And Momma found her true calling.'
If you don't break
away from the stove.
Mm-hm. >
I swear to God
the business'll close.
What's it called?
Soul food.
Thank you. Just call me Momma.
You got it.
Together, by the end of the week we
had the shack firmly back on track.
See that? Empty bowls.
It's a Wednesday night
and I'm just hoping that Momma will
be glad to have me back.
Oh, my God!
Hello.
Oh, my God!
(LAUGHS) My cousin.
You, you're in the dining room.
Of course.
Where else would I be?
Good to see you.
I'm out of the kitchen.
And Soul In The Bowl.
Still going?
Going well. I wish you could have
been here last night -
we were absolutely full.
What, on a Tuesday? >
On a Tuesday.
Upstairs and downstairs.
Amazing. Yeah.
Staffwise, how are you getting on?
A lot better. You see
Lauren's actually in a uniform.
Hi, Lauren. Er, were you late today?
No. No. I came in early today,
actually.
Early?
Early, oh, yes. I know.
Oh, dear. My moonwalker,
where is he?
Oh, he's upstairs. Is he?
Oh, yeah, he's where
he's supposed to be.
Yeah? Can I go up and see him?
Yeah, surprise him.
It's great to hear that Brian's
sorted out the baby-sitting.
Charita's taken him on full-time as
Momma Cherri's head chef,
and he's a changed man.
How are you doing, big boy?
Fine, thank you. Good to see you.
Nice to see you again.
On weekdays, he runs the kitchen and
is thriving on the responsibility.
That looks fantastic. >
You're not throwing things in, you
place them and look smart.
It is better. It looks better.
Huh? >
It does, yes.
What's happened to you
over the last two months?
I've been, I've been... Er, I went
through a, a phase.
There was the state you found me in
when you came, it was sort of...
The Lord's touched you. >
I'd, I'd given up.
All credit to Brian.
He's taken Soul In The Bowl and run
with it.
It's looking really fresh.
Now, you also get,
you get starters and you get a
choice of nachos or soup.
INDISTINGUISHABLE
Nachos, Nachos.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Nachos, nachos. Five Nachos.
How long is it taking now
for food to come out, on the tray.
On the tray, it's taking,
I'd say about six, seven minutes.
Good. >
Should be five minutes.
Quick as I can be, yeah.
So you haven't
lost your touch, then? >
No.
No, not really.
It's coming back slowly, you know.
When you lose confidence it's kind of
difficult to sort of try and find
yourself back again, you know.
But at the moment I'm so into it,
I'm gonna get it done. Mm-hm.
Whatever happens.
OK, here we go.
The team has been stripped down and
the customers seem to love
their new improved food. It's all
good for business.
Smells good.
You've got some jerk chicken,
meat jambalaya, hot wings,
barbecued ribs...
January's takings are up a
staggering 60% on last year,
despite now being closed
on a Monday.
And last Saturday, Charita filled
the restaurant three times over
with Brian and AD cooking for a
massive 105 customers.
I'd love to see you spinning around
doing a 105 covers, you know that?
Yeah?
I bet you were moonwalking.
Oh, I didn't spin or
moonwalk for a second.
OK, here we go.
Soul in a bowl. >
Hmm, hmm. Thank you.
Here we go. Let's see what we've
got here for you tonight.
Brian looks well.
I wanted him to get some confidence,
and he's got that self-confidence.
I see what you've done to the menus.
See what I've done to the menus?
They look fantastic.
See what I've done to the menus?
And I've also created my own soul
and explaining it out to people.
Easy format, no intimidation.
Yeah.
When I think of that folder,
going through those pages...
Hmm. Yeah, yeah.
And all that crap
on that... You know, now look.
It was like a book but I think it was
too much to...
Yeah. But they're smart.
What's happening now is people come
in on weekdays,
ordering the Soul In The Bowl,
and they say,
I can't wait to book a weekend
because I know now I'm having
those ribs, they weren't enough.
I saw how worried you were.
I saw what wasn't happening
in the business, actually.
That stress has gone, that..
Because now I feel
that there is a future.
Before I didn't think
there was a future. >
I've got that fire
back inside of me. >
Yes. I've noticed that.
Yeah. And you know where
the business is going?
Yeah, and I know where it can go.
< So are you making the perfect
fucking sponge cake?
Um...
< Remember that one?
Yes, I don't have...
I will never forget that one.
So if you ever put it together now,
how would it come out, your cake?
My cake will come out
better than your cake.
That means you're cooking the books.
'Long live Momma Cherri
and her finger-lickin' food.
'I'll definitely be back for more.'
Great, great, great.
I bet you you
can't make it past 20 metres.
20 metres?
You're full of shit, you know that?
(LAUGHS) OK.
Go for it.
< Tired?
No, not yet.
No? Not yet.
You look tired. You fucking wimp.
Still going.
I know.
Give us a spin. Give us a spin.
Spin! Spin! Spin!
Fuck off!
Subtitles by
BBC Broadcast Ltd
strong language from the start.
We have put so much of our own
money in it, we no longer have it.
'Momma Cherri's Soul Food Shack's
at rock bottom. No customers.'
Ten past one on a Saturday,
this place should be rammed.
'There's too many cooks doing
all the wrong things.'
Oh, fucking hell.
If you turned up for work late
in my kitchen you'd be home
looking for a new fucking job.
'To turn this into a professional
outfit, that would take a miracle.'
I've definitely gone.
'It's time to get serious.'
If you don't break away from this
stove, the business will close.
You need, young man,
a fucking rocket up your arse.
I'm not gonna lose my business.
Brighton, London by the sea.
Loads of locals and a steady
stream of hungry tourists.
Nestling just a stone's throw
away from the sea front
is Momma Cherri's Soul Food Shack
with classics from the US's South.
Oh, nice, nice, nice.
The big soul Momma,
aka Charita Jones,
has raised 33 foster children,
but running her first restaurant
is proving a far bigger handful.
It's all gonna go...and fall apart.
I don't want it to fall apart.
God, it's definitely a shack,
from the outside anyway.
Fucked up caravan.
Is this it?
Charita.
Charita. Gordon, good to see you.
Nice to see you. Welcome.
This is small and quaint.
It's quaint and it's cosy.
I'll say, it's like walking
into your front lounge.
Thank you. that's what it's supposed
to be, because I tend to spend
all my life here this has got to
be my front room, otherwise when
do I get to kick my feet up?
'After three and a half years,
'despite throwing everything at this
place and working seven days a week
'Charita is still in serious
debt to the tune of £65,000.'
And who's the chef?
I'm kind of the chef.
I come from a background of
big Mommas and all of them cook.
It's called stick to your ribs.
Stick to your roots?
Ribs!
Oh, ribs? Right.
Stick to your roots? To your ribs.
Momma Cherri's Shack seats 40
at an extremely intimate squeeze.
Sadly, that's not often a problem
as weekday trade is non-existent.
It's great at the weekends.
But we've discovered that we're in
a hole, we're just in this hole,
a financial hole that
we can't claw our way out of.
Have you made any money
since you've been open?
Not a single penny have we
made since we've been open.
It's hard to put our finger on why.
Is it critical? How long can
you continue like this?
I'd say...three to six months.
Maximum?
'No customers, no money.
'It's time to check out the kitchen.
'Charita calls herself the cook,
but Brian Moyo is her head chef.
'So who's in charge?'
How are you doing dude? Do you do
this and all that and pull and...?
Er, I try not to.
We don't do cliches!
Are you the head chef or the cook?
What are you? I'm confused.
Well, I...I...I was employed
to come as the head chef.
Because problems with finances
and things like that.
Don't let me stop you.
I took a, a step back.
So who writes the menu?
Charita writes everything.
You've got a cushy job then.
You could say that. As a chef, yes.
Pretty chilled, huh?
As a chef, it's pretty chilled.
A head chef who doesn't write the
menu and only works 35 hours a week.
Next he'll be telling me
he's forgotten how to cook.
Here you go.
Catfish goujons with hush-puppy
and our home-made pineapple salsa.
It's actually quite nice that,
very delicate fish.
It's nicely fried,
it's very light. Really nice.
Thank you. Be back with your mains.
Oh, my God! >
For mains my plate's piled
high with a clumsy mess of ribs,
spicy chicken jambalaya
and corn and bean succotash.
I hope he likes it.
Fucking hell...
..those ribs.
So tender.
I have to say it's thrown on
the plate with no real care,
but it tastes phenomenal.
This may be the first time
I go back with an empty plate.
Em, thank you. Bloody delicious.
You know what? I thought it was
gonna be really spicy but..
it's toned down and it was spot on.
It made me feel like I was back
at Mum's for the first time...
Oh! Oh!
..And having some home cooking.
It was very good.
You'll get me crying.
There are things I would change.
OK, fine, and I'm happy.
I'm happy to hear about that.
But in general...
I need a picture of this plate!
I know it sounds crazy!
I know it sounds crazy!
Mind your head. Mind your head.
Oh, God!
I've fed Gordon Ramsay.
And he cleaned his plate.
How the hell do you turn that
thing off? She doesn't shut up.
Rabbit, rabbit, rabbit, rabbit,
rabbit, rabbit. Shit.
Charita's style should be a selling
point, but it ain't working.
I need to go back to the
kitchen and find out why.
Friday, Charita's tackling most
of the day's preparation herself.
In a desperate bid to save money.
You've got to get your hands
dirty as far as I'm concerned.
Yeah, of course, yeah.
Marinating meat, making dressings,
sauces and baking are crucial
things to prepare in advance.
I'm shaking off the excess.
'Deep frying chicken eight hours
before their first booking?'
So why do you cook them now?
Because if you cook them now and
leave them to cool,
when the order comes in it's just
a matter of picking out however
many we need and they go back in
and they come back up to a nice...
And they don't go dry?
No. Uh-uh, no.
'I'm beginning to suspect the good
home cooking isn't as wholesome.'
Hmm, they smell good.
'Most of it's coming from the
freezer rather than the soul.'
So how many freezers have you got?
Thirteen altogether.
Thirteen? Fuck me.
By the time Brian turns up there's
not much left for him to do.
So you can't really feel like
you're head chef if you've got
Charita in the kitchen cooking the
food and you come in and send it.
That's what I'm saying, yeah.
You're not cooking, you're coming
in and putting things together.
Putting things together, yes.
Have you lost motivation?
Yes.
So, if Charita's head chef's
gone off the boil
I'm hoping her remaining crew,
part-timers, have a bit more spunk.
Heading up front of house is Lauren.
She arrives ten minutes late
for the evening service.
20-year-old AD seems to be more
committed to his glamorous day job.
Why panel beating?
It's just nicer. Finish at
half four every day.
Gavin lives next door, but he
turns up when he feels like it.
Charita's librarian husband Phil
hot foots it back from the day job
to become basement barman and
resident DJ.
Looks like your washer-upper.
I have been known to wash up!
No way. He does that as well.
These are all members of Momma
Cherri's' big laid-back family.
So when he's in the shit, blow them
down like fucking Michael Jackson?
Oh, fucking hell!
Hate to ruin a good party, but
if you want to run a successful
business then the terms "laid back"
and "professional" don't mix.
It's not how good the food tastes,
it's about how it gets there.
And that's crucial.
I can't wait to see this
team of jokers in action.
Can we get going cos they're hungry?
Immediately it's clear
who's the Momma in this kitchen.
I'll get you a chilli pepper cos you
ain't gonna get none. Just the one.
Can I take the seeds out at least?
Charita treats them like children
She's the only one cooking.
I need to be cooking up
these fajitas now.
OK, Charita, all of the seconds,
er, party are in.
All right. OK. Two potato skins,
onion rings, corn bread, two pieces.
Can I get some jambalaya
heated up please?
'For Brian and AD it's an elaborate
heating and plating up exercise.
'Messy food school-dinner style.
D-minus, must try harder.'
That's hot gravy, yeah?
On hot turkey.
Served on cold plates?
With cold salad.
'What's he laughing at?
This is serious.'
You weren't gonna break sweat there?
He's about to kick off.
'When?
'There's twice as many
staff as there need be.
'This should be an absolute breeze,
but Charita's doing everything.'
Is that everything in the
basement, yeah? Everything's gone?
'Paying two qualified chefs to
dress and send a plate of Nachos.
'Come on, that's a sure-fire way
to break a business.'
Fucking hell that's painful,
very, very painful.
Tonight, you were standing here
cooking away in a world of your own.
And these guys standing there just
almost playing with themselves
cos they're waiting for something
from you. If you are the head chef.
You're must start taking the reins.
Yeah. Yeah.
Get through a night without pissing
your pants with laughter.
Two hours pure concentration
without laughing.
OK.
And I bet you can't do it.
You're fucking smiling already.
'If there was ever a case of
too many cooks, this is it.
'One of them will have to go.'
I said no smiling, no laughing.
I'm serious.
Set a fucking example and do not
be scared to get rid of baggage.
Brighton's best kept secret,
Momma Cherri's Soul Food Shack.
It's so well kept, it's losing
a thousand pounds a week.
No-one in. Twenty past ten
in the morning, no-one here.
By day three I've uncovered
a couple of reasons why.
I know it's chilled,
but fucking hell, it's not as
chilled as the snapper!
Why is no-one here this time in
the morning?
Firstly, the food's
good but it could be so much better.
Where's Brian?
Let me give you a hand.
Brian? I have no idea, he
should be here soon.
Secondly, there are
far too many staff,
and most of them aren't pulling
their weight.
Late this morning.
Yes...
..by half an hour.
What do you do to him
when he's late?
Nothing.
Nothing?
I'm just gonna wash up right now. >
So you're washing up as well?
Yes.
She's in, she opens up,
brings all the supplies upstairs.
You should be ashamed of yourself.
Charita's next task is to make a
huge batch of macaroni cheese
that will last her for two whole
weeks.
And we just keep this going.
Ah, this is coming up nicely.
Hot from the stove her food is
irresistible.
People will travel miles
to taste it.
What do you think?
I like that. Yeah, very nice.
But like a lot of her home-cooking
this lot is destined for the freezer
where its delicious texture and
flavour will be lost forever.
Well, you cook beautifully.
Yeah.
And I don't understand why you want
to freeze it when it's so tasty.
OK. Well, I think...
I don't think I want.
It's not a case of wanting to.
No, I think you've got into a habit.
I've got into a habit.
A lazy habit. And you're not lazy
cos you work so bloody hard.
He's lazy.
LAUGHTER
He's definitely lazy.
If you turned up for work half an
hour late in my kitchen, trust me,
you'd be home for the day,
looking for a new fucking job.
To be honest
it's no wonder Brian's lost heart.
The man's been working in the
kitchen for as long as I have,
but to save money he's been
sidelined...
so much so, he's rarely involved
in actually making any of the food.
There is
a kind of a method to my madness.
But you're throwing it together?
It looks like I'm throwing it
together, but I throw it together
the exact same way every single week.
So when you're not
doing it who does it?
I'm doing it.
Ah, and that's my point.
OK.
If Charita was using Brian properly,
they could ditch the
freezers once and for all.
And the macaroni
cheese is nearly there.
Looks delicious. I think
that should go to staff food?
Yeah, I think so.
Does look good, doesn't it?
As it stands few customers
will taste the food at its best.
She's just throwing away
her unique selling point.
# They call it stormy Monday... #
And, boy, does she need one!
# But Tuesday's just as bad. #
It's Saturday lunch time and this
place
should be absolutely rammed,
and there's not a soul in here.
# Wednesday's worse
# And Thursday's oh so sad... #
This is dire. Saturday and Sunday
are your prime days for business,
but like many failing restaurants,
Charita's making some classic
mistakes.
Poor man's meat pie...
Yeah.
£8? I know it's gonna be good,
yet you go onto the menu here and
you've got main courses at 14...
Yeah. Yeah.
£15. Why have they gone up so
expensive?
Em, to pay my bills,
to be blunt. It was bank manager...
Yeah.
..accounting, and I'm
saying, "Help me!
"How do I do this?" They say, "You've
got to raise your prices."
Always the bank manger's solution.
Put your prices up.
And it was, it was literally
down to the bank manger.
Yeah. Well, he's an arsehole.
Oh, good.
Yeah? It's killing the business.
I want to look at
restructuring the menu,
making it a little bit shorter.
OK.
Tweaking the portion size...
Oh, right.
..having less come back.
60% are bones come back.
But it's that 40% I'm gonna work on.
The objective for every customer
that comes through that door
is to have a starter,
a mains and a dessert.
OK.
You'll see turnover treble if you
squeeze three courses out of them.
But before we can squeeze anything
out of anybody, we need customers.
And if they're not coming to us,
we've got to take Momma Cherri's
finger licking food to them.
So, got the meat loaf.
Oh, my God!
Yeah? Got the ribs? OK?
Got the chicken?
That smells amazing.
Oh, it's smelling so good. So good.
And who better to
flaunt it than the Momma herself?
Don't be shy!
Whoa!
I'm gonna come to you since
you're not coming to me.
Fucking hell.
All cooked fresh
at Momma Cherri's Soul Food Shack
just around the corner there. Hmm?
That's lovely, yes.
It's pretty good. This particular
food is called soul food, OK?
It's cooked from the soul,
from the heart.
Boy, she's good!
A soul food evangelist,
and she's out to convert the whole
of Brighton.
What's the name of this food?
Soul food. Can I hear you all say it?
Soul food. All right.
Just wind her up and let her go!
That's nice, innit?
That's lovely!
Get me some small wings. All right!
Don't forget this time it's on the
house.
Next time they're paying, yeah?
Yeah. Yeah.
Did you cook these?
Yes, I did. They're lovely.
There's no doubt that
Charita's a terrific cook,
but she's employing Brian to do
that job and I'm beginning to realise
she's wasted in the kitchen.
What's it called?
ALL: Soul Food.
Thank you. Just call me Momma.
You're Momma.
You got it. Right!
With Saturday night service
about to begin,
it's time to get this shack in
order.
It's pretty obvious that
the business is in dire straits,
and that's real.
That's real. >
That's the truth.
Yes, it is. >
Watching you guys over the last
couple of days you actually treat
it like it's your fucking home.
Chilled, relaxed,
and this lady here, you talk to her
almost as if it's your mum.
And that really has to stop,
if this is to go any further.
And if it doesn't work, not only
are you out of a business
and your livelihood,
all you guys are
out of a fucking job.
You've got no work.
So when it's that far down,
we really have to dig deep and
come up with sensible ideas.
And tonight I'm gonna ask you
to stay out of the kitchen.
OK.
Cos you've got so much to sell.
Yeah.
And you, you're a fucking good cook.
Thank you.
So Charita, let him cook.
I'm gonna let him. I'm gonna let him.
I am, yeah.
You have to pass the reins over.
And if you don't break away from
this stove,
I swear to God
the business will close.
Let them do the job that
you fucking pay them money for.
OK. >
Yeah. I'm gonna go put some make-up
on. I'm going downstairs.
Charita's street hustling has secured
a fully booked restaurant tonight.
If we're gonna get through it we need
to get this kitchen working
like an efficient, well-oiled
machine.
AD are you doing the...
that now, yeah?
Fantastic.
Time to whip up a bit of
professionalism into these boys.
Er, Gavin, can you take those
starters and food downstairs,
as you're standing there
doing nothing?
Yeah. Table five.
Table five. Thank you.
Now he's standing there,
open up your eyes, yeah?
And get him fucking working, OK?
You're running this place
tonight, you know?
Yeah.
You're gonna prove to her
downstairs that you can do it.
Not just to her but to yourself
and me.
I said no smiling, no laughing.
Serious.
OK.
Let's go.
I should stop smiling now.
Good evening. Have you had a chance
to look at the menu?
Yes, we have.
Yeah? Downstairs Charita's slipped
effortlessly into the role of
the hostess with the mostest.
OK, any of you eat macaroni cheese?
We do.
I'm telling you, it's fantastic.
Gordon grated my cheese.
Brian's taking his first
decision as the head chef.
Pre-cooked buffalo wings are
off the menu.
From now on
they're being cooked to order.
Yeah.
Chicken's being cooked from fresh?
Nice. Fucking hell.
You've already had this place
turned around in 20 minutes.
Well, almost.
The rest of the food's going out
just as Charita's always done it.
Hot food,
cold plate, uninspiring salad.
Right, £4 for that?
That's shocking.
And jaw breaking meat loaf.
What time do you close tonight?
You're laughing.
'But let's not try to
run before we can walk.'
Can I get this one as soon as poss?
Yeah, it's going, it's going.
It's going in the oven there.
How long?
Er..
Give Charita a time.
Three minutes.
Three minutes. I'll take that.
Thank you, Charita. Bye.
OK. >
See ya.
All right. >
There you go.
The restaurant's full.
Now she's front of house Charita's
using every trick
in the book to boost business.
Five minutes. Go right next door to
my friendly pub, and I will...
See you in five.
See you in five.
Thank you. Thank you.
Brian?
Move!
Two hours in and the
food's not going out quick enough.
Charita's faith in Brian
is dwindling fast.
These guys have been in a long time.
They've got kids down there.
Yeah, but the starters have just
gone, they've got their starters.
OK.
What happened there
with those starters?
With those starters? They're done.
So they're already in the lift?
Yeah. Yeah.
What? >
These starters.
What one? These ones?
I'm doing them now. >
Oh, shit, I just told her
they're gone, man.
Did you?
Yeah.
For Brian, three years of living in
a culinary coma is a hard habit
to break. He's beginning to lose it.
There's a table that came in before
five other tables
still waiting on their starters.
And Charita's constant interruptions
aren't exactly helping.
Come on, Brian.
Don't lose it now, yeah?
< No.
What else on this table?
You've got, you've got hot, hot
wings and barbecue chicken wings.
I've got the hot wings but I
need whatever else is there,
cos they are getting restless.
Oh, dear.
Is that all the orders?
That's it, send it away. >
I am so sorry. I'll tell you what
the problem was.
We've got fresh food. You can't
expect the food
to jump on your plate just like
that, we have to cook.
You can explain that to
her afterwards, uh?
Chicken takes a good 14-20 minutes
to make sure you don't kill anyone.
OK, has that pig feet gone on because
it needs to go on now
cos it takes the time, yeah?
Every minute you're in here,
we're losing money.
Fucking hell.
So, what do you think
of that meat loaf?
That is nice.
That is bloody good.
Thank you. Didn't I tell you?
Didn't I tell you?
I thought the kitchen got
off to a good start.
You were slightly nervous
being down there because
you were sort of, not spying
on them, but coming up agitated.
Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah? You lost it, Brian.
< A little bit.
A little bit.
And things just got
a little bit on top.
You said something interesting
though. Yeah?
"Charita has to understand it will
take three or four minutes longer
"because I'm cooking from raw."
And the benefit is the customer.
But I think this guy,
with the help of AD can get faster.
Yeah.
Much, much faster.
How would you sum up?
You were in the dining room.
Yes, it felt good because for three
and a half years being here,
it was the first Saturday night
that I have spent downstairs.
They've seen you, you know?
That's the face they want to see
when they come to Momma's.
Downstairs I'm gonna be
cracking the whip a lot harder.
It's your business. Of course you're
gonna crack the whip.
And that's what I was thinking,
you know? I've got to crack it.
Let's go.
OK.
Thank you.
Good. Thank you guys.
Let me go down here,
cos I've got a
few more desserts to sell.
Yeah.
If Brian's going to win Charita's
respect as her head chef he needs to
become more involved in preparing
the food as well as cooking it.
Number 13, lucky for some.
But since his hours were cut
he's been dropped in
a Catch-22 situation.
Where's the little lady gone?
Brian's been left holding the baby.
It became a problem
because Claire had to go to work.
Yeah.
We had to find a way of meeting
the bills
at the end of the month,
and that's why I can't do
Tuesdays and Wednesdays. The whole
thing is just confused, you know.
As Brian's involvement with the food
has diminished,
so too has his confidence.
The first time he made meat loaf
two years ago it was a disaster.
So we're gonna prove that Brian can
not only do it, but do it better.
How much influence do you have
on the menu? Even sometimes
I will do a menu sometime,
but she changes it anyway.
So really I think
that my influence disappears.
But you've got to be strong now.
If she's gonna concentrate in
the dining room, you're going to
be running the kitchen,
you have to be strong.
Yes. Yes.
The problem with
Charita's meat loaf is the bacon.
By the time it's cooked
it's like cutting into leather.
Back bacon you saw
dries out, there's hardly
any fat in back bacon.
There's no fat, so you need fat.
Yeah, streaky bacon. Em, place one
nice fatty piece of bacon there.
As it's cooking, it's putting
moisture inside the meat loaf yeah?
Fantastic.
And if I put my foot down and say,
no. This is like this and like that,
I think I can see myself going far,
you know, I can achieve things.
It's a happy feeling, you know?
It's a happy feeling.
Hmm, just look at them.
Hmm, the seasoning is just right.
It's not too salty.
No, I think that's fine,
doesn't need anything.
Doesn't need anything else.
Anything else at all.
With Brian's confidence
slowly returning,
now I've got to work on Charita.
She excels as a natural cook
and a great hostess.
Oh, my God, I
do everything on my menu.
But when it comes to business
she's a self-confessed numbskull.
You know, one and a half metres
long.
And this tells me the money.
Look out - that's a bit short!
We want it the other way round.
I want it the other way round.
But it's not just the
takings that are the problem.
OK, 200 grams of butter.
Right.
Like a beautifully risen cake,
successful restaurants only thrive
when three key business factors are
working in close harmony.
Gradually adding 200 grams of flour,
we establish one third staff costs,
one third food costs
and one third gross profit.
Combine all those
ingredients into one recipe.
Yeah.
Chemistry.
You have the most amazing cake.
And that's how
any good business works, yeah?
At the moment Charita's
business cake is way off course.
I'm going to show you something,
what we've got currently
happening here at the shack.
With few mid-week customers
Charita's gross profits
are dangerously low.
Very, very little profit.
Her food costs are healthy, but her
massive overheads are crippling her.
Here's what it's gonna cost
you when we start
adding really high staff costs.
So there's an imbalance already.
Oh, my God.
Yeah? Bloody hard. Now I'm doing
this on purpose to prove a point.
Yeah. No. Yeah.
You can't complete a recipe for
successful business
when you've got an imbalanced
situation.
You can tell me to fuck off, but how
much do you pay yourself a month?
I get in a month? Er, well...
I get around 200 a week, that's it.
I'm the lowest out of the kitchen.
£200 a week?
< A week, yeah.
£800 a month?
< A month, yeah.
You're working seven days a week.
I'm working seven days a week.
That's a fucking disgrace.
I mean, AD gets more
than me some weeks.
A Commis chef that's part time
gets paid more than you.
Uh-uh.
You're far too fucking soft.
Oh, I know, I know.
You really are far too soft. >
Well, yeah.
It stops now.
I know. I know, I know,
I know, I know, I know.
That is a profitable business with
the right ingredients.
Yeah. Uh-uh, yeah.
That is what you're running now.
Right.
Have a think. And let me know which
one you'd like to eat.
Very good.
Oh, I just feel like crying.
< Why are you crying Charita?
Cos I'm not gonna lose my business.
'I'm nearing the end
of my week in Brighton.'
Oh, fucking bollocks.
'I'm not sure I've found my soul,
'but Brian is finally beginning
to behave like a head chef.'
'Charita is having a transformation
from mother to matron.
'From now on she'll be ruling
this roost with an iron hand.'
This is not a drop-in centre.
But we still have a
fundamental problem.
A crippling lack
of weekday customers.
We need a gimmick, a bargain that
will ensure the shack's full
to the rafters all week long.
The idea is is to sell.
Your restaurant per table.
OK. So a table of six. Six chairs.
£10 a head. £60 for that table.
If that worked.
Every night at £10 a head there's
£360 in the till.
Think of it this way. They'll
spend the same amount of money.
On alcohol.
My plan is to create an exciting
three-course fixed buffet.
Simplifying the service and cherry
picking from the existing menu.
But before we do the big
presentation to Charita,
I've got to inject some life into
those God-awful limp salads.
How much does a salad cost?
It's £4.50.
Four pound fucking 50, huh?
Do you think that's
real good value for money?
Made a very simple
dressing here, roasted cumin.
Yeah? A little bit of olive oil.
Fresh lime. OK?
Look at the difference now.
Now start building it up and get
some colours in.
£4.50 for a salad's a fucking joke.
And sweet potatoes,
hugely soul food yeah?
All they've done is been
blanched. Into the pan, yeah?
Nicely coloured. Don't move them
till they've got colour on there.
The more you move them
round what happens?
They break up,
that voice in the background.
She's in the kitchen again!
The secret here now is to keep
them nice and hot, now
almost like a roast...potato.
This is not a difficult,
finicky thing to do.
For me, you know, when you look
at the style of Charita's food
it's really important to keep it
rustic, don't want anything fancy.
Gavin the kitchen porter
can get this stuff done.
Yes.
Oh, that is good.
Damn. I'm in heaven.
What I'm trying to do is make
the plates look less cluttered.
Yes, I understand.
Cos the food speaks for itself.
I see these mountains
of food going out, OK?
You know, it's, there's too much.
Come here. Here you go, lick it.
Go on, you know you want to.
What can I say?
Cousin Gordon's sweet potato salad?
Yeah. Yeah.
That's what it's gonna be called.
Go on, mix it in.
How can I mix it doing that?
That was better actually.
Seriously, chef.
'No more food
piled high on cold plates.
'At £10 a head, as long as
it's delicious and looks good,
'the customers will love it.'
What else are you doing there?
Chicken? Your jerk chicken?
Jerk chicken is, yeah.
'Brian can clear the frozen
backlog and start afresh.'
Nice. Make it look nice, yeah,
we've got to sell this, yeah?
We've got to really sell it.
'Simple, sexy and
irresistible soul food.'
Hmm...
Salsa as well. Come on then, do it,
fucking do something. Fucking hell!
Cor, dear! You're driving me
round the bend, do you know that?
AD, what do you think?
Table of four.
Uh? Fucking good.
And every day is changing.
This, this, this is fantastic.
Honestly, for what leftovers,
what you can do with this.
Yes. Right, let's get it,
let's go. Fucking hell.
Right, Charita.
We've gone through the fridge to
see what we could be using up, yes?
Every day it's gonna change.
Here we just made a really nice,
vegetable...piccalilli.
Mayonnaise, brown sugar, vinegar,
look at that there for four people.
You've got a mug of soup as well
it's quite sort of fresh and new.
It deformalises the restaurant as
it's, you know, across the table.
It also introduces everybody
to different sort of foods.
Everyone is having different
taste of everything.
Once they've experienced this
they come back Friday or Saturday.
For a full table.
Yeah. Yeah, this looks great.
Good.
Hmm, hmm, I like this.
Tomorrow we go live.
I'm gonna be, now that you said
live you wait, I'm gonna be live.
It seems Charita's well and
truly sold on our new idea.
Whoa! OK. I've just got to
think of a word for Tapas,
well, I'm gonna come up with my
own word, I'm gonna make a word up.
But I guess I can't call it
slappas cos that sounds too rude.
Short, dynamic, get to the point.
'And Momma's on a crusade.'
Right, customers.
That's all in a bowl, all right,
and we're launching tomorrow
evening,
having a big party down there
£10 each, three courses, delicious.
Excellent, yeah.
I'm doing ribs, jambalaya,
barbecued chicken, go on, you..
Bring some friends with you, OK?
You'll love the food.
'Charita wants all of West Sussex
to know about Momma Cherri's...
RADIO: 'This is Southern FM,'
that's the Housemartins,
Happy Hour, Thorn In My Side...'
..and its brand new mid-week
eating concept, Soul In A Bowl.
OK, here we go.
Gorgeous, absolutely lovely.
You eat, I'll talk, OK?
When you're hungry and in need of
a serious food attack just come to
Momma Cherri's Soul Food Shack.
We've got soul in a bowl, three
yummy courses served on a platter,
fried chicken, jambalaya and more,
we're talking soul food tapas,
the price is so right,
so come to the shack tonight.
Whoa, well done.
As you've brought us breakfast, you
can have that huge plug for nothing.
Thank you, thank you.
On a Wednesday night Charita would
be lucky to get eight customers.
Good morning, Momma Cherri's,
can I help you?
But bookings for this evening's
launch have gone through the roof.
I'm doing two sittings at seven
o'clock and a nine o'clock sitting.
It's all coming together,
except for one small hitch.
There's no Brian, there's no AD,
there's no Gavin, no-one's here.
Brian's stuck with the fucking
baby-sitter somewhere...
God knows where, and you know what?
If we're getting this right, they'll
have to understand discipline.
Big day,
no-one in the fucking kitchen.
Where have you been?
Looking for a baby-sitter, chef.
Go up and get changed. I thought
you were gonna be here by ten?
I was meant to be, but I tried to
phone a girl who looked after them.
She said no,
just like that out of the blue.
Let's get fucking started,
yeah? Let's go, yeah?
'I was hoping responsibility of
running this kitchen would relight
Brian's passion for cooking.'
You need, young man?
Eggs.
A fucking rocket up your arse.
'And with it bring a commitment to
raising the quality and the urgency
'with which the food's delivered.'
How about sweating the onions?
They're in front of you there.
Oh, OK.
There you go.
'Even if Brian was making the new
meatloaf twice as fast.'
(Fucking useless.) 'He still
wouldn't be quick enough.'
I'm just testing it now to see
what flavours have come up.
You haven't put the wet mixture in
so how can you identify the texture?
Get the recipe complete first.
Add the breadcrumbs
then do the fucking test.
Jesus Christ, some mothers do have
them, you know, and I've got one!
Charita's completely unaware that
Brian's already losing it upstairs.
So how's it looking now?
Em, it's looking full. What day
of the week am I? Wednesday.
This is wonderful.
Perfect and 50, 55 customers
tonight. That's £550 on food.
The same again.
Hopefully on the drink.
That's a £1,000 in the till.
Which is equivalent
to a Friday night take?
That's a Friday night.
'It's a new start for the shack and
the staff has got to give 100%.'
OK, here are a set of rules that
you are now going to abide by.
It's an understanding of what
this business needs to go further.
I need everybody here on time.
On time means if I say you start
at six, you get here at quarter to.
That way you have your
cigarettes, get changed, chat,
you have your coffee and so that
at six you're on the floor.
The next one is there
is always something to do,
and if you can't think of it ask me.
The queen is now in residence.
Yes?
Exactly.
Charita is now on the floor.
Eh? And to confirm that we're
gonna raise the flag, yes? OK?
Charita is in residence, yes?
I want you to pull yourself
here together, there you go.
Have a great service. Push wine,
work together and think customer.
Let's get it right,
right-fucking-now. Let's go.
OK, inside. Here's your table here.
The success of soul in a bowl
relies on doing large numbers,
at only £10 a head Charita must
fill the restaurant twice over.
Everything prepped? You nervous?
Yeah, I am.
Good, it's a good sign.
Start shitting yourself.
Brian, AD and Gavin have got to
get those platters flying down
those stairs, but they're only
just peeling the last potatoes.
I'm going to send you down
a tray designed for two.
Here comes the corn bread and soup
as a starter, soup's excellent.
So I hope you enjoy it!
Thank you very much.
We're fully booked tonight.
It's the first Wednesday night ever
they've had to turn customers away.
Slightly spicy sweet potato soup.
Table three two meat tapas, OK?
Just bring them up to the boil once.
AD, my man.
Table seven that you've got up
there is down as three,
They've had a person join them
so it's now for four.
'It's better, but tonight
has got to be perfect.'
Take the fucking bowl off the tray.
Put it in the bowl, yeah. I don't
want all this shit everywhere.
I want it nice and clean.
Fucking clean. Come on. Yeah?
'And for the first time this week
Brian's not smiling.'
That looks lovely. Right,
vegetarian, AD, send it away.
So now we're looking for
a four soup and a three soup.
Four corn bread, three corn bread.
Gavin you're doing desserts, yeah?
Chicken.
The team is pulling together.
Can you, can you put a small bowl
of veggie jambalaya on it?
And then can I have the meat,
come on, where's the adrenaline?
If we slow down I'm gonna lose it.
Communication is much, much better.
Do I get a time?
Five minutes. Five minutes?
Five minutes? On all of them, OK?
Keep it going, Brian. 8pm. So far
so good. You're doing a good job.
'If they can keep it going
we might just pull this one off.'
They said they were stuffed,
it was delicious,
all of the different flavours
that go with it, fully satisfied.
I'm gonna take them some dessert.
You see that? Empty bowls.
'For that dessert AD surprised us
all with his home-made pecan pies.'
That is delicious. That beats panel
beating any day, you know that?
Any day. 'At just 40 pence to make
each slice it's a fifth cheaper
'and ten times tastier than the
ones Charita's been buying in.'
How was the soup, good?
Gorgeous.
'Things must be going OK, we've
hardly seen her here all night.'
Are we turning the tables?
I'm starting to turn.
It's a crucial at £10 a head
we have to turn those tables, yes?
Can we do two trays at
the same time, is it possible?
'Now the pressure's really on.'
We're losing, come on, let's get
some organisation guys, come on!
'It's still not perfect.'
A table's called away,
you stick that ticket
on the tray, no-one touches it.
But the vibe up here has
definitely got more professional.
We're losing valuable time,
what are you doing?
We're a few minutes over.
How's it feeling up here?
Hot. Hot? Pumping.
'I think Brian's actually
breaking a sweat!'
Looking good. They're loving it,
people are loving it.
Very tasty, very good food.
You've got the salads?
Well, done man, thank you.
I haven't eaten anything quite like
this before and it's really nice.
OK, one, and two, a six and a four,
then we're finished.
You couldn't get better value for
money than this, it's remarkable.
Last table goes out just
like the first table, yes?
Oh, we'll come back, definitely.
Definitely, we'll come back.
It's nice, look at that,
it's beautiful.
Fucking well done,
yeah, really good. That's one day.
The real work starts tomorrow, eh?
Let's go.
I didn't know how much I was
gonna cope today.
I didn't know if I was gonna cope
or break basically.
I had just one thought on my mind
that's to get through this.
'Thursday morning and the
whole team are in early.'
You've got to get that boil going.
They're clean out of food and
fully booked tonight,
so they're starting from scratch.
It's my kitchen! My kitchen!
My kitchen! My kitchen!
Fresh home cooking straight
from the soul. Hallelujah!
You set me a target, when I spoke to
you last night we hadn't reached it.
£800 last night.
I asked for a £1,000.
When I cashed up
I hit £1,000, it was £1,080.
Fantastic.
But to find these two, they did it.
'AD's impressed me this week.
'If he wants to make it as a chef
he's got to sort out his loyalties.'
I enjoy it,
but I don't like the hours,
I don't want to be working
those sort of hours when I'm 30.
Unless I'm as rich as you,
and then I won't mind.
You fucker. Can I just say
when I was 20,
there wasn't enough hours
for me to work.
I'd be very happy for you
to become successful.
You've got to work for it.
It doesn't just come on a plate.
'And Brian.
'Momma Cherri's depends on his
strength more than anybody's.'
You've pissed me off this week.
I felt bad after.
Especially yesterday when I
realised that I haven't been...
it's like I didn't care almost.
When I saw you, you were treating
it like a job, no passion.
It came back and I could feel it.
You are the head chef.
So act like the head chef.
Take the responsibilities
of the head chef.
Get a grip, wake up
and fucking stop dreaming.
'Charita knows what she must do.'
You are the most marketable
asset of this restaurant.
I'm gonna be selling myself now.
You, now understand.
Kitchen morning, am.
Hosting the room
and being present in the evening.
You have got to continue that.
I've got to take some control back.
Set a fucking example. Do not be
scared to get rid of baggage.
Back in December,
I spent a week at Momma Cherri's
fading Soul Food Shack, and I've
never spent a week quite like it.
I've fed Gordon Ramsay
(LAUGHS) And he cleaned his plate!
No discipline.
If you turned up for work
half an hour late in my kitchen
you'd be home for the day,
looking for a new fucking job.
And £65,000 in debt.
< Every minute you're in here
we're losing money.
Fucking hell.
'I whipped the head chef
into shape.'
I said no smiling, no laughing,
serious. OK.
Yeah? You need, young man?
Eggs.
A fucking rocket up your arse.
'And Momma found her true calling.'
If you don't break
away from the stove.
Mm-hm. >
I swear to God
the business'll close.
What's it called?
Soul food.
Thank you. Just call me Momma.
You got it.
Together, by the end of the week we
had the shack firmly back on track.
See that? Empty bowls.
It's a Wednesday night
and I'm just hoping that Momma will
be glad to have me back.
Oh, my God!
Hello.
Oh, my God!
(LAUGHS) My cousin.
You, you're in the dining room.
Of course.
Where else would I be?
Good to see you.
I'm out of the kitchen.
And Soul In The Bowl.
Still going?
Going well. I wish you could have
been here last night -
we were absolutely full.
What, on a Tuesday? >
On a Tuesday.
Upstairs and downstairs.
Amazing. Yeah.
Staffwise, how are you getting on?
A lot better. You see
Lauren's actually in a uniform.
Hi, Lauren. Er, were you late today?
No. No. I came in early today,
actually.
Early?
Early, oh, yes. I know.
Oh, dear. My moonwalker,
where is he?
Oh, he's upstairs. Is he?
Oh, yeah, he's where
he's supposed to be.
Yeah? Can I go up and see him?
Yeah, surprise him.
It's great to hear that Brian's
sorted out the baby-sitting.
Charita's taken him on full-time as
Momma Cherri's head chef,
and he's a changed man.
How are you doing, big boy?
Fine, thank you. Good to see you.
Nice to see you again.
On weekdays, he runs the kitchen and
is thriving on the responsibility.
That looks fantastic. >
You're not throwing things in, you
place them and look smart.
It is better. It looks better.
Huh? >
It does, yes.
What's happened to you
over the last two months?
I've been, I've been... Er, I went
through a, a phase.
There was the state you found me in
when you came, it was sort of...
The Lord's touched you. >
I'd, I'd given up.
All credit to Brian.
He's taken Soul In The Bowl and run
with it.
It's looking really fresh.
Now, you also get,
you get starters and you get a
choice of nachos or soup.
INDISTINGUISHABLE
Nachos, Nachos.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Nachos, nachos. Five Nachos.
How long is it taking now
for food to come out, on the tray.
On the tray, it's taking,
I'd say about six, seven minutes.
Good. >
Should be five minutes.
Quick as I can be, yeah.
So you haven't
lost your touch, then? >
No.
No, not really.
It's coming back slowly, you know.
When you lose confidence it's kind of
difficult to sort of try and find
yourself back again, you know.
But at the moment I'm so into it,
I'm gonna get it done. Mm-hm.
Whatever happens.
OK, here we go.
The team has been stripped down and
the customers seem to love
their new improved food. It's all
good for business.
Smells good.
You've got some jerk chicken,
meat jambalaya, hot wings,
barbecued ribs...
January's takings are up a
staggering 60% on last year,
despite now being closed
on a Monday.
And last Saturday, Charita filled
the restaurant three times over
with Brian and AD cooking for a
massive 105 customers.
I'd love to see you spinning around
doing a 105 covers, you know that?
Yeah?
I bet you were moonwalking.
Oh, I didn't spin or
moonwalk for a second.
OK, here we go.
Soul in a bowl. >
Hmm, hmm. Thank you.
Here we go. Let's see what we've
got here for you tonight.
Brian looks well.
I wanted him to get some confidence,
and he's got that self-confidence.
I see what you've done to the menus.
See what I've done to the menus?
They look fantastic.
See what I've done to the menus?
And I've also created my own soul
and explaining it out to people.
Easy format, no intimidation.
Yeah.
When I think of that folder,
going through those pages...
Hmm. Yeah, yeah.
And all that crap
on that... You know, now look.
It was like a book but I think it was
too much to...
Yeah. But they're smart.
What's happening now is people come
in on weekdays,
ordering the Soul In The Bowl,
and they say,
I can't wait to book a weekend
because I know now I'm having
those ribs, they weren't enough.
I saw how worried you were.
I saw what wasn't happening
in the business, actually.
That stress has gone, that..
Because now I feel
that there is a future.
Before I didn't think
there was a future. >
I've got that fire
back inside of me. >
Yes. I've noticed that.
Yeah. And you know where
the business is going?
Yeah, and I know where it can go.
< So are you making the perfect
fucking sponge cake?
Um...
< Remember that one?
Yes, I don't have...
I will never forget that one.
So if you ever put it together now,
how would it come out, your cake?
My cake will come out
better than your cake.
That means you're cooking the books.
'Long live Momma Cherri
and her finger-lickin' food.
'I'll definitely be back for more.'
Great, great, great.
I bet you you
can't make it past 20 metres.
20 metres?
You're full of shit, you know that?
(LAUGHS) OK.
Go for it.
< Tired?
No, not yet.
No? Not yet.
You look tired. You fucking wimp.
Still going.
I know.
Give us a spin. Give us a spin.
Spin! Spin! Spin!
Fuck off!
Subtitles by
BBC Broadcast Ltd