TOMS RIVER – So what’s it like to have Chef Gordon Ramsay in your kitchen?
For one township eatery, The White Rooster, it was quite an experience and the world got to watch it on Jan. 21 when the episode of his Fox network TV show aired.
Management, staff and one former employee got their time in the spotlight on Fox Network’s “24-Hours To Hell And Back” which is now in its third season.
Commercials for this particular episode of Ramsay’s show started promoting it on Dec 16, 2019. The popular reality show chef set off a flurry of interest in October when it was rumored and later confirmed that he was on Fischer Boulevard, Toms River filming an episode of his restaurant makeover show.
More specifically he was filming at Caneda’s White Rooster. His journey took a twist when he met up with Kallista Flores of Beachwood. Ramsay visited the 12-year-old girl who is battling cancer. While his on-air persona is pretty gruff and tough his meeting with Kallista at her school, Intermediate South, showed a softer side to the excitable chef.
The third season of “24 Hours To Hell And Back,” started on Jan. 7. Promotional clips included Patty Caneda, owner of Caneda’s White Rooster. She had confirmed the start of the season on the restaurant’s Instagram account.
Ramsay also filmed in the Manasquan, Monmouth County based restaurant Blend which followed the filming of the segments at the White Rooster.
While the recently promoted executive chef faced the brunt of Ramsay’s criticism, Caneda also faced some scrutiny and showed some of the pressure a restaurant owner faces when they are making decisions to improve and make their place successful.
“I enjoyed the experience and enjoyed the anticipation to see the story that they would tell but I didn’t feel it represented my story. I can’t say I loved the final result,” Caneda said.
She said she and members of her staff “worked our ass off from day one. They filmed me during a difficult time and I’m not sure how the editing was done but it made me come off as a less involved person. I was looking forward to them telling the story of a single mom working her tail off to build something and some people felt I got blamed for all the shortcomings of the business. We all worked hard,” Caneda said.
The episode showed an argument within the kitchen among the executive and staff where Caneda was shown the storage of seafood and lettuce. A short time after the three days of filming ended for the episode, chef Lisa Baker of the Blend in Manasquan came over to take command of the kitchen of the White Rooster. Caneda said this was a decision she made and that had nothing to do with Ramsay or the program.
“I was excited as it was an unknown. The show’s staff had seen us through social media and they were looking for a place to create some television magic. They reached out to us in August which is our busiest month. They wanted to do something in New Jersey. At first, I thought it was a sales scam but then I learned more and I thought it was for a cable show and then it became more apparent what it was,” Caneda said.
Caneda expressed the hope that being on the show would help bring more promotion to her business which first opened its doors in August of 2018. She said since the time the show had filmed, “six of the 10 people transitioned out.”
Jeremy Grunin, an entrepreneur and philanthropic figure in Ocean County had an interesting role in the show. Grunin, who is a financial partner in the White Rooster, joined Ramsay in disguise to check in on what was happening at the restaurant he invested in.
“I thought it was a great experience and it gave exposure for our project and painted Toms River and the Jersey shore in a positive light,” Grunin said.
Grunin added that he got along well with Ramsay who he described as “super informed. He knows his stuff and he dropped a lot of knowledge on Patty and the rest of the staff.”
“I thought it was good,” Grunin said regarding how Caneda and her staff came off in the episode. “They no longer have that chef and the waiter staff also learned a lot. I think that the show helped to stabilize things in that kitchen.”
Grunin said that he was not involved in seeking out the White Rooster as a candidate for the show. “We were a cold call. It really was incredible.” There were some confidentiality clauses involved which limited how much could be disclosed about filming details at the time.
The White Rooster took over the retired site of another well-known eatery on Fischer Boulevard, Rivoli’s, a well-known Italian restaurant which had been at that location for decades before closing a few years ago.
