Chef Gordon Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares is back for an eighth season after a nine-year hiatus.
Kitchen Nightmares explores the country’s worst dining establishments, exposes all of their dirty secrets, and endeavors to help the owners clean up their act and increase their nonexistent revenue with a menu refresh and attitude adjustment.
The first episode of the 2023 season starts in the way every episode does: Chef Ramsay visits a restaurant that has requested his help – this time Queens, New York’s Bel Aire Diner’s owners, brothers Peter and Kal find themselves in the hot seat.
The diner has been in their family for 25 years and Peter and Kal’s parents would like to retire, if only their sons could show that they can run the place without their parents’ constant oversight.
Who is Jerry Ballas?
After Ramsay’s intervention, a deep clean and full renovation, introduction of a new menu, and some special training which included a tour of Gordon Ramsay’s Fish & Chips in Times Square, the guys are introduced to Jerry Ballas — “a young man from the Make-A-Wish foundation” — who arrives with his family.
Unfortunately, there’s been a terribly sad development since the filming of the Bel AirDiner episode wrapped a few months ago. According to Branch Funeral Home, Jerry lost his battle with Ewing Sarcoma – a rare type of cancer that occurs in bones or in the soft tissue around the bones. He was just 18 years old. According to Jerry’s parents:
“Tess and I do not like flowers so please do not send any. Instead please donate to these 2 charities below, they are both working for a cure for the exact cancer Jerry had. When Jerry was diagnosed in April of 2021, he said ‘If everyone paid this much attention to cancer as they did covid we would have a cure for cancer right now.’ Please pay ATTENTION, donate as much and as frequently as you can to:
Little Warrior Foundation and Wings For Ewing Sarcoma.”
Our hearts go out to Jerry’s family, and we hope they can find strength in this difficult time.