apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I've been an avid watcher of Restaurant Makeover since it first started. They recently raised the price cap of the owners contribution to $20,000, up from what it was for a few years- $15,000. It brings together my two greatest hobbies, food and design! And let me tell you, a sassy inexperienced chef and a sometimes unhappy owner (post-renovation) combined with the hosts/renovators make for EXCELLENT tv drama. Not to mention that they only have about a week to redo the entire restaurant.

Well I knew it was only a matter of time before this hit the TV in the States. How long has this show been on the air? After returning from Japan I watched as the US adopted pretty much every single reality TV show I ever saw while in Japan. Not sure if Japan was the first, but they definitely have had this type of programming for many years. The Japanese show would focus more on the cooks/chefs, though. They would find a poor restaurant way out in the country and then document the chef as he went through months of a gruelling apprenticeship with one of the country's top chefs (never knew making dumplings/ramen was so serious). Lots of crying and heart-felt moments. And finally, after a modest makeover of the restaurant, the new space woud open and they would do a revenue comparison based on the new menu and skills. It was a 'Rocky' story every week. If I remember correctly the show had a really long title, kind of like Borat's movie title. But a very cool show.

I'm looking forward to heading back to the states to catch this. Thanks for the post!

Holly

This is actually a Canadian production that started airing on FoodTV Canada a few years ago. Most of the restaurants featured are in Toronto-proper or the outlying areas, and both the designers and chefs are very well known in the city. One, Lynn Crawford, will be battling on Iron Chef America this season.

I can't wait until you guys get Opening Soon - all about a restaurant from planning stages to opening.

Another good version is Ramsey's Kitchen Nightmares on BBC America. It's on Thursdays, I think. Anyway, it takes an already established and failing resturant and Gordon Ramsey tries to turn it around. It's amazing.

Melissa -- Opening Soon is on the Fine Living Channel here in the States, though I'm not sure if every cable provider offers it (although DirecTV does). Talk about drama...still, it is quite fascinating watching how a place begins and grows. Also, Gordon Ramsey has a newish show on BBC America called The F Word. That's a good food show (as opposed to the typical "watch me cook" show) that seems to underscore Gordon's obvious passion for food, and the end-of-show cookoffs are pretty amusing, too.

What a pleasant surprise to see this show come up on ATNY. I have been a follower of this show as well since it started a few years back.
We get a lot of American content on television so its nice to see some great Canadian based TV shows showing up in the US.
Christal,
"Another good version is Ramsey's Kitchen Nightmares on BBC" I generally love British television but I could not watching this show the language made me cringe.

Tis a great show. Makes me proud to be Canadian! (:

Hello there!

I've never heard about this show here in Brazil, I'm looking forward to watch it thought.

It's very good to have one more TV show spreading the design through the world.

My best regards.

I'm just glad they finally have some new episodes to air!

Does anyone know how you get on the show. I have a Italian Restaurant on the Texas Mexican border.

i love this show so much and if I had my own restaurant I wish i can have them to help me to re-design and every time when I finished watching the show and make me feel to write down the name of the restaurant to go try their food and take a look at the new look.

Keep an eye on Restaurant Makeover (Rubicon Grill) episode, it should be airing in the next couple of weeks. It was a pleasure dealing with the Makeover crew and Tricon Films and we are very happy with the work that they have done to the Rubicon Grill in Mississauga.

Great News!

They have already started planning a 4th season of Restaurant Makeover! Season 3 was great and I can't wait for season4.

I think this show is the best show on TV. It truly shows that renovations are hard on every relationship. I schedule my evening viewing so that I don't miss an episode--even if I have to get up in the middle of the night to watch. Some of the restaurants they have shown I have been in and it is like a trip down memory lane. The chefs are fabulous. Hope to see many new episodes.