Sante La Brea

Before Gordon's Arrival
Sante La Brea is a restaurant in LA specializing in health food. Dean owns the place, and is not only very stressed out, but overworked as he does many different jobs. The manager is useless and Dean's sons share in his frustrations. The head chef is lazy and often doesn't even show up.

PEOPLE

Dean-Owner

Arthur-Waiter, Dean's son

Sammy-Waiter, Dean's son

Mark-Manager/Host

Aurelio-Head Chef

First Impressions
Gordon arrives in a Ferrari. Gordon meets the staff. He finds the decor bizarre, and quickly picks up on the fact that the manager has no talent other than interior decorating.

Food Ordered
Patty Melt with Turkey, Mogo Dufu, Blackened Salmon

Impressions of the Food
Patty Melt with Turkey-He says for a healthy restaurant, it doesn't look very healthy, then feeds it to a dog

Mogo Dufu-Gordon refers to it as looking horrible and it tastes no better than it looks

Blackened salmon-Dry and way too fishy for salmon and probably not properly refrigerated

Gordon immediately checks the fridge and confirms the salmon is not refrigerated properly, and he declares Dean the biggest problem, finding other rotted food again.

First Dinner Service
Aurelio, the chef who wasn't even present when Gordon tried the food, finally arrives. Dean's sons sit Dean down and implore him to listen to Gordon. Dean can't bring himself to fire Aurelio who is nonchalant about his absence. Gordon asks Aurelio about the fridge, and Dean takes the blame. Aurelio claims he is not in charge, but also brags that he can do whatever he wants. The food overall receives poor reviews. Gordon spots fake duck in the freezer, and then fake fish. Dean is amused at even himself for the products he has. After dinner, Gordon sits the staff down. He accuses them of passing blame. Dean admits he's not much of a leader. Gordon plows past this and berates the food and cleanliness. Gordon charges them with cleaning the place, symbolically giving them an F as if he was a health inspector

Reflections
Gordon can see Dean burdens himself too much.

Remainder of the Visit
Gordon meets Dean atop a canyon overlooking LA. He has Dean symbolically yell at everyone. He finds Dean too meek and tries to teach him how to let his anger out. Slowly but surely, Dean starts to find his voice. This makes Dean feel better. Although as soon as they get to the restaurant, he gets in a confrontation with Sammy. Sammy is actually proud of Dean. Gordon inspects the kitchen again, and decides it's good enough. Gordon teaches Aurelio a couple new specials. Knowing that Dean does too much and needs to delegate, he has a police officer place handcuffs on him. This way he can't physically take over other peoples' jobs. Mark quickly starts to struggle and starts to perspire, and admits he doesn't wear deodorant. Aurelio and his cooks do fine, but Mark's mistakes start to pile up, and Dean loses his temper. Gordon is also not happy with him. Dean makes Mark go change his shirt, and Gordon runs down the street to buy deodorant. Perhaps as a joke, it's women's deodorant. Gordon has the officer remove the handcuffs to see if Dean can handle not touching anything. He starts to bicker with Aurelio. Gordon is happy with Dean, Sammy and Arthur. Gordon says however that the food outside of the specials is still a problem.

Restaurant & Menu Remodel
Gordon's design team redesigns the restaurant, inside and out. The staff unanimously likes the changes. Gordon redeisgns the menu, with an emphasis on freshness.

Final Service
They get ready for the relaunch. They tell Mark to simply host and not take orders, but he struggles to do this. Dean tries to set the tone with Aurelio, and it frustrates him to the point that he leaves. Aurelio drives away very early in the service. Dean has to take over the kitchen himself. However, Aurelio quickly returns, only out of respect for Gordon, wanting to apologize. Aurelio claims Dean owes him money. Gordon decides to pay him half of the money himself, and promises he'll give them the rest at the end of the night. Aurelio says he's only doing it for Gordon. The staff rallies, and service ends on a high. Gordon says they are a good family. He wants to speak to Dean alone. Gordon tells him he truly believes in him.

After Gordon's Departure
Gordon returns in a Revisited episode. Dean has retired and left the restaurant to Sammy and Arthur. Mark and Aurelio left. Sante La Brea closed in 2011.

Production Notes
TBA

Trivia
TBA