Season 2

The venue is La Lanterna in Letchworth, Hertfordshire. Twenty-eight-year-old owner and head chef Alex offers modern Italian cuisine, a taste of Little Italy in England's first garden city. The restaurant is run by his best mate maitre d' Gavin, helped by his ex-air hostess girlfriend Emily. But Alex has no customers, cookers that don't work and an expensive menu that's about as authentically Italian as spag bol. He re-mortgaged his house to buy the business, it's losing £1,000 a week, he hasn't slept for months, but still runs around town in a flash car that's worth more than the restaurant. Running out of money, inspiration and energy, Alex is on the verge of losing everything. Gordon rolls up his sleeves and sets to work on the encrusted kitchen cookers and hapless front-of-house staff. Can a strict diet of brutal honesty, radical food surgery and undiluted energy turn things around, or is it only a matter of time before the lights go out at La Lanterna for good?

Located in Chelmsford, Essex, D-Place is run by Mexican-born Israel and his English partner Tara. They've sunk £150,000 of their own money into their trendy café bar which offers a vast selection of fusion cuisine. In charge is Executive Chef Philippe, producing everything from all-day breakfasts to hoi sin noodles with an astounding lack of flair; the plastic food is dire and boomerangs back from the dining room as soon as it's cooked. Restaurant manager, spunky Essex boy Dave, loathes his chef, and their mutual hatred spills over into permanent running battles. Faced with dysfunctional staff and a disastrous menu, Gordon is about to face the longest week of his professional life. Can he quell the panic, banish the deep fat fryer and bring D-Place back from the dead, or will it disappear forever?

Momma Cherri's Soul Food Shack is 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?

La Riviera is a fine dining restaurant in Inverness. Owned by multi-millionaire Barry Larson and costing £8,000 a week to run, the place boasts top French chef Loic Lefebvre and an impeccably trained kitchen staff with Michelin star-studded backgrounds. Loic is on a mission to bring sophisticated French cooking to the home of haggis, tatties and deep-fried Mars bars. But though he's hungry for success, he's French, he's arrogant and the food's pretentious. The locals aren't biting and the restaurant's empty most nights. There's a sharp smell of déjà vu in the air for Gordon whose own venture in Scotland - Amaryllis - had to close. This week it's personal as Ramsay tries to save La Riviera from the same fate. Can Gordon tone down their act, demystify the menu and, most importantly, get the punters in?

Gordon revisits The Glass House Restaurant in Ambleside where some unexpected departures have taken place. So who is in charge of the kitchen now and how are they faring?

Ramsay revisits the Walnut Tree Inn, set in beautiful Welsh countryside. Last time it was struggling to survive and Gordon gave the owner, Francesco, his best advice, but did he take it?

Gordon revisits Moore Place to see if his fast-track guide to restaurant success helped Nick and Richard transform their failing ex-Berni Inn.

Gordon revisits Bonapartes in Silsden to see if his potent recipe of passion, perfectionism and inspirational leadership continues.