Thankfully,The Walnut Tree Inn has reopened and has enlisted the help of several former workers who were there when the original owners were still involved.The former owner just seemed to be too proud and stubborn to listen to the changes that Gordon said would be essential for the Walnut tree to survive.

Here's the link to La Gondola's demise:
http://www.caterersearch.com/Articles/2007/07/19/315019/gordon-ramsays-magic-fails-to-save-derby-restaurant.html
I feel sorry for the owners of that restaurant, they have problems getting a new chef.

There's also The Walnut Tree:
http://www.caterersearch.com/Articles/2007/03/08/312035/former-michelin-starred-restaurant-the-walnut-tree-inn-forced-to.html
But the owners was a stubborn bat.

I hope people don't start thinking that theres a "Kitchen Nightmares curse".

I'd be surprised if some (more) of the U.S. restaurants don't start failing. Some of them start out deep in debt before ol' Gordo ever gets to them. It may be a matter of the kitchen makeover being too little too late. And there's always the issue of a restaurant just falling out of favor. They show the lavish renovation and re-openings, but what are things like in a year or so when a hot new Cosmo's Make-Your-Own pizza joint opens across the street?

Administration is the UK equivalent of Chapter 11 in the US

All of these restaurants were on the brink of failing. Gordon comes in and gives them as much advice and help he can give in a weeks time. There's really only so much one can do. Success or failure is ultimately up to the owner.

The recent Paris episode was a good example. You had a lady that was never going to be a good operator. She was lazy and had poor front of the restaurant skills. It seemed that her cat was more important than her business. After a months time, despite getting talented chef she had closed down.

As a faithful watcher of the show, it has to be pointed out that Gordon did two UK shows on her restaurant. The original, and a follow up in her new space. And he warned her the second time about the high prices and having slid back into the sloppy practices that had her in the hole in the first place. Some people weren't cut out to run a restaurant.

There's at least one that failed on the U.S. version. I forget the name of it, but it was owned by a woman. At the very end of the show there was an epilogue in which the announcer said that despite the effort, the restaurant was forced to close six months later.

It's not the first. There was one I watched on BBC-America just the other day. Where the owners got the restaurant taken over by the brewery that held the note even before Gordon made it back for the one month follow-up.

Gordon even called the folks who held the note and tried to get them to re consider to no avail.

Um....huh? Hasn't there been a ton of episodes of the UK version of this? And this is the FIRST it's happened? From the follow-ups on the show, it seems like the restaurants almost ALWAYS continue to fail, especially the UK version.

How convenient. Rack up hundreds of thousands in debt. Declare bankruptcy to get out of debt. And poof the restaurant reopens under your daughters ownership and all is forgiven.

While she did head some advice. Momma Cherri was quick to crank up prices and leverage everything she had towards fame. No surprise here.