After years of existence as an Italian restaurant, Oakhurst eatery Mike and Nellie’s is now a steakhouse. Why the change? Reality TV.
“Kitchen Nightmares,” a Fox series that looks to kick-start business for foundering restaurants, brought world-renowned chef Gordon Ramsay to the Route 35 spot in July.
Asked how the shoot went, Mike and Nellie’s owner Mike Farber, of the Morganville section of Marlboro, said, “I’ll let you know when I see it. They changed the whole restaurant from an Italian restaurant to a steakhouse, so I have a whole new career here. … I was going to do that anyway, that was the catalyst, so when they suggested that, well they didn’t suggest it, they just did it. I flew right along with it.”
The future may be uncertain for Mike and Nellie’s: the restaurant’s episode of “Kitchen Nightmares” won’t air until the fall. But, it’s been proven that an appearance on TV can seriously impact an establishment’s business, both when the episode first airs and some time after the cameras stop rolling.