How Is Renate’s German Restaurant After ‘Kitchen Nightmares’? We Caught Up With the Owners to Find Out (Exclusive)

When Renate Smith got an email inviting her eatery, Renate’s German Restaurant in Hanover Park, Illinois, to become a part of Kitchen Nightmares‘ televised transformation experience with Gordon Ramsay, she thought it was scam … so much so that it took three tries before she would even consider it.

Ultimately, of course, she and Mike Smith, her coowner, husband, and front of house lead, agreed to participate in the Fox reality series, and they were immediately gobsmacked by Ramsay’s take on the dishes — especially their signature dish, the liver dumpling soup — and his decision to throw one of their many microwaves into the garbage dump outside.

At first, Ramsay clashed with Renate so much that he even got in his truck to drive away out of frustration. However, after she agreed to be more agreeable and truly accept his help, they managed to have a meeting of the minds over the menu, and his team reworked the restaurant’s decor to be a transportative and cozy atmosphere. Plus, they ironed out the kinks with the staffers who’d been wary of crossing their tough-talking owner.

The episode ended with Renate and Mike sharing a three-months-later update that all was well, but what has happened since then? TV Insider caught up with the two ahead of Tuesday (August 11) night’s airing to find out.

First, how did you guys get on Kitchen Nightmares? Did you guys reach out, or was it a staffer, or a friend, or something to that effect?

Renate Smith: Well, I received an email requesting me to be on a TV show, and I thought, “No, that’s a scam.” So, I deleted it. So, then, after a couple of weeks — two weeks I think — the email came back and says, “We really would like you on a TV show.” And I said, “No, that can’t be it. That’s a scam. Us? This German restaurant in a small village? No, no, no.” So, I deleted it again. So, it came back, and then I said, “OK, I can call. I can always say no, whatever it is.” We called, and then we found out all the information, and then we agreed to do that.

About Gordon’s initial assessment, did you agree with what he said that the place was “dead” before he arrived?

Mike Smith: It was dead, I mean…

Renate: With no customers? Yeah, we definitely needed [help]. That was our problem. We needed customers to come in.

Mike: Yeah, there was those other things we knew were issues, but never thought really anything was too major…

Renate, did you know that your cook thought you had this short temper and that he couldn’t say anything to you because of that?

Renate: Actually, no, I didn’t know that. He likes it his way, and if you don’t do it his way, then he thinks you’re against him. But he doesn’t think of sometimes, “Does it fit into the big picture? Is that what our future entails? Is that what we want, not what he wants?” I mean, he is a big fan of Germany, so, it’s like, “Germany, Germany, Germany.” But you also have to think if it fits in what we want to do in the future.

So, what did it feel like when Gordon Ramsay did come? I know you had mentioned you were surprised at his reaction to the food, but what was it like when he was interrogating you and going through the freezer and everything else?

Renate: Well, the reasoning for what we did, why we froze the food, is because we didn’t have any customers, and that was the main thing. Because why throw out food if it’s good? I mean, it’s made fresh, and if you go to a supermarket, you get frozen food, and you cook it yourself. We just didn’t have the customers to do the volume. You know, you have to buy a big piece of meat. You only use a quarter of it. What do you do with the rest? You don’t want to throw it out because that’s a waste of money. So, he found some stuff in the freezer that we froze and we prepared because we don’t have enough staff, so one person in the kitchen has to do everything. So, that’s how we handled our restaurant.

It seemed like you were upset when he threw out the microwave. Did that get rescued from the bin or not?

Renate: Well, he showed us how to do it a different way, so I’m OK with it. It’s just, at that time, we didn’t realize you could handle food a different way because I’m a self-taught cook, so I learned from my mom, and that’s what I applied at the restaurant. But there’s different ways to do it, so, yeah, it was kind of upsetting at that point, but I understand it now.

It sounds like you did keep the menu preparation changes that he instilled and orchestrated when he came?

Renate: Yes, we did keep the prep the way he showed us, and it’s a lot easier that way. We implemented some of our old menu items into the new menus because a real German restaurant should have those items, which he took out. So, we put them back, and it seems to work.

Fox

Are you referring to the liver dumpling? You’d mentioned it in the epilogue.

Mike: And the rouladen, the “turds” [as Ramsay called them].

Renate: [Laughs] Yeah, we put those back, put the sauerkraut back. But 80% of the menu we kept, and we are still preparing the same way.

With the liver dumpling soup, that was one of the items he had tried. Did you make any changes to your recipe after his experience?  

Renate: Yes, yes, we did. We found out that cooking it a different way is also delicious, and we kept it that way, the new recipe — well, not the new recipe, but the way we’re cooking, we tweaked it.

And do you still do the braised meat the way he taught you? I forget what it’s called, but you used to do it in the microwave.

Renate: The kleiner haxen?

Oh, yes, yes. Do you still do it the way he showed you to braise it?

Renate: Yes, we do, somewhat.

So, you had talked about Irving a little earlier. I just wondered is he happy with all of these changes that you’ve made to the menu and preparation style?

Renate: Actually, Irving does not work for us anymore. He’s a really big Gordon Ramsay fan. He is really big fan of his, and when I made changes, he got upset. And it reflected in the work. So me and him decided that it would be best he would part from us. It was mutual. We’re still friends and everything. He’s a great guy, but working together at that point didn’t work out anymore.

What about some of the other staffers? In the show, we meet Dori, who is a server. Is she still with you?

Renate: Yes, she’s still with us. Yes. She’s doing great, and she’s training another server now, so hopefully, we get a little busy, and then it’ll work out.

Fox

You mentioned a little bit in your post-show interview that you guys had had a positive response to the front of house changes. Do you feel like you’ve also had positive responses from your diners for the food item changes as well?

Mike: Well, initially, some of our regular customers were upset that things were taken off [the menu], and so we told them just to bear with us and let this play out for a month or two, and then we kind of just tweaked things as we’d seen what would be best for certain customers, like the liver dumpling soup. A lot of people really like that. But yeah, overall, I think we’ve learned, even in the front of the house, how to manage some things differently, and right now, we’re just going through a phase again where we lost two servers due to going back to school, and we’re getting a new one right now, and that’s always a tough challenge all the time, too, with the employees.

Renate: We’re still looking for a part-time cook to help us out, so it’s a challenge to run a restaurant.

Mike: We’re in our season right now, too, where we’re doing fairs and farmer market, and stuff like this, and it’s a lot more food prep that needs to be done, so we need another person to kind of help in the kitchen yet.

Are you hoping that Kitchen Nightmares will help you get a better array of options for that?

Renate: Yes, I hope once [it airs], people are more interested in our restaurant.

Are you guys going to plan any kind of watch party for the night that your episode airs?

Renate: No, not really. [Laughs] We’re still open at that time, at 7 o’clock; it’s hard to watch and keep the restaurant open in work.

Well, are you prepared for if it brings a lot of new customers into the restaurant after it airs?

Renate: Yes, we are prepared, and we can’t wait. We’re ready.

Kitchen Nightmares, Tuesdays, 8/7c, Fox