Campania: A Kitchen Nightmare That Ended In Tragedy

In this video, we revisit the Campania episode of Kitchen Nightmares, where Gordon Ramsay tries to help Joseph Cerniglia turn around his failing Italian restaurant in New Jersey.

We recap the highlights of the episode, such as the frozen food, the family drama, and the emotional makeover. We also look at what happened after the cameras left. Watch the video to learn more about his legacy and how his family and restaurant are doing today.

#kitchennightmares #campania #rip

[voir-dire]

Cerniglia's sister has insisted that taking part in the show did not adversely affect her brother. "He really liked Gordon and the show was great, " she said. "The show was also great for business. It really helped tremendously. There are no hard feelings at all from our family to Gordon Ramsay, who is a wonderful man. His behaviour on the show was played up for the cameras."

[TUDGAF]

Imagine blaming Ramsay for completely unrelated things

[AtariBorn]

The audacity for a company to sue for the life insurance policy of the previous owner is mind boggling. That action alone should follow that company's owner, for the rest of their life. For unpaid debt and rent? You purchased that debt when you bought his restaurant. Pure evil.

[JuanRodriguez-cevs]

Bringing up Ramsey's comment on the news was a douche move. The family must've been grieving and they made a mockery out of it.

[rocketbilly]

It's really sad that the suicide rates for people in the hospitality/food industry have been on the rise since 2016. It really didn't hit the spotlight as being a known problem until Anthony Bourdain took his own life. Kat Kinsman started a group/site called Chefs With Issues, and having been a chef for most of my working life, its been a major lifesaver for myself and a lot of the other chefs I've worked with.

Take care of yourselves, folks. It's worth it.

[danieljohnson]

Can you imagine how much of a scumbag you’d have to be to try to sue a widow for her husband’s insurance money? I understand they might’ve been trying to recuperate some of the debt, but they should’ve figured that out with the sale. That’s such a POS move.

[fayeprime]

You gotta hate how insensitive the media is with people who died...
Especially with suicide...Like have some damn respect for the dead!

[tronbasic]

I laughed so hard when you said broken ovens are being used as storage. Every single restaurant I've worked at did this.

[jamespatrick]

The restaurant business can grind people to dust. I worked at a country club at 18 and went from being a waiter to learning in the kitchen. Getting screamed at by the chef, time stresses and working long hours was brutal. We had an amazingly kind sous chef Kenny who was around 59. One day we couldn't find him until someone saw him in the walk in freezer dead. He literally had a massive heart attack and died. I realized then I did not want that kind of life and went back to college.

[ChristineTheHippie]

There's a reason why lots of people who consider themselves "Foodies" don't want to be professional chefs. It's such a stressful at competitive industry. Joe seemed to have a good heart and lots of passsion but just could cope. Very tragic.

[timothyd]

My mom worked with him when I was a kid at a pizza place called Bachagaloops. Whenever I would go into work with her I would help him make pizzas, he would play catch with me when he could. I fond memories of those times, he really was a nice guy.

[luna_swan]

The fact the new owners tried claiming his life insurance is so cruel.

[MissDsPlace]

When it comes to suicide, what people don't know or realize is the person who commits' this act has had thoughts about it for quite sometime before it actually happens, it's not something most people do out of haste or because they've been criticized by Gordon Ramsey, the way Joe felt on the inside was starting to reflect on the outside, his restaurant was a good indication of that. In the end the poor guy was left with more debt than happiness. His death was symbolic for how his life was drowning in debt. R.I.P Joe

[jamespatrick]

Men get lost sometimes. To her credit, Joe's wife Melissa has always been supportive of him and over the years she has said great things about him; never has a bad word. A true tragedy. Many people get lost in drugs in the restaurant business, or affairs, or money problems; it's not rare. But whatever got to Joe and made him feel that he had no way out is extremely sad. RIP Joe.

[megamarylis]

One of the reason why I quit working in the kitchen. I'm not ashamed to say that I couldn't handle the pressure.

[kayc_x]

Suicide doesn't always have a logical reason. Depression can lead you to a pit of despair and hopelessness, regardless of how good (or bad) your life is. There may not be a reason. Sometimes it's just to escape the incredible hopelessness that can feel never-ending.

[UMAMIMAMU]

Can't believe there isn't a single comment on here regarding how New Jersey law apparently is allowed to charge someone with "being under the influence of narcotics" when a 911 overdose call is made. Absolutely insane. I don't understand how such dangerous laws make their way on the books. It makes me sick. Then again there's nothing new about that sort of thing in New Jersey.

[derkaiser]

That is really sad that he died. If people don't think that being a chef isn't hard, then look at this. I thought it was great of Gordon Ramsey for standing up for him though. I used to work for a chef like that. He was a hard ass and was a pain to work for and constantly yelled at everyone but if you needed help at all he was the first one to help you in anyway he could. He would go to war for you if you went to war with him.

[robertstimmel]

The restaurant biz is a tough life. Drugs and depression are sadly, pretty common. I remember watching this episode years ago. I never heard about everything that happened after. I'm sad to hear this. No matter how hard things get, there is always someone that will miss you.

[hollyroxy]

It’s completely insane that police would arrest someone for being “under the influence” after they got help at the hospital!
There’s supposed to be safe haven laws now but so many people fear being arrested that it’s exactly why they won’t call to get someone help after they’ve OD’d.
That’s how my father in law died earlier this year. He had fentanyl poisoning & collapsed on the floor. He could’ve easily been saved with Narcan but the guy with him was scared & left him there. By the time he’d been found his brain had gone too long without oxygen so he was taken off life support.
He was a good man with a big heart, I miss him everyday 😢