Ramsay brings a town back from the brink in ‘24 Hours to Hell and Back: Save Our Town’
Earlier this year, Gordon Ramsay undertook what would be one of the most ambitious, difficult and ultimately rewarding projects of his career – helping rebuild businesses in a flood-ravaged suburban Baltimore town. His efforts are detailed in an upcoming special episode of “Gordon Ramsay’s 24 Hours to Hell and Back.”
Titled “Save Our Town,” the two-hour installment airing Tuesday, May 12, on Fox, follows Ramsay as he and his crew of restaurant employees, celebrities including Orioles star Cal Ripken Jr. and designer Nate Berkus (“Nate & Jeremiah by Design”) and local citizens work to rescue three business devastated by floods that hit Ellicott City, Md., in 2016 and 2018.
Unlike other “24 Hours” episodes where Ramsay delivers tough love to apathetic restaurateurs, this has a different tone. These business owners had their lives and livelihoods sent over the cliff through no fault of their own, and it became the mission of Ramsay, who learned of their plight when he was opening his own eatery in Baltimore in 2017, to throw them a lifeline.
“Dealing with one crisis is hard enough but dealing with two crises within 18 months/two years of each other, it’s pretty shocking ...,” Ramsay says. “This ... wasn’t just about saving the restaurants; it was about saving a town, saving a community and giving them the confidence and the position and support and everything I know in this industry to help make them work with the help of some very special people.”
In a town full of wrecked businesses, Ramsay focused on three that were in especially dire need: Little Market Cafe; Jaxon Edwin, a combination hair salon, coffee bar and game room; and the Phoenix Brewing Company, which was actually a merger between two other breweries. In all cases, Ramsay and his crew helped rebuild not only the brick-and-mortar facilities but also revamped menus, redesigned dining areas and offered business advice.
For Ramsay, it was all about giving the locals hope and the sight of one of the celebrity helpers, local hero and Baseball Hall of Famer Ripken, was especially inspiring.
“You know, the first time I phoned him and said, ‘Hey look ...’ I didn’t even finish the sentence,” Ramsay says, “and he said, ‘Gordon, I’m in. What are we to do? Fix a bar? Paint a wall? Spend time in the kitchen? What do you want me to do?’ And so Cal couldn’t be any more pleasant to work with, an absolute dream come true . ... But lighting up that room and giving hope to the staff and showing that kind of support for the community was unimaginable. And he delivered on all fronts.”