After an hour of walking across a wind-battered part of town, Gordon Ramsay and the rest of the girls were close to finally arriving at Greta's Baking Company to find out just exactly why and how business and food coming from there has become so shady in the past few months. The weather however was beginning to turn for the worse as the wind began to pick up even more and the clouds overhead slowly drifted over the sun. Even in a thick coat, Gordon was slowly starting to feel the effects of the cold wind leaving him a shivering mess. Rarity thankfully had brought extra clothes with her and wrapped Gordon up in a long wool scarf. It didn't block the cold as much, but Gordon was very much appreciative of the gift. Soon the bakery finally came into view as they closed in on the entrance. There seemed to be a large crowd of griffons gathered just outside the restaurant. Angry yelling could be heard over the screeching wind as the group picked up their pace.
Two large griffons in heavy armor were attacking a group of younger griffons with Twilight right in the middle, doing her best to defuse the situation. Gordon politely pushed his way through the group making it to the center where he found Twilight and a regal-looking griffon trying to hold off two others.
"LET ME IN THERE! GARAI AND THAT BITCH GRETA NEED TO LEARN SOME RESPECT!," one of the attacking griffons yelled.
"I CAN'T HAVE YOU DESTROYING THE RESTAURANT BEFORE MY FRIEND HAS HAD A CHANCE TO LOOK AT IT," Twilight yelled back.
"HE CAN LOOK AT IT WHEN IT'S IN PIECES!"
Gordon turned to Applejack and Pinkie expectantly who nodded vigorously and calmly walked towards the griffons causing trouble. Circling the first one, Applejack bucked at the joints of the first griffon's legs, causing him to fall and smash his beak into the dirt. Pinkie with a big smile shoved her tail into the other griffon's face as she began to speak a million miles an hour.
"Check out all the neat stuff I got stowed back there! My chewed gum collection, my scratched bit collection, my lint collection, my poker card collection, my confetti collection, my moldy balloon collection, my Ewe-Gi-Oh! collection, my rotten egg collection...."
All of the mixed offending smells bombarded the griffon's nasal passage, causing him to collapse from the stench.
"Unusual way for someone to dispatch an aggressor, but effective nonetheless," Gordon applauded with a chuckle. "Now, if you kind folks don't mind. I have a restaurant to either review and save or shut down!"
The crowd of griffons all muttered to each other, some of them mentioning wanting to show the "bald monkey" that they meant business. A look from Twilight though discouraged any possible aggression. The crowd started to disperse in different directions a few going back to their homes and a select few going into the restaurant, allowing the gang to finally gather together.
"Well, why don't we get started on this shall we?" Gordon suggested. "Something tells me this is going to be quite the experience."
"And something tells me I'm going to have to keep my guard up," Twilight groaned. "Pinkie, head back to Gilda's apartment. She needs you there more than I do right now. We'll handle this don't worry."
"Okie dokie lokie!" she replied cheerfully as she hopped back in the other direction, not impeded by an obstacle in her way.
Gordon and Twilight followed by the rest entered the restaurant to meet the griffon Twilight identified as Garai sitting behind the front counter counting bits. He looked up from what he was doing and put on a forced smile. Gordon could immediately tell that there were a lot of unresolved emotions behind that false smile, but he put the thought aside for the moment in an attempt to be civil and polite.
"Ah, you must be Chef Ramsay! And the rest of the heroes of Equestria! What an honor it is to have you grace my mate's humble restaurant." he snootily greeted. "I am Garai."
"Charmed," Rarity acknowledged neutrally.
Applejack just silently tipped her hat to be respectful, while also trying to keep her emotions in check
"Thank you. How are you doing Garai?"
Gordon looked at a sweets display from behind a glass and was quite impressed with the presentation and appearance of the pastries there, especially the scones. He was confused when Pinkie and Rainbow Dash simply glared at the glass.
"Wow! Take a gander at that!" Gordon exclaimed. "That all looks really good!"
"My mate Greta's finest accomplishments!"
"And uhh...may we meet the great baker of this fine establishment?" Gordon offered cautiously.
He knew that he couldn't just outright take down the restaurant right from the get-go. He had to prove that they were a real health risk to the public as well as inept as a restaurant. Meeting with Greta would give him an impression of what kind of experience he was in for.
Garai went back into the kitchen and called the griffon in question as he showered her with praise.
"My darling, the human Chef Ramsay wants to meet you. He wants to hear all about how you made all of those beautiful pastries yourself!"
She came out and forced herself to smile as she walked around to the other side of the counter where she attempted to be cordial by shaking his hand.
"Welcome, it is nice to meet you!"
"Likewise. Are you the one who baked all of those scrumptious-looking cakes?" Gordon asked her.
"Yes, I am."
"They are quite extraordinary. It's some of the best looking baking that I have seen in quite a long time,"
"Thank you, that means quite a lot. I make all of those from specialty recipes that I procured recently."
Gordon noticed how silent the rest of the girls had become. Especially Rainbow Dash and Pinkie. He couldn't see their faces, but he had something of a sixth sense feeling that they were glaring at Greta. If Greta noticed them doing this, she sure didn't show it.
The next thing that he noticed when he got a good look at the restaurant was how elegant the design was.
'If Gilda did all of this, she certainly has quite a woman's touch!' he thought surprised. 'I guess some just don't reflect that beauty physically.
"The other thing I had to say was how beautiful this restaurant is. It's immaculate!"
"Why thank you. We certainly put a lot of effort into keeping it clean." Greta replied.
"Why don't we show the chef our kitchen my darling?" Garai suggested.
"Yes, I was just getting to that," she replied sternly.
She leads the group over to the other side of the dining room and through one of the sets of double doors. Inside, they found a virtually spotless kitchen. Completely devoid of any dirt, grime, or dust, the kitchen looked like it had been washed and polished daily. Twilight couldn't help but make a mental comparison to the cleanliness of Canterlot Castle. The maids of the Castle had been trained and ingrained into their heads from youth that it was their life's work to make the castle look as heavenly and beautiful as the Princesses who occupied it. She thought that the employees at Gilda's restaurant must have been taught the same. Well "threatened" more than taught was the word that came to mind in this scenario that they found themselves in.
"Well my first good observation is that this place is very clean," he stated. "It's like a surgeon's operating room in here."
"Thank you, chef, we take great pride in the cleanliness of our restaurant," Garai replied with his beak held high.
Another thing that he noticed about the kitchen is that the walk-in cooler and the freezer were well organized. Labels, dates, times when the food was set to expire. Food was separated properly on different shelves in different bins, properly sealed. Just like he would have expected of any restaurant back on Earth. Observing the mannerisms of the duo, he figured that it had to have been Garai that mostly handled the cleaning and organizing alongside the rest of the staff. Greta seemed too uncaring to want to deal with something of that nature.
"So, who is the head chef here?" Gordon asked.
"That would be me," Greta replied neutrally.
"Really?" Gordon asked with hidden disbelief. "You definitely got lucky than Mr. Garai".
"Oh yes, I am definitely," he said dreamily as he gazed longingly at Greta who just looked off in a random direction with a bored expression. "She's my soul mate and we...acquired this business together. We stand by each other against the ravenous critics and haters who wish to tarnish my Greta-poo's reputation. We stand up to them and sometimes that means we get physical. These heathens are used to eating processed wood chips and jerky."
'Jeez, I've seen people sucking wankers before but this is ridiculous,' Gordon thought. 'Love is one thing, but this guy has an obsession!'
"Well, that does bring me to one of my biggest questions then Ms. Greta," Twilight interjected. "Where did my Praetorian Troopers fall under then? They came here to have a meal after a long day of guarding the nearby outpost and they came back to the outpost deathly sick. Would you care to explain why?"
"They were mouthing off to me and insulting my recipes, so I had to deal with them accordingly," the griffon replied snarkily. "I figured real stallions would be able to handle whatever I threw at them. I guess your stallions didn't have the balls to handle what I had to offer."
Twilight started to glow as her eyes turned angry and wrathful. The human knew he had to quell her anger for the time being until he got his full scoop on the restaurant.
"Sugar?" Applejack said trying to get Twilight to respond.
"Twilight? Are you alright?" Spike asked cautiously.
"YOU...WHAT???" she asked in a dangerously low tone. "You poisoned my troo-
Gordon placed his hand on her withers and pulled her over to the side to give her a quick word.
"Calm down Twilight," Gordon said. "We have a job to do. I understand you have to deal with this woman, but let me do my job first alright?"
Twilight was silent as she seemed to be looking right through him and in Greta's direction. Even for a hardened man like Gordon, it was unsettling watching her eyes move when she was angry. After a few seconds, she let out a breath as her expression softened.
"Alright, but promise me you will give her Tartarus," Twilight asked. "I'm beginning to really dislike that hen."
"Me too, but let me deal with the rage and the wrath alright? Let's get some more evidence before we give them hell."
He stood up as Twilight moved back to the group and he continued conversing with Greta and Garai.
"Now, may we meet the rest of your staff?"
Greta brought her talons up to her beak and gave a sharp whistle, which brought two young and pretty female griffons running. One was a terrified-looking girl with light brown feathers and brown eyes while the other one appeared to be fairly confident looking yet still nervous to be around Greta and Garai. Her silky golden-yellow feathers made her striking blue eyes pop. Her color scheme made Gordon make a mental comparison to a cockatiel. Complete with a long wavy crest that stretched back over her head and down her neck like hair and seemed to move depending on her current mood.
"This is Gretchen, my sous chef," Greta introduced motioning to the brown feathered griffon.
"Hello there," Gordon greeted.
Gordon stepped forward and offered his hand to the griffon who shook it earnestly.
"It is nice to meet you. I hope we can learn a bunch from you."
She stepped back allowing the other griffon to nervously step forward and offer her claw.
"And this little gem is my main waitress Goldie. We're still trying to break her in." Greta explained.
"Good to meet you. Miss Goldie," Gordon greeted. "I'll definitely be glad to work with you my darling."
He tried to help her loosen up by pouring on the charm as he gingerly kissed her claw.
The griffon seemed to blush as she giggled quietly and let out a gentle "thank you" before pulling back.
"I shouldn't be saying this but, the restaurant itself is very nice and clean, but Greta and Garai do seem to cause a lot of the problems around here," Godiva says to her interviewer. "It sure was nice when Miss Gilda was still in charge around here. Then we wouldn't have irritating wusses like those two. I hope that charmer Gordon can do something about them."
The rest of the pony group scattered around as some stayed in the restaurant posing as undercover customers while Applejack and Rainbow Dash went back outside to watch for any trouble makers. They had received word that there would be a local gang coming through to cause trouble, so they kept a constant lookout. Count Le Grand kept a constant vigil over Twilight, almost acting as her bodyguard as she observed Gordon's process closely. She did her best to keep her peace and not get involved too early. Although hearing Greta and Garai go through their life's story made her mimic the noise Spike was making as they pretended to dry heave mockingly. Gordon sat the two down to get the low down on their backstory in an attempt to make a reasonable deduction on what is going on. They offered him one of their signature cake scones to try.
"So, take me back to the beginning. How long have you two been together?" Gordon asked calmly.
"We met while I was on a trip to Neighgypt to see family," she explained. "When he laid eyes on me, at that watering hole, he never stopped following me around."
"It was love at first sight," Garai said dreamily.
"I thought it was cute in an annoying way how much he followed me around, so I let him go on a few dates with me."
"Next thing I knew, we were in head over heels for each other. Our most recent date took us to that pony city Las Pegasus," Garai continued.
The human was doing his best to remain polite as best as he could, but the way they were talking about each other was too hilarious for him.
"So do you have any experience in the restaurant business?" Gordon asked hopefully.
"No, I worked in construction before, but when the crisis in Neighgypt hit, I still had a lot of money."
"My previous partner and I gathered a bit more money to build this restaurant. When I had to cut her off, the wimp was eager to take her place. So I let him."
'Okay, so that's how it is,' Gordon thought in realization. 'It's no wonder why that girl and her apartment are a complete mess.'
Eating the scone, Gordon immediately loved how rich and flavorful it was. It was firm but dense enough to not fall apart as soon as he stabbed a piece of it with a fork.
"That's lovely. Very nice crust and ganache frosting."
"Thank you. The original recipe came from my previous partner, but we built on top of it. I am the only one equipped to make them. If Garai and I are not here, nothing is made and the restaurant is not open."
Everything was beginning to sound far too familiar for comfort for Gordon.
"Say that again?"
"If neither of us is here, the restaurant is not open," she repeated.
"You can't run a business doing something like that," Gordon chided. "The last time I saw someone try that, it didn't turn out so well."
"We cannot trust anyone to properly handle the restaurant. Griffons here are looking for quick pay instead of working hard."
"How many employees have you gone through?" he asked nervously.
"Counting the ponies that come to Griffonstone for work and the Griffons here? Well around a thousand."
Gordon nearly had a heart attack after hearing the outrageous number come from them.
"A thousand?!"
"So...other than that. What in your opinion is going on with this bloody damn restaurant?"
Greta then went into an explanation on how not too long ago, bad reviews started coming in, mostly thanks to Gilda who tried to sneak back into the restaurant in disguise. Gordon could tell that Gilda legitimately got terrible food, but he figured that Greta would never openly admit that fact. She was unfortunately caught and thrown out again as more and more bad reviews started coming from the public. When a pony from Manehatten wrote a letter to Greta, she in anger sent a scathing letter right back.
"Well one thing I definitely want to tell you two before we get started here, is that you are both fucking nuts!" he stated in a playful nonchalant manner.
Twilight and the rest of the girls still inside the restaurant just gawked at the man incredulously.
"Well, this is certainly gonna be interesting," Twilight stated morbidly.