What Happened to Momma Cherri's Soul Food Shack? (Brighton, UK)

Part 1 — Season 2, Episode 3 Aired June 7, 2005

Momma Cherri's Soul Food Shack was a small soul food restaurant on Little East Street in central Brighton, and the third episode of the second series of Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares, which Channel 4 aired on 2005-06-07. TheTVDB's listing calls it an intimate 40-seater a stone's throw from the seafront. The Caterer reported on 2006-05-25 that it was run by chef-owner Charita Jones and her husband, and Restaurant Online reported on 2007-07-17 that it had opened in 2001.

Wikipedia's episode summary describes excellent food but a business held back by habits in the kitchen: an easygoing approach to staff timekeeping, food frozen before service that dulled its flavor, and little promotion. The Caterer's 2006-05-25 article says Ramsay's advice also covered lower prices, cutting advertising spend and trimming staff costs that had reached about half of turnover, and it credits the show with introducing a set-price soul-in-a-bowl offer.

The rescue, per Wikipedia, had the owner cook everything to order and promote the restaurant. The summary mentions no change of name or decor at that stage. The kitchen struggled with the extra custom at the relaunch but adapted over the week. A return visit two months later found the restaurant still busy and the owner weighing a larger site. Restaurant Online's 2007 interview said the business then moved to bigger premises on the same street, growing from 45 seats to 110. Wikipedia says the larger restaurant was renamed Momma Cherri's Big House and was shown in a follow-up episode on 2006-12-19.

The Caterer reported on 2008-01-03 that the restaurant had entered administration with debts of £200,000 and closed over Christmas, and that the owner's daughter planned to reopen it by agreement with the administrators. Restaurant Online reported on 2009-08-27 that it had kept trading until the month before under a license held by American Soul Food, a company set up by the daughter, that the administrators Baker Tilly had received no offers, and that the restaurant was closing. Brighton and Hove News reported on 2015-03-06 that the larger venture ended in 2009. BITE Sussex reported on 2023-11-03 that Jones was running pop-up dinners and home-cooking sessions in Brighton, and described the restaurant as gone.

Part 2 — Season 4, Episode 6 Aired December 19, 2006

Momma Cherri's Soul Food Shack Revisited, aired on 2006-12-19, was Ramsay's return to the Brighton soul food restaurant run by Charita Jones, known as Momma Cherri, as part of Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares (Channel 4). The restaurant first appeared in the series in 2005. TheTVDB's listing for that first episode describes a small venue of about 40 seats close to Brighton's seafront, and Wikipedia's episode list says Jones had been too lenient with staff, kept food frozen in a way that dulled its flavor, and did little to promote the place. The rescue had her cook everything to order and market the restaurant, which brought in more customers while the kitchen staff adjusted to the higher volume.

The revisit: According to Wikipedia's episode list, the restaurant had become popular enough to move to larger premises, where it traded as Momma Cherri's Big House. Jones slipped back into old habits at the bigger site, but with Ramsay's coaching she adapted to cooking and catering at larger scale without giving up quality. Restaurant magazine reported on 2007-07-17 that the move was to bigger premises on the same street, growing the room from 45 seats to 110, and that Jones said she would probably have closed without Ramsay's help. In the same interview Jones said Ramsay had advised her to leave the kitchen to a professional chef and to run the front of house and the business herself, and that she had published a cookbook, Soul in a Bowl, with Absolute Press.

Restaurant magazine's website reported on 2009-08-27 that Momma Cherri's had closed. Its report said Jones had asked Ramsay for help in 2004, that the business had been in administration since December 2007, that it kept trading until July 2009 under a license held by American Soul Food, a company set up by Jones's daughter, and that the administrators, Baker Tilly, had hoped to find a new owner but had no offers at that point.