TV Restaurants

Who Runs The Secret Garden Now? Kitchen Nightmares Update (Moorpark, CA)

New owners verified

As of September 2026, The Secret Garden operates under new ownership — confirmed via monhigh.com, September 2026.

Primary source
monhigh.com ·
Secondary source
realitytvupdates.com ·

Last verified

What the source shows: The successor restaurant's own website and social-media feed show active operation with posts dated as recently as September 6, 2026; a tracker site last updated February 2023 documents that owner Michel Bardavid sold the original restaurant in 2015 amid a divorce and that buyer Danny Margolis relaunched the address as M on High.

  • Season / episode Season 1, Episode 10
  • Original air date
  • Address 255 E High St, Moorpark, CA 93021
  • Current name M on High

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What happened after Kitchen Nightmares?

The Secret Garden was a French restaurant in Moorpark, California owned for seven years by chef Michel Bardavid by the time of the episode, tucked behind an unmarked side door that Ramsay initially struggled to find. As shown on air, sous chef Devon described Michel as difficult to work with because of his ego, and Ramsay found the dining room dated, with artificial flowers and doilies on every table. His meal arrived with cold, undercooked shrimp on the spinach salad and a tough Roquefort-crusted steak served with raw carrots and greasy potatoes. The kitchen inspection was worse: grease coated the surfaces, and the refrigerator held moldy food along with maggots, prompting Ramsay to leave the room to be sick. Michel, unmoved, insisted the kitchen was in fine condition. During service, Michel took over cooking entirely and refused help, and the kitchen only caught up on orders during the moments he stepped away to greet friends in the dining room. Ramsay staged a foreclosure sign over the entrance the next morning to shock Michel into recognizing the restaurant's financial reality, then introduced a simplified, lower-cost menu built around dishes like onion gratin, tuna Nicoise, and roast chicken, along with a redecorated dining room. On relaunch night, in front of invited guests and a food critic, Michel reverted partway back toward his old menu before ultimately winning the critic over with a new dish, and the restaurant turned a profit that night. Michel nonetheless returned to much of his original menu again shortly after Ramsay left, citing customer complaints. The Secret Garden had a longer run than many of its Kitchen Nightmares peers, continuing to operate for roughly eight years after the episode aired. Michel then sold the business in 2015 amid a divorce, according to realitytvupdates.com (a tracker site; unverified beyond its own research), and the buyer, Danny Margolis of Command Performance Catering, relaunched the address as M on High, which continues to operate at 255 East High Street in Moorpark as of September 2026, based on that restaurant's own current website and social-media activity.

Featured on Kitchen Nightmares

Season / episode
Season 1, Episode 10
Original air date
Episode title
The Secret Garden
What was featured
Dated French restaurant with a moldy kitchen and a stubborn owner-chef
Role
Featured restaurant
Name on the broadcast
The Secret Garden

Frequently asked questions

Is The Secret Garden still open in 2026?

As of September 2026, The Secret Garden operates under new ownership — confirmed via monhigh.com, September 2026.

What happened to The Secret Garden after Kitchen Nightmares?

The Secret Garden was a French restaurant in Moorpark, California owned for seven years by chef Michel Bardavid by the time of the episode, tucked behind an unmarked side door that Ramsay initially struggled to find. As of September 2026, The Secret Garden operates under new ownership — confirmed via monhigh.com, September 2026.

What is The Secret Garden called now?

Now: M on High (formerly The Secret Garden). As of September 2026, The Secret Garden operates under new ownership — confirmed via monhigh.com, September 2026.

Where is The Secret Garden located?

255 E High St, Moorpark, CA 93021. That is the address on the record as of September 7, 2026.

What season and episode of Kitchen Nightmares featured The Secret Garden?

Season 1, Episode 10 of Kitchen Nightmares, first aired December 12, 2007. The episode is titled “The Secret Garden”.

Who owns The Secret Garden now?

As of September 2026, The Secret Garden operates under new ownership — confirmed via monhigh.com, September 2026. We name individual owners only where a source we cite names them.

Did the makeover last at The Secret Garden?

The episode first aired December 12, 2007. Our most recent check was September 7, 2026 — 19 years later —: As of September 2026, The Secret Garden operates under new ownership — confirmed via monhigh.com, September 2026.

Is The Secret Garden still using the Kitchen Nightmares menu or branding?

Ramsay staged a foreclosure sign over the entrance the next morning to shock Michel into recognizing the restaurant's financial reality, then introduced a simplified, lower-cost menu built around dishes like onion gratin, tuna Nicoise, and roast chicken, along with a redecorated dining room. Anything newer than our last check on September 7, 2026 may not be reflected here.

Every status on this site carries a confidence label and a date, and names the source it rests on. Read the Editorial & Corrections Policy for what each label means and how quickly we act on corrections. The questions above are generated from this record's own published fields — we never publish a question we cannot answer from the data.

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Visit info

Address
255 E High St, Moorpark, CA 93021
Venue type
restaurant
Official website
monhigh.com

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