Gordon Ramsey Revamps Capri

Capri is one such intriguing story. Moving from Rehoboth, Massachusetts, the Thiel family started anew in Los Angeles when Jeff and Jim’s father landed a job as a professor at USC. Jeff and Jim, identical twins with incessant charm and booming laughs, followed their parents out west and started successful acting careers. Their dream team acting career was, and still is, quite successful. They have been featured in countless commercials and several mainstream productions, including “Cheers,” “Inspector Gadget” and “Murphy Brown.” 

Joe and Helen Sams opened Capri in 1963, and the Theils, loyal customers for 10 years, bought the restaurant when it went up for sale in 1997. Jeff and Jim took over the restaurant after their parents’ retirement in 2005. Since their take over, the twins had to sell stock to keep the restaurant afloat. Upon hearing that “Kitchen Nightmares” was looking for restaurants in the Los Angeles area, they submitted their application. “The audition process was a nightmare within itself,” Jeff said. After much paperwork and waiting, they were selected to be on the show.

The start of production was not without drama. When he found out the restaurant would be on the show, Capri’s only chef refused to be involved, thinking the show only posed to make the restaurant look unprofessional. He would not budge, even after talks with Jim, Jeff and Gordon Ramsey himself; the chef left the show before filming began. So Jeff and Jim were left with a restaurant to run, a show to film and nobody to cook the food. During the first night of filming, Jeff took his place in the kitchen and Jim worked the dining room. The stress of the show and the orders were too much for Jeff, and the twins collectively decided to bring in a chef. They hired their friend Marcus, a talented, experienced chef who has worked at the Cheesecake Factory, catering and in management.

Before filming started, the restaurant was a scene of kitschy sports banners and an overflowing menu. “We were stuck in 1963,” Jeff said, “It was time for a change.” Chef Ramsey’s team remodeled the restaurant overnight, leaving it with a simplified atmosphere. The bright lighting, open seating and simple charm made it feel like home. Ramsey said, “Your restaurant is like your menu — too much clutter.” A kitchen with a confidence bigger than its capacity, the restaurant now focuses on pizzas, which is much more suitable for its size. The name of Capri has consequently changed to Capri’s Pizzeria.

With change comes conflict. Chef Ramsey, notorious on the show for his biting criticism, was “a pain in the ass” during production, Jim said. However, Jeff and Jim said that this was a necessity. “He really knows his stuff,” said Jim. “I told him off more than once.” Breaking down is essential for building up, and Jim and Jeff both believed that the criticism was necessary in order to move forward with the renewal. “It was really neat working with him,” Jim said.

Capri Pizzeria now has a positive attitude and a new look, and is moving forward. They now offer lunch on Saturdays, brunch on Sundays and are moving forward with the tools Chef Ramsey gave them. “We are capitalizing on what we can offer,” Jeff said about the new changes. Customers have already started coming in larger numbers, and they expect a rise after the show is screened in early March. This transformation is a breath of fresh, garlic-scented air for Capri’s Pizzeria.