Will Cafe Hon’s owner be portrayed as “a mess”?

As Baltimoreans await the arrival this week of FOX’s Kitchen Nightmares crew at Cafe Hon, we can only imagine what chef/host Gordon Ramsay, pictured, will have to say about the Hampden restaurant and proprietor Denise Whiting.

Denise seems prepared. In a press release about the upcoming filming, she said, “We’re very pleased to participate with Kitchen Nightmares and Chef Ramsay.”

However, other restaurateurs who have participated in the show weren’t always happy about the result, according to a recent Grub Street New York story.

“They sort of made my wife and I out to be real villains,” said Darryl Cortello of Zeke’s in Metairie, LA, who was featured in a 2010 Nightmares episode. "The show really gets crafty with editing.”

Colleen Gaertner, co-owner of Classic American Restaurant in West Babylon, NY, said the taping of her 2011 Nightmares episode was "very overwhelming." She added that her teary episode was "hard to watch, because it’s your business and it’s very personal and, you know, you’re exposing yourself."

But, here’s the good news, both Cortello and Gaertner said they would do it again.

The Nightmares production company has a confidentiality agreement with Denise Whiting, so she can’t say much about the episode right now. There’s also no date scheduled for the Cafe Hon episode, though I’ve been told the show’s next season starts in February 2012.

When it does air, I’m sure we’ll all be glued to our TV sets.

Photo courtesy of imdb.com.