Ramsay was credited with transforming three failing Sussex restaurants after they were featured on his Kitchen Nightmares programme.

But despite his Michelin-starred tips, two of the businesses have sunk like a badly executed soufflé.

Ruth Lumley asks, where did it all go wrong?

The recession has hit businesses in Sussex hard and the restaurant trade is no exception.

As people tightened their belts, tables across the county emptied.

Many have been forced to close but, perhaps more surprisingly, two eateries which received a helping hand from TV chef Gordon Ramsay have also struggled to survive.

Momma Cherri’s Big House, in Little East Street, Brighton, and Love’s fish restaurant in St James’s Street, Kemp Town, both appeared on Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares.

The Channel 4 show, starring the critically acclaimed firebrand chef, picked at the restaurants’ faults, improved their menus and gave them more publicity than they could have dreamt of.

Allan Love was losing £1,500 a week at his restaurant before Ramsay stepped behind his stove.

During Kitchen Nightmares, viewers saw Mr Love, who is in his 60s, experience a roller coaster of emotions as he faced up to the fact his business was failing and he was about to lose his home.

Ramsay overhauled the menu and changed the name of the restaurant from Ruby Tate’s to Love’s and business boomed.

But the success was shortlived.

In January, two years after Ramsay’s first visit, Mr Love was forced to place a sign on his door saying the restaurant had closed because of the difficult economic climate and lack of bookings.

Mr Love started claiming unemployment benefit several weeks ago and said he was about to lose his Rottingdean home.

However, he had nothing but praise for the Michelin-starred chef.

He said: “Gordon came in and gave us a lot of help and turned the business around for a while.

“Unfortunately, it did not work out.

“Obviously, the programme helped the restaurant but when the recession hit, people were not coming to the door any more and the rest is history.

“There’s nothing left. I signed on a few weeks ago.”

Mr Love said he was not surprised to hear that Momma Cherri, another recipient of Ramsay’s advice, had closed, blaming the amount of competition in Brighton.

Momma Cherri, whose real name is Charita Jones, told The Argus last week that she was on the dole and that her restaurant would not be reopening.

Her appearance on Kitchen Nightmares transformed her into a city celebrity and she soon moved from her Soul Food Shack to larger, neighbouring premises.

But the restaurant has been closed for the past few weeks after administrators moved in, told staff to leave and changed the locks.

Mrs Jones had hoped the restaurant would be saved with a cash boost from a Brighton businessman but resigned herself to closing for good when the money failed to materialise.

She said: “I believe in my product and I am going to go to markets to let people know I am still here.

I am doing a food festival in Amberley on the first weekend in September. I want to work and get out there.”

Mrs Jones said she had not received any job offers since the restaurant closed but that she had received an email from a London restaurateur and that a meeting with him had been planned.

She said: “I have always been open and honest with my employees.

“I was to win the lottery I would pay back everyone I owe.”

Brighton and Hove city councillor Ted Kemble, portfolio holder for enterprise, employment and major projects, said despite the problems at Love’s and Momma Cherries, other eateries were doing well.

He said: “The failure of any business is something that is not to be welcomed.

“We would do all we could to encourage businesses into the city.

“Momma Cherri had been struggling for quite some time and I am very sorry that she has had to close.

"We are still doing everything we can to entice businesses into the city and and to relocate here.

“Two or three new restaurants have been opened up in the city in the past week so we are being successful.”

Mark Froud, chief executive at Sussex Enterprise, said: “Brighton is a vibrant city that will continue to attract thousands of visitors and potential customers.

“Those businesses that plan carefully, keep an eye on their costs and market themselves effectively should continue to thrive.”

But it is not all doom and gloom for Sussex restaurants visited by Ramsay.

The Priory Grill in Haywards Heath has been doing well since the chef visited two years ago.

Viewers saw Ramsay condemn the kitchen after looking at the grease-covered appliances and inedible food.

He wrapped quarantine tape around the ovens before the production company spent £12,000 installing new equipment.

The restaurant was transformed from the Priory Carvery to the Priory Grill and the business is still going strong.

But co-owner Scott Aitchison said the restaurant’s success was not down to the celebrity chef’s changes but their own.

The venue is now a tapas bar called La Capilla – Spanish for The Chapel – which holds flamenco nights, drawing in up to 100 people at a time.

Mr Aitchison said: “Gordon Ramsay’s changes were OK but we decided to turn the restaurant into a tapas bar and it’s thriving.

“We looked at the marketplace and realised there was an opening because the town hadn’t had a tapas bar for about six years.

“The restaurant is really gothic so it lends itself to the Spanish element.”

Any business looking for support and advice can call Sussex Enterprise on 0845 6788867.