Rosaria Scollo didn't plan to have her episode of "Kitchen Nightmares" play out this way.
Fox's film crew sent celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay and his team to Scollo's restaurant, Bella Luna Ristorante in Forks Township, last July. But three and a half months after Ramsay's crew packed up and left, Bella Luna closed.
Scollo says one thing's for sure: "Bella Luna's not dead yet."
The episode airs 9 p.m. Friday as the season's finale.
Scollo planned to celebrate with a big screening with drinks and hors d'oeuvres for customers at the restaurant.
Instead, she'll watch it at home in Easton with sons Gianfranco and Maurizio.
It wasn't the menu or the new changes that prompted Bella Luna's closure. It was a dispute with the landlord that forced them out of their location, Scollo says.
"They're claiming we defaulted the lease, but in the meantime they were defaulting the lease because the place was up for sale," Scollo says, adding they're currently in litigation.
Tina Gasparetti, a former Easton resident who now lives in Arizona, says that's not true. Gasparetti manages the land, which her father, Giovanni Marangolo, owns. Gasparetti denies any pending litigation and says part of the issue was Scollo was not meeting her lease obligations.
"She wasn't paying rent for a number of months," Gasparetti says. "Unfortunately, it came to the point that, yes, I did go in and lock the doors after she took things out of the business like computer systems."
In the months following the closure, Pennsylvania State Police reported the restaurant was serving alcohol with an expired liquor license. That license is still tied up, Gasparetti says.
DeLorenzo's Italian Restaurant has since announced plans to move into the 3417 Sullivan Trail eatery, though an opening date has not been set.
"Bella Luna is not dead. We're going to reopen; we're going to survive," Scollo says, adding she's looking for space in Easton or at least in the Lehigh Valley.
"Our business tripled, but we didn't have a chance to succeed," Scollo says.
Meeting Gordon
Scollo says she and her sons never missed an episode of "Kitchen Nightmares." Scollo reached out to the show a year and a half ago, figuring Ramsay could help her family business.
Ramsay's crew spent seven days filming and renovating. Scollo says the main contention was the large menu.
Scollo says Ramsay told her to pick one style — pizzeria, bar or Italian restaurant — and stick to it.
"You have to cut things down and focus," he told her.
The Scollos wanted an authentic Italian restaurant, and with Ramsay's help they added veal osso bucco, ricotta cavatelli with braised short ribs and polenta with sausage to the menu.
"I knew there was something we weren't doing right," Scollo says. "I didn't think our food was bad — we tried to do everything fresh and homemade— but there was something lacking."
Scollo adds it was the first restaurant her son, chef Gianfranco, ran.
Watching it unfold
After filming wrapped, Scollo says, they followed all the directions Ramsay left for them and never went back to their old ways. She admits it was hard, considering locals could no longer find the food they were used to, such as wings, mozzarella sticks and cheesesteaks at the bar. Instead, it was strictly Italian food.
Scollo says it will be hard to watch their story unfold on TV on Friday.
"I'm happy and sad at the same time and I know it will be very emotional for me to watch the show," she says.
But she says she'll never forget the experience and is grateful to Fox, Ramsay and the show's staff for the experience.
"It was our dream. Having 'Kitchen Nightmares' was a dream come true," Scollo says. "We didn't fail. We didn't have a chance."
A representative from Fox says the episode will feature an epilogue saying that Bella Luna is looking for a new location.
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Watch it
The season finale of "Kitchen Nightmares" airs at 9 p.m. Friday on Fox.
Watch a preview here:
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