If you have ever seen the reality show “Hell’s Kitchen,” you may be wondering “Just who is this Gordon Ramsay guy and what gives him the right to yell at these young chefs?” Well, let’s take a look at how Gordon Ramsay got where he is.
After a potential soccer career was derailed by injuries, Ramsay turned to another interest – cooking. He studied Hotel Management at a local college then worked as a commis chef at the Wroxton House Hotel in the late ‘80s. He moved to London, then after working at Harveys for almost three years, decided to study French cuisine. He worked at LaGavroche for a year before moving on to Hotel Diva in the French Alps. He later moved to Paris to continue his training, working for both Guy Savoy and Joel Robuchon.
When he returned to London in 1993, Ramsay took the head chef position at La Tante Claire. He wasn’t there long before Marco White, whom he had worked for at Harveys, invited him to be his head chef at Aubergine. While he was there, Aubergine won the prestigious Michelin star twice. Ramsay opened his own restaurant, Gordon Ramsay at Royal Hospital Road, in 1998 and it achieved a Michelin star in 2001, making Ramsay the first Scottish chef to win three Michelin stars.
After that point, Ramsay’s restaurant empire exploded. He opened Petrus, Amaryllis, and Gordon Ramsay at Claridge’s. Those were followed by restaurants in Dubai, Toyko, and New York City. Since then, Ramsay has opened restaurants in Ireland, Los Angeles, Hollywood, Boca Raton, Prague, Versailles, Singapore, and Toronto.
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Chef Ramsay has won the Catey award three times, only the third chef to do that. In 2006, he was named the most influential person in the UK hospitality industry by Caterer and Hotelkeeper magazine. His televised shows include “Hell’s Kitchen,” “The F-Word,” and “Kitchen Nightmares.” If you’ve seen any of them, you know he is known for being temperamental and having a potty mouth.
While he is harsh on screen, Ramsay appears to be a bit calmer in real life. He has been married to wife Tana since 1996 and the couple has four children. He supports a number of charities including having run the London Marathon five times in support of Tommy’s (a baby charity). He has also helped raise money for VSO (a development charity), Women’s Aid (against domestic violence), and the Scottish Spina Bifida Association.
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