Gordon Ramsay – Virtuoso with Chef’s Hat
Gordon Ramsay was born in Scotland but spent his early years in Stratford-upon-Avon, England. Originally his life goal was to be a professional football player, but his career with Glasgow Rangers was cut short by injury, forcing him to return to university, where he completed hotel management courses. . He began his kitchen training with culinary lights such as Albert Roux and Marco Pierre White in London. He moved to France and worked with Joel Robuchon and Guy Savoy for three years, enhancing his expertise in classic French cooking. In 1993 he became chef of the newly opened Aubergine, which received two Michelin stars in three years.
In 1998, when he was 31, he opened his own restaurant in Chelsea, Gordon Ramsay, which won three Michelin stars before he was three years old. In the fall of 2001 he opened Gordon Ramsay at Claridge’s, which won its first Michelin star two years later; and also his first international gourmet venture, Glass at the Dubai Hilton Hotel. In 2002 he opened Petrusat the St. James, which won its first Michelin star in a year and its second in 2007. In 2001 he created the Gordon Ramsay Scholar Award to recognize the talent of the new chef’s jacket; this competition has grown each year and is now shown on the BBC’s Good Food Show. In 2005 he opened his eighth UK restaurant, Maze, in Grosvenor Square; and Gordon Ramsay opened at the Conrad Hotel in Tokyo. That same year he was awarded an OBE.
In 2004, he starred in the television series Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares, which won an International Emmy and a BAFTA. This led to her being given two weeks of time to train a group of celebrities to Michelin culinary standards on the television series Hell’s Kitchen. In 2005, a second series of Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares, along with the debut of The F-Word, established him as one of the leading stars on British television. An American Hell’s Kitchen series was named the highest rated show of 2007 and led to an American Kitchen Nightmares series.
He donned his chef’s hat in the US by opening his first US restaurant, Gordon Ramsay at the London, at the London Hotel in New York City in 2006; and that same year he opened La Noisette which won its first Michelin star six months later. In 2007, Cielo opened in the exclusive Florida resort of Boca Raton; and that same year saw the opening of his first pub, The Narrow, in London’s Limehouse, on the banks of the River Thames. He has since opened two other pubs: The Devonshire in West London and The Warrington in Maida Vale.
He published his first book in 1996, Passion for Flavor, and quickly followed it up with a string of other highly successful books: 1999’s Passion for Seafood, 2001’s Just Desserts, 2005’s Gordon Ramsay Makes it Easy, Gordon’s Sunday Lunch Ramsay from 2006, Gordon Ramsay’s Fast Food, and Gordon Ramsay’s Healthy Appetite from 2008. His latest cookbook, Gordon Ramsay’s Cooking for Friends, will be published in the fall of 2009. His autobiography, Humble Pie, was published in 2006 and it went straight to the top of the bestseller lists.
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