Another Ramsay row
Another Ramsay row - 26/07/02
A row between Gordon Ramsey and the AA Restaurant Guide editor has led to the resignation of AA editor, Simon Wright. Ramsay is now seeking a court injunction to stop the guide publishing its 2003 edition after it failed to award Petrus, in Mayfair, a fifth rosette.
Although the AA food inspectors and Simon Wright agreed that Petrus deserved the fifth rosette, AA managing director Roger Wood stopped them receiving the converted award after a row over which table he could sit at.
Mr Wright, who resigned on Monday, told the Evening Standard: "It has been fairly traumatic but I had to resign on a point of principle. I felt I could not continue as editor of the AA Restaurant Guide since this rosette issue and the intervention of AA MD Roger Wood.I’d like to see the decision overturned. You owe something to the chefs to stand by these decisions".
The AA’s qualified food critics, who decided to award chef Marcus Wareing the fifth rosette, had made various visits to Petrus. However MD Mr Wood decided to visit the restaurant himself at very short notice.
Restaurant staff claim that when he arrived the day before his booking to check where he would be seated, he became "extremely rude", when they told him they were not able to confirm where exactly he would be sitting.
Ramsay was angry about the decision and says we will be taking action on behalf of Wareing. "I’m that gutted I want to wash my hands completely of the AA guide. It has left a bad taste with me. We have proof from three inspectors and the misconduct on a personal level, on a biased level, is just unbelievable. This guy Wood came from British Gas and his personal vindictiveness on a London restaurant is gross."
Gordon Ramsay wins Time Out awards - 15/05/02
Chelsea favourite Gordon Ramsey has taken two titles at the 2002 Time Out Eating And Drinking Awards.
Ramsey has been awarded Best New Restaurant category for Gordon Ramsay at Claridges, as well as the Special Award for Outstanding Achievement.
The awards ceremony was held at the new Tram Studios in Camden and was judged by Time Out’s restaurant reviewers. The audience included Barry Norman, Emilia Fox, Jeremy Bowen, Phill Jupitus, Emma Forbes and Paul Tonkinson.
Gordon Ramsay’s Chelsea restaurant "UK’s best" - 11/03/02
Gordon Ramsay’s Chelsea restaurant has been named the UK’s best - and second best restaurant in the world. His restaurant, awarded a third Michelin star in January, was beaten only by Barcelona restaurant, El Bulli, where the waiting list for a table is apparently a yearlong.
Covent Garden’s The Ivy also made it into the top ten list, at eight. Victoria Beckham’s favourite managed onto the list even though Michelin judges left it unimpressed after a visit last year.
The list was compiled by Restaurant magazine based on recommendations from 50 famous chefs and restaurateurs, including Ramsay, Brian Turner, Antony Worrall Thompson and Raymond Blanc.
No rest for the wicked - 22/10/01
Man about town and Chelsea restaurateur Gordon Ramsay has been a busy man - today is the first day of service at his new Mayfair restaurant in Claridges Hotel.
After a huge celebrity party last Thursday night involving plenty of oysters, champagne and of course, celebrities such as Raymond Blanc, Michael Winner, Jade Jagger, Ben Elliot and Lord and Lady Frost, Ramsay will be putting his head down to try and get this gastronomic extravaganza running as smoothly as possible. After the recent release of his new cookbook, Ramsay’s got a lot to live up to - he’s the only three starred Michelin chef in London.
Absent from the party - not surprisingly was the man Ramsay loves to hate - Marco Pierre White.
Gordon’s Just Desserts - September 2001
With the release of his new cookbook, My Village interviews Britain’s most notorious chef Gordon Ramsay, a month before the opening of his newest venture in Claridges Hotel...
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Gordon Ramsay Tops ’Best Food’ Chart in Zagat - 30/08/01
Gordon Ramsay’s eponomously titled Chelsea restaurant has come first in the ’Best Food’ category of the latest edition of Zagat’s restaurant guide, and third in the ’Most Popular’ category.
Tim Zagat, founder of the survey which covers restaurants in 70 cities worldwide, said that London was one of the top two, three or four cities - "it is hard to say which" - for restaurants in the world.
"I think it has great diversity in restaurants. Diversity makes London stand out from other cities," he said. "In many ways I think it is more interesting than Paris."
However, it was not all good news. London is apparently second only to Tokyo for the cost of eating out among the world’s big cities, with the average meal bill stacking up to a stomach-churning £30.85 compared with the average in Paris of £28.01, and in the US of only £18.95.
But patrons in London do manage to recoup some of their money by being particularly tight when it comes to leaving a tip, with the average payout being just 12% of the total bill, compared with 17.9% in Los Angeles and 18.3% in New York.
The paucity of the tips might have something to do with the level of service, which according to two-thirds of the surveyors was by far the most irritating part of dining out.
"It is the single most serious problem both in London and in the US," Mr Zagat said. "There is a difference between service and hospitality. Service is doing all the things right, and hospitality is making somebody feel you are glad to see them."
My Village interviews Gordon Ramsay 09/01
Read more about Gordon
Restaurant details
read about other West End chefs in MyWest End
Not so Gay Gordon - 09/07/01
This is not a comment on Chelsea based chef Gordon Ramsay’s sexuality ... but a cheap comment on his unbelievable grumpiness, which will be all over the papers again when a new BBC programme gets aired on 21 July. I blame the programme makers really. Who really thought that Mr Ramsay was a good candidate for ’Friends for Dinner’. It’s the cosy programme where a member of the public gets to call upon the help of a chef to help them prepare a menu ...
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Ramsay in the soup - 17/07/01
Controversial restaurateur and chef Gordon Ramsay may be sued by four bankers who spent a whopping £44,007 at his Petrus restaurant in Mayfair. They are claiming that he leaked their names to the press and that this is a breach of their privacy.
Mahish Chandra (£12,000 on the tab), Iftikhar Hyder (£11,500), Dayananda Kumar (£9,000) and Ruth Cove (£8,500) all work for Barclays Capital and are said to be shocked that details of their lavish meal have appeared in the press. The group, which contained two other members who paid £3,000 between them, were celebrating a lucrative deal on the bonds market.
The dining party got through the money by buying exclusive vintage wines. Some £33,300 went on three bottles of Petrus Pomerol, £9,200 on a dessert wine and £1,400 on a bottle of 1982 Montrachet. The restaurant reportedly threw in the food for free.
Ramsay categorically denies revealing the names of the loaded diners and Barclays Bank said the meal was a private affair paid for by the individuals concerned.
Gordon to show his true colours at Claridges - 04/04/01
One of Britain’s most notorious chefs is due to show his true colours at Claridges. Local restaurateur Gordon Ramsay, who has developed quite an infamous persona from his kitchen and TV performances, has joined forces with Claridges in order to instil a bit of cool into this once staid hotel.
Ramsay, who is currently basking in the glory of being London’s only three-star Michelin chef, is believed to be just the ticket for the Brook Street institution. As Claridges rises in the cool stakes amongst the fashion and magazine types, Ramsey is expected to raise the profile of the new venture, expected to be called (quite originally) Gordon Ramsay at Claridge’s (hmmm.)
The fiery chef-proprietor of the eponymous restaurant in Chelsea will be running the operation at Claridge’s when it opens in September and diners can expect original Ramsay food, modern European style cooking, with all his signature dishes.
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