Hard work, drive and talent have shaped Gordon Ramsay and he hasn’t held back when it comes to sharing the wealth of his experience with others. His cooking has won him awards but his tough talking has earned him a reputation. Liz Kavanagh gives him a grilling.

Gordon Ramsay isn’t a man to be messed with. He has built a restaurant empire, achieved celebrity chef status and been showered with accolades for his cooking. But people have quaked at his step and he has a reputation for straight talking in the extreme.

Born in Scotland, Gordon’s career didn’t start in the kitchen but on the pitch as a footballer for Glasgow Rangers. But life under manager Jock Wallace was no picnic and when Gordon was injured, there was no easy let down. His contract wasn’t renewed and his career was over before it had really begun. 

But Gordon was ready to apply the drive he’d channelled into sport into forging a new career.

“Good food had always been a big interest of mine,” he says, “but I had no idea where it would take me. I knew I had disciplined fingers and a sensitive palate and decided to sign up for an HND course in hotel management. Everything took off from there.” 

Even in those early days, Gordon’s ambition and enthusiasm singled him out and he was soon working alongside leading chefs, joining Marco Pierre White at Harvey’s in Wandsworth before moving to Le Gavroche to work with Albert Roux. 

“It was hard work,” he admits, “but I was motivated by the desire to be as good as them one day. As a young chef, you have to believe in yourself. Succeeding is not always about experience. In my case, it was enthusiasm that drove me. At the end of the day, you either have talent or you don’t.”

Gordon also headed to Paris to spend three years working with tops chefs, gaining a love of French cooking. And once back in the UK, he went on to display his flair for food at the newly opened Aubergine restaurant in London, winning two Michelin stars within three years.

Five years and countless covers later, at just 32, he set up his first restaurant, Gordon Ramsay, in Chelsea. Then Pétrus was launched with Marcus Wareing as chef patron a year later. Within seven months, it had won its first Michelin star.

More openings have followed, with Gordon’s charisma rubbing off on his protégés — his group of restaurants boasts a total of seven Michelin stars. His latest sensation, Maze, is at the London Marriott Hotel in Grosvenor Square.

So what’s the secret of his success?

“The quality of the food is obviously the most important factor,” he says. “If that isn’t up to scratch, even the most perfect surroundings and service won’t make a difference.” 

But service is important to Gordon, too, and despite his reputation for giving staff a hard time, he insists everyone works as a team in his restaurants.

“Lack of communication between staff is often the first thing a customer will notice and can cause the breakdown of an entire evening,” he says. “The prices are also important. If food is reasonably priced, customers are more likely to choose a decent bottle of wine. You also have to create the right atmosphere. No one wants to settle down to an intimate evening in a room lit up like a laboratory.”

Gordon’s no-nonsense approach has become his trademark. It made compulsive viewing in his recent Channel Four food show The F Word, and as he stepped in to rescue faltering restaurants in Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares which returns for a new series this spring.

“I had two weeks with each business,” he explains, “so it was an exhausting emotional and physical roller coaster for everyone involved. But getting the chance to play a part in transforming them into something both the customers and staff could get excited about gave me a real buzz. Most importantly of all, I think the programme gave viewers a greater appreciation of what to look for in a good restaurant. At the end of the day, the customer should be at the centre of everything.”

Gordon had his fair share of horrors to deal with during the first and second series. 

“On one occasion I came across a morning ritual of lids being lifted off containers of food, the ingredients sniffed and if they were slimy, washed in warm water, dipped in ice water and put back in the fridge,” he recalls. “There was also memorable fish stew with barnacle-encrusted mussels that had enough sand in it to fill an Olympic long-jump pit.” 

Gordon’s straight talking gives Kitchen Nightmares an edge.

“I have to be tough and brutally honest because I have as much to lose as the restaurants I visit,” he says. “To see them pull out of the pits and start doing well is worth the pain!” 

While Gordon has a reputation for zero tolerance at work, at home he has to put up with sticky fingers in the kitchen. Gordon and his wife Tana have four children under 10.

“The children constantly amaze me and it’s always a pleasure to cook for and with them at home,” he says. “They aren’t fussy but I refuse to let them eat the sort of food I would serve in my restaurants simply because they aren’t ready for it yet. You can’t subject a four-year-old to that level of richness. We always try to eat together and often it’s quite a simple meal. When you’ve been all over the world researching food, the last thing you want to do is spend the weekend eating foie gras.” 

Gordon the relaxed family man seems a far cry from his fiery public personality. So who is the real Gordon Ramsay?

“I wouldn’t say I was a very aggressive person,” he says. “I just want only the best to come out of my kitchens so in that sense I guess I am a perfectionist.”

Gordon likes to involve his children in the kitchen, as he believes it encourages them to enjoy good food.

His recipe for fruit kebabs couldn’t be easier to make and is great fun to eat. The kebabs can be made at any time of year if you vary the fruit.

Fruit kebabs
with chocolate dip

½ pineapple, halved and cored
2-3 bananas, peeled
3 kiwi fruit, peeled
12-16 strawberries
12-16 raspberries
12-16 blackberries
12-16 cherries, pitted
200 g (7 oz) good quality dark chocolate

Cut the pineapple, bananas and kiwi fruit into chunks and arrange them on a large platter with the various berries and cherries. Encourage the kids to thread their favourite fruit onto short wooden kebab skewers.

Melt the chocolate in a bowl set over a pan of gently simmering water. Stir until smooth, then pour into a couple of warm ramekins.

Serve the fruit kebabs with the warm chocolate for dipping.

Recipe from Gordon Ramsay Makes It Easy, published by Quadrille £19.99. 
ISBN 1 84400 116 4.