Gordon Ramsay has always been an eccentric character and incredible chef. However, he was only thrust into the American spotlight in 2005 with his cooking reality show, "Hell's Kitchen." On the show — currently in its ninth season — chefs compete for a prestigious head chef position and Ramsay's harsh critiques and bad temper have earned him a considerable reputation. In another reality show, "Kitchen Nightmares," Ramsay travels to struggling restaurants around the country hoping to save them. As in "Hell's Kitchen," his criticisms are often harsh.
The Daily had a chance to chat with Ramsay about his restaurant-themed TV shows and his thoughts on the culinary scene.
Question: What is the biggest problem you see facing more established restaurants?
Answer: Most of them become static. They forget to fight to move on. The secret is to stay in front of your customers, because once you've opened these businesses, you're in it. The only way you can improve is by going and eating out, because you can't disappear for two months and travel.
The biggest problem is [that restaurateurs] get comfortable, and then they forget to fight. They forget, "Okay, we have to move on." Everything has to evolve. You don't need to go fine dining-crazy, but you need to work up with new ideas. The staff… gets complacent, because they think that they have a restaurant, but they don't understand what's open within a five-mile radius. And that is something they need to know on a daily basis.
Q: Is there anything we'll see this season that we've never seen in seasons past?
A: More than ever before, as you know, there's a whole team behind me, and they have a couple days to prep the restaurants before I get there and a couple days to prep for the restaurant after I leave. We bring in an infrastructure, and we really focus on… the most important elements to get that restaurant back. Sometimes the restaurants this year have been beautiful in terms of interior, the decor, and are family-run, but the segmentation that's taken place is more seen than ever before this year.
Once, I was greeted with a huge mouse coming through one of the doors. Now, I've had a lot of flack in my time, but I've never been greeted by a mouse in a door of a restaurant. And the shock of the fact that I walked in there, and then they accused me of bringing it in… That's a little bit out there. Me bringing my own mouse to plant in the restaurant before helping them? Come on!
Q: Have you ever second-guessed any of your reactions, or decisions you've made on the show in terms of dealing with employees, owners, et cetera?
A: I act on impulse and I go with my instincts. I've had a lot of successes, I've had failures — so I learn from the failures.
I have to get straight to the truth, and it's not because we're panicking and we're not there for 10 days. In the U.K. versions, we're there for nine, 10 days at a time. Here, we're here for a week, and because of the work that goes into that week — the research from every critic to every article to the opening night, the first six months, the financial implications — we turn it upside-down. We really turn it upside-down. So I don't pussyfoot around. I really get straight off, so I never second guess it. I go for it straight away.
