Gordon Ramsay Biography
Scottish culinary guru Gordon James Ramsay has his roots in Johnstone, Renfrewshire, Scotland where his parents bore him on November 8 1966. As a child he loved football and always dreamed of making a career out of the game. He took part in many soccer games for his school and later his home town before giving up on the slow rise to the top. Ramsay quit football and enrolled for culinary classes at the North Oxford Technical College in London and concentrated on Hotel Management.
He had to learn self-reliance at an early age after he set out to live by himself at 16 years. The reason for this was that he could not get along with his lazy absentee father whom he greatly resented. Some say his famous bad temper developed at this point when he had constant arguments with his dad. The Ramsay household lived in fear of abuse by an alcoholic jobless father, the family moved from town to town as Ramsay’s father was always in trouble and he could barely hold a job.
Ramsay got his first professional contact with food at the Roxburg House Hotel. He moved to Le Gavroche where he was interviewed for the position of vice head chef for the restaurant’s new hotel called Hotel Diva. If he accepted the position he would have to move to Paris where the hotel was located, bored with routine work and seeking the thrill of French cuisine he immediately relocated to the French Alps and worked with celebrity chef Guy Savoy.
After working for a couple of years in France he returned home in 2001 and opened a three star restaurant and named it after himself. This was the beginning of a string of French, British and Italian restaurants opened by the chef all over the UK and in several continents. Some of his high-end restaurants include Petrus, Amaryllis, Verre, Gordon Ramsay-Tokyo, Cerise and Gordon Ramsay-New York.
Ramsay was awarded and Order of the British Empire, OBE during the Queen’s 2006 Birthday Honours List for his success in the hotel industry and also for being one of the only three Scotsmen owning three star restaurants.
The controversial chef has been in trouble with his former employees over his bad temper and shrewd arrogance. He has lost jobs in top restaurants after having heated arguments with his employers. At one point Ramsay was accused of having an affair with his boss’ wife, on discovering this, the restaurant owner literally kicked Ramsay out of his premises.
He has received substantial media glare over his outbursts and rage fits in almost all episodes of the ‘Hell’s Kitchen’ reality chef competition. ‘Hell’s Kitchen’ is a show that picks top-chef wannabes and puts them through weeks of gruelling and demanding culinary competitions until only one is left to take the head chef position in an established restaurant. Critics have strongly spoken over his crude training techniques calling it an unnecessary and unwarranted.
Despite this ‘Hell’s Kitchen’ is one of the most successful and popular culinary shows around the world.
He has written several cook books and continues to open more restaurants under the Gordon Ramsay Holdings. Ramsay’s other shows include The F Word and Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares.
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